Can you scuba dive alone

As a physician myself, I strongly endorse the same for scuba divers. Besides basic safety know-how, the most important factor to consider is that you stay within the limits of your diving experience and personal comfort zone. Take time to consider all environmental conditions.

You may feel comfortable doing a solo dive at a particular site with perfect weather conditions, but those conditions are prone to change. Know your maximum depth, and the amount of time you plan on being under the water. In addition to the risk of drowning, performing a rapid panic ascent can also cause problems. The final and perhaps most important third is an emergency supply for unplanned circumstances that may arise.

Keep in mind that getting to the surface is not the end of the line. You still need to get out of the water, and as a solo diver, nobody is going to help you. Be sure to plan to ascend close enough to your exit point that you have enough energy left to get out.

Swimming underwater back to your entry point requires less energy than a surface swim. There have also been occasions where surface conditions have changed while I was submerged, making it mandatory to use my tank to surface breath rather than my snorkel. For both of these reasons, that reserve air supply comes in handy. Divers with enough experience to consider solo diving should be very familiar with their own air consumption rates and tendencies at various depths and in different conditions.

Even then, an unexpected event that changes the plan mid-dive can change the air consumption. Regulator first stage start leaking? Current suddenly a little harder to swim against? Consumption will increase.

Make sure you bring a second source of air. Here are some examples of redundant air supplies you can use:. Spare Air and pony bottles are both refillable. Before adding them to your supply, though, you should practice and make sure you know how to use them properly. Spare air is good for beginners who plan on diving in shallow water, and pony bottles are good for experienced divers who plan on going deep and know how to efficiently change air supplies read this post to learn how to do this.

Wherever you live in the world, your best bet to gain more dives is to book yourself on a liveaboard trip. Tell us about your adventures of diving and snorkeling, in the comments below.

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I have done solo diving, though I prefer to share the dive with others. Just train them to be self-reliant. Scuba diving is a social, buddy-driven sport. It makes sense on many levels for divers to dive with a buddy. Many Lessons for Life columns detail what can happen when a diver ventures out on his own, and the ending often is not a happy one. Solo diving has a purpose and many advocates, and there are times of crisis when divers have no one to help them.

No, some still die due to lack of awareness by either them or thier partner or gear failure. To each his own. If you want to stay alive lock yourself in a padded room. Never exceed your training. Dive safe. Rating Getting more dives? As a newly certified open water diver I really have no means to gain further dives unless I dive alone. I live in Manitoba Canada, none of my friends are into diving, the store I did my training through worked it as more of an independent course, so made no friends there but the people I did talk to really only had interests in diving in tropical destinations down south, even the instructors I talked to, no one seems interested in diving in cold lakes around central Canada.

I really enjoy diving and want to get into it alot more, I would prefer to go with a buddy, but if you don't have a dive buddy how do you get more bottom time? Rating Do I need to be with a dive master? Rating I see people diving alone all the time, but I don't recommend it. I have gotten into trouble, to greater or lesser degree, on numerous occasions, and I have always had to take care of it myself.

My buddies were either too far away, or not paying attention, or far less experienced than I. Even though I always dive with a buddy, the first person I rely on for help is myself.

The fatal accidents are rarely caused by just one thing. The trick is to nip it in the bud before you accumulate contributing factors. Regardless, I wish you a healthy, safe, and enjoyable dive future!

Rating why you need a buddy by: Anonymous to the person who wanted to know why you need to have a buddy. It does happen especially if your regulator starts free flowing. If your tank slips out of its BCD, your fin strap breaks, or ur fin comes off, what about if your mask comes off? These are just some of the reasons why you need a buddy. You might think "how can something so small or seem insignificant affect you" heres an example.

While diving in Egypt I had server cramp in my leg which affected my to stay streamlined. I couldn't move and I couldn't reach my fin the bend my leg, so i signalled to my buddy who did it for me.

Even though I was buoyant there was a slight current that knocked me into loads of coral, but due to the cramp I physically couldn't move. If it wasn't for my buddy sorting it out who knows what could have happened. It is so risky to dive solo. I haven't dived solo but don't think I want to either.

Rating Do the TDI solo course then! You'll need a minima of a hundred dives and then do the TDI solo diver course.