SDI solo diver certification

[captain]

Here is the SDI course outline.

 

[ClayJar]

Interesting. The course description includes this:

"One of the following must be used as a redundant air source: pony bottle, twin cylinders with isolation valve, independent doubles, Spare Air(TM)."

All the places I've ever seen have (at the very least) seriously discouraged Spare Air. Many have specifically excluded Spare Air from their list of accepted redundant scuba. Regardless, when you're doing the course, you should clearly see how very little air time Spare Air will provide and whether it is appropriate for the conditions in which you will dive. (Spare Air may be perfectly sufficient for that course in the 25-foot crystal clear tropical lagoon, but would you want to have it as your only redundant scuba in an 85-foot murky quarry? You should be able to answer that logically, if not now, by the time you get wet in the class. :biggrin


As for the course itself, what you get out of it depends very much on what you bring to the table, perhaps even more so than in most courses. If you're coming to it from the perspective of a diver who has never considered self-sufficient diving, you will learn a great deal and build a base from which to consider your diving. If you're coming to it from the perspective of a ScubaBoarder who has spent weeks or months reading and participating in discussions about solo diving, redundancy, self-sufficiency, and all that, the course will basically be just a review and exam covering the material you already know.

If you're somewhere in between those extremes, the course will be part review and part new information you may not have considered. It will reinforce the things you've thought through, and it'll fill in the areas you may have missed. Most divers will find at least some new things in the course, but as long as you go into the course knowing that parts (perhaps large parts) will be review and reinforcement, it's a good course. (If you go into it thinking, "I know this. Let's just get it over with," you will do yourself a grave disservice.)

You should acquire the textbook and workbook in advance and take as much time as you need to read and understand the information (and complete the workbook). The class itself is likely to be more of a review of what you knew and what you've learned from the materials, with clarifications, discussions, and questions about practical applications being the most valuable aspects of the class time.

By the same token, if you've been practicing the skills (slinging a pony, perhaps), the checkout dives are just an excuse to enjoy a couple dives with a few skills tossed in just for fun. If you've never had redundant scuba, on the other hand, you may have a more interesting time of it.

I took the class as someone who had been solo diving and *thinking* about my solo diving for quite some time. For me, the class was little more than a useful review and examination of my knowledge and procedures. Still, it *was* useful, even if only to validate what I had previously learned, and I now have a card I can show to attest to my being a practiced solo diver that has considered the many aspects that go into minimizing the risks of solo diving.

 

[Darnold9999]

In the class I took (not SDI) you were encouraged to think for yourself and determine the amount of spare gas you needed for the dive you were planning. If a Spare Air would be enough redundancy for the dive you were preparing to do and you were willing to accept the risks then by all means dive solo with a Spare Air. Personally I can't imagine such a dive, but I lack imagination.

I will dive "same ocean buddy" solo with a very small pony (6cf) but am very aware of the limitations of that kind of redundancy and am prepared to accept that risk. Truely solo I carry a larger bottle, but still too small in many people's opinion. One of the local SDI instructors refuses to teach the solo course unless you are prepared to carry a 40cf pony.

The point is that you think about what you are doing - get the experience to understand the risks - and prepare accordingly.

 

[donooo]

Excellent comments by Clay Jar. Took the class last weekend. My disapointments were from a lack of depth on topics that I had knowledge. My satisfaction was from topics never thought of or perspectives never viewed.

good luck don O

 

[kmandvr]

Ditto...I have also taken the Solo Course and really do enjoy solo diving....it's my choice
HAPPY DIVING

 

[ianr33]

My main issue with the certification is that many shops/boats are not going to recognise it. (I just had a PM conversation with a member who mentioned that Divetech on Cayman will not allow solo diving even with the certification)

Seems fairly pointless to pay the money and get the card only to find that its useless.

 

[Blackrock]

Seems fairly pointless to pay the money and get the card only to find that its useless.

Perhaps, but if i teaches you to be self-sufficient and self-reliant then you will no longer need to worry about having to rely on an insta-buddy. Unfortunately, those dive ops still force you into accepting quasi-legal responsibility for your "buddy" and their safety.

You could always volunteer to buddy up with a photog.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

My main issue with the certification is that many shops/boats are not going to recognise it. (I just had a PM conversation with a member who mentioned that Divetech on Cayman will not allow solo diving even with the certification)

Seems fairly pointless to pay the money and get the card only to find that its useless.

This is where you do what I do. Buddy up with another single who is of like mind. Agree to meet back at the line at a certain time and then just seperate once you splash. Or when the Dm asks if everybody has a buddy just say yeah and point in the general direction of someone else.

 

[ianr33]

I dive solo when the mood takes me. I have never done the solo course but I am Trimix and Full Cave trained which I consider to be an acceptable substitute.

I might consider doing the solo course if it actually meant that I could dive solo openly,but in most places that does not seem to be the case.

 

[DJ Johnny Mac]

Cave diving training is the best dive training you can ever do and will make you a better diver!

Not only is cave instruction a great skill developer, but it also covers a lot of the same issues involved in solo diving; redundancy, gear/emergency management, planning, etc.

The most important thing learned is self-reliance. We as divers seem to believe that our buddy is there in case we have a problem. We should be believing that we are there in case our buddy has a problem.
More experienced divers (especially instructors) enjoy solo diving because of the fact that it eliminates the extra liability of a buddy that is less skilled. in my case, I began diving solo because I could not always find a buddy. At the time, I did not know of any solo courses. Therefore I did as much research as possible and tried to improve skills.