OK, 'fess up.... the Dark Side of Solo...

[Timeliner]

Try adding a little helium

So that is why the Munchkin's down there with the Sirens talk so funny !

 

[Doc Harry]

At home I dive alone because there's no one else with whom to dive. I get a lot of weekdays off and everyone else is working.

When I'm traveling, I dive alone because I like to take photos at my own pace and because other people are not trustworthy and they suck down their air like a newbie.

 

[Stoo]

The deeper I go, the darker it is, the colder the water, the more close I get to be with.

This reminds me of a bumper sticker I had when I first started diving (34 years ago...) "The Deeper It Is, The Better It Feels!"

I suppose it's not "PC" to say that anymore...

As for hearing voices, I can also confess to humming annoyingly as I swim around... The occasional buddy I have will always complain about it...

Yet another advantage of this self-abuse!

Incidently, I had a lovely dive in Lake Erie on Saturday... 135 feet/30 min BT, dark, but quite clear below the thermocline. The wreck was covered in silt and had I been with someone else, or on a charter, no doubt it would have been completely silted out. As it was, I had perhaps 40 foot vis (with the help of my big-arse canister light)...

 

[Dapher]

I will never forget my first solo dive. I was tired of my buddy (husband) turning me down. So I grabbed my gear and off I went. The feeling was unreal and very liberating ... total freedom. Not waiting for my buddy to suit up, going as deep as I wanted, and not having to wait for someone elses ears to clear. It was silent and I went where I wanted and did what I wanted. It was heaven.

I still prefer it when my buddy joins me so I can enjoy the after dive fun but I also very much enjoy that freedom that comes with a solo dive.

 

[ocean walker]

I have never been a good buddy diver and actually never bought the dive buddy concept. Plus solo diving cuts your potential problems in half. Then you can only be irritated with, yep you, if or when something goes wrong. And there are days when I don't want to get in the ocean and days when you couldn't keep me out. And as a photographer I always set my own pace and direction and prefer the quiet(there's humor here somewhere).

 

[ocean walker]

Well put DA. I have been fortunate over the years to have had a number of great buddies... although we tend to be "same lake, same day" buddies. As we all get older though, many of them are diving less, or stopped altogether. There is one guy that still dives at least as actively as I do, and we occassionally hit the water together... although again, it tends to be as a non-buddy, buddy team. We might see each other on the dive, exchange some achnowledgement of the other if we see each other, but then we get to share the post-dive refreshments which is a big part of the fun of diving for me... Floating in a Zodiac or two, way out in a lake with good friends after a dive is always a plus in my books!

He and I have perhaps 6000 dives in total, and have shared some great adventures together, and I look forward to many more years diving with him. I just don't want to see him while we're diving "together"!

I just don't want to see him while we're diving "together"!
Perfectly said.

 

[hansonian]

i dive solo cause i'm anti-social, i don't want someone else hoggin my part of the sea, i hate carpooling, i don't like the pre-dive conversation and i flat out refuse to share the beer after the dive.

 

[Stoo]

I was diving this weekend with a friend and former student who is getting back into diving after some time away. She's good in the water, but her skills are rusty.

We had four nice dives together, and I was a great buddy... right there all the time etc.

Having said all of this, my bottom times were 40 - 50% less than normal, I didn't get as deep as I wanted to go, and I practically have whip-lash from constantly looking for her! On the upside, she chipped in for gas, bought dinner etc....

This weekend is back to normal I hope... Just me and myself!

 

[Nemrod]

There is no dark side.

N

 

[Stoo]

There is no dark side.

You mean diving alone "completes" you? It's the Ying for your Yang? It allows you to become one with the sea?