The conclusion does not surprise me. In my experience with women as dive buddies, they are better than men, for a few reasons:
Less testosterone. Not only does it make them less likely to do something stupid, it also makes them more pleasant to listen to (or, more precisely,
not listen to), on the boat. They don't feel the need to detail their dive exploits to their fellow divers.
Smaller lungs. I am reasonably fit, and pretty good on air, but my female buddies are always carrying a substantial reserve for my benefit at the end of the dive.
More patient. No need to see the whole reef on this dive, they are content to just mosey along.
There is some downside to female buddies, however. The last time I buddied with a woman her long hair got tangled in my kit as she swam beneath me. She wriggled around a little bit, which, of course, made it worse. When we both settled onto the bottom so I could work her free, I got a funny idea for a joke. I took out my shears, put them in front of her so she could see, and snipped them a couple of times. NOT FUNNY!! I interpreted her screaming as a veto of my disentanglement plan, and worked on the knot until we were free.
