Solo Diver

At one point or another, many divers have found themselves alone during a dive, whether it was intentional or not. Solo Diving is the practice of self-reliant scuba diving without a “dive buddy.” Solo diving, once considered technical diving and discouraged by most certification agencies, is now seen by many experienced divers and some certification agencies as an acceptable practice for those divers suitably trained and experienced. Rather than relying on the traditional buddy diving safety system, solo divers should be skilled in self-sufficiency and willing to take responsibility for their own safety while diving

What you can expect to learn:

The Solo Diver course takes an in-depth look at all of the following and more:
Why solo dive?
History of buddy diving
Pros and cons of buddy diving and solo diving
The legal liability assumed by buddy diving
How to use the SDI Solo Diving waiver and release
Who must solo dive?
The solo diving mentality
When not to solo dive
Equipment for solo diving
Planning and conducting a solo dive
Navigation
Management of solo diving emergencies

Some of the required skills you will have to demonstrate include all of the following and more:

200 meters/600 feet surface swim in full scuba equipment.
Demonstrate adequate pre-dive planning
Plan dive limits based on personal air consumption rate
Plan the exact dive and properly execute the planned dive
Equipment configuration appropriate for solo diving
Proper descent/ascent rates
Monitoring of decompression status equipment; tables, computers, equipment, etc.
Compass navigation skills
Demonstrate emergency change over to redundant air supply (not to exceed 30 meters/100 feet)
Deploy surface marker buoy (SMB)