When is it ok to leave a buddy?

[Steve_C]

it can be deceptively easy to lose track of depth in clear blue water along a bottomless wall).

Especially if you are narced.

 

[BertStevens]

I’m frequently a single on boat dives and deal with insta buddies regularly. My last dive in Destin was with an instabuddy who is an instructor on vacation.

I always dive nitrox and he happened to be on air (found out later). When he started going 20-30 feet above me, I had no choice but to rise with him. Back on the boat, I discover he was on air and out of no deco time. Some would say let him go and enjoy your dive. But in my mind there is an implied agreement when you buddy up to stick together and keep each other safe.

I’ve also seen it argued here on Scubaboard that the is an implied legal liability when you agree to buddy up with someone. If something happens and things go south, you should be prepared, within the limits of your training, to rescue your buddy.

 

[Blasto]

How close *is* close enough to be a proper buddy? I'm assuming on a night dive it is very, very, very close.

It's very skill and condition dependent.

Among experienced, skilled, self-sufficient divers (DM/tec/solo), the furthest I'd consider to still count as buddies is half the current vis. Any more and it's easy to lose one another however good you both are.

But that's when I know my buddy can take care of himself and it's a leisurely reef dive, not blue water. For most divers or tougher conditions, it's more practical to aim for just over one body length from each other - enough not to feel joined at the hip, but close enough to always be there.

 

[DevonDiver]

The buddy system is an imperative facet of dive safety. It's not appropriate to abandon that system under most circumstances. If it were appropriate to do so, then the system was never being properly applied in the first place.

Times when a diver might abort from the buddy system:

1. When one member of the team willfully disregards safe diving practices, creating risk or hazards to their buddy.

2. When one member of the team willfully disregards pre-dive planning (depth, time, no-stop limits, overhead penetration) and to follow them poses a risk to their buddy.

I put particular emphasis on the word 'willfully'. The buddy system exists to provide mutual support and that includes when a buddy may be making imprudent decisions; particularly if they may be degraded by narcosis, reacting inappropriately due to stress or task-loaded and suffering from tunnel vision on a particular task.

Those scenarios demand support for the buddy, an intervention to ensure safety or even a decision to abort the dive for both divers.

It helps enormously if the buddy pair has discussed and agreed these contingencies in advance.

Many buddy problems stem from failures from both individuals - a lack of communication, clarity and foresight in preparation for the dive. They can be solved with pro-active measures.

I wrote an article on the subject some years ago..
How to Dive with 'Insta-Buddies' - Scuba Tech Philippines

 

[lv2dive]

No, I actually think it's a good question. I have been in situations where I did not have a buddy I knew beforehand, and they did not follow the dive plan that we agreed to beforehand. In some cases, I felt like all I was doing on the dive was trying to catch up with them because they were swimming so fast and they had no situational awareness whatsoever - They did not realize they were leaving me in the dust. In other cases, we agreed to no penetration and the next thing I knew they were going inside of a (sanitized) wreck. Those are some examples of what I would consider situations that are not black and white "stay with your buddy "situations and therefore worthy of discussion.

Does it concern anyone that this question is being asked? I don't think you should ever leave your buddy. You don't have to be in their back pocket but the definition of "Dive Buddy" should speak for itself. The only time I can even think of leaving your dive buddy is you need to seek additional help and all other options have been exhausted
.

 

[Steve_C]

I do a number of instabuddies. There are no guides or DM in the water unless you hire them. There is a hard bottom with max depth of 60-120 depending on the site. I talk to the instabuddy before the dive. We talk about their experience and the dive plan. We even have a signal for I am going to take a picture or look around here, it is your job to stay close to me for a couple of minutes. We discuss ahead of time how they feel with swim throughs.

Newer divers are not the problem. They stay close. I slowly do my thing and point out a few things. They play remora.

With more experienced divers it varies. If they go charging off at high speed and do not care if I am there, I am not going to chase them running around for my whole dive. Their choice and I am in a solo configuration. If they want a buddy then I will be a good one.

 

[mallbritton]

How close *is* close enough to be a proper buddy? I'm assuming on a night dive it is very, very, very close.)

Generally, you should be close enough to your buddy so that you can both stretch out your arms and touch hands. And on a night dive, you'll both have torches so you'll be able to see how far apart you are.

 

[KeithG]

Yes, I agree with all that. That "group" stuff is no good. Vacation diving in a group is no good. Two people as a buddy team--good.

Agreed.

As a vacation diver I commonly witness group cluster dives were no one really has a buddy. It's a group dive. What could go wrong? Everyone "thinks" the DM is their personal buddy. But this only works for the first person with an issue. After that you have a bunch of solo divers generally without the skills or equipment to dive solo. there are often couples who think they are buddys, but they really are same ocean buddies since they are often too far apart and not situationally aware of each other.

In my experience DM led group dives promote ignoring buddy skills. You can see lots of divers. So you "should" be able to lamprey onto the nearest one if you have an issue?

 

[Steve_C]

Generally, you should be close enough to your buddy so that you can both stretch out your arms and touch hands.

Depends on current, viz, etc. But I see very few buddy pairs of experienced divers maintain that distance. In good conditions more like 10 ft. Maybe it is my sense of personal space but ifsomebody is that close to me and are not my wife I will feel crowded and instinctively move further away. I have hired several private DM over the years and they were never that close.

 

[mallbritton]

Depends on current, viz, etc. But I see very few buddy pairs of experienced divers maintain that distance. In good conditions more like 10 ft. Maybe it is my sense of personal space but ifsomebody is that close to me and are not my wife I will feel crowded and instinctively move further away. I have hired several private DM over the years and they were never that close.

All true, which is why I used the word "generally." Experienced divers will be able to work that out for themselves. When I was leading new divers on fun dives I'd tell them they shouldn't be farther than that away from their buddy. This is a way to try to instill a good respect for the buddy system in new divers.