How Many "Solo Divers" Begin and End Solo?

[Cacia]

Are many of you splashing with others and reserving the perogative to "do your own thing", or, are you kayaking out or shore diving literally all alone? trying to get an idea how prevalent solo diving is in the vicinity of others...dive boats...travel locations, etc.

99 % of the time I start my dive with others off the same boat. Half the time we finish together. 80 % of my dive cohorts are also "solo"...but we dive "together". Sort of. I would never consider shore diving alone, although I know many who do... I often consider the boat captain my "partner".

The reason this is important is that you might maximize your solo diving safety if you are implementing some buddy principles, at times. Thoughts?

 

[do it easy]

If I start with a buddy, I end with a buddy. Solo diving is not something that I decide mid-dive. However, there are a few people that I will wave off, but only because I trust that they can make it back to land safely.

Most of my boat diving is with a buddy, but I usually know people on the boat. If I were a single diver on a boat, I would probably prefer to solo or loosely follow another group. For the quarry dives, I usually have a buddy, but I might solo to do "my dives."

 

[HowardE]

If I dive solo, I start that way. If I dive with a buddy - I finish my dive with my buddy. I haven't solo dived because of losing a buddy.

 

[DennisS]

I frequently beach dive solo. If I drive by the beach and it's flat calm in the middle of the week at noon, it's hard to find a dive buddy. Sometimes I scooter, sometimes kayak, mostly just wade in and dive. I take advantage of the window of opportunity when it's like a lake.

I've dived off my boat a few times solo but it's not something I recommend. If I'm shore diving and a current kicks up I can make it to shore, it may not be where I came in but its shore. If I can't make it back to the boat, I have major problems. I tend to be very, very, conservative when diving solo off the boat, pretty much places I can shore dive from.

 

[Charlie99]

Most of my solo dives are shore dives. Sometimes I'll see other divers when at popular spots, such at Maui's Ulua. At some of my other preferred sites, there won't be any other divers, but usually some people lying on the beach, or boogie boarders in the surf zone. Virtually all of my pre-dawn dives are totally solo, with nobody anywhere to be seen, either above or below water.

The only place I solo off a boat regularly is in SE Florida. In that area, they count your float ball and flag as a buddy. If someone wants to come along on one of those dives, then I'll start off as a normal buddy dive, ascend just far enough to see the boat pick up my buddy once he hits his ascent pressure, and then continue on solo for the remainder of the dive. He also knows that the sign that will get me to ascend with him, no questions asked, is for him to point at me, and then give the ascent signal.

I'm a "plan your dive and dive your plan" sort of guy. It may be a very loose and flexible plan, but unless we have very explicitly agreed ahead of time that we won't be staying together, then I'll keep track of my buddy for the entire dive. My basic rule is "no surprises".

I don't see any advantage to "kind of solo" buddy dives. While in clear water the buddy distance can be quite a ways, it will either be a buddy dive or a solo dive, not some mixture of the two.

 

[Nemrod]

If I am with a buddy I do my best to stay with the buddy. If I am solo there may well be no other person any where around, ie, solo, totally alone and on my own.

"The reason this is important is that you might maximize your solo diving safety if you are implementing some buddy principles, at times. Thoughts?"

My thought is that safety is way over rated, live dangerous, die free. N

 

[all4scuba05]

The safest way to dive is DON'T DIVE.

 

[Dive-aholic]

About half and half. I've started and finished dives solo, but I've also started dives with a buddy and finished solo - always planned or at least agreed to during the dive. Usually I'm diving with my wife and one of us might decide we're done diving or we want to go explore different areas. We only do this in sites we're familiar with and usually sites shallower than 60'. Most of the dives are shore dives.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I buddy dive on the weekends. I solo dive on Wednesdays when I have the beach to myself.

 

[drbill]

I solo dive 80% of the time... sometimes from the beach, sometimes from the dive boat. The depths I dive and the deco obligations often incurred exclude most potential buddies. However, I enjoy buddy diving the rest of the time when my regular buddies are available.