Solo Diver Qualifications

For any UK based wetpixillians this may prove useful.

Wraysbury Dive Centre are now again offering SDI Solo diver courses with their in house instructors. I did the course a few years ago and the 'ticket' has proved a useful tool whilst diving abroad, not having to stay with the group blindly following the guide whilst they scare the wildlife away.

Not all Dive operations recognise the qualification but those that do tend to allow you to stay on your own for the dive meeting up on the asscent.

contact details

info@learntodive.co.uk 01784 488007

I have also done the SDI course here in the US. Useful, yes.... but I have found that most of the dive operations that I go with could care less about the cert. Some dont mind if I dive by myself, some do. The ones that dont mind typically take note that I spend most of my time diving in 40-50 feet depths near the boat with a pony bottle as my buddy. When I go deeper, I tend to dive with a buddy no matter what the policy is as my pony wouldnt get me to the surface safely. The course does a great job teaching about redundancy and there are some good safety lessons to be learned as well in it. I thought it was well worth the money.

I agree Eric.

If nothing else the course teaches self awareness, and sets the mindset on safety, it was worth doing it for that alone.

Last year I dived at Dega Thilla in the Ari Atoll, Maldives, the reef top is about 10 metres (30 feet) I was in a group of about 10 divers. The reef top is pretty and full of anenomes, table and staghorn coral. Our dive guide agreed to leave me on my own whilst he took the group down to 30m (100ft) circled the reef and met me back on top for their safety stops.

I obtained some stunning images that I know I would have struggled to get with the group.

I dived with a 12ltr cylinder rigged as a stage for redundency and as always carried a DSMB and reel.

I Know that the solo dive option would not have been open to me without the ticket.

Well worth the money.

Nige

I obtained some stunning images that I know I would have struggled to get with the group.

Mind your back! Since most diving insurance policies specify buddy diving, or diving to a recognised agency's standards, check that your insurance is happy with SDI...

... or it could be a very, very expensive trip to the chamber and flight home...

I didn't like the Maldives because a rather Teutonic approach to dive organisation, but in the rest of the world I've found most good dive guides and liveaboards have let photographers off to do their own thing after we've convinced them of our bona fides.

Though, in retrospect, when I was encouraged to swim off to the bows of the Anderson at 50m in Bikini they might have been trying to get rid of me...

Tim

B)

Oh, I forgot what I was going to say:

I did the IANTD Normoxic Trimix course, which covers a vast amount of self-sufficiency and dive planning and I would thoroughly recommend it for prospective independent divers.

Since solo diving is such an emotive term with the major training agencies, perhaps independent diver would be a useful neologism.

Tim

B)

Though, in retrospect, when I was encouraged to swim off to the bows of the Anderson at 50m in Bikini they might have been trying to get rid of me...

Nah they were just making sure no one was too close to you and would otherwise ruin a good photograph

A SDI ticket actually places a lot of conditions on solo diving, not least effective redundancy. But the last thing I want to be toting when I'm diving camera is bailout. I subscribe to an 'alpinist' style of diving...

Yup, I've got the SDI ticket and normoxic and hypoxic trimix tickets too. I am also a qualified service technician so I guess I have developed a considerable confidence in the performance of my gear.

Just my humble 2 cents worth.

I subscribe to an 'alpinist' style of diving...

I agree! Speed is safety... I'd also add that simplicity is safety.

I once watched a person come close to drowning when they dropped their regulator from their mouth and couldn't recover it. This person had two tanks partially full (normoxic trimix) on their back, a tank of 50/50 strapped to one hip and 80% to the other. There were four regulators to breath from but she was so fixated on recovering the 80% regulator that she just about panicked and bolted for the surface.

The real skills that one needs to dive safely while alone can't be taught. It's a psychological fortitude that those who have, were probably born with. IMHO, A bail out bottle and a C card won't make you safe if you loose your cool the moment anything goes wrong.

Personally, I prefer to dive with a buddy (same ocean rule), but it's for social reasons rather than safety.

Mike

I might be missing the obvious here, but how do you get assessed as competent as a Solo Diver?

Wouldn't the fact that an instructor / assessor is there negate the fact that you are truly demonstrating that you are confident and competent (there is a difference) to dive solo??

My SDI Solo Diver course was a 'dry' course. However my instructor had already taken me through Advanced Nitrox, Deco, Normoxic and Hypoxic Trimix so I guess I'd already covered the bases...