Posted by kelphead on February 04, 2000 at 22:06:32:
In Reply to: What happens when you go solo on a Channel Islands boat? + posted by ChrisM on February 04, 2000 at 21:54:19:
chris, from my own personal experience:
i have dived solo (when i probably shouldn't have) once
off one of the local dive boats and they did not
give me any grief--i did, however, make sure to
explicitly mention that i was going by myself.
i have heard/read about how others are able to solo
dive off the boats w/no problems. reason being that
the boat dm/capt/crew share the belief that you and
only you are responsible for your own safety out here.
i get the impression that solo diving is either historically
a california characteristic or it has at least been
heavily adopted by californian divers.
more recently, though, i was diving w/a buddy off
the 'great escape' and i was running low on air
(due to my battle w/kelp at the beginning of that
dive) and my buddy desired to stay down longer. so,
we both agreed at depth that i should go back and he
should stay. on the next dive, one of the two dm's
on board (and, no, it was not mhk) admonished me
to "bring him back" w/me "this time".
so, i'm not sure if i should take this as the dm
didn't appreciate the solo diving aspect of it,
or that if divers buddy up together then they should
stay buddied together until the end of the dive.
but, i THINK others on this board will tell you
that for the most part, the boats (at least in
socal) don't bother solo divers.
however, i have also requested that the dm find me
a buddy who is also alone on the boat and they have
obliged. so, that can be done as well, but it's a
choice thing.
one thing to note, though, is if you are planning
to make a beach dive out of the city of laguna beach,
the city does indeed have an ordinance mandating that
you must have the following to do a beach dive there:
**a snorkel
**a b.c.
**a dive buddy
people have apparently been cited for diving solo
there, but that's only if the lifeguards are out
and about. so, it's a hit or miss issue.
have fun!!
kelphead.