solo diving as a beginner

[davidbaraff]

Although I've been diving solo for some 48 years, I would NEVER recommend to anyone else that they do it. I wouldn't have the knowledge of their diving abilities, or their response to emergencies, to make that decision unless I had been diving with them for some time.

I just got back from Casino Pt. where I ended up doing some solo dives, and some dives with "buddies" (aka people I met on the shore whom I buddied up with.) In one case, the buddy had 10x more years diving than I had (she had been certified for 10 years, me for one.)

Yet she's the one who decided that the way back to shore was to go deeper (how the hell could you get confused in Casino Pt of all places?) and didn't turn around till i grabbed a fin and said, firmly, "no, the other way", and she's the one who blew off the safety stop becuase of being too low on air. (Didn't even bother to ask me -- I had enough air for both of us and then some -- just kept going at 15' and disappeared up.)


What's funny is I debated REALLY REALLY hard about solo'ing on my first dive there, and was relieved I didn't have to. In retrospect, diving with a buddy their was the riskiest thing I did because I stupidly acceded to their judgements, because they had been certified since the 90's, and me since only 2008!

In contrast, the solo dives were, I honestly feel, safer. (I did keep my solo dives to between 25-35' though.)

My instructor, of all people, is the one who suggested I first try doing a solo dive, while with his group in Monterey, in a calm location with him on shore (but not suited up) with a depth of around 20-30' (and with plenty of kelp). He trained me (in Monterey), he's seen me do most of my first 15-20 dives, and he thought it was fine. I have implicit trust in him -- after diving for about a year (i know, still not a lot) i realize he trained us far better than many other instructors do -- and unless your buddy is right on top of you, self-reliance is a good thing. So if he thought it was OK, I wasn't going to argue with *his* judgement!

I heard the scare stories from a bunch of people about getting tangled up in kelp at Casino Pt. -- i have to say i'm baffled. Short of hugging the kelp and twirling around in it a few times, or deciding to surface directly under a big mass, how the heck do experienced people (i heard "we had instructors die in the kelp") get into trouble there? (Frankly, the only dangerous spot is right near the steps trying to break through the moss -- if your regulator tangled and you didn't have enough flotation in your BCD, you could get in trouble.)

Maybe I'm being naive -- in a location like Casino Pt., at a depth of 20-30 feet, I don't feel it's any more dangerous (to me) than snorkeling by myself.

 

[on_two_wheels]

Your dive with the other person was safer to YOU. Perhaps you made it safer for HER. Had you not been there to direct her the right way, perhaps she would have run out of air sooner and then had a panic situation. Ya never know. Additionally, it's the unlikely things that we don't think of that allow us to see things as safe. An unexpected surge slamming you on a rock leaving your unconscious, for example. Likely? Maybe not. Impossible? Definitely not.

 

[Tigerman]

Part of the problem with "should i solo or not" questions is that I wouldnt have the faintest idea what your divesites is like untill Ive been there and you wouldnt know how mine is.
If I go down to the lake just outside my appartement, there is no surges and the chance of one is about the same as for an earthquake. There is no seals, sharks or other "dangerous" marinelife to come make my day crappy. The entanglement hazard is close to non-existant and the boat traffic is slim.. Theres always more things that can go wrong, but the point is that you need to have some details on the site before you can make a half-qualified assesment of it wether its solo or not.
Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that the dive dont start and stop with going in and out of the water and in that regard you get a new set of parameters that can make solo diving a really bad experience..

 

[over50diver]

Why risk it? If you're OW certified, you know the dangers. Ten feet, 12 feet, 15 feet - taking the chance and becoming overconfident can lead to dangers later and unnecessary ego-laden risks, even if nothing happens this time.

Sorry, but it's just not a good idea. I agree with Mike . . .

 

[DougieIL]

I'm new. AOW, 26 dives, and still learning something new every dive. I just returned from the Carribean and dive locally as well. Clearly this is a polarizing subject, but you are in denial if you think diving alone is "safe". Of all the things I've learned so far the three most important things are never stop breathing, don't panic and never dive alone. It simply is not safe or smart. On a recent dive I had a tank leak. No way I would have known that. My BUDDY let me know and we ended the dive safely. Bad O ring. If I had run out air and been alone, an emergency ascent would have been very dangerous and probably not very controlled. Fishing line, or plant life or junk in the water are all things that entangle divers and perhaps you have a knife and stay calm and free yourself, and perhaps you panic and die. At least if you panic with a buddy, your buddy can possibly free you. It's not what you control that you need to worry about, it's about what you can't control. At least let someone know where and when you plan to risk your life.

 

[davidbaraff]

I think there's a flaw in a lot of these arguments by using the word "safe". Using "safer" would say a lot more.

As an example, snorkeling by myself at Casino Pt certainly isn't "safe" -- there are any number of thiings that could make me drown, yet if I had a snorkeling buddy, could be saved from. And the same goes for scuba diving.

I'm not going to skip snorkeling someplace because I don't have a buddy, if, other than that, I judge the conditions reasonably OK. Without a buddy, snorkeling, i could still bang my head on a rock, forget to inflate my BCD and sink, etc. etc. So snorkeling buddyless isn't safe, but it's "safe enough." that's my aim in scuba diving solo -- i'd rather have a good buddy, but if i can work the level of risk to something acceptable, that's fine with me. (and the argument about what's acceptable is one that's worth having, but obviously hard to quantify.)


You need to apply the same qualifications of course to any scuba dive. I traded off one set of risks going with a buddy for another going without. (On the dive with the buddy, I had the regulator kicked out of my mouth at 60 feet. first time that ever happened. by the time i recovered it, my buddy was too far away for them to help, and they never realized they did it. so, no, i don't accept that just because i was with a buddy, i was automatically safer. different set of risks.) And like I said, i had to deal with some silly other things they did.

I think anyone who's entering a blanket "that's not safe under any conditions" argument is wrong because there are no absolutes. It's got to be about acceptable level of risk, no matter what you do.

i also nearly got injured getting out of the water when the other half of the buddy team sprang to my assistance from the shore, tried to pull my funs off while i was kneeling on the steps in the surge, and came close to drowning me (if i hadn't had the reg still in my mouth). as it is, they banged my head against the rail and also hurt my knees trying to get my fins off. i was fine and didin't need the help at all! yes, if i had been knocked against the rocks coming in this person could have assisted me, but in a case where i didn't need help, he came close to injuring me!

 

[DevonDiver]

I'm new. AOW, 26 dives, and still learning something new every dive.

I have approx 4000 dives...and still learn new things every dive. In fact, the more I dive, the more aware I became of the dangers and problems that I faced.

 

[DaleC]

I don't post in places where I disagree with the ToS and rules. Forums are generally privately owned and therefore the owners can make up whatever rules they want.

I don't want to debate most of the post (as I've offered my opinion and will leave it at that) but I thought this one point was worth commenting on (as it does relate to new members to the forum).

There is nothing that says one must agree with the TOS or stickies 100 percent in order to participate on this forum. What is required is that one does not violate the TOS. There is a difference.

 

[Jupiter31]

Many diving related activities are not "safe" - Some of us solo dive on occasion; I don't think ANYONE is advocationg it for a brand new diver; certainly not me.

Cave diving, deep deco diving, wreck diving, and so on.....even solo diving, the subject of this thread. You could make a case diving itself is not safe; however the mortality rates say otherwise - the cave diving certification philosophy was (not a cave diver so I don't know if this is still true) "we are not saying this is an activity you should engage in, however, if you make the decision to do so, we will train you to the best of our abilities"

Before you solo dive be sure you have an idea what you don't know - and do all possible to minimize your risks - some experience, perhaps rescue certification, a back up air supply and so on.

Folks who are going to engage in this activity need to realize its risky (regardless of your experience and equipment).

I was on a charter when a diver died while diving solo a few years ago - not the game plan but he got separated from his buddy so the dive was solo - direct experience that maybe had his buddy been there the outcome might have been different.

 

[DaleC]

I was on a charter when a diver died while diving solo a few years ago - not the game plan but he got separated from his buddy so the dive was solo - direct experience that maybe had his buddy been there the outcome might have been different.

This is the type of post that causes solo diving to be held in a (falsely) dim view by some.
What you are describing is buddy seperation, not solo diving. Solo diving is an intentional act. If anything, this example illustrates a failure of the "buddy" system.