Might be diving solo in December

[Amanda]

Hey,

As i said in another thread, my mom moved to the Vanuatu Islands (next to the Fidji) so I'm flying over to visit her for Xmas.

She does not dive, only enjoys snorkelling. My usual dive buddy is not ging to come with me, as the plane ticket is very, very expensive.

My mom has her very own private piece of lagoon, with the coral barrier just a few hundreds of meters away. I'm thinking about renting a tank and going solo. The dives there cost a fortune... and I would just like to dive my mom's piece of coral berrier !
I think I would be confortable with the idea, but I would like to know what tips you'd give a "solo newbie".

Here is my dive experience :

I have 110 logged dives, most of them between 25 and 55 meters. I dove tropical waters and Meditteranean ones. I'm confortable underwater, I've often been told to be a very calm, sel-confident diver. Is that enough to go solo ? Would I have to limit my depth to 20 meters or so ? The air-limit is irrelevant, since I consume little air (I'm not a very big person, and being calm underwater might be an explanation for that).

In crystal-clear waters, do you think that having my mom snorkeling above me would increase the safety of the dive ?

Any tips would be appreciated ! Thanks in advance.

 

[m3830431]

If you have to question it maybe you are not ready.

 

[Amanda]

Okay, that sounds a bit like Lao-Tseu, the chinese philosopher

I feel ready. It's just that I heard so much about how dangerous it was that I thought coming here and ask for some tips might be an intelligent idea. If you tell me it's just a matter of feeling ready or not, then I'll go go ahead and dive solo. Maybe it's not the brightest way of doing it though.

 

[SDAnderson]

Steven's Personal Rules For Solo Diving
(Remember - it's solo diving. You get to make up your own rules, too.)

• Only if you know the site well - and consider it safe.
• Make sure you are well rehearsed on self-rescue techniques.
• No penetration.
• Only if weather conditions (topside and underwater) are better than good.
• Redundant air supply required - and dinky pony bottles and Spare Air don't count.
• Spare mask and cutting implement required.
• Two SMB's - so you can mark the spot for them to look for your body.
• No deeper than you can do a CESA from.
• File a flight plan with someone you know.

I don't think having your Mom snorkeling above is going to be of much help in an many emergency situations, but at least you'd be able to waive goodbye to her as the shark drags you off into the briny deep...

 

[Amanda]

Thanks for your answer, reefraff. As I'm french, I still have a few questions regarding some vocabulary :

- what is a dinky pony bottle ?
- what is an SMB ?
- what is a CESA ?

Apart from those words I don't understand, I like your rules. I don't think I know what "self-rescue techniques" are, so I'll check with the people in my diving club.

Thanks again !

 

[Tod]

As I'm french, I still have a few questions regarding some vocabulary :

- what is a dinky pony bottle ?

"Dinky" means very small. If you plan to dive solo regularly, you should invest in a redundant air supply. If you go the route of a pony bottle, make sure it is large enough to allow you (at a minimum) to make a safe ascent from the deepest point of your dive.

- what is an SMB ?

I believe this is in reference to a marker buoy or float that you can send up to the surface from below. While this would do little to assist you in an emergency, it would help someone else locate you later on. A bit of a morbid thought, but handy for others I suppose.

Along a similar line and helpful to a living solo diver in trouble, carry a sea sausage (or similar type of device) to inflate at the surface to help others locate you while you're on the surface. This is very advisable if you dive in places with a good surface current.

- what is a CESA ?

This is an out of air emergency surface ascent. The advice being that you should dive no deeper than you can make it back to the surface on your own without any air. This is just a basis for a safe starting point.

Apart from those words I don't understand, I like your rules. I don't think I know what "self-rescue techniques" are...

These would be the things you are taught in your first OW class including ditching your weights, inflating your BCD at the surface, keeping your mask on, staying calm, and so on.

Diving by yourself requires that you understand and are willing to accept the fact that there's going to be nobody around to assist you should you run into a problem (either down below or at the surface). If you are comfortable with that understanding and are prepared for all the possible problems you can think of, then you are as likely ready as the rest of us. But only you can really answer those questions.

 

[Charlie99]

If you tell me it's just a matter of feeling ready or not, then I'll go go ahead and dive solo. Maybe it's not the brightest way of doing it though.

A much, much better way would be for you to send me a plane ticket, then you won't have to dive solo.

---------------------

You won't have a buddy there to help you out, so any medical problems that lead to unconsciousness are most likely to be fatal.

You won't have a buddy to help you out with problems such as entanglement in fishing line or nets, or to help you out with equipment problems.

You won't have your buddy's air handy in case you have failure of your reg or tank.

You won't have your buddy there to say "hey, do you REALLY want to do that", before you do something particularly stupid.

------------------------

I routinely dive shallow reefs solo, using my normal recreational setup, without any sort of backup pony or doubles. My redundant air supply is the nearby surface. I do carry both EMT shears (heavy duty scissors) and a knife to help me take care of possible entanglements.

Think about the risks and whether they are acceptable to you.

Enjoy your diving.

Charlie Allen

 

[Amanda]

CESA : I was trained to do that thing from a 20 meters depth, I guess I'll limit myself to 18 meters then.

"These would be the things you are taught in your first OW class including ditching your weights, inflating your BCD at the surface, keeping your mask on, staying calm, and so on."

=> I'm very confortable with those. In fact, the french "FFESSM" training is much more focused on security than the PADI one (but it has its own disadvantages too, which is why I'm glad to have taken both of them).

We even have an exercise that involves the instructor kicking you gently in the face (with his/her fins) so that you lose your mask without being warned beforehand. Very good to know exactly how you would react to such a situation in the future !

Thanks a lot for your tips and comments, I think that with a correct planning and the right gear I might just give it a shot.

 

[Amanda]

"I routinely dive shallow reefs solo."

That's what I plan on doing. Shallow dives on my mom's reef, after having taken a good, deep look at it with a buddy.

"A much, much better way would be for you to send me a plane ticket, then you won't have to dive solo."

Well, I'll just open a Paypal account and wait for SB members to be supportive