Solo diving

[pygar]

Well, I have been snorkeling over there many times and seen rocks and such deeper than I could go w/o gear. So I asked around and many people go shallow over there when the weather is iffy on the ocean side. Kinda like Blue Heron, there is a small fishing pier there. The Oleta beach area is open to Biscayne Bay, so about the same viz I would think. Usually what i do... is take my yak around thru the Oleta River and head then over towrds the beach area. I have been told there is an abundance of fish and I am hoping for....you know what....with antennae. Hey, ya never know. Whaattya think?

 

[DebbyDiver]

Hey, I've kayaked right there a few times myself! I think a reconnaissance mission is in order!

 

[pygar]

What's the weather gonna be like Sunday? Also I understand that there is an island called "Gilligan's Island". It looks to be a good paddle from the mouth of the Oleta tho. Anyways, plenty of room to anchor and dive I think.

 

[fisherkid]

What's the weather gonna be like Sunday? Also I understand that there is an island called "Gilligan's Island". It looks to be a good paddle from the mouth of the Oleta tho. Anyways, plenty of room to anchor and dive I think.

Gilligans island is a bike trail there the larger island that you are thinking of is called Sandspur Island. Its not such a bad paddle out there. I've done it many times.

 

[Mambo Dave]

Cool. I forgot about this thread.

Sandspur Island Florida

Sanspur island gets absolutely loaded with boats beached up on the sand on weekends. It's a drinking and cook-out spot. Due to the numbers of boats in that area on the weekend I, personally, probably would not be comfortable diving right around it. Early in the morning, especially on these cooler mornings, you'd probably be OK though.

But I have mountain biked in Oleta park a lot, and would like to dive or freedive in and around it someday. Fisherkid is correct about Gilligan's Island - that's actually an advanced riding trail in Oleta park that throws riders into nearly pure anaerobic riding while needing a high amount of skill. (There are a good amount of Beginner and Intermediate trails in Oleta for riders to do, too, plus bike rentals, so think about trying it out after doing some diving if you're gonna be down there.)

 

[cyberfed]

While I don't think I would ever solo dive ever personally, my opinion is if you are going to do it at the very least have a fully redundant SCUBA setup..i.e separate pony bottle with a 1st and 2nd stage independent of your primary setup.

My reasoning for not solo diving is what if something happens to me, I don't me things I can fix myself like equipment failure or running out of air. What if in the unlikely event you are bitten by something and need the assistance of someone else? Or what if you have a health condition such as a heart attack or stroke...maybe you don't even know you suffer from either illness? What if you pass out by accident from hitting your head, or getting a crappy air/nitrox fill?
You can come up with a lot of 'what if's that it would be damn good to have someone there with you. Those are the reasons personally I will never solo dive.

My 2 cents..

 

[eric gundrum]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned filing a dive plan with someone onshore. Maybe because this is something we all should be doing for every dive.

With all I've been reading recently, I now realize I don't leave nearly enough details with my on-shore people. I could go missing for many hours before anyone would notice. I'll have to talk with my buddy about how we might better handle this.

 

[Venus]

i file a plan every time i go to the lake an dive solo

I'm surprised no one has mentioned filing a dive plan with someone onshore

 

[eric gundrum]

KathyDee describes a great experience in which a DMT had to be rescued: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...-real-rescue-course-very-close-near-miss.html.

Apparently he was going "solo" to swim from one class group to another when something bad happened. I'd encourage anyone considering solo diving to read that thread. I don't mean to scare people off, but just realize how bad things can happen when least expected.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

KathyDee describes a great experience in which a DMT had to be rescued: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...-real-rescue-course-very-close-near-miss.html.

Apparently he was going "solo" to swim from one class group to another when something bad happened. I'd encourage anyone considering solo diving to read that thread. I don't mean to scare people off, but just realize how bad things can happen when least expected.

Thanks for posting the link. Interesting reading, but here is the quote from that post that is most illuminating:

"He apparently left one OW group to swim to another. Based on his location, he most likely got lost between groups. He remembers fear and hyperventilating, then to the surface. It is estimated that his (most likely rapid-non-breathing ascent) occurred in 12-14 m of water and resulted in an embolism in his brain. After 7-8 trips to the recompression chamber he is doing much better and is projected to make a 100% recovery but no diving for quite a while."

I agree that he would certainly have died if he were actually solo. But, this diver wasn't actually "solo", and was not ready to be solo.

I hope the diver has made a full recovery and returns to diving soon, and I'm not trying to belittle the victim, but this injury was not caused be being solo, but was the result of borderline panic and a rapid non-breathing ascent. It was not a random "bad things can happen when least expected" incident. The incident as described was self-inflicted and entirely preventable. And had the victim not been literally surrounded by instructors, near to a boat with trained responders and oxygen, and on top of that relatively close to medical help he would have died. This has nothing to do with diving solo.

Solo diving is certainly not something to take lightly. There are situations that only a buddy can save you from, and any diver considering solo diving needs to acknowledge that those situations do exist. You do your best to try to avoid or at least minimize the "no escape" situations if you are going to go solo. There are situations that equipment redundancy can help with, but there are also situations in which equipment redundancy provides a false sence of security, and may in fact just add complexity and failure points rather than safety.

Disclaimer: The vast majority of my dives are "buddy" dives. However, I have been diving solo since 1976. I'd say about 1 out of every 7 or 8 dives I make are solo dives. That would total about 100-150 solo dives. So I'm far from an expert on solo diving, or on anything to do with diving really

What works for me is diving on calm days at sites I know very well, letting someone know where I'm going, checking in by cellphone before and after the dive. I stay shallow (normally <40 feet) and close to the entrance/exit point on shore. I use the same equipment I do for buddy dives. The atmosphere is my redundant air supply.

Best wishes.