How do you usually find people to go on dive trips with?
- Thread starter bburger9
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SteelBeard
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Learner Diver
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Here’s a place to start. It’s the booking page for the Juliet liveaboard (26 dive clubs listed). At the bottom of the page it lists the names (with links) to dive groups that regularly book on the Juliet. No guarantees for all of them, but our local dive shop, Y-Kiki is predictably fun to hang out with. Also, we went on a trip with Paragon to the Philippines and had a great time. So there are 27 dive groups to consider. 
Well posting here in ScubaBoard is a good start.
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Why not introduce yourself in "Introductions and Greets"
My LDS puts trips together. Have done several trips and now also dive local with some of that group.
Check with the shops near you, great way to meet fellow divers.
Check with the shops near you, great way to meet fellow divers.
I have two groups of dive buddies: my local buddies (who I dive with regularly around here) and long-distance buddies (who I met on trips and stayed in touch with).
For long-distance buddies: every time you go on a trip, you are meeting potential new friends and dive buddies. I make it a point to organize a list of contact info to exchange on the boat, so folks can share photos etc. Many of those folks I have friended on Facebook, and stay in loose casual touch with through there. A couple have come to visit me in Florida, others have invited me to join them on liveaboards and other trips.
My local buddies at this point are a mix of my regular buddies/close friends, and folks I dive with occasionally. I met almost all of them by just getting out and diving. We have a couple local dive shops, each of which have dive clubs. They have monthly meetings on dry land and monthly club dives. I don’t always care for the planned meeting activities or the planned dives, but I make a point of going to all of them bc that’s how you meet the other folks in your community who are excited about diving.
Finally, you can’t just go to meetings/dive clubs and expect people to ask you to go diving. I’ve found you have to be really proactive. When you click with someone, ask to exchange contact info and then (as soon as possible) invite them on a local dive - even if it’s just to a quarry or whatever you have available locally. Be specific (where, when, etc). If all goes well, repeat. Congrats, a few more times of that, and you’ve made a regular dive buddy! Who might be down to travel with you on dive trips.
For long-distance buddies: every time you go on a trip, you are meeting potential new friends and dive buddies. I make it a point to organize a list of contact info to exchange on the boat, so folks can share photos etc. Many of those folks I have friended on Facebook, and stay in loose casual touch with through there. A couple have come to visit me in Florida, others have invited me to join them on liveaboards and other trips.
My local buddies at this point are a mix of my regular buddies/close friends, and folks I dive with occasionally. I met almost all of them by just getting out and diving. We have a couple local dive shops, each of which have dive clubs. They have monthly meetings on dry land and monthly club dives. I don’t always care for the planned meeting activities or the planned dives, but I make a point of going to all of them bc that’s how you meet the other folks in your community who are excited about diving.
Finally, you can’t just go to meetings/dive clubs and expect people to ask you to go diving. I’ve found you have to be really proactive. When you click with someone, ask to exchange contact info and then (as soon as possible) invite them on a local dive - even if it’s just to a quarry or whatever you have available locally. Be specific (where, when, etc). If all goes well, repeat. Congrats, a few more times of that, and you’ve made a regular dive buddy! Who might be down to travel with you on dive trips.
ontdiver
Contributor
This is really a great idea and more likely than not, you will find a club that is near you.Here’s a place to start. It’s the booking page for the Juliet liveaboard (26 dive clubs listed). At the bottom of the page it lists the names (with links) to dive groups that regularly book on the Juliet. No guarantees for all of them, but our local dive shop, Y-Kiki is predictably fun to hang out with. Also, we went on a trip with Paragon to the Philippines and had a great time. So there are 27 dive groups to consider.
One of my early dive trips was with a club that a former DB had connected with while he was travelling on business. This turned out to be a great trip and primed me for more.
While I have done a few solo trips and have always managed to connect with other folks, nothing beats going with a group.
I encourage you to go with your local dive shop AND go with shops from elsewhere. Our LDS often has trips that we can’t afford or the timing is off or they’re not going where we want to go. So we’ve gone with a couple of shops from ‘elsewhere’ and made friends from across the US and around the world. Dive buddies can be from anywhere and everywhere.
find someone that dives and marry them?? lol
i have done a few solo trips but they were mostly focused on training so dive buddies were not an issue.
the typical response will be to join a group trip with your local dive shop (if you have one) but as someone already suggested, there is no reason why you cannot join a group trip run by any dive shop.
some shops run some very expensive trips that many just cannot afford. but there are some that will offer more budget friendly trips as well. so it depends what you are looking for.
sometimes there are other solo divers that you can share a room with to keep the costs down. obviously it is a crap shoot as to whether you will get along though. it would suck to end up in a room for a week with someone you just dont mesh with.
i found a great dive buddy once by simply posting on here and asking if anyone was in the area that wanted to join up. this was for a solo trip to grand cayman. we ended up meeting on the island as he lived there. we were quite compatible.
on that same trip i also met another fella that was on vacation with his wife. she did not dive. we were both at a shore diving site one day and decided to dive together. it worked out great for us both. we did a couple of days together.
i have done a few solo trips but they were mostly focused on training so dive buddies were not an issue.
the typical response will be to join a group trip with your local dive shop (if you have one) but as someone already suggested, there is no reason why you cannot join a group trip run by any dive shop.
some shops run some very expensive trips that many just cannot afford. but there are some that will offer more budget friendly trips as well. so it depends what you are looking for.
sometimes there are other solo divers that you can share a room with to keep the costs down. obviously it is a crap shoot as to whether you will get along though. it would suck to end up in a room for a week with someone you just dont mesh with.
i found a great dive buddy once by simply posting on here and asking if anyone was in the area that wanted to join up. this was for a solo trip to grand cayman. we ended up meeting on the island as he lived there. we were quite compatible.
on that same trip i also met another fella that was on vacation with his wife. she did not dive. we were both at a shore diving site one day and decided to dive together. it worked out great for us both. we did a couple of days together.
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