To solo dive or not to (for UW Photographers)

I generally take my time when approaching animals. I make sure my presence doesn't disturb them (as much as possible). Sometimes, I take up to 5 mins to swim a few metres before even lifting my camera so that the subject gets used to my presents and noise etc.

Obviously, this approach is not really pleasant for my dive buddies because they want to see and carry on with their dives. For that reason, either I have to change my approach or dive solo. If I am diving with a buddy, I defiantly change my approach and/or won't attempt to take certain shots. But I find myself diving solo more often of the same reason.

I am a qualified wreck, tech, cave and solo diver with multiple different agencies. My question is beyond the realm of certifying agencies, individual's qualifications and their skills/comfort level.

What I'd like to know is how many of you (UW Photographers) dive solo for the same or similar reasons? If so, how do you ensure your dives are safe? Do you have a dedicated checklist for equipment check, pre dive check, etc.? What do you watch for during dive (solo dive) to ensure your safety? 

Also, my question is not about solo diving in general. The question is purely about UW Photographers who are qualified solo divers and within the limits of Solo diving/self-reliant diving certification.

diving with another photographer and one guide might be a good idea. We were not too separated but looking for different subjects so we didn't bother or were bothered by other divers. It might be more expensive, but was worth it. 

In socorro, nautilus liveaboard had policy that diver can go alone anytime during the dive, but if anything happens, it's on you solely. They did provide emergency GPS locator in case of missing on the surface though. I believe only one diver was diving alone without buddy for the entire trip though. 

I was recently at Coco View in Roatan' and dove solo in the "front yard" quite a few times; where there are 2 walls and a nice wreck. I always dive fairly shallow (less than 60 feet - 18 meters). I often find myself diving alone after I get separated from the group at my back yard here in Belize. Because of that, I recently added some emergency equipment to my gear including; a DSMB, a loud signal horn, and a Garmin InReach for satellite SOS. I also have SOS signal on both Inon strobes, and/or my video lights. I have been diving for over 25 years and have over 500 dives so I am quite comfortable diving solo, but still have some concern if something serious might happen.

I travel alone with my camera equipment and am planning to go to Bonaire next May and want to shore-dive solo. I am interested in hearing some thoughts on the subject.

Larry

12 hours ago, Miguel Gracias said:

diving with another photographer and one guide might be a good idea. We were not too separated but looking for different subjects so we didn't bother or were bothered by other divers. It might be more expensive, but was worth it. 

In socorro, nautilus liveaboard had policy that diver can go alone anytime during the dive, but if anything happens, it's on you solely. They did provide emergency GPS locator in case of missing on the surface though. I believe only one diver was diving alone without buddy for the entire trip though. 

I agree having a photographer dive buddy who is willing to cooperate and work as a team, is always the best option. But I feel a lot of pressure when I dive with another diver because I'd like to spend good amount of time to approach the subject, compose, work out my lighting, etc etc and people generally get bored/impatient, so I end up rushing which is counterproductive. 

4 hours ago, UWPics said:

I was recently at Coco View in Roatan' and dove solo in the "front yard" quite a few times; where there are 2 walls and a nice wreck. I always dive fairly shallow (less than 60 feet - 18 meters). I often find myself diving alone after I get separated from the group at my back yard here in Belize. Because of that, I recently added some emergency equipment to my gear including; a DSMB, a loud signal horn, and a Garmin InReach for satellite SOS. I also have SOS signal on both Inon strobes, and/or my video lights. I have been diving for over 25 years and have over 500 dives so I am quite comfortable diving solo, but still have some concern if something serious might happen.

I travel alone with my camera equipment and am planning to go to Bonaire next May and want to shore-dive solo. I am interested in hearing some thoughts on the subject.

Larry

My biggest worry is when I am focused (distracted) on taking photos, majority of my focus is on the subject, strobes and camera. That can inherently leave me vulnerable because of lack of situational awareness. 

I have developed a procedure for myself to keep me safe (such as pre-dive checklist, dive planning, risk assessment procedure prior to taking photos, gas management, equipment management, emergency drills, etc.). I don't know how adequate my procedure is, but they are all based on what I have learnt during various courses that I have done so far.

I'm also curious to see how others manage risks and their solo diving procedures.

+3000 dives with +1000 solo.  For me I have to know my gear, at minimum be able to get in and out of your BC underwater. Redundant safety gear:  knife, line cutter, two computers, signaling devices, etc....  I Always dive with a 30cf pony tank.  No crazy dive profiles, no deco diving and always willing to cancel a dive due to conditions.  About the only buddy diving I do is with my wife on our tropical trips.  She shoots video and we admit are same ocean buddies.  

9 hours ago, PNWDiver said:

+3000 dives with +1000 solo.  For me I have to know my gear, at minimum be able to get in and out of your BC underwater. Redundant safety gear:  knife, line cutter, two computers, signaling devices, etc....  I Always dive with a 30cf pony tank.  No crazy dive profiles, no deco diving and always willing to cancel a dive due to conditions.  About the only buddy diving I do is with my wife on our tropical trips.  She shoots video and we admit are same ocean buddies.  

 

Agreed, important points. Having redundant equipment and being familiar with how they work and where they are and being able to automatically operate each individual equipment is vital for solo diving. 

Majority of my dives these days are also solo because of the reasons I highlighted above. I try to be as conservative as possible. I have even created a pre-dive check list that I always follow and physically mark each item before getting in the water. I also plan my dives on a piece of paper before dives which I give to my family before going for the dive. So that they know where I am and what time I get in and what time I am supposed to be out. We don't necessarily talk about all these steps before every single dive but as a rule I always prep the plan and leave it on my desk so they can find it if needed.

During the dive, I always assess risks (such as entanglement, injury, etc.) before approaching my subject, check my gas (both back gas and redundant gas) every 5mins and plan the turnaround pressure at 1/2 of the starting pressure (depending on the dive and location and potential hazards) and other things like that. All these are based on what I have learnt from a variety of courses (tech, cave, solo, human factor etc.) that I've done over the years.  

I also like to know what other UW photographers do when diving solo. There are certain risks that can be easily managed specially if it is equipment related but there are some "Unknown factor/risks" that we can only learn about by sharing our thought processes/procedures/previous experiences etc. as a community.

I prefer to dive with no other divers around, unless they are the divemaster leading me to a critter.   I've managed to do this quite a lot in the past 5 years by going to a small resort on their off season.   If I go to Reef House Resort in September, I'm often the only guess in this 11-room dive resort.   So I get the boat and the driver to myself.  Works out fantastically well.

When I get to that resort, I do a checkout dive on Saturday afternoon right after I arrive.  That's just a shore dive from the end of their dock, and the resort carts a tank down there for me.   I almost always end up doing that dive alone, and it does make me somewhat nervous.  It's the only time I do shore diving there.

In Bonaire in June I attended the Digital Shootout, held at a big resort with an excellent dive operation.  There it was extremely easy to do your own shore diving, and I (and many others there) simply did solo shore diving off an on for two weeks.  Of course this was a pretty controlled scenario.   Not like driving yourself to Salt Pier, for example, and hopping in on your own.

One reason I tend not to do solo diving when it is available is that I'm nowhere near as good at finding stuff to photograph than an experience divemaster.   But I sure like not having any other divers on the dive with me.