nomoreno:
would like to ask advice from "single" divers, i.e., none of your friends or relatives are divers. How do you join diving trips? I know you can always go with local dive shops, but most of time their trip planning does not work well with my schedule. So, how do you find friends/buddy for dive trips?
The search for a reliable and safe dive buddy to travel with is of good concern, but you're better off developing a cadre of divers that have similar styles and capabilities so that you can pick one and go.
Until I found "Herself" :07: , I would often go alone. The tour ops, dive resorts and live aboards never had a problem. Met more than one friendly "SCUBAette" while traveling, rejoined them on other dive trips elsewhere. Hey- there's just something primal about a cute diver in a rubber suit with nose slime
hanging down. It cuts to the chase.
That said, why not just strike out on your own, travel as a solo? Your care and safety is absolutely your own, anway, so don't expect any buddy to be of much value... most aren't in an emergancy situation.
Go, have fun. Some rsorts may offer or threaten you with a 'single supplement', after hearing the price, you might want to accept a shared accomodation or just skip the provider.
I went on a dive trip as a single and when I arived at the Quito Hilton they asked me where my room mate was, when would 'she' be here? :06: Hmmm. She didn't like it much when she arrived at 11 pm, but how ya going to argue with the desk clerk in a South American hotel over the arrangements? We slept in the same room, but throughout the week she proved to be more of a mediocre traveller than any sort of diver.
You'll meet some cool people. On the Nekton I met a lady that was the prison shrink for Charlie Manson and others. We spent hours apres-dive in the hot tub yacking.
Go, be adventurous, have fun.