Diving without predetermined buddy

[markmud]

Just a reminder to the men posting in here, the OP posted in Women's Perspectives. No one has answered inappropriately to that subforum's rules yet and I'm only pointing this out because sometimes y'all haven't noticed which subforum this is. So far so good.

Oh!

Nice to know. I clicked on this thread because I saw it in the "latest discussions" box on the Community home page.

Who da thunk!

m

 

[sierra23]

I have been traveling and diving by myself for 23 years. Believe me, I have more stories about bad buddies than I care to remember. What I have realized that picking your buddy is the best thing you can do. Jump right in there and ask. If you are diving abroad, few DM's or DG's will actually have ANY knowledge on the clients diving abilities until they hit the water. I always try to get on deck early and watch people set up their gear. That gives me a fair idea of their experience. Also, body size and sometimes age but not always. Try to get a match without a bunch of toys and stuff tangling from their gear. These are just my guide lines - but by far watching them set up their gear is a keeper. Do not hesitate to let your new found buddy know a few dive signals and be sure to buddy check their configurations before getting in the water. Be firm and do not settle for the left overs EVER!!!

 

[Tippytoes12]

I do a solo dive trip every year and a complete with my husband, am up to 700 plus dives now. Generally I have had great luck with solo buddies. But I go mostly to destinations and use dive shops where fellow divers are likely to be more experienced. If I am pixxed off with a buddy I, diplomatically, try to change. On all of the LOBs we have been on as part of the briefing we have been told that if a buddy pair is not working out then speak to one of the guides.

I don’t have time to go into this now, but we have had more problems with some guides that our SB colleague, Luko, would term Gringo Guides running out of air, not looking for spots or swimming right past stuff. But many have been excellent and I have a mental checklist to establish if we are likely to have a problem with them.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I do a solo dive trip every year and a complete with my husband, am up to 700 plus dives now. Generally I have had great luck with solo buddies. But I go mostly to destinations and use dive shops where fellow divers are likely to be more experienced. If I am pixxed off with a buddy I, diplomatically, try to change. On all of the LOBs we have been on as part of the briefing we have been told that if a buddy pair is not working out then speak to one of the guides.

I don’t have time to go into this now, but we have had more problems with some guides that our SB colleague, Luko, would term Gringo Guides running out of air, not looking for spots or swimming right past stuff. But many have been excellent and I have a mental checklist to establish if we are likely to have a problem with them.

Oh oh! What is the list please ?

 

[Tippytoes12]

Oh CiC that’s just in my head only ! And it’s for the small minority of Gringo Guides that run out of air quickly etc etc. It is certainly not for the many excellent instabuddies I have dived with !

 

[chillyinCanada]

Oh CiC that’s just in my head only ! And it’s for the small minority of Gringo Guides that run out of air quickly etc etc. It is certainly not for the many excellent instabuddies I have dived with !

Lol, I wasn't thinking that, truly. I wanted the list for exactly what you said it was for.

 

[hilljo88]

Go for it. Look for likely buddies, tell the DM or guide your experience level, try to be one of the first in the water (because you will surface with half a tank of gas anyway). Avoid anything that looks like an instructor with students, anyone spearfishing, the overweight blowhards. I would say avoid photographers (I'm one) because we are really slooow. But we do tend to find interesting stuff. Most of all remember to have fun, and keep a sense of perspective if you get a dud of a buddy.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Go for it. Look for likely buddies, tell the DM or guide your experience level, try to be one of the first in the water (because you will surface with half a tank of gas anyway). Avoid anything that looks like an instructor with students, anyone spearfishing, the overweight blowhards. I would say avoid photographers (I'm one) because we are really slooow. But we do tend to find interesting stuff. Most of all remember to have fun, and keep a sense of perspective if you get a dud of a buddy.

I like diving with photogs as buddies. They pretty much leave me alone to do my thing and we can show each other stuff.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Maybe we should try not to be quite so disparaging about instabuddies. By definition, if I'm paired up with an instabuddy I am also an instabuddy, regardless of my own self importance and feeling of superiority.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Maybe we should try not to be quite so disparaging about instabuddies. By definition, if I'm paired up with an instabuddy I am also an instabuddy, regardless of my own self importance and feeling of superiority.

Just so