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Solo diving is the practice of scuba diving alone without a "dive buddy". Solo diving, once discouraged, is now beginning to gain acceptance among experienced divers who have skills in self-sufficiency and redundant backup equipment.
Background
Solo diving, once considered technical diving and discouraged by certification agencies, is now seen as an acceptable practice for those divers suitably trained and experienced.[1] Rather than relying on the traditional buddy diving safety system, solo divers are skilled in self sufficiency and are able to take responsibility for their own safety while diving.[2] The first training agency to offer a Solo Diving certification was Scuba Diving International (SDI) in 1999. As of 2008[update] they remain the only agency to formalise this level of diver training.
Some divers, such as instructors, are inadvertently solo divers because they dive with buddies who may not be capable of rescuing them. Others, such as underwater photographers and videographers, dive solo as this allows them a greater opportunity to focus on capturing selected images and not having to rely on buddies to remain close at hand.
Training and equipment
Safe solo divers must be self sufficient, well trained, prepared and practised.[1] They should have a completely redundant set of all life support equipment. In addition, the responsible solo divers adhere to a very conservative dive profile, both in depth and level of difficulty. Unlike the buddy system, which encourages divers to rely on others in the event of an emergency, solo diving encourages divers to prepare themselves to overcome emergencies by their own means. The divers who engage in solo diving are typically those who are experienced and equipped enough to handle problems themselves. Lack of trust for other divers is often cited, that is, the buddy is more likely to experience problems than the diver.
Hazards
While there are potential hazards involved with solo diving, most of these can be planned for and mitigated by the proper use of redundancy in equipment. In technical diving, where redundancy is standard, self-sufficiency is taught more strongly. In many situations if a diver has a problem other divers may not have sufficient gas to complete the dive for both. This is especially true of cave diving where stressful situations can vastly increase gas consumption and there is no option to skip decompression. A solo diver would need a second, independent source of air, a complete second set of regulators (both first and second stage regulators, and optionally an air gauge for his/her alternate source of air). As with all scuba equipment, the diver must be intimately familiar with this configuration and have the ability to access any of the equipment easily if it should be needed.
There has been much controversy over the relative safety and merits of solo diving. Very few statistics currently exist regarding the impact of solo diving on safety.[3] This is primarily because it is a relatively new area of discussion in the diving community, as well as the fact that it is—and has been—frowned upon in general by most dive certification agencies. Until such statistics can be gathered and studied, it is an area that will remain a focus of some controversy.[4]
References
- ^ a b von Maier first=R (2002). Solo Diving, 2nd Edition: The Art of Underwater Self-Sufficiency. Aqua Quest Publications. p. 128. ISBN 1881652289.
- ^ Lewis, Steve. SDI Solo Diver Manual. Scuba Diving International.
- ^ Caruso, JL; Uguccioni, DM; Ellis, JE; Dovenbarger, JA; Bennett, Peter B (2003). "Buddy versus solo diving in fatal recreational diving accidents". Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine (Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society) 30 (1 supplement). ISSN 1066-2936. OCLC 26915585. http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/1375. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
- ^ BSAC. "BSAC Talk - Solo Diving". http://www.bsac.org/page/658/solo-diving.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
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