Your first solo dive...do you remember it?
- Thread starter DiverGirl1972
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One of the first times I deliberately went on a solo dive was when I was a DM. It was after a long day assisting a fairly large group and keeping an eye on everything and everyone for several hours had my brain in a hyper alert state.
We were wrapping up and the instructor asked me if I would go retrieve a buoy for him and said, "ok, but I'm going to take the scenic route. I'll be back in about 20 min". He said ok and I just went for a short bimble around by myself to "decompress" my brain from all that thinking. After 20 min I had gotten the buoy and came out of the water feeling 100% more relaxed than I was going in.
R..
We were wrapping up and the instructor asked me if I would go retrieve a buoy for him and said, "ok, but I'm going to take the scenic route. I'll be back in about 20 min". He said ok and I just went for a short bimble around by myself to "decompress" my brain from all that thinking. After 20 min I had gotten the buoy and came out of the water feeling 100% more relaxed than I was going in.
R..
Aquabot
Contributor
Ooooo yes I remember mine, it was about three years ago now and it was the most relaxing thing I had ever done. I was diving the jetties at Saint Andrew state park in Panama City, FL. My dad who was my buddy had turned back with my little sister and left me to finish the dive. There was a slight current and I set my buoyancy and simply floated along. Wouldn't trade that experience for the world 
.
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btw2459
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Mt first was also the St Andrews Jetties. Brilliant. I was so relaxed and happy. My SAC bore out my relaxed state.
Benzonar
Contributor
My first was about 3 or 4 years ago. I had been asked by one of the dive centres in Oman to go down and act as a guide for one of their customers. Dubai film festival was on ad Colin Farrell was attending and had decided he wanted to go diving, so I was asked to be his guide for the day. I turned up at the dive centre and Colin never showed, there were no other buddies for me and so I dropped in on the dive site by myself with a camera. It was one of the most relaxing dives I have ever done, and I stayed within 14m of the surface. After that I did quite a few dives with fellow photographers as buddies which were in reality solo dives due to the distance and visibility between us.
I then decided to do the Self Reliant Course earlier this year so I no longer had to have the pretense of having a buddy.
I lov it as I have a tendency to head out into the sand away from the reef, which regular buddies don't want to do. Lately though I've had people want to follow me as I always seem to come back to the boat with tales of great critters I've found out in the sand.
I then decided to do the Self Reliant Course earlier this year so I no longer had to have the pretense of having a buddy.
I lov it as I have a tendency to head out into the sand away from the reef, which regular buddies don't want to do. Lately though I've had people want to follow me as I always seem to come back to the boat with tales of great critters I've found out in the sand.
dshorwich
Contributor
My first solo dive was about 4 1/2 years ago, on the Breakwater jetty in Monterey, CA. I remember it well, because, ironically enough, within a few minutes of descending my tank came loose from the BC strap, a problem I'd had every once in a while before (single-strap BC; problem since solved with an application of a couple of strips of silicon caulk to the inside of the strap), and which I'd relied on my buddy fixing when it happened.
I doffed my BC to address the problem, but failed to take into consideration that I was diving with integrated weights.
Fortunately there was plenty of giant kelp around for me to grab onto to prevent a quick ride to the surface. I had a couple of "interesting" minutes before I hit upon a workable solution, which was to sit down on the bottom with my rig on my lap.
Despite that bit of excitement, it was a very enjoyable dive; I find solo diving very freeing. I enjoy diving with a good, reliable buddy, but I also enjoy not having to keep track of a buddy (especially in low-viz northern CA waters) or worry about whether I'm spending too much time in one place trying to get that perfect picture....
I doffed my BC to address the problem, but failed to take into consideration that I was diving with integrated weights.
Fortunately there was plenty of giant kelp around for me to grab onto to prevent a quick ride to the surface. I had a couple of "interesting" minutes before I hit upon a workable solution, which was to sit down on the bottom with my rig on my lap.Despite that bit of excitement, it was a very enjoyable dive; I find solo diving very freeing. I enjoy diving with a good, reliable buddy, but I also enjoy not having to keep track of a buddy (especially in low-viz northern CA waters) or worry about whether I'm spending too much time in one place trying to get that perfect picture....
OP
DiverGirl1972
Contributor
So, yesterday was my birthday so I headed up to Dutch Springs for a day of diving fun. There was a decent-sized group with our LDS, but I decided that my first dive of the day would be solo - just because I could! I followed the rules, checked out the locator beacon, checked in with the lake staff before entering the water and gave them my dive plan. Feeling good! By the time I got in, the vis was the worst I'd ever seen it. No big deal, my plan was to surface swim past the training platforms and then take a heading to the helicopter (for those who are familiar). I had just gotten a wrist-mount compass as I'd like to get rid of my my console at some point, so I decided I'd use that and my depth gauge on my console to practice maintaining depth mid-water with no reference.
I headed out on my journey, with the console and wrist compass held together in front of me. After a while, I thought, I should have run right into the helicopter by now. I swam a little more and then I knew something had gone awry. I finally decided that I had better go up to take a look, so I did my safety stop and proceeded to the surface. Holy crap, I was a lonnnnng way from the helicopter in the wrong direction!! A little baffled, I took a heading back to the helicopter, just using my computer and wrist compass this time and ran right into it. I reset my heading to go to my next destination using my depth gauge and wrist compass, and sure enough, after swimming for a while...nothing. AGAIN, proceeded to surface to check my location and again, I was way off base! lol At this point, I'm glad I was alone because I would have been pretty embarrassed. I've always been pretty good at compass navigation, so my confidence was a little shaken.
Long story short, I decided to head back in. I took another heading and I got the compass all set up while still on the surface. I descended and pulled my console out in front of me and suddenly, the needle goes batty on my compass. DUH!!! I didn't even think about the compass on the back side of the console - it had been interfering with my wrist mount compass! :doh:Got a good chuckle out of the whole mess on my way back to the dock! Looks like I will also remember my first solo dive for years to come. Happy diving, everyone!
I headed out on my journey, with the console and wrist compass held together in front of me. After a while, I thought, I should have run right into the helicopter by now. I swam a little more and then I knew something had gone awry. I finally decided that I had better go up to take a look, so I did my safety stop and proceeded to the surface. Holy crap, I was a lonnnnng way from the helicopter in the wrong direction!! A little baffled, I took a heading back to the helicopter, just using my computer and wrist compass this time and ran right into it. I reset my heading to go to my next destination using my depth gauge and wrist compass, and sure enough, after swimming for a while...nothing. AGAIN, proceeded to surface to check my location and again, I was way off base! lol At this point, I'm glad I was alone because I would have been pretty embarrassed. I've always been pretty good at compass navigation, so my confidence was a little shaken.
Long story short, I decided to head back in. I took another heading and I got the compass all set up while still on the surface. I descended and pulled my console out in front of me and suddenly, the needle goes batty on my compass. DUH!!! I didn't even think about the compass on the back side of the console - it had been interfering with my wrist mount compass! :doh:Got a good chuckle out of the whole mess on my way back to the dock! Looks like I will also remember my first solo dive for years to come. Happy diving, everyone!
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My first solo dive was my first dive after OW certification. It was at Vortex Spring on the FL panhandle. There were lots of other divers present (including a class) but everyone was buddied up. I went to the bottom briefly (54'). When it's your very first time out you are a bit self conscious about not looking like a dork gearing up, forgetting stuff, etc. I did ask around a bit for a buddy but when no takers, I just went solo rather than not diving at all.
Aquabot
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