can you go diving in the great barrier reef on your own!??? or anywhere

sort of, with PADI OWD you can dive with another certified diver up to 18m. I would recommend you make use of local guides and make sure you dive within your capabilities. Different dive sites require different skills and ability levels depending on depth, temp, vis, currents, etc..

From a purely practical point of view, with an open water certification you should be able to rent equipment, so you could go diving on your own, yes.

Unless your doing particularly shallow dives (say less than 10m), I would always recommend diving with a buddy, however.

As suggested, local knowledge is ESSENTIAL before you dive a new site to be aware of currents and hazards, etc.

Diving alone - at ANY depth - is a great way to let your wife cash in your life insurance policy.

Unless you are a trained solo diver with redundant equipment, you really should never go diving alone.

Now, on a less serious note, as an OWD you are technically trained to dive to a depth of 60 feet. What you will find, is that unless you are diving wrecks, most of the good stuff is shallower than 60 feet.

Find a good dive buddy or join a local dive club and get some experience in the water. Nothing makes you a better diver than experience, and more importantly, experience with other experienced divers.

You can learn more in a summer of diving with a good dive club that you will ever learn is a PADI course.

Really, is it though? I'm all for safety but in my understanding:

Aren't almost all diver accidents/fatalities caused by diver error, rather than equipment failure?

Even in the case of critical equipment failure, at 9m it only takes 30 seconds to ascend within PADI recommended safe ascent speed.

Also, within reality - assuming your fairly fit and in good nick, the reality is you can ascend a fair bit faster than 18m/s and still be perfectly fine.

Yes, it really is dangerous.

Perhaps you have never heard the old warning that 'you can drown in a cup full of water' ?

I have to wonder what certifcation organization taught you that solo diving is safe as long as you stay above 30 feet?

Perhaps you should read about all the solo lobster divers that die every year in Florida and California.

And to your point about equipment failure. You are absolutely correct, most accidents are diver error rather than equipment failure. But what does that have to do with not having a buddy?


Telling someone it is ok to dive solo is just bad advice.

Okay, I was just after your opinion. Although I think "really dangerous" is stretching it. I only mentioned because I know several people that have hundreds of solo dives.

I guess it depends who you're diving with. The only problems I've ever had while diving is bad buddies.

In some countries it is illegal to dive without a certified guide from that country. At the moment I'm living in Egypt - Sinai. Here you have to go with a guide who has a valid card from the CDWS (Chamber of Diving and WaterSports).

They checking these days if somebody of the group has that card - because everybody was ignoring it in the beginning

Nothing to say against solo dives with the proper qualification and equipment. Plan your dive - dive your plan ... and take enough bailout that will bring you home. Even in cases like this some surface support might be a good idea.

Personally I think the most dangerous period is when divers think they are experienced enough (like driving a car or anything else).

thetafferboy wrote:


I am not saying that people don't dive solo, and saying that you know people who have hundreds of solo dives is a bit like saying you know a professional chain saw juggler who is very good and still has both his hands. It may be true, but bad things can still happen. Not to mention that you are referring to someone who has HUNDREDS of dives behind them.

To go on and tell a newbie, let alone one who has confessed to wanted to take the shortest route possible to his C-card that it is OK to dive solo as long as you are above 30 feet ...

So, to summarize ... Unless you are trained to do otherwise, ALWAYS dive with a buddy.

CanadianDiver wrote:


Fair point. Don't dive solo, Bristol!

HI guys

You can do the same thing 1000 times then something changes and you don't know anymore what to do. I believe having varied experiences improves your diving .

Thanks

thetafferboy wrote:

If you look at the BSAC wreck register most incident reports state that "during the dive my buddy".

Solo diving courses are taught by some SDI Solo Diving Instructors. Minimum requisites are 100 logged dives, minimum of 1 year diving, AOW & 18 years of age.

If anyone has any questions regarding the SDI Solo Diving Course, I am an active SDI Solo Diving instructor with 1000's of logged Solo dives.

CanadianDiver wrote:

I doubt any insurance company would pay out unless you were qualified to dive solo.

thetafferboy wrote:

In reality 18m/s is TOO fast, maximum ascent rate should be 10mpm. Attempting an ascent faster than that is a last resort. I am fit and dive a lot and wouldn't want to ascend at 18mpm unless it was an emergency.

18m/s is a bend and mend ascent rate.

I think I may have brain-farted. I of course meant, 18m per minute - not per second!!!

I think the 18m per minute is still considered too fast by many organisations (and AlanticScuba ). PADI has stuck with 18m per minute where others have updated. I know my dive comp will max out and warn me at 10m per minute and I stick to that. I think BSAC's is 15 metres/minute, and the last 6 metres should take 1 minute.

if you have no air and no choice but to ascend faster I think most of these timings go out the window anyway. Luckily I've not had to test that theory..

I usually ascend at 10m per minute and the last 6 metres will take 1m minute. On a deco dive, if I have the time and conditions suit, the last 6m will be 1 minute per metre. Saying that, I now do all my last stops, safety or deco, at 3m so 1m per minute from 3m isn't so long.

I messed up a free ascent last time I was in Egypt, really badly. I went from 10m - 0m in about 9 seconds. I have no idea how it happened. I was a little worried as I had done a 30m dive - my dive watch went nuclear.

I had to return it to Suunto - I had a dry day and did a dive the day after at max 6m for 30m and it still said I was dead haha.

Most dive computers will shut down for 2 days if you bend them. The VR3 doesn't, which is good if you know what you are doing, very dangerous if you don't.

Hi everyone!

I'm totally a newbie on scuba dive and most of your comments are very useful to me.

I get the first advice, NEVER DIVE SOLO. In fact, this won't e a problem because I'm planning to do it with my girlfriend, who is a newbie as well.

Maybe after some training, we should make our first immersion with a pro. Definitely we should.

Cheers!