solo diving advice?

[spectrum]

I'm thinking of doing some solo diving at 30'-40' off shore anyone have any tips and or advice? thanks

"Off shore"? Do you mean from a boat or from the shore? If it's the former be sure to at least have a boat person.

Buddy diving and solo diving are all safe and easy when it all goes right. When solo you have fewer resources to work with.

Even in 30 or 40 feet you can become entangled, blow a tank connection o-ring or have anything else Murphy can dish out happen. Do you think you have thought all of this through and have reasonable response plans, equipment and the associated skills? Your profile lacks any useful information.....

I would strongly suggest holding off until you have competed the Rescue Diver class. It will teach you a lot about error proofing, stress management, and recognizing a potential incident before it becomes an accident.

A healthy progression is:
1) New diver: This is easy enough, I can dive solo with my training.
2) Novice diver: I can see a lot of things can happen while diving and a buddy can be beneficial, maybe crucial.
3) Experienced diver with solo aspirations: I have a good understanding of the risks of diving. I have training, experience and equipment to manage these risks on my own.

If you are at #3 then you probably would not be asking this question today.

There is no magic bullet or singular answer to this question. It's all about personal risk assessment. Are you feeling lucky today?

Dive safe & Often,
Pete

 

[ASA400]

Back in 1988, I lived in Guam and was diving about 4 days a week. There is a dive spot in Guam called the Piti Bomb Holes. This area was inside the fringing reef and had nice coral formations. It also had a bottom of less than 30 feet. So, unless you went outside the reef, you couldn't go deeper than one atmosphere. This is where I did some solo diving. I had dived the area many times, probably close to a couple of dozen times. It had great macro photography and that's what I did. I felt quite safe there and encountered no problems.

So, I do think there is a place for solo diving, but like the others above have stated, you really need to be sure in your skills, have absolute buoyancy control, and be ready to abort a dive at a moment's notice.

Now, for the big white elephant in the corner of the room. More times than not, when diving in California I was a solo diver. I had a buddy on every one of these dives, but my "buddy" was more interested in photography or hunting than watching a buddy. I felt much more alone on these dives than any of the solo dives I had done in Guam. I've found hunters to be the worst about watching my back. To the point that I won't buddy up with a hunter on a dive boat. I feel that one needs to be self-reliant when on any dive. And just because you have a "buddy" doesn't mean that you are, in fact, not solo diving.

 

[TMHeimer]

Solo diving makes you a safer and better diver as it teaches you to be self-sufficient. If you want to continue to solo dive I would suggest you get yourself a small pony tank (19 is a good size) and dive with it slung. Dive Rite sells a sling kit that works fine.

Other stuff aside, nah, I don't see the point of a pony. Equipment malfunction? Do a CESA--at your proposed depths. Entanglement?--how much extra air is in the pony? OOA?--should never happen, but do a CESA anyway. Also, I don't personally like slinging it--like it attached to my tank--just cleaner, though many disagree.

 

[Tardigrade]

These are good people. Lots of us have tried, or watched, resuscitation. Gross. Sad. Horrid.

If people fish where you're going, you'll prolly get entangled. Practice removing your scuba (over your head, around both sides). I hope your lead isn't all on your bc if you dive wet.

You also might get hooked- not fun if they think they have a monster and the hook's in your leg.

Dusk or night dive? I've had masks knocked off by fish.

Umm... what else hasn't been said... just THINK; then REACT (not the other way around).

 

[TMHeimer]

These are good people. Lots of us have tried, or watched, resuscitation. Gross. Sad. Horrid.

If people fish where you're going, you'll prolly get entangled. Practice removing your scuba (over your head, around both sides). I hope your lead isn't all on your bc if you dive wet.

You also might get hooked- not fun if they think they have a monster and the hook's in your leg.

Dusk or night dive? I've had masks knocked off by fish.

Umm... what else hasn't been said... just THINK; then REACT (not the other way around).

Good advice. I have been somewhat entangled in fishing line (on the bottom, not from active fishermen) in Texas. I'm fortunate that this situatuation is non-existant here in Nova Scotia.

 

[Rich Keller]

There is nothing wrong with solo diving if you have enough experience and are properly equipped. Staying shallow is a good idea as is having a second air supply but it all comes down to hours in the water. If you are not comfortable with your gear or just being in the water you are not ready yet. When I started my buddy at the time did not stay with the sport and there was no one else I knew who would even consider diving so I either dove solo or not at all. Not at all was not an expectable option to me so I started solo very early. I have been diving for 41 years and in that time I have dove with 5 people, 3 of them only once.

EDIT: I left out a couple of the positive aspects of diving solo. You will get a lot more diving in if you are going on your own schedule as apposed to diving only when someone is also available. You are not subject to another diver panicking that could then cause you a problem.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

First off, I solo dive ... so I'm not coming at this from a "don't solo dive" perspective.

That said, I think you're a bit light on experience to even be considering it. Depths are not a determining factor ... I've personally know four people who died on shallow dives ... one of them was intentionally solo and with roughly your experience level. No one knows why he died ... there's a cross on the bottom where they found his body ... he thought (correctly) that it was a pretty benign dive site, and that (incorrectly) nothing could go wrong that he couldn't handle.

On the other hand, one of the attractions to diving is that we all get to make our own decisions ... make yours as you see fit. On my website you'll find an article on solo diving that may provide you with some things to think about before you do ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DivemasterDennis]

If you have chosen to do this, here are ABSOLUTE MUSTS TO FOLLOW:

1. Make sure all equipment is in good working order in a pool or very shallow depth prior to diving
2. Have a shore person. Tell them you dive plan as to depth, duration and location.
3. Have a dive flag attached to YOU. Don't tie it off for convenience.
4. Tell someone other than your shore person where you are diving, what you dive plans are (location duration, depth and duration, and number of dives.
5. Call the person designated in item 4 when you are done diving and tell them you are done and ok.
6. Dive within the limits of your experience and competence.
7. Dive a site or sites you have dove before and are familiar with as you start solo ventures.
I have enjoyed some solo dive and confess I have not always followed all these suggestions, but should have and do now. Be conservative be safe, and make solos the exception- not the rule.
DivemasterDennis

 

[DaleC]

Absolute musts?

I rarely have a shore person with me and never tow a flag (sometimes my brother comes along and tries his hand at fishing). What part of you gets ripped off when a boat uses it (the flag) as a slalom marker? And why would you need to tell someone else, as well as your shore tender, where you are going. We can make suggestions but there really are no "musts" in solo diving. Almost everything is situationally dependant.

 

[DevonDiver]

Solo diving makes you a safer and better diver as it teaches you to be self-sufficient.

Adam, I don't think this is a fair assumption to make. It depends entirely on the mindset of the individual diver. It would be nice to think that a responsible diver would take the time to consider and mitigate risks before engaging in solo diving - thus it would be a pro-active learning experience for them. However, in many cases, divers engage in solo diving without any special considerations, training or pre-emptive risk mitigation,... and only learn if/when something bad happens. Learning by your mistakes is a form of russian roulette in the underwater environment.

If you have chosen to do this, here are ABSOLUTE MUSTS TO FOLLOW:

3. Have a dive flag attached to YOU. Don't tie it off for convenience.

I wouldn't advise anyone to attach a dive float/flag to themselves. But yes, I do agree with the concept that the diver must be holding the float/flag and not leaving it secured in a static position.

As DaleC said, I do think that this is situationally dependant, rather than a "must". The obvious need is when diving in an area with boat traffic and/or water movement.

However, if you do have a problem, a dive flag/float will enable an immediate rescue, without the need for a search. That is a nice insurance policy to have.

An alternative would be to deploy a DSMB. That can be coded with your surface support to mean 'I have a problem, please come and help immediately'. The only drawback is that you might be unable to deploy the DSMB in some problem scenarios.

4. Tell someone other than your shore person where you are diving, what you dive plans are (location duration, depth and duration, and number of dives.

Good advice, but it won't address any immediate, life-critical, safety concerns. Unlike solo hiking/climbing, where you can wait around with a broken leg for this process to find you, in scuba diving you will need a more immediate response. Having an immediate and competant source of help is the most critical resource.... surface cover (with an effective emergency plan) is everything.

6. Dive within the limits of your experience and competence.

I would go further than this. Dives completed solo should be well within the limits of your experience and competence.

It's hard to ascertain where our true limits are; given that any emergency situation will considerably add to our tasking, workload and psychological stress. It's best to assume that, in an emergency, our competence will only be a fraction of what it is under optimal conditions.