Buddy Diving - Pairing of Buddies

Pairing of Buddies

There is both confusion and controversy in exactly how best to form up buddy teams among a group of divers. One school of thought is that buddies should always be closely matched in skills and experience so that one diver will not hold back his or her buddy in achieving what would personally be a totally enjoyable dive. This becomes particularly true when a diver is on an especially expensive or unique diving trip or holiday. The problem with this approach is that it also pairs up inexperience – which is a very dangerous situation if a diving emergency arises (fortunately, this is not statistically very often). The alternative is to only buddy-up a more experienced diver with a less experienced buddy to counter this "experience gap". This also helps to advance diving skills by having one buddy essentially act as a "tutor" – indeed, the British Sub Aqua Club strongly encourages and practises such a general scheme. The problem however, aside from perhaps limiting the more experienced diver's chance to do the diving he would have wished, is that the less experienced diver is not what would be considered an ideal buddy in case of any emergency happening to the more experienced diver. These types of problems are magnified when divers who do not know one another (say on an open boat trip) are paired off as buddies. Numerous harrowing stories abound about diving with "the tail-end-Charlie" or the "buddy from hell" out of such practices. The "perfect buddy" is a long term friend or acquaintance, a partner who matches one's own high level of diving skills, who has the same interests, the same stamina and fitness, and who enjoys the companionship in sharing enjoyable diving. Although the principal reason for instituting the buddy system is the mitigation of the possible risks in diving, the sharing of diving experiences and the enjoyment of being paired together with a friend, family member, or keen fellow enthusiast while on a dive ranks very highly in the reasons many divers enjoy the sport of scuba diving.