Diving with strangers

[ScubaBaby]

Kelp

I have never really had to dive with people I dont know so I am not 100% sure on what I'd do - but heres a rough idea what I would think of.

Even though I hate all the prejudices about men being the "diver" and women being less good.....I feel safer when diving with a man. I can't help it - just who I am. (But this isnt due to me thinking women are not as good!)

I also would look at how well they know there stuff and also start general conversations...find out certs. and No. of dives! Just stuff that sounds like general conversation!

Although diving on your own can be safer than diving with SOME people.....its in the minority ! Its always worth sussing people out and going with someone!

Good luck on your analysis!!!!

 

[ScubaStan]

I went on a boat dive and told the DM I had no buddy when I signed in. Once we got to the dive site, there was one other person that was by himself. We teamed up and immediately, before gearing up, we sat down and swapped experience, u/w hand signals, and logs. I felt comfortable diving with this guy even though he was a stranger. I felt bad for him though, cuz my bouyancy was not very good, I ended up using all my energy to keeping depth. I called the last dive due to exhaustion and he went on with another pair.

So....I would dive with someone that I felt comfortable with before we gear up. talking to someone about experience and going over u/w hand signals really makes the difference.

Of course, there is always the rule of diving, if you are EVER feeling unconfortable about a dive, call the dive. No one should ever chastise their buddy for calling a dive.

 

[neilstewart]

I do a fair bit of solo traveling and so buddy with a number of people. Mostly I stay based with one dive op and look for someone who is doing the same. I make conversation with the other divers. All divers like a good natter as this board proves so well. I am looking for reasonable experience, but most of all attitude, you can tell a person with common sense over the live fast die young type and that is how they will dive.

I always talk through an agreeable plan on each dive, max depth, turn time our expected profile, pace, what we wish to get out of the dive and check through most common signals then you both know what your going to do. I also stick with the guided group for at least the first dive so that you get the after dive experience of your new friend which will also tell you a lot and give you both confidence that you can go out as a pairing together.

There are other pointers, I have a Nitrox cert and so do many others. Why some divers pay $25 a fill when diving a reef twice daily with a good surface interval to a max depth of 15 metres. No material gain to dive Nitrox except a nice yellow tank. This says to me show off.

You can get partnered with someone who's less experienced, goes through plenty of air but generally they are keen to pick up a little from you and as long as you plan to dive well within their experience you can get a lot out of that as well. I once had a buddy on a very slow drift dive to no more than 12 metres in Eygpt. As a drift the group were fairly well together. He dived a 15l tank and was low on air after 30 mins. We ascended to around 5m, still plenty to see there. We worked out between us that he had far too much weight in fact twice as much as he needed and the next dive he imporved greatly. Good buzz for me to see him so pleased with the progress.

Neil

 

[DEEP SEA]

I just came back from a sales trip to Australia. Most of the time I was seeing Military folks but I did get away for a 3 day trip to the Great Bearer Reef. We had 18 divers on the boat. I did not know any of them and made dives with most of them.

I find the key is to talk a little before diving. Find out how long they have been diving, when they dove last and how many dives they have under their belt.

I dove with Instructors, Dive Masters and a brand new diver. All dives were fun. Of course the better the diver, the less time you spend keeping an eye on him/her. We made 4 dives a day (3 day, 1 night). The only bummer was my representative sprung the dive trip on me at the last moment so I did not have any of my own gear at hand. NO VIDEO CAMERA;-0

In all, I enjoyed all dives and I hope I helped the new guy learn some things as well.

 

[divedude]

Stay away from the loud bragger who tell every one what a great diver they are.
Look for the quiet confident diver checking they gear and setting it up with confidence. Go over to them, and even if they have a buddy see if you can have a threesome

 

[Dolphinus]

A threesome, hmmm thats my fantasy. LOL. "Never dive alone, always dive with a buddy" Most dive operators will try to team you up with someone if they know that you don't have a buddy. if there's somebody who doesn't have a buddy too, then you will end up together, or they will ask a pair to pick you up....in that case a threesome. If nobody picks you up as a buddy then the divemaster usually goes with you.ut:

 

[brizzolatti]

AS a total newbie - just got my card from PADI in the mail today - and not having a partner who dives, I will be buddyless. Given I am so inexperienced, I would be happier having the instructor or dive master as a buddy. I would feel more comfortable and under less pressure, I think. We'll see when I next dive!

 

[Ontario Diver]

"They aren't strangers.....They are friends you haven't met yet!"

 

[DEEP SEA]

Good one Ontario Diver!

 

[neil]

Being an instructor, I dive all the time with newbies and others who may barely know what they're doing. No big deal, I always find something interesting to see and love to share it. If you are going to dive with a buddyless stranger, find out which one has brought the best snacks.

Neil (the other one)