The solo diving movement, a good idea?

[Gren]

After >35 years of solo diving, still alive a well, I'm happy to report!

Are you sure, I always assumed you were a vampire who only came out at night.

 

[TSandM]

I see a lot of folks here who have decided that diving solo is better than diving with a buddy, because they've had bad experiences with buddies.

My answer to that is, rather than give up diving with a buddy, why not get better buddies? In the world where I dive, people don't go haring off into the blue (or the dark, or the murk, which are more likely in Puget Sound). They don't blow through their gas in minutes, and they don't run out. They stay where you expect them to be, and communicate effectively. They share a dive plan, and participate willingly in a gear check. They have strong personal diving skills, achieved at the cost of some time and focused work, which allows all these things to happen.

I would never dive solo if I could avoid it. In my world, you not only have someone you can rely on to help you avoid problems (and solve them, if they occur anyway), but you've got a strong, solid buddy with whom to share the things you see underwater. Best of all worlds!

 

[Gren]

you've got a strong, solid buddy with whom to share the things you see underwater. Best of all worlds!

I agree with you, I unfortunately live in a foreign country where I don't speak the language well and I haven't been able to find that buddy. Often times it's hard enough to schedule a dive with the local operators, finding a buddy who can work with your schedule is often nearly impossible. Hopefully next year when I return home, I can finally find this mythical strong, solid buddy.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I was pretty curious when I stumbled upon a site discussing the solo dive certification.
The site was discussing the false sense of security that buddy diving can cause. The site stated even casual observation on the deck of any dive boat would suggest that very few divers pay the kind of attention to their gear, site conditions, dive plan, and navigational requirements the way they should, especially if they were suddenly forced to be self-reliant.

I found this statement to be a gross oversimplification because I have ran into situations where if it were not for my buddy I may have missed a simple safety check that could have been quite problematic.I'm sure its not for everyone but I can't quite wrap my head around this solo diver movement and need help figuring out the logic behind it. Any thoughts?

- Jon

divesummit
"People protect what they love." - Jacques Cousteau

A few years back I wrote an article for people with concerns like yours ... particularly newer divers wondering if it was something they want to consider.

NWGratefulDiver.com

Generally speaking, I don't think solo diving is appropriate for newer divers ... for exactly the reason illustrated in your example. Newer divers are learning how to adapt to an unfamiliar environment ... they spend a lot of conscious effort remembering the obvious things that they were taught in class. But there's a huge degree of separation between what you learned in class and what you need to apply in the real world ... and closing that gap requires the context of many hours underwater. That's why the SDI solo course requires a prerequisite of 100 dives ... those dives help you develop not just an understanding of what can go wrong and how to deal with it, but gives you an opportunity to become comfortable enough with the routine things that you can do them with about as much conscious effort as you put into walking while carrying on a conversation.

People solo dive for a lot of reasons ... I like it for photography because it allows me greater freedom to concentrate on the camera. I also sometimes just enjoy getting underwater to relax and unwind with my thoughts.

But the skill you most need to develop before undertaking solo diving is awareness ... and that's the hardest skill in diving to develop. It also takes enough "context" to be able to consider when diving solo is appropriate, and when it might be a good time to either seek out a competent buddy or just say "not today". The divers who get into trouble are almost always those who neglect this aspect of their diving skill set.

As a new diver, my advice is go find an experienced diver who can mentor you on your basic skills. Learn how to maintain an awareness of your surroundings by learning a new physical behavior ... that of turning your head from side-to-side rather than relying on peripheral vision you no longer have, or worse ... assuming that what you think is going on next to you is actually what's happening. When you've developed your awareness skills to the point where they happen without conscious effort, then perhaps it'll be time to consider solo diving.

And put some thought into how you think about diving. The mental skills are at least as important as the physical ones. This is even more true once you consider going underwater alone.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[doctormike]

I recently got the SDI solo card, and that agency specifically excludes things like deco dives, overhead dives, etc... from appropriate solo dives. They also stress the importance of a redundant gas supply (pony bottle or doubles).

As an underwater photographer, I really enjoy solo diving. Once you start playing with multiple strobes, manual exposure, etc... you find that you can spend half an hour on one coral head. It is so nice to be able to just take your time and enjoy yourself, not worry about constantly looking around to keep track of your buddy (who is getting more and more bored by the minute!).

It's true that there are some rare situations where a buddy might be helpful (e.g. severe entanglement or catastrophic gas loss below CESA depth), but there are other situations where a buddy - especially an instabuddy - can be dangerous. There are plenty of reports of double accidents involving an attempted rescue.

By carefully selecting which dives are appropriate solo dives, I think that you can minimize the risks. And once we go underwater, with or without a buddy, there are always risks. Safe diving is about minimizing these risks.

 

[koozemani]

I'm not there yet, but i can see the appeal of the solo or self reliant route. Not only to become a self reliant diver, but also diving solo. I have a regular dive buddy and rarely dive without her, however, when taking pictures I might spend more time on a particular subject than she cares to wait. I try to respect that this is her dive as much as it is mine and often move along sooner than I'd like. I also often find that I can be content spending half of a dive watching a particular critter.

Solo diving does appeal to me, and at some point I intend to taking the Sdi course.

 

[Kharon]

If you have to rely on a buddy to spot simple safety errors on the surface then it isn't for you.

I'll go one better - if you have to rely on a buddy to catch your pre-entry errors then you never should have been certified in the first place.

---------- Post added August 19th, 2013 at 08:47 AM ----------

I see a lot of folks here who have decided that diving solo is better than diving with a buddy, because they've had bad experiences with buddies.

My answer to that is, rather than give up diving with a buddy, why not get better buddies? In the world where I dive, people don't go haring off into the blue (or the dark, or the murk, ...

In my world, they do! In all my dives I've had less than a handfull where the person(s) I was diving with weren't totally oblivious of me at least some of the time. Most of the time they submerge, hit bottom causing a silt out and disappear, never to be seen again. I never had a dive where a buddy asked for my remaining pressure. Only had one where my buddy and I remained close enough to do each other any good. I'll take self-reliance anyday.

... but you've got a strong, solid buddy with whom to share the things you see underwater. Best of all worlds!

Don't want to share, babysit, or have to keep track of - my time left on earth is growing short. My time left underwater is even shorter. I don't want to waste it making sure I'm less than five feet from someone, checking their remaining air, etc, etc, etc - all the things I was trained that a good buddy does. Selfish? Definitely! I go underwater to enter the zone - where I just am. I strenuously avoid anything that interferes with that.

 

[cocoajoe]

Previous comments about depending on buddy are right. Just because you have someone to dive with, doesn't mean he's gonna be able to save your a$$ if Mr. Murphy comes knocking. Yeah, it's nice to have a buddy, I prefer it but do I bet my life on him?
If you hunt, you're probably solo. If you like to take pics or vid, you're probably solo. Until you have 75-100 dives, forget about it.

 

[w ripley]

Not so sure if it's a "movement" rather than just more people willing to talk about it & several cert agencies cashing in on a new training opt. People have been solo diving since the sport started.

 

[doctormike]

Not so sure if it's a "movement" rather than just more people willing to talk about it & several cert agencies cashing in on a new training opt. People have been solo diving since the sport started.

There's this, if you haven't seen it:

[VIMEO]49259855[/VIMEO]