Info Should you look for a Good diver or a Good-Natured diver for your next trip buddy?

[SelfDiver]

The diving part of diving is a small part of the dive trip.

• Packing gear,
• Getting to the airport
• Checking in,
• Flight,
• Arrival,
• Baggage claim and losses,
• Passport controls,
• Car rental,
• Hotel.

All of these individually stressful activities occur before you even get to the diving.
Even a dive day does not have much diving. You spend about 4-5 hours in the water per day... and the rest?
A dive vacation is a logistical problem that is constantly throwing things at you.

Which brings me to the topic "Should you look for a Good diver or a Good-Natured diver for your next trip buddy?"
A good buddy is not necessarily a better diver than you with instructional ratings for Trimix Cave sidemount rebreaters.
I prefer an open water diver with a good attitude and other redeeming qualities. You will not be invited to the next trip if you are annoying and a general menace, I don't care how great of a diver you are.
One of the worst experiences I had was with a diver who was fine in the water but would walk off in some direction and then wonder why everyone was hot and bothered when the ferry was leaving in 5 minutes. This trip ended our decade long relationship.
The workaholic on their phone all day was the most reliable person, antisocial but reliable. Showed up on time to everything, always volunteered to stay with the gear/car/whatever. Never wandered off.

Anecdotes like these exist in every group traveling together.
Tantrums over lost luggage and late flights and dirty hotels and unavailable rental cars and bad food...etc are normal for any group travel. Add diving on top of that and everything becomes harder.

I prefer someone good natured and good traveler (that can get along with me) to an excellent diver. And it can be difficult to know ahead of time what kind of "friend" you are traveling with.
Some of us are "Type A" on trips, Some of us are different alone than as "Husband-Wife" team, Some are "always late" or "always hungry"...etc. And you would have no idea until you are traveling together.
Priority #1 is to find someone that can do the whole trip, not just the diving portion. Finding a good dive travel buddy is like winning the lottery. Invest in the relationship and foster their dive capabilities.
Because if they are beginner divers now, next trip they improve.

If you are the newbie diver

• be awesome outside the water.
• Be solution oriented to problems.
• Be on time.
• Sort your paperwork.
• Be coach-able.
• Listen and contribute.
• Tell jokes.
• Make food.
• Stand up for yourself.
• Ask for help.
• Be on time.
• Be responsive.
• Keep track of your stuff.
• De-escalate.
• Don't try to be strong, throw out your back on day 2 and be bedridden for the rest of the week.
• Dive the plan.
• Don't berate others when the mess up.
• Be on time

This list does not change if you are the experienced diver. It grows to include:

• Safety check
• Gear checks
• Dive planning
• Exhibit and demonstrate proper Buoyancy trim and propulsion techniques
• Deco, gas and depth monitoring
• Computers and slates setup
• SMB deployments if needed
• Extra weights
• Offer spare gear
• Quick fixes
• Nitrox analyzing

As an experienced diver, you should be faster, more polished and procedural about these things. This is what fosters the newer divers to be better for the next trip.

As you advance to technical and specialized diving, a good buddy is harder to find.
The ideal situation is to foster a group through your local dive shop and grow the talent organically.
Organized travel like liveaboards and resorts take most of the stress out of it.

 

[Brett Hatch]

Interesting thread. Ideally, I like diving with somebody who has similar goals to me, who is capable of keeping themselves safe, who is capable of keeping me safe if I need it, who is safe for the reef, who I can communicate well with, and who is in it for a good time. Newer divers, of course, aren't always in a position to tick all of those boxes, but if their heart is in the right place and they have a good attitude, then that counts for a lot.

If I'm traveling with somebody, it helps if we have similar ideas of what to eat and when, how much is the right amount to drink, what are good times to go to bed and to get up, what topside activities we'd like to get into, and how much of a trip should be dedicated to diving, versus to whatever other cool things are available.

I've only ever dived with one insta-buddy who was such a bad buddy to me that I'll probably never dive with them again, everybody else has been fine to great. I have yet to travel with somebody who I'd never travel with again, but then again I don't have any experience with insta-travel-buddies at all.

 

[JonnieB]

I prefer no buddy

#solodiving

 

[Centrals]

I travelled alone most of the time. Never ever worried about who is going to be my buddy.
Why would LoB or resort be less stressful than DIY. There are plenty of threads that people had been exceedingly unhappy with them.
There is a thread on a LoB trip organized by a well known operator to Komodo not too long ago in SB and the divers never ever left port and received no compensation !!!!

My first dive after OW certification was in PNG. It was a day trip out from Madang.

 

[MB NZ]

Just someone who is organised and competent, gets on with it without fuss and shuts the f*** up every once in a while.

 

[fishlock]

I prefer a buddy who looks good in a swimsuit and will share a bed with me at night.

Diving skills are not important. But it is nice if they will watch our kids play on the beach while I dive. In return I'll watch the kids while they go to the spa.

 

[Still Kicking]

I have a buddy who is a good guy and a reasonable diver but he is cheap (cheaper than me, and that's saying something LOL) He's retired with a good pension. I never invite him on trips because he gripes about the cost of stuff. Nevermind that you are having the time of your life, "They want what? What a ripoff!"

 

[NothingClever]

This list does not change if you are the experienced diver. It grows to include:

• Safety check
• Gear checks
• Dive planning
• Exhibit and demonstrate proper Buoyancy trim and propulsion techniques
• Deco, gas and depth monitoring
• Computers and slates setup
• SMB deployments if needed
• Extra weights
• Offer spare gear
• Quick fixes
• Nitrox analyzing

I’d add - Be prepared to use positive communication skills to teach, coach or mentor your less experienced dive buddy according to his/her needs, aptitude and attitude.

 

[stretchthepenn]

I have yet to travel with somebody who I'd never travel with again, but then again I don't have any experience with insta-travel-buddies at all.

Lucky you. I got stuck on a 14-hour drive (one way, and then 14 hours back) with a carful of divers whose politics and mine Did Not match up, and they jabbered nonstop about nothing but politics.

 

[Brett Hatch]

Lucky you. I got stuck on a 14-hour drive (one way, and then 14 hours back) with a carful of divers whose politics and mine Did Not match up, and they jabbered nonstop about nothing but politics.

Yeah I didn't include in my travel buddy criteria a political alignment (or at the very least, a willingness to set that aside and discuss other stuff). But I guess I should have!