What are your personal limits as a solo diver?

[Nemrod]

If I want to dive and I cannot find a buddy I will dive solo. I will limit myself to 60' as a general depth rule. I dive from my own boat (except during the winter of course) and I have a non-diving buddy aboard.

Weekend before last I had a nice solo dive practicing drills (neutral buoyancy valve drills, shooting a bag, etc.) I dive doubles with isolator and on this particular dive I was also using a 80cf stage bottle for the first time. I have used 30's and 40's previously.

There is a certain peace that comes with solo diving. I prefer diving with a good buddy but as a good buddy you need to be looking out for them (and they should be doing the same for you). It's nice now and then when you do not have to be looking out for someone and just doing your own thing. With that being said I prefer to dive with a buddy every time if they are available. I am a die hard and can't get buddies as often as I like to dive.

--Matt

Matt, can you tell me a little bit about how you dive solo from your own boat. I have been diving solo from the beach and from my OK kayak. I just bought a new boat however. How do you handle anchoring and how do you make sure your anchor is safe. With my kayak I just hold onto the achor line most of the time. I have not had good success solo diving from cattle boats--they simply don't allow it unless something has changed as of recent. I prefer to avoid cattle boats. I have dived solo when I could not find a buddy since I was a teen. Thanks for any info. N

 

[msandler]

Like most here, no limits due to being solo. Zero vis, overhead mineshaft to 173' in 39deg. is probably my most "critical" solo dive. Loved it so much, did about forty more times - always solo.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Matt, can you tell me a little bit about how you dive solo from your own boat. I have been diving solo from the beach and from my OK kayak. I just bought a new boat however. How do you handle anchoring and how do you make sure your anchor is safe. With my kayak I just hold onto the achor line most of the time. I have not had good success solo diving from cattle boats--they simply don't allow it unless something has changed as of recent. I prefer to avoid cattle boats. I have dived solo when I could not find a buddy since I was a teen. Thanks for any info. N

I used to solo from my own boats all the time. I'm currently between boats. :-(
I alway let out plenty of scope and had a heavy enough chain that 99% of the time the anchor didn't have any load on it at all. I would always descend the line and check the anchor before swimming off. If the conditions warranted it, or I was not anchored close enough to the wreck or reef I would tie a reel to the anchor and let it spool out as I swam. If it was too windy or the current was too strong for safe anchorage I didn't get in the water to begin with.

 

[matt_unique]

Matt, can you tell me a little bit about how you dive solo from your own boat. I have been diving solo from the beach and from my OK kayak. I just bought a new boat however. How do you handle anchoring and how do you make sure your anchor is safe. With my kayak I just hold onto the achor line most of the time. I have not had good success solo diving from cattle boats--they simply don't allow it unless something has changed as of recent. I prefer to avoid cattle boats. I have dived solo when I could not find a buddy since I was a teen. Thanks for any info. N

The times I do dive solo someone is always aboard. I generally choose sites with a mooring to make it easier for me and the boat sitter. If I am at an anchor site I make sure I have a good set before I leave the bow. Then I descend down the line to make sure it is set good with my own eyes. Sometimes I will move the anchor once I get below if conditions permit.

--Matt

 

[dnight]

The times I do dive solo someone is always aboard. I generally choose sites with a mooring to make it easier for me and the boat sitter. If I am at an anchor site I make sure I have a good set before I leave the bow. Then I descend down the line to make sure it is set good with my own eyes. Sometimes I will move the anchor once I get below if conditions permit.

--Matt

I have a 25' sailboat, and I prefer to have a cmopetent crewmember onboard, but I also will drop anchor alone and dive the anchor first if I'm in calm water. I have to do a 2-step exit/entry, since I'm in a sailboat and have to roll off the dinghy.

 

[paolov]

my limit is until the point where i feel comfortable. generally just shallower than 50ft, most solo dives are just about 20ft. while i observe them critters in their natural habitat (aquarium species thing)

 

[padiscubapro]

If I want to dive and I cannot find a buddy I will dive solo. I will limit myself to 60' as a general depth rule. I dive from my own boat (except during the winter of course) and I have a non-diving buddy aboard.

Weekend before last I had a nice solo dive practicing drills (neutral buoyancy valve drills, shooting a bag, etc.) I dive doubles with isolator and on this particular dive I was also using a 80cf stage bottle for the first time. I have used 30's and 40's previously.

There is a certain peace that comes with solo diving. I prefer diving with a good buddy but as a good buddy you need to be looking out for them (and they should be doing the same for you). It's nice now and then when you do not have to be looking out for someone and just doing your own thing. With that being said I prefer to dive with a buddy every time if they are available. I am a die hard and can't get buddies as often as I like to dive.

--Matt

I don't have a limit per se, everything depends on the conditions.. I'll normally set my limit around 60m/200 fsw, but I have done dives that qualified as solo much deeper than this.. when we Do deep exploration stuff we work with safety divers but try and keep them no deeper than 100m/330 fsw. so the deep portion many times is effectively solo where the closest diver could be 50m/165fsw shallower... The safety divers are also generally staged and they are effectively solo.. having safety dives work in pairs in many cases raises the risk instead of lowering it..

 

[domino22]

Most of the time 40 to 80 ft want the bottom time to shoot some photos. But deeper in some cases. Depends on several things.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Well, most of my solo diving has been shallow, less that 30 feet, in Oregon's fresh water rivers, lakes and reservoirs. I try to be very conservative, and have found a site which has lifeguards in the summer. I wanted a place within 30 minutes travel time of my home to make it convenient. I like to go down and observe small fish and invertebrates. I have a zoology background, and so take the camera down and get photos the small animals. I also like experimenting with different gear, fin designs, BC designs, and different scuba configurations. For instance, I'm now one of the only divers around with an operational UDS-1 system by US Divers. While it may be shallow, it can be challenging with river currents, lower visibility (usually between 4 and 6 feet) and rocky entry/exit points.

An example is the photo of the starry flounder I took in the Clackamas River, near it's mouth on the Willamette River. That flounder had made it up from salt water, 50 miles up the Columbia River, about 20 miles up the Willamette River, to the Clackamas River at Clackamette State Park at Oregon City(where it merges with the Willamette). I had never seen a flounder in fresh water, and spent three dives a few years ago trying for the photos. I don't think a buddy diver would stay with this project, and would probably preclude the photo opportunity by scaring the flounder (it took a lot of stalking to get this one).

One reason I'm fairly conservative is that I'm 58 (almost 59), and have done a lot of things diving. I no longer push the limits like I did in my 20s.

SeaRat

 

[scottfiji]

Shore dives only, 35ft max, no strong current; no crazy waves where i can hit my head on a rock when entering/exiting the water.