Self-Sufficient Diver & Solo Diving

Shared by Ksso on August 22, 2011 in scuba

Self-sufficient diving or "Solo Diving"  may sound like an odd concept for all scuba divers out there. Since the first training day, whatever the organization that's training you, you get brainwashed with the "Never Dive Alone" mantra.

 

Nevertheless since the late 90s the idea of solo diving is starting to catch up acknowledging that  a properly trained and prepare diver willing to solo dive could actually do it. In 2001, a senior PADI official acknowledged for the first time that solo diving could be carried out in safety by suitably experienced divers. The first training agency to offer a Solo Diving certification was Scuba Diving International (SDI) in 1999. In 2011 the SCUBA training agency PADI started offering a solo speciality called "Self-sufficient Diver," which in many respects (entry requirements for example) is very similar to the course offered by SDI. In May 2010, Egypt’s Chamber of Diving & Watersports (CDWS) issued a statement on solo-diving: to be allowed to dive solo, it said, a diver had to successfully pass a solo-diving training course and earn such a certification from a recognised training agency.

 

Solo diving is often seen by underwater photographers as the only way to take really great shots, letting you dive away from the crowd and take the time you need to do the perfect shot. As such the recognition by PADI of this specialty is finally going to enable experienced divers to dive solo on all PADI dive centers (and let's face it, it means most dive centers).

 

On top of the fact that you'd be expected to have at least an advanced openwater (AOW) level and 100 buddy dives logged, you'll also need some special gear:

  • Independent redundant air supply: Recommended: Pony bottle with SPG.

  • Spare mask.

  • Surface Marker Buoy (SMB) and spool/reel with at least 100ft of line.

  • Secondary time/depth metering device (or a second computer if you can afford it)


Wether you're actually going to solo dive or not, taking this course will enhance your ability to be self-reliant which is always a good thing to be while diving.

 

 

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About the author:

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  • us Ksso
  • # CMAS 3* VDST / N4

  • Qualifications:

    PADI Ice Diver, CMAS Nitrox 1, Photography

  • Dived in: French Polynesia, Honduras, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, United States, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Thailand, Greece, Cyprus, France, Indonesia

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