What is your motivation to solo dive?

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Okay fellow SB'ers. One of you had to fess up that you solo dive only because you hate people!

 

[happy-diver]

Diving as with my mobile phone are there so I can make the call not for people to call me


Is hate more than disdain or less than disdain

 

[AdivingBel]

Why solo? It's a different diving experience...different from diving with my wife, long time buddies, or insta-buddies...all are enjoyable, but different. I have a card because it makes dealing with certain shops easier and it was a good class. Experience is your friend.

 

[arew+4]

Not solo yet, but soon, photography.

 

[jborg]

Initially, the flakiness of my potential buddies. I wanted to dive and planned dives with people from my LDS’ “dive society” and their Facebook group. Sometimes it went well. Sometimes they didn’t show up, leaving me waiting at the beach with all my dive gear. Sometimes they showed up but forgot to fill their tank / bring their fins / how a regulator works, etc. Sometimes they seemed like squared away divers but then immediately swam off at five knots into the murk then berated me for being a bad buddy when we reconvened at the surface. At some point I felt that this wasn’t adding to my enjoyment or to my safety. Now I have a few very good buddy friends who I enjoy diving with enormously, but their presence isn’t required for me to get my periodic “fix” at the local dive site. This flexibility, and not having to hunt for random instabuddies, makes me a lot calmer and happier.

 

[EFX]

For me the solo cert gave me options. If I can't find a buddy I can still go diving. Solo is more relaxing in that I don't have to constantly look after a buddy. It gives me freedom in that I can do and go where I want when I want.

 

[Bob DBF]

I learned to dive solo, there was one set of gear so the only time my "instructor" was in the water was to practice buddy breathing on a double hose. All of my dives were solo until I met someone in high school that dove, even then I perfered solo. I dove for 17 years before I finally got a c-card, because they were required by shops unless the knew me or I could talk them into a fill. No way to start a traveling dive vacation, so I took a NAUI/PADI OW class, which was an interesting story.

 

[Bob DBF]

@Scuba Lawyer, an interesting side note, I once referred to my initial SCUBA training as "Dad's School of SCUBA Instruction and Auto Repair" in a post. I get a PM from Sam wanting to know what agency that was, and how it developed. I think he was a bit disappointed it was my sense of humor, and not another piece of SCUBA history he had found. We had a number of other conversations about my experiences with SCUBA on the east coast of my youth, with my humor somewhat in check.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

@Bob DBF Your start in diving and mine sound very similar. My dad taught me and we only had one set of gear. That included one DH reg. I dove 9 years, usually solo, before I got certified. And yes, Sam was always on the lookout for that one esoteric bit of scuba history he could add to his archives. I miss him. My wife and I visit Betty and Sam IV every time we pass through Pismo Beach. M

 

[Bob DBF]

@Bob DBF Your start in diving and mine sound very similar. My dad taught me and we only had one set of gear. That included one DH reg. I dove 9 years, usually solo, before I got certified. And yes, Sam was always on the lookout for that one esoteric bit of scuba history he could add to his archives. I miss him. My wife and I visit Betty and Sam IV every time we pass through Pismo Beach. M

I miss him too. He was such a fountain of scuba knowledge, if one was listening.