Solo for safety

[AJ]

As far as safety goes, I would be safer buddy diving with one from my small list. Two divers have more options than one, if they are both good divers.

Exactly, I love diving in a team. There are just too few real teammates around. Therefore I feel solo safer than with a buddy I have to wacth all the time. A good team is however an asset and safer imho.

 

[tarponchik]

Apparently, this is fairly common

 

[Remy B.]

I enjoy diving alone, but don't do it very much lately.

 

[tilikum]

I don't dive often enough, but I do like plucking around by myself in an area that I know well.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

I don't feel safer or less safe diving solo. But I do enjoy myself much more diving solo. When diving with a buddy or a group, I have to stick to their schedule. When diving solo I can spend time doing what I like, where I like and for as long as I like. Sometimes sitting still for five minutes and watching creatures you can see behavior you don't normally see when moving with a crowd.

 

[NAM001]

In my opinion this issue is a multi sided problem. I don't often see "GOOD" buddies. primarily I think because the majority I see are relative new divers. Diving with or with out a buddy is both rewarding. As the risk goes that has a long list of potentials problems. care of equipment familiarity with the dive site ect. I like diving alone, however when I do I have limits for such a dive. They are shallower dives in good vis and no concern of getting entangled or being in an overhead situation. I have had an OOA and the buddy just looked at me. Fortunately I have H valves on my tanks and I switched to another reg and headed up. (air valve rolled off) or buddy checked my tank and did it unknowingly. No matter what the reason when the feces hit the rotary oscillator the buddy was present but not there/useless. Too many times buddies think they are just someone to dive with. In situations like that I feel safer alone, because I prepare for a solo dive. Deeper dives I don't do with out a buddy that is capable of saving my but if needed. I also tend to take the lead on a dive and assume the responsibility of protecting the group. I am most often the senior one there. Times like that, when you are playing babysitter, it clearly does not make a good dive for you. It don't take a lot to be a marginally good buddy.....

 

[drbill]

The vast majority of my dives dating back to 1962 have been solo... initially due to limited gear sets and later due to lack of good buddies (the good ones were working). I once did an analysis of my incident rates diving solo vs buddied up and found that buddied up I had 17 times the percentage of incidents. I enjoy diving with a good buddy and am fortunate to have several who I can occasionally (but not frequently) dive with. When I dive new destinations, I am almost always buddied up and prefer that in those cases.

As for buddies and sharks, if you are a male don't choose a female buddy. We all know sharks are MAN eaters. They don't eat women.

 

[Bob DBF]

Exactly, I love diving in a team. There are just too few real teammates around. Therefore I feel solo safer than with a buddy I have to wacth all the time.

I prefer Solo, however some dives are better done with a buddy. The issue I have found with buddy diving is you have to invest dives and time to find a likely buddy, and then insure that he learns the skills that are necessary for good buddy diving, and in my case, up to this point, just to have them move or give up diving. It is a long drive to the Ocean, so being compatible for the ride has to be factored in whether diving Buddy or Solo once there.

Now that we have moved, I must start once again.


Bob

 

[Coztick]

Being a holiday diver, all I get are instabuddys. The odd one is excellent, some are OK and it gets worse from there. And you can't tell until it's too late.
For this reason, to be comfortable, I have adopted a self reliant attitude and carry a pony on every dive. My preference now is to buddy with the DM and basically consider myself solo with the group.
I consider a buddy a huge responsibility and do it when needed, but I admit I do feel more comfortable solo.

 

[Patoux01]

The issue I have found with buddy diving is you have to invest dives and time to find a likely buddy, and then insure that he learns the skills that are necessary for good buddy diving,

If you get buddies from some agencies, they'll at least be guaranteed to have proper team diving skills.

Had a GUE dive buddy for a while, well, I didn't even have to keep an eye on him! He's safe by himself and so am I, we'd always be in line of sight (ie not hiding behind a rock but you might have to turn your head), proper use of dive lights make it so much easier, etc etc.

Now I dive solo due to the lack of buddy and not being willing to take the time to go through one of the dive clubs here around to find someone whose views on diving match mine...