Some of the advice given here is ridiculous, and obviously given by people who either don't solo dive or have a phobia about it.
I think you'll find that most of the contributors here are solo divers, do a greater or lesser degree.
I don't carry any dive flag here as there is little boat traffic and the big problem is surge, surf and kelp and towing a flag here is just not practical.
As I, and others, have stated - it is locationally dependent. However, it is wrong to think of a surface float as being 'only to identify yourself to boaters'. If you had a problem underwater, a deployed float would mean instant retrival. Without the float, any rescuers would have to search for you. If they found you at all, then it'd be too late for you. A float can mean the difference between a rescue and body recovery.
That said, if the float itself posed hazards (
entanglement in kelp), then you'd carry/use a DSMB.... just as you would in regular/buddied diving. The drawback to that, is that you have to deploy it - which might not be possible in some scenarios.
Also having a shore person is not practical
Why not? How is it 'impractical'?
and negates some of the advantage of diving solo, which is to be independent and not having someone with you.
I thought the 'advantage' was not having someone with you
underwater. I am failing to see how having some surface cover is in any way detrimental or inconvenient to the solo diver...
There's a blurry line between independance and convenience. In this case, I think your comments seem to reflect a desire for
convenience rather than safe independance.
The bottom line is if you're that [-]terrified[/-] apprehensive of solo diving just don't do it.
Edited to reflect the reality of considering stress management within the overal risk assessment of the dive. If a diver is at, or near, a psychological stress threshold
before they encounter a problem, then it is highly likely that they won't be effective to respond when further external stress stimulae are placed upon them.
To dive effectively you have to be relaxed. But if you want to dive solo just start easy and build up your confidence.
Any dive is 'easy' until something goes wrong. Go solo and drop down to 250ft on a bounce dive.... easy.
Any dive only becomes 'hard' when something goes wrong. In that respect, a solo shore dive to 10' is 'easy', but minor issue, such as entanglement, can immediately shift the technical complexity and stress factor of the dive beyond the divers' competence level.
Some dives are more, or less, survivable in the event of a problem occuring. The difference is determined by the likelihood of something going wrong, the psychological impact of that event and the skill/experience/knowledge needed to overcome that emergency.
Solo dives are always going to be less survivable than a buddy dive. Deep dives are less survivable. Overhead dives are less survivable. Deco dives are less survivable etc etc
Let's be realistic about those risks... and use intelligence to mitigate them... rather than pretend they don't exist.
Is true confidence built from enjoying dives where nothing goes wrong?
Or is it built from a developed assurance that you have dealt with, and overcome, the sort of problems that are reasonably likely to occur on the dives you do?
IMHO, too many divers have a false confidence, based on a
lack of experience. Confidence has to be based on proven capacity in worst case scenarios.
I also take a safety sausage, a light, and a Dive Alert in case I'm injured and need to call for help,...
To whom are you calling for help? I didn't think you agreed with the need for surface support? Are you
assuming that there will always be a ready supply of eager rescuers who can be trusted to leap into action on your behalf if you have a problem?
That's a very idealised, and perhaps naive, expectation to have of strangers...