Prerequisites

    Be at least 18 years of age
    Hold at least a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certification (or equivalent)
    Have logged at least 100 dives
    Have successfully completed a dive skills assessment by a PADI Self-Reliant Diver Specialty Instructor

NSTRUCTORS AND DIVEMASTERS

    Instructors and divemasters are often with a group of students or certifi ed divers
    exploring the local dive sites, however, they may not have a specifi c dive buddy.
    Being self-suffi cient and self-reliant provides the skill set needed for instructors
    and divemasters to respond to emergencies independently.

PHOTOGRAPHERS AND VIDEOGRAPHERS

    A photographer’s or videographer’s buddy is usually in the viewfi nder and
    sometimes a distance away.
    Photographers or videographers may pay attention to the environment around
    them, but not pay much attention to a dive buddy
    Because divers capturing images are typically concentrating on their subjects
    (such as fi sh or environment), and often not as much on their buddies,
    photographers/videographers and their dive buddies benefi t from learning selfreliant
    diving skills.

TRAVELLING DIVERS

    While traveling, divers may end up with a dive buddy they have not met and
    that may not share the same dive objectives.
    Buddy separation can be avoided in many ways, but if it does happen a selfreliant
    diver is better prepared to handle the situation.

WRECK DIVERS

    Recreational wreck, cavern and ice divers should not dive alone in overhead

•     environments.
•     However, the wreck diver who has the skills and knowledge of a self-reliant diver
•     is more likely to properly handle buddy separation and to deal with emergency
•     situations.

TecRec DIVERS

•     Diving without a partner is not unusual for TecRec divers.
•     In some cases, trained cave divers dive without a partner in no mount and
•     sidemount areas.

• Standard diver equipment, at a minimum STANDARD DIVER EQUIPMENT
  Fins, mask, snorkel, compressed gas cylinder and valve, buoyancy control device and low pressure inflator, primary
  regulator and alternate air source, breathing gas and depth monitoring device(s),
  quick release weight system and weights (if needed), adequate exposure protection,
  at least one audible surface signaling device and dive computer or RDP.

  Surface marker buoy
  a. Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (DSMB) with at least 30 metres/100 feet of line
  b. Lift bag with at least 30 metres/100 feet of line

  Redundant air sources
  a. Pony cylinder
  b. Twin cylinders with isolation valve
  c. Bailout cylinder
  d. Sidemount confi guration

  Redundant surface signaling devices (both visual and audible)

  Redundant depth gauge and bottom timer or dive computer

  Other equipment
  a. Two knives/cutting tools as permitted locally
  b. Back-up mask (recommended)
  c. Slate and pencil