How many dives did you have?

[billtylerjr]

I did my first solo dives a few weeks ago when i got my camera housing. shallow dives off key largo just to play with it. I was a bit nervous and stayed close to the line however after taken some tec courses and trained up through DM I began to feel more settled when I relaxed and thought to myself that I could deal with issues and at worse case I am only in 20 ft and can do a swimming ascent if needed. I did several more on a trip with the camera and began to relax and enjoy it much more. I intend to do more "training dives" in the lake and practice skills and redundance to better prepare for solo dives.

 

[cuberoot3i]

if you count my open water class, 1. i got cert back when diving was different. my open water was given on the base where i was station at and the instructor was a fellow Marine.

 

[SeaYoda]

Dive #5 was 1st solo dive - checking out gear at the jetties (a well known snorkeling spot for me) - I went to 24' with 5' viz. I did not move more than 5' while adjusting gear and went home.

Dives #6 and #7 were with little known buddies on a boat dive and I ended up helping one when his tank slipped out at 84', same one got sick underwater, another one had ear problems, this one also ran low on air long before I did, both lost the way to the anchor line, second one was so out of shape after swimming to the boat he couldn't get his fins off so I had to let go of my ladder and de-fin him.

Dive #8 was a solo beach dive to 8'.

Dive #9 was solo at the jetties - lasted 11 minutes at 11' - I called the dive due to poor conditions.

Dives #10 and #11 solo in a spring (that I had snorkeled before) to 55'.

Dives #12 and #13 boat dives with rent-a-buddies and I had to share air with one who ran low while not paying attention to his air.

Dives #14 - #18 were all shallow or spring dives solo.

Dive #19 was where I made my big stupid mistake (I did survive with no problems encountered) - I went past my limitations in gear and training. I would normally stay at 30' or less at the jetties and not venture past where I had snorkeled. That day had great viz and two divers came past me and I became a "shadow buddy". They did not know I was there and I followed them to 54' in uncharted territory for me. I had not thought through my gear for that kind of dive. I compounded my mistake by diving to the same place totally solo on dive #20.

After feeling guilty about breaking my own rules, I did some serious thinking and research about solo diving. I knew I would dive solo a lot because of a lack of buddies, bad rent-a-buddies, and I like to take pictures. I thought through my gear choices and what conditions I would solo in. No one told me how to do anything, I had to do the research and THINK about the risks and how to lower them to the best of my ability.

The funny thing is that I rarely dive alone now, but I still consider myself solo. The dives my buddies and I do are more like same day same area dives. I still gear up for solo if needed (even with buddies). If I'm going to pay close attention to my buddy or if I'm diving less than 30', I'll gear down a little and not take the pony.

Best advice is not to count dives but get knowledge and never go past your well thought out limitations. If something is questionable to you or you feel the need to be validated by someone else's opinion, you are probably overstepping your limitations. This (in my opinion) is when solo becomes way too dangerous even with over 10000 dives. YMMV.

 

[Jeff=Dive]

Dive 5 if you count the OW cert since no one else wanted to dive.. it was with the basic rental gear in a place where I never dove before. After I baught the gear, my advanced class sucked so much it drove me to do a solo dive at a very fimilar place.. it was one of my best dives. No extra air supply, just al 80s.. went in full came out with 1500psi

 

[Blitz]

Somewhere around 50.

 

[Johnw...ski]

My first dive after open water was solo back in 1981.
Am still here doing it.
Whats the big deal?

 

[adrenalineblues]

In 93 (not even certified) I had got a deal on some gear from someone that should have had better sense to sell it to someone with no sense like myself.... The Old POS this and that type isnt worth throwing away kind of gear. Dive #1 was solo... A pretty uneventful, low vis, slog thru the surf and murk at Amelia Island Florida... I spent probably the next 50 dives solo... Not one of them I should have been on and most were solo. Knowing full well I was missing even the minimal certification. Much less the very critical fundamentals of solo diving... Looking back I am lucky to be alive.. At that point I was playing the rogue... I will dive where and when I want to and how I want to and no agency will tell me any different!!! I had no concept of the danger is Was putting myself in...
Eventually I got certified... I spent a good deal of my time after certification learning what was really involved in solo diving but never making any more. Finally some common sense albeit very little had kicked in... In any case I set up all my gear figured I had thought it all out and was content to wait for a time to cut my teeth for real. That time was shortly after the Yukon (hehehehe sunk itself much to the dismay of everyone gathered to watch the planned sinking) in San Deigo... Somewhere around dive 150 a Buddy and I had planned a dive on the Yukon and took his boat out. He was a little hung over so he called the dive while tied up tho the bouy. I had my gear with me and I really wanted this dive. So I went... I didnt penetrate, nor did I go all that deep around the wreck... The one thing that struck me that dive was that diving alone can be a beautiful thing... Seeing somehting like the Yukon is best shared!!! Up until I left the sport for skydiving I still made the occasional solo dive. I am comfortable with it. I prefer it when hunting.... However, there is no substitution for a good company (and a good meant to read reliable buddy) on those kewl dives.
Ok where was I??? Oh... You are ready when you can spend hours on your gear thinking of every possible situation and then knowing instantly how you will fix it... Not only that but in full gear being able to instantly reach/use/deploy whatever piece of gear you are after.You are ready when you can look at yourself in the mirror and see that person the others in the thread have mentioned... You have to be rock solid in the water... I guess the way I see it the is no right dive number to start doing it.... But there are an infinate amount of wrong dive numbers to start doing it...

 

[stacey_n_jamie]

dive number 5 my first dive after check outs for my opw. five guys i knew most of whom were urchin divers and recreational divers on the weekends took my for my first scallop dive. everyone hit the water and when they got on bottom scattered. i wasnt upset or nervous and didnt even play out my air for 45 minutes. after coming up with a huge bag of scallops i guess i knew that one i liked scallop diving, and 2 even with the group it is best done solo. i still dive with the same group of guys from time to time even though im the only one still doing the urchins.

 

[Mambo Dave]

Like Blitz, somewhere at or just over 50. I was on a private boat with three other divers, but the boat owner wanted to know if we were in a good spot to anchor (we would eventually all be over), and if the vis was good. It sucked.

But instantly realized, at 35' and trying to look for the 45' bottom, that there was something special about the moment. So I hung there a while longer as larger fish than I expected faded into and out of sight in the murkiness (vis about 8 or 10 feet), seemingly coming up to take a look at me then leave.

A bit of traveling to find cleaer water and I went down the anchor line, solo again, to check the anchor hook-up.

Today I did my first solo shore dive on one of the most beautiful days we've had in a while - I think my action is why I am revisiting the solo divers' forum tonight. I did call three different people to try to get them to go out with me, but between ear infections, school and church... I never got deeper than 15'. With the clarity of the water and the abundant amount of reef dwellers (uh oh... do I sound like Jacques C. now?) I found a lot of what I was looking for.

I've got good friends who are dive buddies, and it's great to go out with any of them, but that doesn’t always equate to them being ‘good’ at being a dive buddy. A few things tell me a pony is in my near future. At first I'll dive it to get acquainted with it (and, of course, to have that redundancy), but I can foresee using it for moderate depth solo dives after a good while.

I am so glad SB has this forum, and that you all contribute to it.

 

[shark.byte.usa]

Dive #11, was newly certified and wanted to get wet, so thought I'd explore the local lake, didn't have a buddy, so I booked a spot on a little dive boat that runs on the weekends. The captain and DM assumed I would be diving solo, I told them that NO I wanted a buddy, so they hooked me up with the DM's wife, who was diving simply to get enough dives to get her Master C-Card, we went through all the pre dive planning including lost buddy. She was a bullet. 5 minutes into the dive, I stopped to pick up a beer can and put it in my mesh bag, looked up and she was gone, I followed her silt trail for a few seconds, stopped looked around for a little while longer and surfaced and let the boat know that I'd lost my buddy, they didn't seem concerned in the least, after a minute on the surface they spotted her bubbles moving back towards the boat, when they passed me they told me to descend and join her, I never did find her again uw but finished my dive regardless, she never did surface for lost buddy. During the surface interval I accidentally flung my mask/snorkel overboard, I took a couple bearings to landmarks and spent the next dive with a borrowed mask, solo, searching for my mask, which I found. Max depth on both dives was 28'.

#33-35: My son (13) was newly certified, did his checkout dives from a boat in Maui, after he got his JOW C-Card we did some Maui shore diving, it was an absolute joy seeing my son scuba. But the parental instincts really kick in with your child diving with you and although he was my buddy, I thought of it more as solo dives, how would I deal with an issue/emergency with him or me, he had absolutely no fear, and was already a same ocean type of buddy and rarely checked on me, probably because I'm his dad, but I couldn't rely on him (not that I rely heavily on my buddy) to help me out of a scrape. I'm sure over time he'll be a great buddy.

I've thought about diving solo (on purpose), but won't do so until I get a pony and a few more dives under the belt.

Garrett