Just wanted a few opinions from fellow BT'ers about solo diving Bonaire. I have limited solo experience and none Bonaire solo shore diving. For those that do, what extra gear do you take if any, spare air, pony tank..... Do you leave a note in the truck.... Not looking for the pros and cons of this activity, just honest opinions from the people that do dive solo. Thanks in advance for all reply's and for keeping it friendly.

(Message edited by yucatanpat on May 5, 2008)

Just returned from Solo Diving Bonaire last week with the exception of 4 dives I did with Walt Stark as part of the TDI Advanced Nitrox Course. I sling a 13CF pony tank for solo diving. I brought it up from 70' on my last dive to include a 3 minute safety stop - I had plenty of air to spare. This of course depends on your personal SAC rate. The only way to know truly know how much air you might need from a given depth is know your SAC rate. Most recommend a 19 CF for no decompression dives but I made the personal decision that as long as I have not incurred a decompresson obligation, I would be willing to skip the 3 minute stop push come to shove. I'm not recommending this by any means - 3 minute stops are an excellent idea in my opinion; however, keep in mind that 3 minute stops in a no decompression dive is recommended not required. As I said, Its an excellent idea but probably won't hurt you in a no decompression dive if you skip it. Redundancy rules in solo diving. The pony has its own reg and I carry two computers with the same basic ability to compute required data. I strongly recommend against spare airs. A pony with its own reg and pressure guage is the only thing I would trust. I don't mark the truck - just follow normal Bonaire Shore Diving rules. For the record, I am SDI Solo certified. I am in no way recommending solo diving to anyone who is not certified to do it. That said, I'm running for cover!

I have done solo dives there. I feel comfortable enough in my skills to do it, but it's not for everyone. I keep these dives more conservative and stay away from the limits. I choose sites that I am familiar with so navigation is one less thing I need to process. Most of the dive is above 30ft for two reasons: 1. Thats where the cool stuff is. 2. I can surface with relative safety in the event a problem should arise.
Marcus is right about redundancy. I do not carry a pony(my choice) but it IS a smart move. I do have two computers and I take good care of my gear as well. It can be safe, but as I said, it's not for everyone. Some divers I have seen have no business diving solo and should stick to finding a buddy or group to join. It's a calculated risk one takes, and there is no substitute for experience.IMO

iT'S REALLY AMAZING HOW WE PROCESS solo diving!
Just give any diver a camera and he can end up solo diving--lol
More times than not while taking pictures I'll look up and everyone is gone!?
My definition of solo diving is when your partner is more than 20 ft from you! I too have taken a solo diving course and didn't find anything is the course that I hadn't already been taught.
Good navigation skills, good equipment maintenance, combined with common sense and you have the essence of solo diving!

I agree with Marcus. I do about half my dives solo and am certified solo. I use a 19CF pony. I run two computers and of course separate regs. I do know the sites I dive throughly and have dived them at least a couple times before I do a solo dive on them. I have been diving Bonaire the last 10 years and do 5 to 6 trips a year. I usually have someone else on the shore when I am solo. Enjoy and be safe. Even Bonaire can occasionally have some unusual water conditions.

Agree totally with all said above. I have solo dived, by myself and with my 'buddy' who was way far away from me.

I did not carry a pony but if I were to do more solo diving on a regular basis, I would strongly consider it. And the solo diving I did was above 40 feet at 'easy' locations.

There is something magical about being in the water with just yourself. Hope that helps.

From all the data I've seen, equipment failure is the least of our worries.

I belong to a dailey e zine called Dive Bums, it for divers in the SoCal area. We've lost many more divers to heart attacks than anything else.

I can't recall any emergency which equipment failure was the cause.--- What I guess I'm saying is that while a pony bottle is nice, good equipment maintenance is more important if you solo dive!!

The one time I have brought a diver up from depth was a primary regulator malfunction at about 80' in Bull Shoals Lake Arkansas. I brought him to the surface on my second because he couldn't get the reg to stop malfunctioning and he was losing air from his tank at rate that would not have allowed him to make it to the surface on his own. Later, upon examining the reg, he told us that he thought that he had somehow allowed mud to enter the reg prior to the dive. That incident developed in me the personal requirement for redundant air when diving solo.

Thanks for all the reply's and useful information. Marcus, about 10 dives after my rescue certification my wife and I had a no air emergency at 70 feet. We did everything perfect and returned to the dive boat just fine. Then my wife started crying and it hit me that things could have gone very wrong. I have never been so happy I had advanced training and have told that story over and over to new OW divers. I do plan to be solo certified in a few weeks and now will use a pony bottle as most have suggested.

Thanks again, Patrick

Patrick: I dove solo for most of my dives on my second trip to Bonaire. While I did not carry a pony tank, I dove very conservatively (usually no deeper than 45 feet but sometimes 60ft, lots of extra air reserves in case of emergency, only dove sites I was familiar with, and no sites where I might have a problem entering/exiting alone). I also make sure my gear is in tip-top shape. I really enjoyed the freedom of solo diving, especially since I'm a photographer and dive very slowly, peering in all crevices and 'poking' through the rubble.

It's really up to you how comfortable you are with the risk. Taking a pony bottle and getting solo certified are good steps to take.

Nearly all my diving has been done solo. Whether at the local training quarry with the typical 3" viz or on Bonaire where you can see till forever. Whether in a group or actually 'by myself', I solo dive.

Just MY personal viewpoint, but if you can't ALWAYS reach your "dive buddy" AFTER you have exhaled.....friend, you are diving solo!

Next time you are 'buddy diving', try the simple test and see if you are really alone. Even more fun in low viz conditions, but if you slow down to clear your mask, or look at something,or take a picture or whatever, you may be surprised just how far you CAN'T swim without taking the next breath that only your "buddy' can give you.

My constant 'buddy' comes in the shape of a 13cft pony bottle that IS always with me whenever I dive.

I suspect that there are a heck of lot more 'unprepared' solo divers in the water than prepared ones?

My best dives on Bonaire, alone, slow, and very quiet.

I have to agree with Jerry . There's something about watching ones own back that slows things down to a peaceful quiet state. Ive done a lot of solo dives without incident , cant say the same about "buddy dives". However , its certainly nice to have a competent buddy to share the experience . It appears that for the most part , most of the solo divers here know and respect their limits , rule one.

Right on, Randy.

And Jerry.

:–)

Excellent points, folks!
How many times didn't divers realized they were diving solo because of the distance to their buddy? Give me a dollar for every time that occurred and I could retire and move to Bonaire!

Most of the dive sites on the west side of the island have great visibility, very little current and are easy to navigate.

If you are diving in the late afternoon or night it is a good idea to let someone know where you are going just in case your vehicle gets stuck or breaks down. There is not much traffic after dark.

Both of us do a lot of photography on Bonaire. We have learned that only one of us at a time takes a camera because we get so engrossed in what we are doing that we forget to look for other things/problems. so which ever one of us not photographing acts a a look out, I have found some real neat things as look out, ie: a couple of rays, some pretty queen angel and beautiful parrot fish. The one photographing might as well be diving solo esp David he gets so involved because he does a lot of macro work, so we may do an hour or more dive and not move more than 100 yds. But we both get the peace of solo diving with the edge of having a buddy with in sight.

Since I belong to the group of buddies who go by the "Same Ocean, Same Day" motto, even when I have a buddy I consider myself to be solo. I carry a Spare Air and check/maintain my equipment like it was religion.

Other than not having someone to talk to between dives or someone to help carry the gear up or down the stairs, buddies are often overrated and not really needed.