caydiver
Contributor
I have been lucky that most of my diving is in Grand Cayman where solo diving is a no no. On the boat dives the first dive is a guided deep dive. You can quickly get a feel for the skill level of your other colleagues on that dive. If someone is a total disaster I will say no to accepting them as a buddy, if not I am happy to have them along. Years ago we had instances one in particular where we buddied up with someone who never should have been certified. Bouncing up and down, breaking all the profiles (before computers could angrily beep at them), and after that we decided that we just didn't want to be responsible for someone who was clueless. That said many times over the years we have had someone join us as a buddy who was wonderful to dive and we shared stories and pictures and good times. I would say keep your eyes and ears open when people are getting their gear ready and if you have a chance to observe them in the water, do so. There is no one size fits all Happy diving!