Solo Diving>> Again!

elcowboyspace

Hi all, Im new to Boards and Having read an old thread from 2003 on solo Diving I'd be interested to hear what anyone has to say on the topic 5 years later. Where do most people stand with it, yay or nay or whatever?

I have a few opinions on it myself. Im all for it in certain circumstances but in others I would be completely against it. Would anybody care to share thoughts and/or stories of relevence???

Moanin

Not recommended. Very unsafe!

Peace

As much as i try to avoid it... most of my dives tend to have at least one section of them that are done solo.

I've never intentionally done a solo dive but often got seperated from buddy somewhere along the line. I am in favour of someone being prepared to finish a dive.

wazzoraybelle

I do quite a bit of solo diving, mostly because it's safer than diving with my girlfriend:p
Seriously I love diving on my own as I feel it amplifys everything I love about diving itself. I'm not an adrenaline junkie and have no interest in how deep can I go or such. When I'm on my own I usually won't dive deeper than 15-18 metres, I use a computer, bring two knives and let someone know where I am.
I understand the rule (guideline?) 'never dive alone' but I find it too rewarding to adhere to it 100%.

elcowboyspace

Ok for whatever reason I expected a little more heat on that one but thats purely from reading the thread from years ago. I gues opinions on it have changed a little.

In any case I'm all for solo diving and I really enjoy it. In saying that I'd half expect to take some criticism but I only do it in certain conditions. Obviously in calm waters or completely sheltered bays even. Secondly I rarely if ever do it do a depth greater than about 7-10 meters so theres little fear of not being able to ascend if sh*t happens. Thirdly to this, I'd only ever do it while actually out with other divers on a club weekend or something. Never completely on my own with only the knowledge that I've told somebody where I'm going and when to expect me. I dive solo yes, but backed up by a beach or peer full of divers expecting me back in the next 30 minutes or so.
Im sure there are people who like to go deeper than I would solo and I cant exactly criticize that but it wouldn't be for me. If the possibility of deco is there or a *requirement* for a safety stop I'd knock it on the head. Solo diving, Yes, but as safe as possible. And I'd imagine that diving alone at 7m is easily as safe as diving to 30+m with a buddy anyday.

Scuba.ie

I don't have an issue with solo diving. If you are an instructor teaching total newbies and something happens you sometimes may as well be a solo diver. Also if you are diving with a buddy but you are not watching each other it can seem like solo diving (if you see what I mean). I have dived solo and enjoy it, but don't always plan ahead to do a solo dive, it just turns out that way due to lack of available buddies, or I may want to spend more time doing a task that others don't etc.

whosedaddy?

I've done it in the past - on the continent in fresh water lakes...

Where does buddy diving end and solo diving , even with a buddy? Even as guide in namy resorts you are on your own, only watching after guests that are constantly trying to kill themselves and the guide....

Instead of a undifferenciated black and white view, people have adopted a more open approach. Only because one thinks its not ok (for him), doesn't mean its its not save for somebody else. And vice versa.

As long as you know what you're doing, you don't hurt anyone, your insurance is covering and so on... go and have fun...

elcowboyspace

Nice one Whosedaddy, I couldn't agree more. Well said. It definately seems the "black and white" view from a while ago has declined a fair bit lately. The guide/instructor point is also very relevent. Have you ever been away on holiday in Thai/Egypt where instructors are shaparoning a group of OW trainee's around a site? They may as well be, and would be safer as solo divers. Nobody can argue that they themselves were never a "yoyo diver" and Im not knocking new trainee's but 3-4 with an instructor in my view makes the instructor a solo diver.

whosedaddy?

food for thought..
http://njscuba.net/gear/trng_07_buddy.html

elcowboyspace

Cheers, I'd encourage anybody in diving to read through that.

Scuba G

Just because you have a buddy doesnt mean you are any safer than on your own, in certain circumstances. As mentioned above, alot of divers do it as they prefer it, cave divers etc. Being self sufficent in diving is very important, you learn "self rescue" skills in your Open Water, removing a cramp, replacing a reg, clearing a mask etc, so anything more severe link an out of air, as a solo diver you should carry a pony/stage bottle or wear twins, redundant supply of gas on a solo dive is very important. Its a personal choice and alot of very experienced divers wouldnt do it, the key to doing anything is being prepared and know what to do in case of an incident. Whatever we do in the water, do it safe!

rahtkennades

I have to say, I'm not in favour of diving on your own. There are very good reasons why divers are recommended to have a buddy.

It's not just about the danger of running out of air, good dive planning will minimise that risk anyway. It's as much about the unexpected dangers of diving.

What if you go through a swimthrough and get stuck?
What if you foul yourself on nets or rope and can't free yourself?
What if you get caught in an unexpected current, or become disoriented and end up somewhere you didn't expect to be (like further from shore than you expected)?
What if you get stomach cramps from a dodgy fish and chips last night, and can't swim back to shore on your own?
What if you just get a dose of the 'heeby jeebies' and need some reassurance (I'm diving for 15 years and it's still happened to me a few times).

I can see why people might become more complacent and think that diving is pretty simple, assuming they take basic precautions. But I think it's important to remember that you can't plan for all eventualities, and it's the unexpected ones that are probably going to bit you in the a$$.

Just my 2c.

Slig

When I first started learning to dive I took it all in but always expected to dive solo as I live inland and dont know any divers or clubs in my area. The more I went through the training and heard more stories from other divers the more I stsrted to realise that solo wasnt an option, the two things that scare me are Nitrogen narcosis and fishing nets. When I was younger I got caught in a monofilament net while snorkeling with my dad and since then they scare the bejesus out of me, it took ages to get untangled (even with a knife) and its just lucky because I was after coming up from a duck dive and the net was near the surface.
I love the idea of the solo diving freedom and I know that unless your buddy is right beside you and you are looking out for each other all the time you are technically diving solo but there is still the reassurance that there is somebody else besides you in what is really and alien environment

theDiver

Solo Diving ? Yes or No ?

That is a very difficult question to answer, becuase there is a lot of factors to consider.

If you just dive with a single tank, forget about it completly, simply not safe.

But if you dive with twin 12's, got backup of mask, computer and so on, and also have the proper tec training, so you know shutdown procedures, and have tried it MANY times. Then you could start to consider it.

A lot of tec training, is about being to solo divers diving together, what that means is, that even thoug there is a buddy around you, you should be able to handle the emergencies on your own, shutdown a tank, close the manifold, switch to backup reg. and so on.

Personaly i have not made any real dives on my own, but while working as a dive instructor/guide in the Red Sea, i have dived down to tie the liveaboard to a wreck or boye a lot of times.

In my oppinion it is all down to experience, confidence, and experience, and if i forgot to mention it experience !

p.s. It is more fun anyway to dive in a pair.

elcowboyspace

Right well my experience isn't extremely huge but I feel perfectly comfortable solo diving in shallow calm conditions, And when I say shallow I generally mean around 6 metres or so. I mean the average person can free dive to that depth and surface with little problem. If at 5m there is a fault or you somehow manage to run out of air it's always quite easy to surface and with little or no chance of a bend. A simple weight ditch will surface you pretty quickly and if you are actually out of air a couple of breaths into the inflator hose is enough to keep you buoyant is it not?

Now dont get me wrong, I completely understand the opinion that nobody should ever solo dive and I respect it as it is a safer choice overall but in the conditions i've just described I'd consider myself a lot safer diving solo than 2 relatively inexperienced "holiday divers" diving to 20+ metres in a buddy group. Although the training system would have us all believe that these guys are much better off because there are two of them. I wouldn't be overly confident diving to 30 or 40 odd metres with a buddy fresh out of a PADI advanced course with only a handful of dives logged. Fair enough I might, "might" be able to deal with a difficulty such a diver may have but I cant honestly say they'd be able to aid me in any difficulty.

As the diver rightly states it is really down to experience and competence at the end of the day. If you have the experience and feel competent enough to do it, and want to of course, then Damn well do it I say but be very conservative and exercise extreme safety measures. Divign should be fun after all, and if you dont feel confident then you're going to have anxiety and stress which takes away from the fun if you ask me. Anyway That be my rant or 2cents or whatever. Cheers for all the opinions along the way.

Scuba G

elcowboyspace wrote: »

Hi all, Im new to Boards and Having read an old thread from 2003 on solo Diving I'd be interested to hear what anyone has to say on the topic 5 years later. Where do most people stand with it, yay or nay or whatever?

I have a few opinions on it myself. Im all for it in certain circumstances but in others I would be completely against it. Would anybody care to share thoughts and/or stories of relevence???

This is a subject which gets people either on the fence or falling over it! With the popularity of technical diving and becoming more and more available to recreational divers (cost involved is alot lower than say 5/10 years ago) so alot of divers are getting twinsets and doing advanced nitrox/deco courses, and with this comes redundancy, which is what solo diving is about. Most divers are happy to drop of the boat with their buddy and do a wreck dive, checking each other every few minutes and when the time comes (low on air or reached agreed dive time) they surface together. Then there are divers who have done this for several years and either prefer to distance themselves on the dive and not be too concerned about having their buddy in sight, or ones who carry a camera and dont enjoy their buddy moving around so much. It has been a taboo subject and seemed to link to "unsafe" diving habits and disregard of guidelines and learnt skills "the buddy system". As a diver who does both I can say I dont see Solo Diving as be unsafe, just because I have a buddy does not mean I am any safer in the water, being self reliant is very important for any diver, we learn self rescue skills from the Open Water (cramp removal, regulatory recovery etc) so in the event of a failure of your equipment, then having an alternate source (and not your Octo) to use is the key, so twinset or a stage bottle gives you that. I have dived a wreck on my rebreather were my buddy (in terms, the guy I have decended with) and myself will part ways at the start and regroup and hour later to ascend, I dont feel any lack of safety, as I have learnt the skills to deal with a problem, and in respect to my buddy, doesnt mean he is in anyway capable of helping if I had an issue anyway. Solo diving is a discipline which needs careful planning and confidence, these are made of training and skills practice. For instance, cave divers, alot of them dive solo, as the buddy system isnt as reliable as in open water, bad visability, tight swim passages, so your standard out of air signal or help may not be doable. t would be foolish of a freshly qualified student to solo dive as they havent yet gained experience, but for divers who have spent years buliding experience, then once the proper training has been done and the understanding of whats involved in Solo diving, then I cant see an issue.

Borzoi

elcowboyspace wrote: »

Thirdly to this, I'd only ever do it while actually out with other divers on a club weekend or something. Never completely on my own with only the knowledge that I've told somebody where I'm going and when to expect me. I dive solo yes, but backed up by a beach or peer full of divers expecting me back in the next 30 minutes or so.

Von Maier's second rule is another sensible one: Your underwater distance from your exit point should not exceed the distance you can comfortably swim in full scuba gear while at the surface. Remember, getting to the surface is only half the battle. You also have to get out of the water, and there won't be anybody to help you.

Really according to Von Maier you're not solo diving at all

However I would take issue with the notion that the divers on the pier/beach would be in any position to help you if your were in difficulty. They might be tired, narced, out of air etc Nor do they really know where you went when underwater. Furthermore, can you legitimately ask them to risk themselves to help you? I'm not sure.

Personally I at my level of diving, I wouldn't go it alone, but then again I'm conservative

jad0446

I've gone diving with a group, but and had a buddy paired with me (boyfriend). I might as well have been solo, as he had no idea where I was even though I was swimming right behind him.

So I reckon that even when you have a buddy, you could still be solo, especially if that buddy doesn't concentrate enough.

I don't see problems with solo dives as long as you are experienced and don't go past your limits. Personally I'd do it when I have more dive experience and I probably wouldn't go much deeper than about 10m.

ponybottle

Hi all,

Probably comming late to this thread but just joined the 'boards'

As a PADI diver I did my first 2 dozen or so dives on my own through lack of buddies.

On qualifying I asked my instructor had he any parting words of wisdom and without hesitation he said ' if you need a piece of kit then carry two of it'.

So I carry 2 masks, knives, torches, ponybottle, dsmb ( can be used to winch yourself to surface if bcd wimps out (wetsuited) or alternatively clip reel to belt, ditch and reel off the bottom )

Diving solo has risks which means you have to plan the dive and abort immediately anything even begins to look odd. Diving solo means you dive slowly and carefully which also means you see 10 times as much detail as you do with a buddy.

A buddy in difficulties is a hazard to you also !

Having said this I now dive with Viking SAC who are a great bunch ( a close encounter with a seal decided me in favour of seeking diving companions who can be nibbled on by seals ! )

Diving with considerate, well trained and equipped buddies is safe and fun and but otherwise can be more dangerous than going solo so I have no axe to grind either way.

The only limit I would place on the redundancy equipped solo diver is to avoid depth where narcosis will screw up that all important ability to make sound, quick, judgements leading to appropriate courses of action.

Chris