Where did you solo dive today?

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Dove Venice Beach Florida this morning,max depth 21 feet bottom temp 80 vis 10 -15 feet I found one meg tooth and lots of jewelry size teeth The fossil bed was well exposed bottom time 82 minutes

I hope to get back down to Venice soon. How far out from shore were you? How about that Meg tooth, got any pix?
ZDD

 

[Stoo]

In spite of my recent whining about my lack of solo diving lately, I did manage a few on a trip to northern Vancouver Island a couple of weeks ago. "Technically" I had a buddy, but fortunately, his idea of a buddy system was in sync with mine. Both photographers, we sometimes surfaced in the same degree of Lat/Lon, and with 15 minutes of each other. I didn't have my usual "redundant everything", but our dives were pretty shallow and I had a giant tank!

The water was 46-47 top to bottom, and max depth over 16 dives was 155', although most time was spent in about 70' and up... Almost every dive was 50-55 minutes...

 

[shoredivr]

Water in Colpoys Bay is down to 46F, viz is improving.

Have to send my Salvo Light back to Light Monkey for servicing though. The bulb went *Plink* at 75 ft and died. Three years of constant use in cold water seems pretty good to me.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

After more than a month out of the water, I went out for a 70-minute solo dive last evening. Did my favorite dive this time of year ... poking around in the eelgrass beds looking at all the critters who use it as a nursery this time of year.

Sadly, it appears my long layoff affected my ability with a camera ... my pictures all turned out like crap. Oh well ... I'll just have to go back and do it again ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Doc Harry]

Just spent a week on Bonaire and did a solo dive or solo night dive every day while my girlfriend was taking a nap. Got to 100 feet during my solo day and night dives. Even did the wreck of the Hilma Hooker solo. Also did some solo night fluorescence photography. Used an AL80, and an AL40 stage cylinder for back-up.

Here are some of my photos from the solo dives:

 

[Searcaigh]

Two solo dives today as my usual buddy had to stay behind and watch the dive shop.

Dive 1 was crazy though, as there were more people at the site than you could shake a stick at.

Dive 2 was nice and zen like, did not see another diver from entry until I was on my safety stop

Crocodile fish from Dive 1 just before three vertical swimming divers destroyed the viz, kicked me on the head and scared the damn fish away

Chromodoris decora on the wreck of Inchcape 2

 

[scubadada]

I had a wonderful dive on the M/V Castor this morning with Underwater Explorers out of Boynton Beach, FL. Started off with a big Bull Shark that didn't make an appearance for the rest of the dive. Many Goliath Grouper. The stern was knocked off during Hurricane Sandy and is now leaning signficantly to starboard. About 40-50 feet vis, 78 degrees, minimal south current, max depth 112 feet, 55 minute run time. Happy Holidays.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

This is the time of year when I do a lot of shallow solo diving ... exploring the eelgrass beds of Puget Sound looking for tiny creatures to photograph. Yesterday I was in the water just before 6 AM ... while it was still dark ... looking into the eelgrass beds to see who was home. Two weeks ago we had an impressive storm that, while leaving the eelgrass beds relatively intact, drove all the creatures to deeper depths. They're beginning to return ... here's a sampling of the ones I found yesterday morning ... on a 67 minute dive to a max depth of 27 feet ...

Hooded nudibranch ... these typically come into the eelgrass this time of year to reproduce. Yesterday I saw hundreds of them ...

Bay pipefish ... these look like someone took a seahorse and stretched it out like a linguini ....

Stiletto shrimp ... I have no idea whose eggs those are ...

Pacific spiny lumpsucker ...

These tiny fish ... this one about the size of a bumblebee ... typically inhabit the eelgrass from about mid-October until mid-February ... and then they mostly disappear until next year ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Nice Pix guys,
ZDD

 

[scubadada]

I had a wonderful solo drift on Black Condo in Boynton Beach, FL on Sunday the 27th with Underwater Explorers. About 70 feet of visibility and 76 degrees for 72 minutes. Green Morays, Spotted Morays, Goldentail Morays, Turtles, Lobster, Nurse Sharks, a Southern Ray and all the usual reef fish of SE FL. What a dive.