Solo dive question, max depth 25'

[boulderjohn]

---

---

A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Yes, it has been reopened. Please remember that this is a green zone and keep discussions at a high level of civility.

---

 

[Quaglinoman]

I appreciate all of the advice gang!! I am green to this forum. I prefer to look at things and not worry about a buddy, all to often it feels like it becomes a dive on focusing where your buddy is than the dive itself. I have dove there twice, can still see it in my head. I am not a diver with 50+ dives, but I am overly cautious and respectful of my environments (case in point, I dove the Blue Grotto, even with the OK from a dive master, I made my buddy stay at 60 ft. as that was my certification at the time lol) and I ALWAYS keep tabs on air and surroundings lol. I have been with some experienced divers but were to reckless for me.

Going to try to find some buddies, then after a few more dives there possibly move to solo after reading up more on Solo practices.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I appreciate all of the advice gang!! I am green to this forum. I prefer to look at things and not worry about a buddy, all to often it feels like it becomes a dive on focusing where your buddy is than the dive itself. I have dove there twice, can still see it in my head. I am not a diver with 50+ dives, but I am overly cautious and respectful of my environments (case in point, I dove the Blue Grotto, even with the OK from a dive master, I made my buddy stay at 60 ft. as that was my certification at the time lol) and I ALWAYS keep tabs on air and surroundings lol. I have been with some experienced divers but were to reckless for me.

Going to try to find some buddies, then after a few more dives there possibly move to solo after reading up more on Solo practices.

Going solo isn't necessarily the right response to buddy issues anyway ... in fact, it rarely is. Developing good buddy habits not only reduces the need to focus on your buddy all the time, it enhances the dive ... now you have two pairs of eyes to find those really special things you're going down there to see instead of just one. There are some techniques involved ... and it does take a commitment by both of you to follow them ... but diving as part of a coordinated buddy pair has its own satisfaction.

There's an article on my website that might give you some pointers ... NWGratefulDiver.com

Finding and developing regular buddies always helps. And it's quite doable for local diving.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[djtimmy77]

That's the truth. I have done BHB solo several times, however when you have a good buddy, you see a lot more critters because you are both looking for them! I highly prefer diving with a buddy who has a similar goal as me. Now that being said, it might take a little effort to find someone who has the same goals as yourself. Someone who wants to swim around, cover a lot of ground, and look at the larger fish wouldn't be a good buddy for someone who wants to creep along the bottom looking for tiny critters.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

I started solo diving at age 15 because few people wanted to dive with a kid and my other teenage buddies weren't often available. The training that I had undergone at the open water level was more like the survival training that you see in a US Navy scuba training video. Training wasn't just how to safely use the scuba unit, it was how to survive in it should this or that fail. We were harassed, air was turned off, regs were taken away, we had to buddy breathe the old fashioned way, and it was challenging. More than a few times I swallowed water and felt like I was going to drown. But, the training did accomplish it's goal of making me confident and independent of the instructor. My instructor caught me diving alone one day at a lake, but didn't chew me out. Instead, he asked me how my dive was and if I saw or found anything interesting during the dive. I asked him, "Aren't you going to yell at me for diving alone?" He replied that if I felt comfortable doing it then it should be perfectly fine.

What I didn't learn in my initial training, though, was how to be a really good dive buddy. We learned to buddy dive, but not dive as the beautiful unified team I learned in technical training. Like Bob said, solo diving is no excuse for poor team skills. Quality team skills allow you to know just how far away from a Utopian reference point of safety you might be when planning or conducting a solo dive.

Skilled divers often solo dive due to their mood or lack of a buddy that day. Sometimes, you want to hike alone, go to a movie alone, or do anything that you find pleasurable alone. Sometimes, we want to go out with the guys, but everyone is busy so you go to something alone. Diving is no different. There are added risks in solo diving just like there are added risks to going to a movie in the city alone. But, buddies don't always protect you from trouble. How many of us have been dragged into a situation because of the behavior of a friend on land? Remember being a kid and your friend mouthing off to a cop or a rival group of teens? A friend may do something stupid underwater too. That's where maturity comes into play in a team. Each team member must think about the health and welfare and the comfort zone of the other guy(s).

If you want to learn to be a solid diver take a class known for building quality teams and then take a solo class from a solo instructor who has a really good reputation. You'll be in a win-win situation and have a better platform of skills and knowledge to solo dive more safely if that is what you choose.

 

[Kharon]

What I didn't learn in my initial training, though, was how to be a really good dive buddy. We learned to buddy dive, but not dive as the beautiful unified team

Amen!!! I've always wondered why, if buddy diving was so extremely important, it's taught at such a completely superficial level.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Amen!!! I've always wondered why, if buddy diving was so extremely important, it's taught at such a completely superficial level.

Most things taught in OW are taught at a completely superficial level. It's due in part to the rather short duration of the class, in part to the broad range of things that need to be taught, and in part because learning anything at more than a superficial level is going to take more than four or five dives.

That said, being a good buddy is as much about mindset as it is about skill. You have to start with the concept of "our" dive rather than "my" dive ... and then adopt a few behavioral patterns we're not used to. Chief among them is the act of turning your head to see what you've always been accustomed to seeing in your peripheral vision ... because peripheral vision goes away once you put on a scuba mask. Buddy diving requires awareness ... which requires you to be able to see what your buddy's doing. Since this takes effort most folks aren't used to, they often don't do it ... substituting "assume" for "see", and then being taken by surprise when their assumption (that their buddy is where they expect them to be) turns out not to be the case.

Fortunately it's not really that hard of a skill to learn. With a willingness to learn and about a dozen dives worth of conscious effort, you can do it without even thinking about it anymore ... until you decide to pick up a camera ... then the process has to start all over again ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[uncfnp]

All dive buddies moved, want to dive. I enjoy Blue Heron Bridge in Florida. A shore dive with lots of life. Max depth is 25', most areas are at 20' so ditching would be easy. I do trust my gear and ALWAYS dive safe, never exceeding my certifications.

i have the buddy system in my head, but often we would split up anyway. What are people's thoughts on this? Is a site like this ok for solo diving?

I see you found the BHB Trolls thread. There is also a Solo Divers sub forum if/when you are ready to learn more about that option.

 

[boulderjohn]

Most things taught in OW are taught at a completely superficial level. It's due in part to the rather short duration of the class, in part to the broad range of things that need to be taught, and in part because learning anything at more than a superficial level is going to take more than four or five dives.

For whatever it may be worth, the new PADI standards and procedures for OW instruction do increase the training emphasis on the buddy system.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

For whatever it may be worth, the new PADI standards and procedures for OW instruction to increase the training emphasis on the buddy system.

... hopefully that will start a trend ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)