Is there a place where I can find dive buddies?

[drbill]

Get a copy of California Diving News, check out the list of dive clubs in the back and attend some of their meetings. You should be able to find buddies there.

 

[dogbone]

Try divebuddy.com. Once you set up your account and put your location in, you can set a range that will show you all members within that area. I've found and dived with several divers thru that site.

so, I joined divebuddy...is there any easy way to tell when someone near me wants to dive? I see I can search for members near me...but that doesn't mean they are active on the site...I also see there's a forum where people can post looking for dive buddies....ideally, I would like to cross those two functions, and look for posts, from people near me...but I dont see how to do that...can someone help me work this site? lol

 

[GreggS]

so, I joined divebuddy...is there any easy way to tell when someone near me wants to dive? I see I can search for members near me...but that doesn't mean they are active on the site...I also see there's a forum where people can post looking for dive buddies....ideally, I would like to cross those two functions, and look for posts, from people near me...but I dont see how to do that...can someone help me work this site? lol

What you would need to do is find divers near you (using the Scuba Earth link is the quickest way), click on a pin and a small window about that person will come up. At the top of that window, click on their name and their full profile will come up, then click on Add to Buddy List under their profile photo (or where it should be if they haven't added a profile pic.) Or you can just send them a message asking them if they would like to go diving with you.

And, yeah, I've found that a lot of people join and then aren't very active. But I'm sure you can find someone to dive with. There's lot's of people looking for dive buddies.
Oh, and the forums on that site aren't very active. I don't know that I'd bother posting there but you could try it and see. But I think you'd have better luck using the 2 routes I laid out above.

Good luck. I know it's a pain sometimes finding someone and/or working out schedules. My wife got certified after I did so now I have a live-in dive buddy. Nothing could be finer.

 

[dogbone]

Yeah, I'm not so fortunate... My gf can't equalize her ears... So no diving for her

 

[Moby Dickins]

Pacific Wilderness typically organizes 2-3 group dives per week: a Wednesday night dive and a weekend morning dive at Veterans' Park in Redondo, and a more advanced dive at Old Marineland or somewhere nearby. They were on hiatus for a while but have announced they're starting up again. You will unfortunately have to consult the wicked Book of Faces for updates. But I've met great buddies that way. I've also met great buddies through South Coast Divers, which met every Saturday morning in Laguna but is on hiatus also. But you can sign up for their email list to find out when they resume and never touch social media. There's also a list of dive clubs organized by city in the back pages of California Diving News; I'm sure there's at least one club that meets monthly at a restaurant in Torrance (er...used to meet) and plans organized and fairly disorganized group dives at those meetings.

I found it difficult as a new diver to find other people who wanted to dive with me, sight unseen. But by showing up to organized dive events, I was able to demonstrate that I didn't completely suck, and all of a sudden I found myself having to make a spreadsheet to keep track of my new friends and what kinds of dives they were up for. The pandemic has really made that difficult, but things are starting to open up again.

PM me if you're interested in doing a beach dive in LA/OC with me and my peeps.

Thank you for the advice and the invitation! I'm out of town for the next few weeks but I'd love to go for a dive sometime.

 

[SoCalRich]

Try: "Power Scuba"/ Meet-Up . Great group of divers, shore dives twice a week. And PrePlaned Boat trips
Good Divin, Be Safe
SoCalRich

 

[saintsfan92344]

Buy a boat and ask again, you will have more buddies than you can handle