Diving alone in shallow, "controlled" conditions.

[johndiver999]

There is an avid and dedicated group of folks who solo dive, as you have discovered there is also a large group that will try to dissuade you.

The basic necessities of solo diving are having sufficiently redundant equipment to enable you to handle your own emergencies, things such as a fully redundant air supply, like a pony bottle with independent regulator, spare air, or doubles. You should also have a spare mask and redundant cutting tools. Everything should be reachable with either hand. Most importantly you should have the right attitude, you should be able to plan your dive, including air supply planning, be able to calmly handle any emergency, and be confident of your ability to deal with it without any help. That generally means practicing various emergency reactions until they are second nature to you.

The question is do you have the requisite experience to do that with only 5 dives after certification? Most would say you do not. Most agencies that teach solo diving require that you have a minimum of 100 dives before They allow you to enroll in order to ensure you have sufficient experience and can truly imagine all the things that might go wrong in order to truly prepare yourself mentally to react to them.

There is a solo diving sub forum on SB that has a wealth of information if you take the time to read it all.

The individual has indicated that the maximum possible depth is less than 20 feet. I would forego double tanks or redundant air supply for those depths, unless there were some unusual circumstances. As for a redundant mask, I have never carried one of those.

 

[loosenit2]

The individual has indicated that the maximum possible depth is less than 20 feet. I would forego double tanks or redundant air supply for those depths, unless there were some unusual circumstances. As for a redundant mask, I have never carried one of those.

Those are choices every solo diver makes for themselves, hence solo. I always dive the same pony bottle rig whether I am at 20 ft or 100 ft, I find there is value in the muscle memory associated with standardized gear.

 

[HDP]

There is an avid and dedicated group of folks who solo dive, as you have discovered there is also a large group that will try to dissuade you.

The basic necessities of solo diving are having sufficiently redundant equipment to enable you to handle your own emergencies, things such as a fully redundant air supply, like a pony bottle with independent regulator, spare air, or doubles. You should also have a spare mask and redundant cutting tools. Everything should be reachable with either hand. Most importantly you should have the right attitude, you should be able to plan your dive, including air supply planning, be able to calmly handle any emergency, and be confident of your ability to deal with it without any help. That generally means practicing various emergency reactions until they are second nature to you.

The question is do you have the requisite experience to do that with only 5 dives after certification? Most would say you do not. Most agencies that teach solo diving require that you have a minimum of 100 dives before They allow you to enroll in order to ensure you have sufficient experience and can truly imagine all the things that might go wrong in order to truly prepare yourself mentally to react to them.

There is a solo diving sub forum on SB that has a wealth of information if you take the time to read it all.

^^^^^
What he said Get more experience and do a self-reliant course

 

[TMHeimer]

My solo shore diving is pretty much the type you are talking about, though I usually go deeper-- no deeper then 30' (10m). I have broken my rule on rare occasions, but never stay deeper than 30' very long--just to see if anything's down there.
I first solo dived after 75 dives with a buddy, but my buddy moved, and soloing was just much easier due to my location.
I can't really say that you should wait to do 75 buddy dives, but there should be enough dives for you to be familiar enough with your equipment so diving with it is second nature.
I take no redundancies. I practice a controlled ascent ("CESA"), exhaling, starting up with lungs half full. Carry a knife and stay well clear of anything that could possibly be an entanglement. I bungee my first stage mouthpiece around my head to hold it in my mouth should I ever go unconscious for any reason (hope that would work....). I see no need to take the Solo/Self reliant course for this type of diving, plus it is not offered anywhere around here that I know of.
That's what I do. Everyone has their own risk assessment.

I sometimes refer to a dive to 7m or so as glorified snorkeling--or free diving like you do and like they call it today. You dive down to the bottom to do stuff (in my case to collect shells) and back up shortly since you have no tank. The difference on scuba of course is breathing compressed air. Other than that, my thought is you are safer with a tank on your back as long as you don't ascend holding your breath. Perhaps solo scuba to 20-30' is safer than free diving...? If you get tangled free diving at 30' how much air do you have to get yourself free?
You can have a heart attack on either scuba or free diving alone. I'm going by myself to the cabin next month for 2 1/2 weeks. Anything can happen.

 

[GJC]

What are you thoughts? Would it be crazy to bring oxygen next time?

Also, are there any problems with scuba diving in open cell wetsuits?

I think it would not be a good idea for you to solo dive at this point. You need more experience diving with scuba gear so you are very familiar with your equipment. You also need to know what can go wrong underwater and how to fix it. You can learn some of this on Scubaboard, but not everything you need to know. Right now, you should do more dives with a buddy, and later, take a solo diver course.

You should not have any problems scuba diving with an open cell wetsuit.