Solo.. Or No Solo?

[paolov]

Good point, but how do you evaluate a potential students ability to cope. Everyone who signs up for the course thinks they're ready.

Thinking that they are ready is different from being evaluated to be ready and have completed the course satisfactorily. So far its only SDI that has this course though there is an article by PADI though it is available to PADI Pros. under PADI Member Resource Library

 

[MikeFerrara]

If dive training is your hobby, then you can appreciate the large number of poorly trained divers out there. Frankly, I'm curious how you can claim that a diver is "experienced" when that individual has not been exposed to concepts like redundancy.

I agree that there is a market for this class. (Let's see - $150 for the course. $30 for the book. Another $525 for the pony bottle, button spg, and cheapo reg.) But, I think that you're doing a great dis-service to your students. When I talk to instructors and divemasters about their hairy moments underwater, they almost always are diving solo or have lost contact with their buddy. In the few incidents in which they "lost" their buddy, detailed questioning showed that buddy diving meant "in the same ocean."

I think that if you really love diving and training students, then you would instill in your students good dive habits - which should include good buddy skills (good buddy skills = $0).

Again, If someone one really wants to be alone then it's up to them but you bring up some good points.

I hate hearing about all the conditions that don't allow you to stay with a buddy though.

Photography? We do photo dives all the time as a team. All it takes is a team that's willing to devote a dive to get pictures.

Bad vis? we had some pretty bad vis yesterday didn't we hantzu? I even had to zig zag a little figure out where we were. Did we ever seperate? What would you say the vis was? I'd say 10 ish (feet) shallow on the wall and no more than a cloudy 5 or so max in places on the road bed.

And at that the 4 of us (two teams of two) stayed together the whole time.

And...that was our 3rd dive together and the 1st in really lousy vis. Piece of cake.

IMO, it's the fact that divers don't learn to dive in teams in the first place that make solo diving so attractive for some.

 

[padiscubapro]

Thinking that they are ready is different from being evaluated to be ready and have completed the course satisfactorily. So far its only SDI that has this course though there is an article by PADI though it is available to PADI Pros. under PADI Member Resource Library

ANDI has had a Solo Diver program for several years.. unlike SDI (which is a recreational program), ANDI's solo diver program is a technical program and prior to entry requires a technical diver rating.

 

[cortez]

ANDI has had a Solo Diver program for several years.. unlike SDI (which is a recreational program), ANDI's solo diver program is a technical program and prior to entry requires a technical diver rating.

That's interesting, I was under the impression that only SDI offered a solo cert. I was out looking at ANDI's web-site, but found not mention of it. Do you have any further information? I would love to see what their course looks like... never can have too much training

 

[padiscubapro]

That's interesting, I was under the impression that only SDI offered a solo cert. I was out looking at ANDI's web-site, but found not mention of it. Do you have any further information? I would love to see what their course looks like... never can have too much training

ANDI's website is severely out of date.. I'll dig up the outline and post a generalized version in a day or two..

 

[cortez]

ANDI's website is severely out of date.. I'll dig up the outline and post a generalized version in a day or two..

That would be awesome. Thanks.

 

[DORSETBOY]

Dude, I have said this in the sister thread, this discussion has NO PLACE in the basic scuba discussions forum.

People are going to get hurt unless this thread is moved to general tec discussions.

can a moderator please move both these threads.

Mark, I understand your point of view, however, do you think that moving forum will make a difference? Is the tech forum restricted to people with a 'certain level of training / experience'? I agree that it would have no place on the basic scuba forum if people were saying "dive solo and damn the consequences". However, as far as I can make out, people have put forward good viewpoints for and against solo diving and in particular solo diving without proper training / equipment. I believe that if you disagree with something, the best way to get other people to believe the same thing is to explain your argument.

 

[Barracuda2]

In all of these threads, I'm surprised we haven't heard from "serious" photographers and videographers. Many times I followed the group just to see which way on the reef or wall they were going and then went the other way. Most times, I'm with a buddy, but he gets bored very quickly with the stillness and slowness of me looking for the perfect shots and heads off on his own. Marine life gets use to a diver's presence much faster when only one geared up alien is in their neighborhood blowing bubbles. Moving slowly or being very still allows for capturing marine behavior that most divers don't witness because many times their just passing by creating a ruckus causing marine life to dive for cover. The longer a diver spends in an limited area, the more he will see. There is no way I could get a close up of a yellow jaw cleaning his eggs if other divers were in the area, or better yet, a close up of a very shy grass eel. Is it safer to dive "with" a buddy? Of course it is, But there is no way a photographer or videographer will ever get those "special" shots with another diver/s hovering in the area. Generally, when I'm alone, I'm within 20 to 50 ft.; Statistically, and realistically the emergency I would probably face would be my gas supply being stopped for some reason, and I believe I could make it to the surface safely from 50 ft. The chances for other equipment failure, heart attack, stroke, or something to render me unconscious, or other physical injury is there, but pretty slim. Many wouldn't take that chance, but many do. Let's face it, no matter who you're with, when your head dips beneath the surface, you're entering an environment your body isn't built for and taking a risk. That's why we all lie to our insurance companies when the question of scuba diving comes up. My $.02

Barracuda2

 

[hantzu701]

Don't understand what you mean

There is a huge difference between intentional solo diving and accidental solo divers. That is why you can't lump accident statistics together without making that distinction. Divers who plan and execute solo dives are being penalized by the dive community because whenever some oaf looses his buddy and panic swims to the surface by himself he is considered a solo diver. Let's separate the two then we can have a realistic look at the facts.

Perhaps I didn't make this clear. "Accidental" solo divers are not accidental. When you lose your buddy, good buddy skills call for looking for your buddy for a minute or two, then surfacing. If you continue the dive, then you are a solo diver - regardless if you have the training or equipment.

I think that the scenario that you laid out is laughable. Your reference to any diver as an "oaf" makes me wonder about your attitude as an instructor.

As far as I am concerned the SDI solo cert simply institutionalizes arrogant and self-centered behavior that has no place in diving. Diving solo because it is more convenient is not a good reason to do so.

The first thing that I learned about diving is that there really aren't any rules. While a PADI OW card "limits" you to a max depth of 60ft, it is a recommended limit. There is nothing preventing you from going on a dive and going to 80ft or even 165ft... on air. The risks that you assume are your own. In a way, we, as a diving community, respect this individual right to do what we want. But this emphasis on self-sufficiency is taken too far.

On a recent dive, I didn't notice that hoses were tangled up, nor that I had a slow leak. My buddy immediately let me know that I had a problem before the dive started and the problem was simply and quickly resolved. Let's say that the o-ring let go at depth. Then, as a solo diver, the plan is to go to your pony bottle and surface.

But now you're task loaded and pretty stressed out. Perhaps everything works as it should, and you surface without a problem. Perhaps you have another problem. Perhaps you've had an off day and you make another mistake. Who knows?

Why bother? My buddy saw something that wasn't right and we addressed the problem before it became a serious issue underwater.

And I find this consistently. When I dive with buddies with good buddy skills, the dive goes more smoothly and I'm able to concentrate on the dive. If something does go wrong, I'm confident that my buddy and I will solve the problem together.

 

[String]

Although i do it very rarely and only in some odd circumstances ive found im more relaxed diving on my own than with someone. My SAC drops accordingly so is verified by me post dive on downloading the profiles.

I think the lack of stress having to check on a buddy, check their air, signal my every direction change and so on means im far happier and concentrate on the dive far more.