How many dives did you have?

[christianweber]

11 after the ow cert. the day i got my doubles that is the official version ,i think it was after 4 or 5 dives or so .

 

[Jeremy Bouwman]

I started when I had about 60 dives, but only at familiary dive sites that aren't deep or difficult. It is so awesome to be alone in the water.

 

[chasanova]

25 or so. Since I am of the opinion that most rec. diving from a boat in the carribean is in effect solo, you might say sooner.

How do you feel about being on a DO's boat and being forced to accept a buddy? I tend to think of the DO as something along the lines of a guide, but not my buddy/daddy. I hate the gaggle of folks' "following around a DM" strategy; it is like a resort course. If I am on vacation and diving from a DO's boat, I usually speak with the DM before hand and make sure they are comfortable with the idea that I am not going to follow around the group and that I am going to go at my own pace and place. So far I have been able to find operators that are comfy with that.

 

[lineus]

I started my solo experience after 35 dives and belive it was one of the most important and useful decisions in my diving life..

 

[Ob1Stogie]

I think it was at about number 20. Before I went I bought a 13ft pony. It's been 13 years and I haven't looked back.

 

[PoseidonSv]

I had about 180 dives when i felt confident and secure enought to go solo.

 

[rhyz]

Probably around my 45th dive I quess, comfortable....probably my last couple of dives, around 96-98.

 

[airfish]

122 was the first time I went into the water alone, but had been jumping in the water and hunting lobsters diving "alone with each other" for many, many dives before then. Basically we all went in and stayed around each other for a while but then we ended up going our own way and coming out when we had to. We were all about the same skill level and all were comfortable with this situation not to mention that we knew the dive areas very well.

 

[Nitrox50]

99 Dives - dive number 100 was done on the TDI solo course. And I will always go solo diving if I get the chance....

 

[randini]

Right around my 39th my buddy on a boat trip to one of the channel islands of CA was utterly useless & more of a caveat to keep an eye on. By this point I'd already finished AOW & was only 2 dives short of getting my rescue.

Then after my research class (right around my 60th), most of my dives ended up technically being solo since the suface was much closer than my buddy (but don't tell the DSO )