water wolf
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How safe is it to dive solo (with a pony bottle)and to what depth?
solo diving
- Thread starter water wolf
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...........how safe is it to dive solo for whom? Most divers shouldn't ever dive solo. Solo diving requires a great deal of experience and a very high skill level. There are divers who dive solo every day, but it's not for everyone. Even a diver with the skills and experience is at greater risk diving solo in the event of unexpected medical problems such as a heart attack or an allergic reaction to a bristle worm sting.
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large_diver
Contributor
Solo diving is a question that gets a great deal of debate and requires careful consideration. Each diver is different and has a different definition for what represents risky behavior. As someone who has a wife and 2 little kids, solo diving is something I will never do. This doesn't mean I think no one should ever attempt solo diving -- it's just my decision based on my own risk tolerance. I am also a relative newbie (25 dives) and have no business solo diving from an experience standpoint.
For someone who has 100+ dives under their belt, dives a few times every week (skills are VERY current) and finds that they are self-sufficient in and underwater (good physical and mental shape, redundant equipment, etc.) -- solo diving is probably worth considering. Dive conditions are also an important consideration -- solo dives should probably be dives where you are not pushing the envelope (sites that you already know well, shallower depths, low/no danger of boat traffic, no currents, etc.). One other factoid -- TDI/SDI is now offering a solo dive certification. I don't want to open the "solo dive cert" can of worms here, but one of the requirements they are putting into place is that participants must have 100+ logged dives to participate in this course.
Hope this is helpful.
For someone who has 100+ dives under their belt, dives a few times every week (skills are VERY current) and finds that they are self-sufficient in and underwater (good physical and mental shape, redundant equipment, etc.) -- solo diving is probably worth considering. Dive conditions are also an important consideration -- solo dives should probably be dives where you are not pushing the envelope (sites that you already know well, shallower depths, low/no danger of boat traffic, no currents, etc.). One other factoid -- TDI/SDI is now offering a solo dive certification. I don't want to open the "solo dive cert" can of worms here, but one of the requirements they are putting into place is that participants must have 100+ logged dives to participate in this course.
Hope this is helpful.
OceanSpirit
Guest
I solo dive on occasion and as a result have a VERY healthy respect for the water. Of course I have total system redundancy and tend to stay shallow. I will say it has made me a better diver (or I feel it has anyway) and although I've been diving for just over six years and have many dives logged, I never treat this practice lightly.
There is an article on solo diving at PADI's web site (www.padi.com) at the moment for those interested in a quick read.
.........a very well written article. Cheryl, take note; I agree with the official PADI party line on this topic.
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That makes two of us. 
~SubMariner~
~SubMariner~
What is the world coming to? PADI saying something that we all agree with. This is truly a scary precedent to set!!!!
...........even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then.
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large_diver
Contributor
LOL -- nice analogy, Walter
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