Is there a padi course for this? I know I'm a newbee, but was just curious because eventually I'll be doin this. no, I dont expect it will be any time soon, but was curious about the training and or special equipment that is needed. thanks for your comments.
I doubt PADi will condone solo diving anytime soon as one of their basic mantras is the buddy system.
I am currently in the process of training myself for solo diving. In my opinion, what you want to do first is read. There is a wealth of information on the web and a book by Robert Von Maier of the same title.
Solo diving is not rocket science nor is it hyper-technical diving unless you are going into caves by yourself or diving to depths where exotic mixes of gases are needed, etc. The bottom line is that you need to think very hard about what a buddy would do for you if you got into trouble and make arrangements for an alternate solution.
For example: if your air supply fails and you are with a buddy, you go to the surface sharing their air. Solo? You carry a pony bottle system. Your mask comes off and gets lost? Your buddy guides you, if solo, you carry a spare mask...etc., etc., etc.
von Maier says that you should not solo dive past twice your free dive depth and that is superb advice. You should also be very fit and an expert on your equipment and it's capabilities.
One way to train is to buddy dive and pretend you don't have a buddy. That way, you can practice emergency actions, but with a buddy around in case something goes awry. Of course, your buddy needs to understand that you are doing this and you need signals that allow you to "exit solo mode" if need be.
