How Did You Go Solo?

[tarponchik]

My dive 79, Bari Reef, Bonair. And this was a night dive. However, I already had some experience of de facto solo diving the NC wrecks.

 

[nippurmagnum]

My first solo dives were in CoCoView Resort in Roatan. I’d done about 100 dives at that point. In CCV there is a wonderful house reef where shore entries and exits couldn’t be easier, and a great wreck out front. So I did two dives a day with my wife, and three dives a day on my own. I learned a ton during that trip — navigation, self-reliance, pacing, air management, situational awareness — and improved exponentially as a diver.

 

[Degenerate]

I've done a lot of solo dives at our nearest quarry this year, not taken a solo course yet although I plan on doing it this autumn/winter.
I always have a buddy (mostly my SO who is a medical professional) with me on land and I'll stay above 3m depth, most of the time I'll be in 1,5-2m doing different drills.
You can't always find a dive buddy who can accompany you as often as you'd like to dive, going at it solo is the only way if you want to dive frequently that way.
I would never do a solo dive in the ocean or head over to the deeper parts of our quarry, and I seriously doubt I'll feel differently after I do a solo course.

 

[SoloMonkey]

Holy crap. That's insane for both the instructor and the club. Is an Indy twinset different from normal doubles set-ups?

The Indy is no different. Just ensure you have enough shoulder mobility to get to the left cylinder valve which will most likely be on the right hand side of the cylinder, if you are truly pairing a set of singles together. (I.e. if you need slob knobs to access, due to previous gymnastics/motorcycle accidents etc then this won't be for you).

Just then a question of switching every 5 minutes or so to keep the cylinders in balance.
By Pylons I mean the AP Diving Blue Plastic Hollow pylons that you can thread 4 cam bands through and tighten. A little bit of a faff at first but easy once in practice.

Happy Bubbles

Paul

 

[SoloMonkey]

My first solo dives were in CoCoView Resort in Roatan. I’d done about 100 dives at that point. In CCV there is a wonderful house reef where shore entries and exits couldn’t be easier, and a great wreck out front. So I did two dives a day with my wife, and three dives a day on my own. I learned a ton during that trip — navigation, self-reliance, pacing, air management, situational awareness — and improved exponentially as a diver.

So at CoCo view do you tell them that you intend to dive solo? I've emailed them and they state "We have a strictly No solo diving policy!" to which point I said "Well screw that I'm not going there!"

Or is it a case of "Don't ask and Don't tell"??

Best regards

Paul B

 

[socaljohn]

Went lobster diving with some long time dive buddies, looked around and Viola, solo diver. I did put together a pony rig and used it but my few intentional solo dives were kinda boring
Guess I enjoy diving with a buddy.

 

[DBPacific]

The Indy is no different. Just ensure you have enough shoulder mobility to get to the left cylinder valve which will most likely be on the right hand side of the cylinder, if you are truly pairing a set of singles together. (I.e. if you need slob knobs to access, due to previous gymnastics/motorcycle accidents etc then this won't be for you).

Just then a question of switching every 5 minutes or so to keep the cylinders in balance.
By Pylons I mean the AP Diving Blue Plastic Hollow pylons that you can thread 4 cam bands through and tighten. A little bit of a faff at first but easy once in practice.

Happy Bubbles

Paul

Luckily I haven't been injured in my shoulders. Yet. That's sounds like a really interesting set-up, and a good back exercise.

 

[RayfromTX]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Some posts have been removed because they are not appropriate for the solo divers forum.

Attention - please read this first

Solo Diving is replete with it's own hazards. As with any diving discipline, Solo Diving should never be taken on lightly, without proper training or just because you are too lazy to find a buddy. In fact many agencies frown on this practice, and some prohibit it out-right.

Still, there are many out there who practice this type of diving and so it's techniques and safety should be discussed in an open forum. As with all open forums, it is up to the individual diver to ascertain the validity of anything suggested within. There are many who would offer you their opinions and yet have never done a solo dive or are possibly unsafe divers. Only YOU have control over your destiny. Choose who you listen to wisely.

This is a no-troll zone! The discussion is not to be centered around whether to do a solo dive, but in the techniques and strategies involved. Do not participate if you have already decided that solo diving is not for you! Thanks in advance.
It is ok to express your opinion about the wisdom or desirability of solo diving but not in this sub-forum.

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[Searcaigh]

My first foray into solo diving was back in 1995 (Dive #480) and initially I didn't feel too comfortable about it being used to diving with a buddy and this being hammered in by everyone from instructors to other fellow divers.

I had just returned from the UK to Jeddah, and brought some Aquatica spares back for one of my "new UW photographer friends" who happened to own a boat.

He invited me out for a dive and there was only the two of us on his boat. In an area called Tower Reef he and some friends had installed underwater moorings and it was their general practice to solo dive with nobody on the boat. I was a bit surprised at this to be honest.

He set his camera housings up on 5m lines that were lowered overboard and told me to do the same with my two Nikonos Vs.

Once we had done this he basically threw his gear overboard and jumped in after it, and then after kitting up said "see you in an hour", and descended.

There I was standing alone in a boat, beautiful flat calm day in the Red Sea and the only diver within miles was already underwater. So I kitted up and splashed descending into 30m vis around Tower Reef and did a very wary 1 hour dive keeping close to the mooring area as I didn't want to wander far away and surface far from the boat, having been used to boats pick me up from the surface and not navigating back to a specific point when boat diving.

On the second dive I was more relaxed and although I spotted my "buddy" a few times on that dive I was totally absorbed by the photography and not distracted by a buddy. It just escalated from there although I always wrote my "buddy's" name in my logbook and he signed it, just in case the "scuba police" did a check

When PADI started the Self Reliant course I was the first to take this up in UAE doing this at Divers Down in September 2012 (Dives #1099-1101), and I probably had >200 solo dives by then. The card was only to make me sort of "legal"

Nowadays I don't usually solo dive but if my regular buddy is not with me and I'm diving with my regular dive op, it's fine with them. I always have a "pony" (S30) which is more than I need to even surface from our deepest sites (30m). 50 bar on that tank is sufficient from 30m to surface.

 

[CT-Rich]

I was with an insta-buddy that used my float line for buoyancy control and then disappeared mid-dive. After waiting for him to show up for several minutes and debating on whether to declare an emergency, I spotted him climbing out at the entry point.

I realized I was going to be responsible for him, but he offered me nothing. This was a crap deal and I was better off by myself. Better to be alone than to be “victim number two...”

I enjoy helping new divers learn the ropes, but there is a difference between a new diver and a sh#tty insta-bud. I don’t solo as much as I used, but the freedom to follow my own path and not have others to monitor is a fantastic feeling.