Genesis:That's definitely one of those "if you need a class, you're not qualified" things.
I don't see how you can teach that one, to be honest.....
That is the most intelligent comment made so far about solo diving.
I started solo diving since the late 80's when solo diving was definitely not approved by anyone. In light of that and in light of my own indoctrination into the buddy system I was very cautious, very conservative, very honest in the self assessment of my abilities and very rigorous regarding equipment maintenence when I started solo diving. I think those are key ingredients to safe solo diving. That very cautious attitude and the firm knowledge that I was doing something outside the bounds of accepted recreational diving kept me from doing anything stupid.
To be a safe solo diver you most definitely have to know your limitations, and if you feel you need the class, solo diving is definitely beyond your ability
I am actually concerned about the concept of a solo diving class. We have a large number of divers out there who have the mistaken belief that taking and passing a class actually qualifies them for something. A class is a compliment to actual skills and experience not a substitute for them and passing any class should only be regarded as a licence to continue learn under carefully controlled circumstances. A scuba "certification" of any type is just a licence to learn - nothing more.
I can forsee legions of newly minted solo divers trudging down the beach to do something really stupid while warmly basking in the confidence and blissful ignorance gained in their solo diving class. It's pretty scary when you consider that just about any moron can pass the average scuba class so I think very careful screening by instructors will be required to avert a solo diving certification disaster.
Now, as a solo diver I am certainly not opposed to solo diving, but to do it safely you need to be a very capable, knowledgeable and self sufficent diver who is also able to keep things together and problem solve under stressful conditions. Solo diving is not for everyone.
If you are considering solo diving, I would agree with the need to have a minimum experience of 200 dives in a variety of challenging conditions. You then need to read, know and fully understand Robert Von Maier's book "Solo Diving, the Art of Underwater Self-Sufficiency".
The book does a good job of addressing the need for self assessment and for risk assessement on every dive in addition to discussing equipment considerations as part of the whole package required to be self sufficent enough to consider solo diving.