Where did you solo dive today?

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Did 4x Solo dives at Blue Grotto, in Williston FL today. I bought a new set of double HP120s and was testing them out for trim and buoyancy. (They were great!).

The grotto was pretty quiet other a few classes and a couple of other divers. I had the 50' area all to myself. I practiced laying lines, doing drills, and generally had lots of fun!! It was great! Beautiful viz.

Just to update on Blue Grotto, they will allow Solo diving provided you have a Solo diver certification (I have the SDI cert), and Solo equipment (although they just asked me about it, they didn't look at it). They had me fill out the additional SDI Solo diver waiver, including the paragraph you have to write out in full. Once this was done though I was good to go!

Nice to know of another FL location that is Solo friendly!!
 
Shallow river dives today looking for an acquaintance's mooring and chain, water was a comfy 66 degrees and I found the mooring and chain in 6 foot visibility doing a grid search.
 
Shallow river dives today looking for an acquaintance's mooring and chain, water was a comfy 66 degrees and I found the mooring and chain in 6 foot visibility doing a grid search.

That sounds like a satisfying dive! I love sightseeing, but there is something about planning a search for something and then finding it underwater that feels really good!!
 
That sounds like a satisfying dive! I love sightseeing, but there is something about planning a search for something and then finding it underwater that feels really good!!
Very satisfying and relaxing as well, had some fish and an eel to keep me entertained as well.
 
Dived the USCG Duane today with Horizon Divers (Solo friendly charter / shop). They are great and I highly recommend them. They were very helpful and just let me do my thing. They just asked my runtime so they knew when to expect me back.

Beautiful dive with great Viz. Current was strong but not ripping by any means. I jumped 20 minutes after everyone else which meant aside from a couple on rebreathers I had the wreck to myself mostly (and avoided having 5 people at the 20' stop all at once!). Swam through most of the rooms and passages on the main deck and deck above. The coral growth is amazing on this wreck. It was cool thinking how long it has been on the bottom (1987). (I also read up on the history of the wreck which is really interesting too). I managed almost an hour of bottom time and then about 14 minutes of deco. Saw a good size hawksbill turtle and some of the biggest barracudas I have ever seen!

I am still getting used to using my new Shearwater Perdix to run the dive (using TTS and Min Gas) rather than my slate. It took a bit of adjustment but I like the flexibility to ascend and thus get more bottom time on the wreck. The TTS + 5 feature is great!

Had a great time! Can't wait to be back again in Key Largo next year!
 
Wed, the 21st of July, I showed up at the dive site chosen for my early morning dive group. Apparently, I was the only one who got out of bed, it was 6:30 am. With a 3 day old Solo cert under my belt, I decided to jump in anyway. (after contacting my son to let him know I was going on a solo dive and to expect my text by a certain time, or send help) Willis Point Dive site, in the Saanich Inlet, on Vancouver Island, is a wall dive. There are ancient glass boot sponges, growing off the wall, as well as a failed homemade submarine type thingy on the bottom. 37 min, max depth 99', water temp 11C at the bottom. Vis below the top 30', opened up to 50-60'. Watch out for Fried Egg Jellies.
 
Wed, the 21st of July, I showed up at the dive site chosen for my early morning dive group. Apparently, I was the only one who got out of bed, it was 6:30 am. With a 3 day old Solo cert under my belt, I decided to jump in anyway. (after contacting my son to let him know I was going on a solo dive and to expect my text by a certain time, or send help) Willis Point Dive site, in the Saanich Inlet, on Vancouver Island, is a wall dive. There are ancient glass boot sponges, growing off the wall, as well as a failed homemade submarine type thingy on the bottom. 37 min, max depth 99', water temp 11C at the bottom. Vis below the top 30', opened up to 50-60'. Watch out for Fried Egg Jellies.
Isn't it great that you didn't have to go back home without diving.

Even well intentioned people run into issues and need to skip dives, it doesn't matter if it is a good or a bad reason, I don't want to miss a dive because someone else had to do X.
 
Just saw the paperwork for Blue Hole Santa Rosa, June 29th.
Showed up, scouted the place. Saw someone getting in the water.
Went in and bought my permit, geared up, got in and found the place to myself. Half an hour later I was packing up and heading to Cadillac Ranch.

The only 2 people in the water that morning were both on rebreathers, and have no idea who each other were.
 

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