Solo diving in Coz....

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cruiser

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Scuba Instructor
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Location
Dallas, Texas
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I've been shore diving in Cozumel for years. I went to Dive Paradise this morning to get a tank and they informed me they no longer allow solo diving since a mother and her son went diving and the son didn't make it (Cameron Donaldson) and a lot of other shops aren't allowing solo diving either in Cozumel. That made no sense on several levels. I went down the street and dived solo with my other favorite place.

Has anyone else experienced this in Cozumel? It struck me as odd so would like to hear your experiences :)
 
Not clear if you are looking for experiences with solo diving being refused anywhere or just in Cozumel?

I was diving with SFDHQ in Pompano last month and the DM wouldn't allow me to dive solo- I think primarily because there was another diver on the boat who needed a buddy. I complained first to her, after some back and forth she finally said "please do me this favor"- which I did- but then complained to the office who said she was out of line- they definitely DO allow solo diving for those certified and equipped. In the afternoon after going through the briefing she handed me a float and said "have a nice dive" so that issue was apparently addressed either by the office or because she realized I was a competent diver and didn't need to buddy up anyone else.

If my solo diving request was refused, I'd probably still do the dive but if possible it would be my last dive with that particular Op.
 
I was asking for Cozumel specifically but appreciate your input. I've changed my original post so it is clearer.

Not clear if you are looking for experiences with solo diving being refused anywhere or just in Cozumel?

I was diving with SFDHQ in Pompano last month and the DM wouldn't allow me to dive solo- I think primarily because there was another diver on the boat who needed a buddy. I complained first to her, after some back and forth she finally said "please do me this favor"- which I did- but then complained to the office who said she was out of line- they definitely DO allow solo diving for those certified and equipped. In the afternoon after going through the briefing she handed me a float and said "have a nice dive" so that issue was apparently addressed either by the office or because she realized I was a competent diver and didn't need to buddy up anyone else.

If my solo diving request was refused, I'd probably still do the dive but if possible it would be my last dive with that particular Op.
 
I've been shore diving in Cozumel for years. I went to Dive Paradise this morning to get a tank and they informed me they no longer allow solo diving since a mother and her son went diving and the son didn't make it (Cameron Donaldson) and a lot of other shops aren't allowing solo diving either in Cozumel. That made no sense on several levels. I went down the street and dived solo with my other favorite place.

Has anyone else experienced this in Cozumel? It struck me as odd so would like to hear your experiences :)

Just curious. Are you a certified solo diver? Do you have redundant equipment? What would happen if you had an equipment failure while diving solo?
 
Not clear if you are looking for experiences with solo diving being refused anywhere or just in Cozumel?

I was diving with SFDHQ in Pompano last month and the DM wouldn't allow me to dive solo- I think primarily because there was another diver on the boat who needed a buddy. I complained first to her, after some back and forth she finally said "please do me this favor"- which I did- but then complained to the office who said she was out of line- they definitely DO allow solo diving for those certified and equipped. In the afternoon after going through the briefing she handed me a float and said "have a nice dive" so that issue was apparently addressed either by the office or because she realized I was a competent diver and didn't need to buddy up anyone else.

If my solo diving request was refused, I'd probably still do the dive but if possible it would be my last dive with that particular Op.

Interesting. The SFDHQ office (or whichever shop) should have never sold the diver in need of a buddy a tix for the boat. That is unless they told her she may not get a buddy and she was assuming the risk of buying a tix and not being permitted to dive. If they informed the diver that she would definitely be buddied up on the boat, that put the DM in a bad spot which is unfair.
 
Interesting. The SFDHQ office (or whichever shop) should have never sold the diver in need of a buddy a tix for the boat. That is unless they told her she may not get a buddy and she was assuming the risk of buying a tix and not being permitted to dive.

That's how dive Ops tend to do it in that area. Probably in most places. They aren't going to turn anyone away, and they'll leave the buddying up process to the crew on the boat. My guess is that very few divers will refuse an instabuddy so for the most part it works out. In an ideal world, people who go on dive trips alone should be prepared to dive solo.
 
I've been shore diving in Cozumel for years. I went to Dive Paradise this morning to get a tank and they informed me they no longer allow solo diving since a mother and her son went diving and the son didn't make it (Cameron Donaldson) and a lot of other shops aren't allowing solo diving either in Cozumel. That made no sense on several levels. I went down the street and dived solo with my other favorite place.

Has anyone else experienced this in Cozumel? It struck me as odd so would like to hear your experiences :)
Getting the thread back on track.

I have never done any shore diving in Cozumel but that new policy is unfortunate and typical of any knee jerk reaction, poorly thought out and ineffective. It would not even have covered their liability butts in Cameron’s case since the dive started as a buddy dive. (Of course Cameron’s dive had nothing to do with Dive Paradise)

Just curious. Are you a certified solo diver? Do you have redundant equipment? What would happen if you had an equipment failure while diving solo?
Looking at her profile she is Solo certified with plenty of experience.

As to redundancy while shore diving, for me it depends of the dive plan. For shallow dives I do not carry redundancy. I am comfortable with the possibility of a CESA from shallow depths. For deeper dives I would carry a slung pony bottle.
 
I received my solo cert 10 years ago and have hundreds of solo dives. It's one of the most valuable courses I've taken and think everyone should take it, even if they never plan to solo dive.

I have some redundancy and stay within my CESA limits, as USCFNP mentioned above. My solo dives in Coz are 30 feet max so I don't take a pony bottle.

What didn't make sense to me about Cameron's incident as a reason for no solo diving, is he was buddy diving with his mom, as USCFNP said. Using that logic, nobody could drive in Cozumel because people have perished in car accidents.

I hope the ban is temporary. The dive shop was vague in discussing anything beyond Cameron's incident.
 
Maybe it's a dirty little secret that locals don't discuss but has anybody ever heard of a tourist successfully suing a Cozumel business anyway? I'd think the ones most at risk are those with a U.S. presence.
 
I've been shore diving in Cozumel for years. I went to Dive Paradise this morning to get a tank and they informed me they no longer allow solo diving since a mother and her son went diving and the son didn't make it (Cameron Donaldson) and a lot of other shops aren't allowing solo diving either in Cozumel. That made no sense on several levels. I went down the street and dived solo with my other favorite place.

Has anyone else experienced this in Cozumel? It struck me as odd so would like to hear your experiences :)
I'm not sure if Cameron was Solo certified and/or he had redundancy. Nevertheless, I would argue that far more dive incidents occur with buddy diving. Should Coz dive Ops ban buddy dives now? How about triple divers? (We can go on down this slippery slope if you like...)
 
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