What is your motivation to solo dive?

[SlugLife]

And I thought I was the only one. Well, I will on occasion poke down a bit deeper, but only a down & up. That's why I always vote that it's good to practice CESA on those argumentative threads... glorified snorkeling at 20-30 feet. No need for a pony bottle unless you get seriously entangled. I make sure to swim over anything suspicious.

The main reason most of my solo-dives are at 30ft, is because there's usually no reason to go deeper. At 30ft or less, the water is warmer, there's more light, air consumption is lower, emergency handling is more practical, and I can usually see or do all the same things at 30ft, as I would at 60, 90, or 120ft.

I'd estimate 60% are 30ft or less, 30% are 30-to-60ft, and 10% are deeper.

I understand anyone who doesn't at depths they've practiced CESA. I do carry redundant air on every dive, but I also do poke around in long seaweed, sometimes mess with anchors, and sometimes dive in zero-vis. At the same time, I don't usually concern myself with redundant computers, or mask, because I don't really need them for my usual kind of diving.

 

[Beorning]

New joiner here. I solo at shallow depths and shore dives, with the express purpose of finding good subjects to take pictures of. Usually do that during the changing of tides when creatures come and go. Was fortunate to come across things like giant barracuda's and schools of squid that just decide to hang around the area and not move away. You could get really close to them...

 

[mdwalter]

So why solo diving? Don’t have to find a buddy? You like to explore alone without constantly looking over your shoulder for your buddy? You dive with other people, but like having a two independent air sources when things go haywire? Do most of you who are solo certified go truly solo?

I regard every dive I do as a solo dive. Many of these are solo dives among friends (or strangers), some are solo dives in the same river / lake / ocean as friends (or strangers), some are solo dives as part of a forced encounter with an instabuddy on a boat with stupid rules, and many are solo dives all by myself.
Why? Well, first and foremost, I am the only one I trust to be invested enough in the preservation of my life and health to be in charge of safeguarding my life and health. Secondly, even when diving with others, there is no guarantee that separation will not occur. I like to be ready for that. Third, since "any diver can thumb the dive at any time for any reason", if my buddy(ies) bail early, before the dive, or on the boat, my dive can still happen. Next, since I'm always kitted for solo diving, when I do actually dive truly solo, I'm 100% familiar with all my kit because nothing is different. Finally (and I hate to say that, because there are probably several more reasons), even if I am diving in a team of 3 (optimal team size IMHO) with 2 other highly skilled and attentive divers, I like to remain self sufficient and not rely on the others to "save" me (and I appreciate when they do the same). This allows the other 2 divers to continue to monitor me and each other for safety, navigation, etc. while I deal with any technical issues myself. Then after the crisis is ended, we can calmly communicate about what happened, what to do next, and proceed accordingly.