solo diving as a beginner

[Afakasi]

So...I just did my first dive (a fun dive with a local dive shop) last night after being OW certified two weeks ago. The dive was in a freshwater lake with a sand beach entrance and very calm water. At the end of the dive I still had 1000+ psi in a 100 CF tank, so my dive buddy told me to feel free to mess around in the shallow water for a while while he watched from shore. I stayed in about 8'-10' of water and messed around with my bouyancy control while watching some fish.

I had to rent a wetsuit and tank in order to do this dive. These don't have to be returned until later this afternoon, so I was thinking that I should go have the tank refilled and go to the lake by my house with a similar sand beach (swimming beach), and mess around in the shallow water (<10') for some extra practice and to mess with taking some weight off of my belt.

As a general rule it would seem that doing this might not be a good idea due to the fact that a lot of beginning divers may not have the skills do do this safely, but I was a high school swimmer and am very comfortable in the water and feel very comfortable using scuba gear. I am also very safety concious, but I really don't see why doing this would be less safe than swimming on this beach. Anyhow, I just thought I'd see what you guys thought about it.

I'm not going to do it today, but maybe next time.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

[princessaprilia]

This should be good.



Remember everyone.... be nice.

 

[princessaprilia]

There are a lot of thing that can go wrong in 10 feet of water.

If you are going to do this, I would recommend bribing someone to come with you, just to watch your bubbles.

 

[Afakasi]

There are a lot of thing that can go wrong in 10 feet of water.

What kinds of things?

 

[micklock]

Check out the solo divers forum, read some threads and you should get some good info.

 

[merxlin]

For one, if you remember your OW course, the greatest pressure changes (by volume) are in the first 33ft. All you have to do is lose your buoyancy and surface while holding your breath from 10ft, and you could have a serious problem.

Also, practice when you don't know what you are doing can reinforce bad habits. Just diving does get you used to the gear and being in the water, but without feedback may not help you become a better diver.

Just my $.02. Wait until you know what you are doing before trying to solo, even in shallow water.

 

[Afakasi]

Check out the solo divers forum, read some threads and you should get some good info.

It's a locked forum.

 

[micklock]

It's a locked forum.

it's free to join.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

There are a lot of thing that can go wrong in 10 feet of water.

Oooo...things, gasp. I hate it when things happen. Oh, so what are these things exactly?

 

[Web Monkey]

So...I just did my first dive (a fun dive with a local dive shop) last night after being OW certified two weeks ago. The dive was in a freshwater lake with a sand beach entrance and very calm water. At the end of the dive I still had 1000+ psi in a 100 CF tank, so my dive buddy told me to feel free to mess around in the shallow water for a while while he watched from shore. I stayed in about 8'-10' of water and messed around with my bouyancy control while watching some fish.

The short answer is that you probably won't die. The longer answer is that if something bad happens, there's a really good chance you will die.

It's really your call.

However I will say that when I had about 50 dives, I felt the same way you did, A terrifying encounter with a bunch of line tangled @90' and 1/2 tank of air changed my mind, and I don't dive solo anymore.

There are people that do, and in the end it depends on your risk tolerance and responsibility for others. There are a lot of things I did when I was 18 and single that I wouldn't even consider married at 52.

Terry