newby question about a boat dive

[LIVES4SHARKS]

I usually travel solo, so I am used to pairing up with strangers. I do discuss the dives and definitely am very forceful about the dive plan. If they don't stick to it, I don't dive with them on the 2nd dive. I don't babysit either. It also depends on the type of diving. I head down to Jupiter quite often, so those are drift dives. I usually just hang out with the pack or the DM who has the buoy flag anyway. It all depends on what you feel comfortable with and how comfortable you are with your own skill level.

Carolyn:shark2:

 

[herman]

You have gotten some good advise but let me take it in a slightly different direction. When choosing your dive site, choose one that is on the easy side. I say this for a couple of reasons. First off, you never know who you will be paired with, they may be an excellent diver or a real nutcase. If you get lucky and find a good diver, then maybe you can hook up for some more serious dives and if you get hookup up with a nutjob you are in a better position to handle the situation. The second reason I suggest this is some divers, myself for one, will not buddy with a stranger on deeper, more challenging dives, on these dive I have a known buddy or don't go. Call it stingy, rude or mean but I have paid a lot of money and likely traveled a long way for the dive to end up babysitting a hover or worse.....I do this because of personal experience. Dive with me on a couple of shallow dives so we get to know each other, then most likely you will be welcome to join us but don't bother asking on deep dives if we have not dove together- ain't gonna happen. It is possible to be stuck on a boat without a buddy. A deep wreck is not the place you want to get hooked up with a scared to death newbie or an unsafe nutcase- been there done that, it's not fun.....on the other hand, if you get hooked up with a safe nutcase like Bratface..that is a whole differnet matter.

 

[fnfalman]

There are boat diving courses which are helpful in learning about being a courteous diver aboard a boat.

Boat diving course?

Five minutes talking with an experienced boat diver is all it takes to learn some of the vagaries of boat diving without having to pay PADI for another card.

As far as buddying up with somebody else on a boat, that's a regular happenstance for me. My regular buddy only gets to go out to play once a month, so the rest of the times I go by myself and buddy up with whomever available. However, it gets to the point where my once instant buddies now become regular buddies.

 

[Rockhound76]

Boat diving course?

Five minutes talking with an experienced boat diver is all it takes to learn some of the vagaries of boat diving without having to pay PADI for another card.
.....

Very true.

I've been diving over 30yrs, much of it married to a non-diver. Until my 16yr. old got certified (at 14), I either dived solo or with an insta-buddy, depending on the boat and whether or not the cap'n/DM's knew me.

There are plenty of insta-buddy horror stories (and I can related a few), but my experiences have, overall, been very positive.

I enjoyed diving with newbies, especially divers on their first few ocean dives. A shared experience is always better, IMO.

These days, I have a slave-buddy. On a recent trip to Florida, I was asked to add a 3rd member to our team, an newby who needed to buddy up. I said, "No", not because I didn't want to share, but because I felt my attention need to be on my son 100% (even though he has nearly 100 dives and is very good) and because I wanted our dives to be long (newbie was on air, we were on EAN). Even on air, we were often first in, last out and my teen was having a great time, so we decided to be selfish.

Insta-buddies are great, but the option to dive/not dive with them (or them with you) should always exist.

 

[huntnhound]

I think you will find boat diving to be lots of fun. Just make sure to be honest with whomever you get buddied with. I have gone on live-aboards several times alone...my wife won't even consider diving. My first time abaord I was paired with another newbie and we both assumed that the other was more experienced. We ended up getting too far from the boat in rough seas and the divemaster had to come and get us in the zodiac. It turned out fine but we both learned a very valuable lesson that day. Don't be afraid to tell the divemaster or captain that it is your first time...we have all had our first time.