Solo Diving - an A to Z of operators who allow and those who don't

John,

I know of at least one payout that was delayed while the insurers wrangled about the fact that he was diving without a buddy at the time of the accident. So probably not a red herring!

Insurers typically will insure within the limits of your qualification-not beyond it.

If your dependents don't get a life insurance pay out, they are more likely to go after the diver operator.....

Adam

At our House reef ( Alor-Divers , Alor Archipelago, Indonesia ) we allow solo diving. of course it all depends on sea condition and diver experience . we ask to not go deeper than 12M ( plenty enought to enjoy or photograf ) and we supply with a pony bottle if requested. i have myself more than 6000 dives ( more than 1000 with camera ), and i enjoy solo diving, especilly for photography. i don't think it is a lot more dangerous as long as the condition are nice and easy...

Gilles

See our last discovery at : http://alor-divers.blogspot.com/
My flickr picture gallery at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/101623137@N02/

I will also allow it based on experience and also how you dive with our guides.

The only place I've ever been where solo diving was officially sanctioned was Bonaire. Other than that most ops are very reasonable to photographers once they have judged that you are not a liability.

Still accidents DO happen. One UK inland site will no longer even let you snorkel solo (without a debate at least) after a well known UK dive industry 'icon' nearly drowned while snorkelling testing out a new housing!

Cheers, Simon

 

edit - Nope I will not divulge the name!!

Probably more HSE bullsh1t.

Many photographers and rebreather divers are solo divers for all intents and purposes.

It is about the state of mind of the diver and their capability to react to preserve their life rather than panic that dictates the safeness of the situation. If you want to solo dive at 50m then I would say that you were taking a risk but at 10-20 metres then I only ask that you plan for an equipment failure and be aware.

Blue Manta Liveaboard Asia - Warning to Solo Divers.

https://divebooker.com/blue-manta-haz168?gclid=CLWD_OzvmswCFdeHaAod0AcGGw

If you ever see ads from this boat please avoid as they are not photography friendly or allow solo diving,

They also claim to offer Tech diving but this is also misleading.

Contact me if you want to know more

They claim to cater for Photographers but don't offer solo diving or in some case use of Strobes which is really crazy stuff for a high end cost of diving they charge

So it's your own personal experience? Care to share more?

Wakatobi will let you solo dive on their house reef with a self-reliant diver cert or equivalent. They do make you take a pony tank and the current can be fierce, so be careful.

Wakatobi will let you solo dive on their house reef with a self-reliant diver cert or equivalent. They do make you take a pony tank and the current can be fierce, so be careful.

Does "hundreds of dives of solo experience" translate to "equivalent?" I'm not going to take a class now. In the 90s, I did buy a pony rig and carry it, back when I strung all sorts of crap from my d-rings, before seeing the benefits of the DIR/HOG divers. Yes it was a redundant supply, but at the risk of snag points and extra poundage. A 13ft pony is essentially the same 500 psi reserve, so I stopped bothering. In hindsight, an H valve would have addressed it far better.

Appreciate the comment about current. I had an illusion from their lovely brochures that this wasn't present there, even though that would make little sense. Current quite often translates to life. But I made that mistake with Anilao and my wife was a bit upset. She can do camera, or current, but not both.

From a liability standpoint, hundreds of dives of solo experience means far less than a card issued by recognized training agency... As much as that might not mean much to you, it certainly means a lot when attorneys get involved.

Just my 2¢...

and yet, the California dive industry somehow managed to survive, despite being charted in the US, unlike virtually every liveaboard outfit in the world. The DMs don't even get in the water.

The exposure is non existent, and the protective benefit from litigation this move would make is equally so. It's like the outfits that put an AOW requirement for deeper dives or night dives, even knowing how pointless that cert card has become. (It's shocking how expensive it's gotten as well - what used to be a silly $99 cert is now 3-5x that)

I've found this thread and several others on here very useful in bookings some upcoming trips - as such I've registered and will add some info of my own info current as of summer 2019:

Horizon Divers Florida - Taught me the SDI Solo course and, obviously, is friendly to anyone with a suitable qualification since they are teaching it.

Scuba Club Cozumel - Did not object when I mentioned solo shore dives when booking. Anything in the Marine park must be guided per Cozumel law.

Red Sea Blue O2 - Claimed CDWS prohibits all Solo Diving (which is incorrect per CDWS's own website). I didn't bother to write back.

Red Sea Grand Sea Explorer - Fine with card. Mentioned it would be at the boat crews discretion and for some dives may not be allowed (having been there before, this is reasonable).

Bonaire Beyond the Corals - not equipped to support directly but did not object in principle. Mentioned rental pony's available from nearby shops.

It is worth mentioning that there are previous posts indicating Blue O2 is Solo friendly - apparently this has changed. Lying about it being a CDWS decision is completely unacceptable, however.

Anyways, hopefully this is helpful to others.

Solo diving is frowned upon in South Africa, especially when diving through a dive operator. But the DM's do allow a bit of grace when they see you are confident, correct buoyancy and keeping within visible distance to him and the group.

Not even 2 pony bottles will help you get out of trouble if you don't carry the correct tools with you. I always dive with a sharp knife mounted on my BCD (within my golden triangle). Had to cut a friend loose a while back from a bunch of fishing line that was bundled on a reef in Mozambique.

Common sense is probably your best tool available to your disposal.

15 hours ago, Lost-Oost said:

Solo diving is frowned upon in South Africa, especially when diving through a dive operator. But the DM's do allow a bit of grace when they see you are confident, correct buoyancy and keeping within visible distance to him and the group.

Not even 2 pony bottles will help you get out of trouble if you don't carry the correct tools with you. I always dive with a sharp knife mounted on my BCD (within my golden triangle). Had to cut a friend loose a while back from a bunch of fishing line that was bundled on a reef in Mozambique.

Common sense is probably your best tool available to your disposal.

Common sense unfortunately is not that common.  I don't blame dive operators for being cautious about it, for every perfectly capable skilled diver there is at least one who thinks they are- but..........  and the two are difficult to tell apart on sight.  

Coco View in Honduras allows solo diving.  I have done so while photographing pregnant jawfish.  My buddy left and then returned in 30 minutes.  I was on the bottom at 40 feet, in Coco Views "front yard" so nothing to daring.

On a Red Sea liveaboard (not very crowded), I had the chance to dive with a staff member (also a photo enthusiast) - just the two of us on a shallow reef - two parallel solo dives - spending on each coral as much time as we pleased. He was actually very happy with the opportunity to skip "regular duties" for a an hour and enjoy a calm dive.

Red Sea operators claim that solo diving is not allowed in Egypt however it’s very easy to say you follow the guide and then dive by yourself

I believe Red Sea Diving Safari allows solo diving when certified. At least I'm 99% certain that's what they told me on my last visit. I had.a buddy so didn't need it and it may be conditional on a checkout dive performance. You'll have to ask.

In general I found the Caribbean much more accommodating and judging you by displayed skill and attitude rather than your C-card. That also applied to my experiences in the Philippines so far. But France, Spain and the Egypt were forcing me to get AOW certification even with 1000+ dives experience.

I never expect any operator to approve solo diving without having seen me in the water, even with SDI solo and PADI DM + sidemount certification. It is not just about training but also about attitute towards personal and reef safety. But if I don't have a buddy and there is a '100% no solo diving policy' then I'll go elsewhere. For places with a good and easy house reef I have been pretty much allowed to dive solo anywhere I went, including two operators in the Red Sea. I won't name them but if you demonstrate you are a good and responsible diver I think you can dive solo in more places than you think. I normally go to smaller locally owned operations so perhaps things are different at fancier resorts, I can't tell.