SDI and their 'Solo Diver' Qualification - advice please?

[Jules]

Andy I would be interested in this course.. i have emailed you

jules

[Pink & Fluffy]

<font color='#810541'>Solo diving is an interesting topic in the diving community ,it is aways overlooked and pushed under the carpet .. For myself .I enjoy divng solo as well as diving &nbsp;in pairs . very soon after learning to dive I learned &nbsp;that I needed to become self sufficient underwater and be able to deal with porblems underwater for my Self . Its easy to go dinving in a buddy pair ,jump in the water and follow the leader , having a blind false sense of security,within your self , thinking your buddy will get you out of trouble if it all goes wrong .When I am diving as a buddy pair &nbsp;I ask myself well before jumping in water, would I do this dive on my onwe ?. if the answer is no I would not, then I would not do the dive &nbsp;as a buddy pair either .
Fiona.

I atually do most of my diving solo, even when going in the water with a buddy. Most of the regular folk I dive with we just enter and leave the water together and don't see hide or hair of each other for the dive. Obviously when diving with someone who expects to see their buddy for the dive then that is the way it is done.
 I actually prefer solo diving as it is much more relaxed. I reckon that the insurance reason may be a good reason to get qualified but in practice you are either comfortable doing it or your not, paperwork will not change that.

[Mr T.]

John mate,

Andy 'DALESDIVER' Hayhurst is our regional course director and Instructor Trainer for all TDI &amp; SDI courses.

Go to source and ask him any questions you'd like on the solo course and he'll give you impartial advice on the best route forward for you.

He can be contacted on TEL: 07702 819381

or at this weblink:

DalesDivers

Hope this helps and good luck mate.

[Ian B]

<font color='#0000FF'>Everyone I've spoken to who has dived solo has enjoyed it, and has known to allow for redundancy in their dive plan, but what do charter boat skippers think about it? Anyone had experience of this?

[David Wallace]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Capel diver @ April 18 2004,16:22)]Everyone I've spoken to who has dived solo has enjoyed it, and has known to allow for redundancy in their dive plan, but what do charter boat skippers think about it? Anyone had experience of this?

Simply put.

A Uk charter boat is a water taxi and has no responsibility for what the passengers do when they get off the boat. Duty of care suggests that a charter boat skipper may ask you to confirm (in the process of booking the trip) that you are qualified either by certification or experience and medically fit to untertake the trip in question.

regards

[Reeve]

<font color='#000F22'>On the few occasions I've dived solo, usually because of issues with buddy on second dive or not wanting to be a third diver with a pair of air divers, I've not had any concerns raised by the skipper. That said my BSAC club frown upon it &amp; for that reason I don't when on a club organised (BSAC) dive.

I limit myself to &lt;30m and avoid any major penetration, that said on one &quot;same ocean buddy dive&quot; I reeled off only 5 - 6mtrs into a hold, where there was a thick blanket of silt. On turning in a narrow section my fins caused a siltout, this had my heart racing a bit.

I do find it can be enjoyable on a wall or scenic dive, not haveing to worry where your buddy is especially if you're camera happy!!

I've no particular solo qualification other than the mind set of self sufficiency, using a twinset, spare torch, smb, reel etc. These are I feel the miminum requirements to allow me to cope with any problems that may arise.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Skipper @ April 18 2004,17:29)]A Uk charter boat is a water taxi and has no responsibility for what the passengers do when they get off the boat. Duty of care suggests that a charter boat skipper may ask you to confirm (in the process of booking the trip) that you are qualified either by certification or experience and medically fit to untertake the trip in question.

I now this is the official lne from skippers but have to say it is the subject of some debate at the moment with HSE. I don't know how exactly it will pan out. There are some ongoing cases at the moment but obviously I won't mention them, the skippers themselves are probably aware of them.
&nbsp;As for solo divng off hardboats, well it usually depends on the skipper and how well he knows you

[Mr T.]

*bump*

[Chris Bone]

have solo dived once or twice (with twin's and spare kit) after thinking how little use a trainee ocean/sports/OW/AOW diver would be but am thinking of doing the course from an insurance point of view. Can anyone who has done it recommend an instructor?