My First Instabuddy Experience

[mallbritton]

Glad to hear you had a good experience. When I'm leading divers I do my best to chat with them, gauge their experience level and team up divers at similar levels. Not all dive operations do that, however.

 

[Littlerayray]

Here's a tip on being a good instabuddy talk to your new buddy and let them know your limitations and what you expect from them and yourself
When I say expect I mean
By how far apart you are comfortable with as well as what to do in certain situations also discuss who is going to be leading
Another thing to do is get their attention if you want to stop and inspect or look at something this will keep you from being separated. This would all be discussed as your pre dive plan.
We all take for granted the ability to talk and we forget how hard it is to communicate with out our words
I'm seriously contemplating on learning how to sign for this reason

 

[CT-Rich]

Instabuddies are like restaurant meals. Most of the time they are enjoyed and go by unremarked upon. But the ones that go bad are the stuff that changes the way you look at food.

 

[Neilwood]

Here's a tip on being a good instabuddy talk to your new buddy and let them know your limitations and what you expect from them and yourself
When I say expect I mean
By how far apart you are comfortable with as well as what to do in certain situations also discuss who is going to be leading
Another thing to do is get their attention if you want to stop and inspect or look at something this will keep you from being separated. This would all be discussed as your pre dive plan.
We all take for granted the ability to talk and we forget how hard it is to communicate with out our words
I'm seriously contemplating on learning how to sign for this reason

I think this is important - you tend on the whole to get out of a partnership (which a buddy pair is) what you put in. Spend a while discussing things before you splash such as experience and knowledge and it makes life easier when you do splash.

 

[fjpatrum]

I think this is important - you tend on the whole to get out of a partnership (which a buddy pair is) what you put in. Spend a while discussing things before you splash such as experience and knowledge and it makes life easier when you do splash.

Exactly! It's all about expectations and you only have yourself to blame if you're not clear what your expectations are or you don't understand what your buddy's expectations are. I wrote about this early on in my diving "career" as I found out post dive from a couple people they didn't think I was being a good buddy when I thought I was being very conscientious about it. To me they have all been good experiences (the 30+ I've had in my <50 dives career) and most have felt the same. The ones who didn't I took as a learning experience.

 

[drrich2]

A range of issues impact buddy perception.

1.) What's your attitude about people generally? And about the subset of divers? If you don't particularly like people and believe most divers are poorly trained 'strokes,' that could be an issue.

2.) What do you expect from the buddy? Same day, same ocean, or do you expect this person to monitor you, be mindful of your gas supply, etc...

3.) What do you expect to do? Monitor the buddy, stick together, be mindful of his/her gas supply?

4.) What's your attitude toward diving with newbies? Do you like mentoring or resent babysitting?

5.) What kind of dive is it? If it's a common Caribbean group dive, and both of you stick with the group, and the guide brings everybody back before anyone runs out of gas, hey, you 'buddy dove' (in a really broad sense of the term). If your pair are diving independently of others, have to navigate, and conditions are less ideal, it can be another issue.

Additionally, your buddy's views & expectations on 1.) - 5.) also matter. If your views match closely enough, great. If not, well...

Richard.

 

[nolatom]

I've had good experiences with instabuddies. I tend to silently thank their instructors when I realize they are just fine underwater despite being new:

A word of Thanks to the good intructors who taught my insta-buddies over the years..

 

[lermontov]

Im also a relative new diver and have been buddied up with people I don't know. The level of 'competence' of my buddy seem directly proportional to the type of dive and often the location , e.g. on a weekend charter boat dive gathering cray (lobster)at an easy to drive to spot then the standard of buddy reliability is poor, probably due to the larger pool of recreational or casual divers whereas if I go on a more technical dive that is more difficult to access in terms of location or depth then most of the divers are pretty good in terms of skill and awareness etc.( there always an exception)

To be honest I'm surprised there are not more diver deaths - mainly from the weekend warrior types who are oblivious to the potential dangers they put themselves in and poor skills in terms of buoyancy, weighting, gear set up, ascent rates etc its really quite scary -its a case of Im sure I can help you if you get into trouble but I'm not confidant that you will be able to help me if I do.
Whereas on a wreck dive I'm still the junior and Ive found experienced divers are more than willing to help with a buddy check regardless of whether theyre your appointed buddy or not. I have confidence in them as I hope they do in me, that they have the training and wherewithal to solve a problem should it arise

Pride plays a part in not wanting to appear inexperienced or ask for assistance, and in a group setting a culture either positive or negative is quickly established. Ive found that the dive master plays a crucial role in establishing that culture and their approach while being an irritant to an experienced diver of 500+ dives will be a relief for someone who is timid and doesn't want to be the newbie and ask 'dumb' questions

For me Im a lot older than most of them and not concerned to ask someone to check my gear - in fact I've noticed when someone ask to be checked over before entering the water it can be contagious and creates an atmosphere of others asking each other to 'check me over"and 'lets look out for each other.' So wether your a DM or experienced diver theres still a contribution to be made, in establishing a culture that allows anyone to ask any question.

 

[Ojai Diver]

I remember when I was single I went through a tango dancing phase. (Yes, trying to meet women.) Anyway, in both tango dancing and scuba there is commonly a disdain and impatience with inexperience, to the point where it can be difficult to find a partner or a good buddy.

Most of what I see on the dive boats with instabuddies is not incompetence, but more often divers who are resentful or unwilling to dive with somebody perceived to be less experienced.

We should all be more mentoring. We forget as scuba divers – as did some of the snooty dance partners I encountered back in the day – that we all started out as beginners.

 

[Rusty Roo]

Im also a relative new diver and have been buddied up with people I don't know. The level of 'competence' of my buddy seem directly proportional to the type of dive and often the location , e.g. on a weekend charter boat dive gathering cray (lobster)at an easy to drive to spot then the standard of buddy reliability is poor, probably due to the larger pool of recreational or casual divers whereas if I go on a more technical dive that is more difficult to access in terms of location or depth then most of the divers are pretty good in terms of skill and awareness etc.

dont assume tech divers are any better than rec divers.