Your first solo dive...do you remember it?

[corvettejoe]

Dive #27 in my log I started diving with Captain Solo as my buddy LOL

Alexander Springs. No buddy required, shallower location (20-25ft max depth, tiny cavern, one no-mount swim through, really pretty spring)
2nd closest dive site to me. I spent quite a few dives here by myself just getting in practice practice practice. Also spent a LOT of time learning better photography skills here too.
It was nice and liberating just doing whatever I wanted with no plan in mind, no buddy to check on and nobody to bother me.

None of our state parks in FL allow solo diving, but there's a good handful of private or public land sites that do allow it.

On another occasion, the first time I dove solo in open water all I could think of was OMG A GROUPER IS GOING TO SWALLOW ME WHOLE AND NOBODY WILL EVER KNOW! The fact it was about a foot of vis at this particular site and I came up on some creepy culvert pipes...peeked inside one and stared a goliath in the face... I decided to end my dive at that point as fast as I could LOL.

 

[mac.calder]

My first was memorable as I had just received my brand new camera housing for my E-PL3 and I decided to take it for a spin under one of my favorite jetties - max depth about 16m. Anyway, swimming out and get to my bottom depth - "Right, time to white balance" I think to myself. Start white balancing against my slate pull my hand away and there is a frigging lion fish about 10cm away from where my hand was just floating there glaring at me which startled the bejeebers out of me. Anyway, took some great shots (or at least I THOUGHT they were great shots - now that I have been taking UW photos a while longer, no so much) I turn to head back after spending a solid 85 minutes having fun by myself, then I hear a clicking behind me. End up getting buzzed by a small pod of dolphins, who continued to swim around me for about 2 or 3 minutes.

Oh - and I got myself a nice brand spanking stainless steel gidgee which was lying on the bottom - sold on ebay later that week for about $60.

 

[redacted]

My first solo dive was my first dive back about 1963. We only had one set of gear.

 

[drbill]

My first solo "dive" was in a pool since there was only one set of gear for us. All of my freshwater dives in the 60s were solo as well. I don't really remember the specifics of my first solo dive in the ocean... there have been thousands of them since 1969. I dive solo for several reasons. Most of the truly competent buddies are dive professionals and are working much of the time, or are over on "the Big Island" across the channel from Catalina. Since my main porpoise for submerging is to observe and film the critters, I'd rather dive solo and not have the distraction of a buddy whose skills I don't really know.

 

[Searcaigh]

My first solo rec dive was off Jeddah in the Red Sea in 1995

I had just returned from the UK and brought some spare parts for my friend's boat and he took me out to Tower Reef on it the following Friday, just the two of us. He demonstrated how he hung his cameras off the boat on lines attached to the boat's cleats, so he could change cameras underwater without surfacing, asked me if I had dived here before and I confirmed that I had, then he donned his gear and jumped overboard before I could say "Buddy Check"

So what was I to do?

I donned my gear and also jumped overboard. The boat was tied to a mooring and was not going anywhere. I spent a good hour underwater at no less than 10M keeping my eye on where I was in relation to the boat but honestly was not completely relaxed until my second dive at the same dive site a couple of hours later.

This is one of the shots I took on that day with my Nikonos V using a 20mm lens (scanned slide)



Since then I have done a lot of same ocean buddies and many solo dives, including night dives on locations that I know very well, never looked back. For photography I always take my best shots when not rushed to move on by another buddy.

Beware, solo diving is addictive.

 

[James R]

Congrats.

I remember my first solo dive was well before my solo class...

The class was mostly an audit for me. Nothing was earth shattering new to me.

Same here...mine was well before the class I took, but I don't recall it exactly. I guess I didn't think it was a big deal, or it wasn't memorable.

IMO a solo class should be simply an audit of skills and a "check the block" kind of thing. If you're being taught how to do the tasks you probably aren't ready to dive solo.

 

[AfterDark]

My 1st solo was a working dive in a fresh water swimming area owned by a sportsmen's club. They had 2 large Navy mooring balls I had to secure to large cement blocks that I first had to find in 1 foot vis. Each one was 75 yards from the beach at each "corner" of the beach. That was on the 1st try after that with the bottom turned up it was zero vis. Then a line was run from shore to the balls creating a roped off swimming area. A number of plastic painted barrels were then secured to the line. This warned the boats off. Then I searched for 2 more cement blocks for the swimming raft and secured the raft to the blocks. In the Fall I'd go back and take it all in so they could store it. It would have been easier with 2 divers but then I'd have to split the $$$!! I had other solo diving jobs but this one was steady, I did it from 1970 to 1983 when I moved to RI.

 

[Taliena]

Yes, it was on a submarine at 32m depth. My second solodive was a nightdive to 35m. And now I have done a lot of solodives, including decodives till 60m depth (trimix and 2 decogases).
The first solodive was nice, no feeling that it was forbidden or so. I was a moment alone at the wreck. Good viz, almost no currents. The second solodive was a nightdive during holiday in a lake in Germany. It felt like I did a forbidden thing. People looked at me, 1 talked to me that it was forbidden. But the dive was nice, I saw a lot of big eels and spikes.
A day later I went to 50m solo. That was a nice dive too. Then I didn't dive solo for a long period. But now, if I want to dive and have no buddy, I go solo. Even if I see other people who want to discuss it. I always use my twinset, so I can explain how you can do solodiving.
2 weeks ago I did a solodive during a clubdive (CMAS). It is not forbidding according to cmas, so they cannot complaign.

 

[agilis]

My first solo dive was my first scuba dive ever. I was in my early teens, and had been free diving for years. Using a borrowed tank and regulator and after having read through an instruction book many times I slipped below the water from a rock pile on the north side of the Manasquan Inlet, into only about 8 feet of water. It was so magical and so simple that I soon descended to the bottom at about 20 to 25 feet, and spent about an hour or so (72 CF, 1900 lbs.), until my J valve told me I was down to 500 lbs. and I reluctantly emerged. My next few dozen dives were all solo. At first I had to break myself of a free diving habit by repeating to myself continuously "Don't hold your breath".

I still prefer to dive solo, nearly six decades down the road.

 

[DiverGirl1972]

I really wish I had somewhere a little more exciting to do some local solo diving. I also enjoy taking pictures and can definitely understand the benefit of not having to worry about someone else while trying to get that "perfect shot". I think it was on a liveaboard trip to the Turks and Caicos when I knew I'd like to eventually have the option of striking out on my own. My "buddy" and I were both taking pictures and while we'd look out from our viewfinders every once a while to make eye contact, we spent many of our dives anywhere from 20 ft to 80 ft away from each other. We were both comfortable in the water and felt confident in each other's skills, so it was a great feeling to be able to do our own thing at our own pace. We always surfaced together, though, to avoid any drama from the crew

For now, the closest/easiest place for me to dive solo is Dutch Springs. Not exactly the best place to practice marine-life photography, but I guess it will have to do!