Have you experienced a negative reaction to your pursuit of solo diving?

[Sas]

DaleC, just a thought that may not be relevant to you, but do you think some of the negative reaction could just be to you personally solo diving? You have 50-99 dives and you dive solo. I don't have an opinion about you doing this, it's your call and I don't know how you are as a diver to know whether it is a smart thing on your behalf. But most people would think it is foolhardy given your limited experience as most people have paternalist leanings. Note I am not supporting them, but I am just wondering if that is why you in particular get such a negative reaction.

Put up with the mind numbing comments
Tell many otherwise good people to f-ck off
keep it to myself

I would go with a and b, never c. In everything, not just solo diving (i.e. I am the only atheist in a hardcore Young-Earth creationist evangelical family, I know what it is like to be hassled ) As I have said before, the only person who I would listen to about solo diving is my partner as in a relationship I have to respect when he gets worried about me and compromise around that (I give him my dive plan).

You go to a really screwed up LDS. I would not go to a store like that on principal, no matter now interesting they were to talk to.

 

[DaleC]

DaleC, just a thought that may not be relevant to you, but do you think some of the negative reaction could just be to you personally solo diving? You have 50-99 dives and you dive solo. I don't have an opinion about you doing this, it's your call and I don't know how you are as a diver to know whether it is a smart thing on your behalf. But most people would think it is foolhardy given your limited experience as most people have paternalist leanings. Note I am not supporting them, but I am just wondering if that is why you in particular get such a negative reaction.

Judging from the fact that even instructors "keep it to themselves" I'd say no but that's all part of it isn't it. People usually see things from their own perspective. I think a solo diver is a generic image for most onto which their own preconcieved ideas are projected. Very few people stop to ask how I approach the activity before they begin to tell me why it is unsafe.

I would go with a and b, never c. In everything, not just solo diving (i.e. I am the only atheist in a hardcore Young-Earth creationist evangelical family, I know what it is like to be hassled ) As I have said before, the only person who I would listen to about solo diving is my partner as in a relationship I have to respect when he gets worried about me and compromise around that (I give him my dive plan).

In that regard I'm more of a surfer than a cowboy and generally prefer not to harsh my mellow. I do not get anything out of taking on all comers anymore. You could break both your hands trying to knock sense into all the dough heads in the world.

You go to a really screwed up LDS. I would not go to a store like that on principal, no matter now interesting they were to talk to.

It's not so screwed up - just very stuck in a paradigm. Again, now that I am older I find that I can have relationships with people even though I (or they) don't agree with everything. Most divers are really nice people and I like them. They just have been taught that a certain activity is unsafe and struggle to see it differently. To them (sub conciously) solo diving threatens their safety as they have been taught that they will be safe if they are with a buddy.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Interesting topic Dale (as are most of your topics ).

Walter does a great job summing up my own experience diving solo since 1976:

Solo is taboo in most circles. I don't advertise that I dive solo, but I don't hide it either. From time to time, people will tell me I shouldn't be solo diving. I listen politely and continue diving solo. In most cases, those folks are people who really have no idea what the risks of diving solo might be and I'm not concerned about their comments at all...

My experience is that a lot of people frown on solo. However, people in Hawaii generally are pretty polite to strangers, and usually I'll just get an odd look. I also primarily shore dive in uncrowded locations, gear-up and hit the water quickly, so I'm a sort of "ninja solo diver"

My feeling, stange as it sounds, is that solo should remain taboo (here in Hawaii it would be called "kapu" ). Sort of like sex, I advise my kids and new divers to put it off for as long as possible, for much the same reasons

Best wishes.

 

[cruiser]

I haven't had any negative reactions about my solo diving. In my 3 years of diving, though, I've discovered LOTS of people (DM's, open water divers, instructors) solo dive, they just don't advertise the fact.

 

[Nemrod]

When I was a teenager, my mom would always demand that I tell her which quarry I would be sneeking into (and tresspassing to dive). She always would tell me that she wanted to know where they should look for my body. Is that a negative reaction?

Your mother then shares gray hair with mine, bless her. In fact, I still give my mother gray hair and not just from scuba diving without some buddy. N

 

[Walter]

My feeling, stange as it sounds, is that solo should remain taboo

I agree.

 

[ti325v]

Okay, so I am new to this forum....just trolling around reading the posts and I am really surprised that it is such a big deal, I do solo decompression dives every week. Who cares ? I have no family no responsibilities, I am a damn fine instructor. I NEVER encourage or discuss unless asked by a student anything about my solo diving. My life my business, my insurance is paid up if they want to bother to recover my body, I say..strip off my gear, throw me back in, sell the stuff and have a whopper of a party ! after all I KNOW for a fact that I am safer solo then with students. Yes even in deco. Of course all my gear is top shelf, I dive doubles..am completely redundant and having an AMAZING time.
I know the risks I know the rewards, my choice.

 

[tracy_from_oz]

I think it comes down to many factors.

We are taught to always dive with a buddy and that is stressed into us in the PADI learning system but we know people solo dive.

I haven't had many negative reactions myself. I just leave a note to someone saying im going diving and be back when.
Its easier as my work hours are nuts and I dive spots that im familiar with.
But don't get me wrong I love diving with friends.
I do not openly discuss it at the dive store with others but the owner knows and just tells me to pop in before I go for a dive and back when im done. But then again he needs to fill my tanks so no worries there.

I think it comes down to comfort and skills. Can you trust yourself to get out of a situation if something happens. And that comes to skills practice.

Lets be honest some times it is easier to dive with just ourselves then with buddies.

I know there are most operators where I am that wont allow solo diving and that is just because of insurance and I respect that.

There is always going to be someone who says its wrong, well until they work out how to make money out of it.

Safety is the key I think and ignorance is what we get from people who don't ask questions about solo diving.

But then again my partner is supportive as apparently I have a large life insurance policy.

And none of what ive said has anything I don't think to do with the topic question at hand :-}

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

This wasn't a negative reaction, exactly ... but in hindsight it was kinda funny. I like to get away to my local mudhole a couple times a week with just me and my camera. There's a bottle field down at between 80 and 95 fsw that usually has some interesting stuff to take pictures of. I like to get down there on days when there's very little diver traffic, because the place is easily silted out. So one day I'm down there all by my lonesome when suddenly two other divers come swimming by, waving at me and completely silting the place out. I waved back, packed up my camera and moved to another part of the dive site. A coupla minutes later, these same two divers are back ... kicking the crap outta the bottom and making it basically impossible for me to get any decent pictures. So I moved on again ... only to have them show up again. By this time, I'm getting furious! There's three freak'n divers in the water and these two gotta glom onto me and just won't leave me alone! Figuring the dive's a bust, I headed upslope to where I normally do my safety stop ... only to have them show up again! By the time I hit the surface I was pretty upset with these two ... who, unbelievably, had stuck with me right to the point where I stood up to take off my fins. One guy spits his reg out and said ... with a huge smile on his face ... "What a great dive. We noticed you'd lost your dive buddy and decided to keep an eye on ya". I didn't know whether to laugh or scream. After taking a few deep breaths I explained to them that I dive solo here so often the fish know my name. Thanks for your concern, but really ... I prefer the solitude. They meant well, I couldn't stay mad at 'em.

A couple weeks ago I spent three days on a liveaboard with 21 other divers ... all of us with some level of *** training (hint ... there were 22 similarly configured rigs aboard ... something to do with metal plates and extra long hoses). I did two of my 11 dives solo. The only reaction I got was, initially, several people offering to buddy up with me. When I said I'd prefer doing the dive solo people started saying things like "Well, see ya down there" or "Have a great dive".

I guess what I'm tryin' to say is that a lot of the reaction we receive depends as much on our expectations of people ... and how we respond to them ... as it does their preconceived notions of whether solo diving is OK or not. Maybe we have more control over that than a lot of people believe we do.

Seems that way to me, at least ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DIVERHERB]

Most people I know frown upon my solo diving, but honestly I feel safer diving alone. I have no one to worry about but myself so I tend to concentrate more on what is going on around me. I generally spearfish when I am diving and trying to keep track of a buddy and spear at the same time is not the easiest thing to do, so I go it alone most of the time. The only exception is there is always someone on the boat while I am in the water, I never leave that unattended.