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I'm not sure of your certification level, but I would say have AOW and Rescue under your belt with at least 100 dives after Rescue. If there was a rule of thumb or guideline to go by, I would say that is probably about right. Only you know your comfort level with different scenarios. How comfortable are you with losing your mask or regulator, then finding them and replacing and clearing? These are skills that you should be practicing whenever you dive (with a buddy), until they become second nature to you.
In the meantime, develop an extensive buddy list and whenever you want to go diving, go down the list until you find someone who can buddy with you. The longer your list, the better the chance you'll find a buddy on short notice. Fantasea Scuba in Port Charlotte has a new club that just started a couple months ago and meets the last Monday of each month. Start going to meetings and meet more divers. I live in Port Charlotte too, and know offhand at least 10 to 15 divers that live in the area who would be willing to buddy up. You probably know a lot of them already. Add me to your list too. I'm available some weekends, evenings, and also some days when I dive either during lunch or after work when I'm in the Venice vicinity.
I agree 100% with the above. However I would also add that you need a minimum of 100 hours total dive time in addition to the 100 dives. These should all be MINIMUMS. Then ask yourself "Do I think I'm ready". If the answer is yes, and not just due to not being able to find dive buddies, then proceed to take the Solo Diver course. Then take it SLOW from there, starting with easy dives to places you are already totally familiar with, and work your way from there. Have some buddies come down with you a few times and work out some "trapped diver" drills. Your buddies "snare" you with something like fishing line, and you handle it as if you were diving solo - they are only there for safety so you can see how you would do in a real life situation. These are only suggestions, but they come from experience.
Safe Diving,
George