Solo Diver Vs Insta-Buddy

Here's 3 options for the Solo or Buddy-less Scuba Diver and 5 tips for a better Insta-Buddy experience! Getting paired up on a scuba diving trip with a complete stranger can either be an absolute delight or a nerve-wrecking experience. But, if you have no other choice, and don't fancy doing a Solo Diver Scuba Specialty Certification, then at least follow these three tips for a safer and more pleasurable Insta-buddy experience.
James
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Solo Diver Vs Insta-Buddy
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[@scubaeric2820]

Years ago when I first started diving I went on a dive boat in Canada where I was the insta buddy that was paired with a very experienced diver. Everyone on boat had several hundred dives & I around 30. I was still an air hog and I know my insta buddy couldn't have been happy because are dives were only around 30 minutes. I really didn't think about until later I realized how incredibly considerate & kind he was. I have well over 500 dives now & have been fortunate that my "insta buddies" have mostly been very positive experiences. I've also been solo diving over 10 years now and really enjoy the solitude underwater.

[@dixee6498]

I might need somebody with your kind of patience! 😃

[@stephendoherty8291]

I would also note that "experienced" divers can often take shortcuts or do things during dives that more newbie divers feel intimidated about. Many of these divers dive with another similar buddy who also takes dangerous shortcuts. Don't be willing to just presume that a more experienced diver is always right. Its not just inexperienced buddies who can be the problem

[@thesollylama130]

My first dive buddy was my 11 year old kid. Other than a second air source swimming next to me, that was akin to a solo dive. I had no expectation for an 11 year old to risk their own safety to save me. We had that difficult conversation- if things go sideways the kid's job was to get to shore safely. I am expendable in that situation. I've also been insta-buddy'd with people that essentially ruined my enjoyment of a dive and cast me in the role of dive master/guide when in reality at the time I only had an OW with less than 70 dives. The dive was just farting around the reef next to the Kittiwake so the operator dive master just hung out near the boat to keep an overall eye on the divers- not close enough to conduct an immediate intervention. I was alone and was told to buddy up with a trio of divers that barely spoke English- and I don't speak Greek at all. A father and two adult children in their 20's. Dad got his OW the day before and sister had maybe 10 dives. Son seemed to be the diver in the family and spoke some English. Immediately dad took off at full speed forcing us all to chase him across the reef. I told son to pair with dad and I took sister with me to look around. She was okay on air consumption but I had to fix her buoyancy, check her air gauge every few minutes, and when it was time to surface I made the sign for 'boat' to which she had no idea where it was. It was directly above us. She had absolutely no idea where we were in relation to the boat. I felt like an unpaid dive guide, and worse at the time I didn't have professional certifications to be in that position. The dive wasn't relaxing as I felt like I was way above my pay grade for the job I was handed. No way I was counting on that lady to help me in an emergency. I kept us close to the boat and DM as much for my safety as hers. Now I solo dive quite a lot but I restrict those dives to much simpler ones, usually skills practice or gear shake downs. Mostly in fresh water lakes to avoid currents, and strictly within parameters where I could simply blow to the surface if I had to. By far my biggest threat is entanglement, so I carry multiple cutting devices and I've moved to sidemount diving so air redundancy is built in. I've taken a lot of abuse from OW divers on forums for breaking the 'never dive alone' rule they regurgitate at me. I reply that in driver's ed class they were told to drive with hands at 10 and 2, radio off and pay attention to the road. But I bet within a week they had one arm on the window sill, radio blaring, and probably checking their texts too. It's great advice for day one divers, but if you go beyond a couple OW classes that becomes more of a suggestion than hard and fast rule.

[@R.Hogarth]

I had an instabuddy a couple years ago on a Live Aboard so we were paired up for the entire week. Before the dive, we addressed pretty much everything that you mentioned, but I think you left of a critical step. After the dive, do a debrief. What did I do that you would have liked me to do differently? Did I do anything that you consider to be one of the 3Ds (Dumb, Dangerous or Different)? After a couple dives, it was as if we had been diving together for years. When you have an instabuddy, communication is critical!

[@1badsteed]

Wow, thats a great comment! My wife and I are just now getting into diving, so hopefully we'll never need an instabuddy. But my 4 daughters also got certified and you never know.

[@stephendoherty8291]

Its also worth asking in advance what both buddies are "not as experienced in". Then both buddies can be aware of what the other needs to more closely monitored during the dive.

[@BentFrontWheel]

Great comment, as someone who is looking at get into diving thanks for passing on knowledge and experience.

[@moocowp4970]

The survey linked asks people if they had ever had a negative experience, not whether the usually have a negative experience, very big difference. I've dived 61 dives now, 59 of which have been with insta-buddies (and considering the other 2 dives with a friend were only 2 dives it may as well have been an instabuddy, we weren't familiar with each other's dive ability). 1 of those dives I got caught in netting and my buddy didn't notice and kept swimming with the group, so I was stuck for 15-20mins before I could untangle myself, then on the next dive he had trouble with bouyancy and kept ascending accidentally. I'd classify that as a negative experience, so I would have been part of the 70% in that survey, but all the other instabuddy dives I've done have been positive, so the vast majority have been fine.

[@stevenprobst4917]

Ended up not having my normal dive buddy (my wife got an ear infection) on a cruise in Jan of 2020. We were stopping in Cozumel, Belize and Roatan and I planned on diving all three. Singed up with the cruise ship for a dive in Cozumel and ended up diving with a guy that I had a few drinks with a day before. We had a great dive together, and ended up diving the rest of the trip together. Your tips in the video were things that I was taught to do before any dive in my rescue class, so by the time we splashed in the water in Cozumel we were very comfortable that we had each others back. Knowing his ability and being honest with mine was absolute key. We stayed well within our limits and had an awesome drift dives! Highly recommend rescue diver for any diver, great course for honing your dive skills and awareness!

[@andyneff2640]

Love the channel. Have watched so many videos, but as a typical solo driver, this is the most helpful I’ve ever watched. I always thought I was nuts, but this video confirmed that I’m just a safe driver. Thanks so much!!!

[@CorrupteddSanity]

When I started diving at the dive center I've been going to for two years now and about 120 dives (pandemic cut my dives by 70% in 2020!), I was at the beginning insta-paired. Natural of course. Then I started asking for a dive guide. I got the two dive guides and eventually they both asked me why I wanted a guide when I seemed pretty competent ( I have about 500 dives now). I explained that I'd rather dive with someone competent and also not have to babysit noob divers who either ran out of air too fast, didn't make sure we were nearby and frankly I could not enjoy dives because I was doing my part of being a good diver by keeping an eye out on them. Since then I've gotten to know a dozen experienced divers who naturally wanted to pair up with me. But despite them being competent and trustworthy, I could not enjoy the type of diving I wanted to do. I also enjoy muck diving and critter hunting - others don't enjoy this. So I have to dive a style I dislike. Which is diving on cruise-control and only seeing what you can see without stopping to explore. I have since become a self reliant diver, carry all the spares (pony tank, spare mask, cutting devices etc etc) and have been diving solo. Majority of dives I am not really solo because we're diving around a pinnacle and there are other divers in the vicinity. Other times I am truly by myself and while it can feel daunting, its alright. Its liberating. I take pictures at will. Explore at will and stop to observe an eel hunting and just enjoy it. My only suggestions are, other than the mindset, is bring redundant air, a spare mask. Be trained at using them at a sheer moment. Keep your gear maintained. Use a compass to orient yourself in case you need to head back towards the shore. Let the boat captain know where you intend to surface on sites that are not a pinnacle.

[@grene1955]

I have had both good and bad experiences as an insta-buddy. Great name, by the way! Years ago, I got teamed up with a diver who said he had x-number of dives. Turned out the last dive he had was 15 years earlier! Let's be nice and just say, he was not a good dive buddy. On the other hand, another time I was teamed up with a diver who had more experience than me, even thought I had over 100 dives at that time. I learned a lot from him and we became dive friends. We did quite a few weekend dive excursions together because we knew we understood each other. Mostly though, I treat every dive as a solo dive, even if I'm with someone else. At the end of the day (or dive) I am responsible for my own safety.

[@ChristopherRantall]

Well, that was interesting. Most of my dives are solo; reason 1. sea conditions aren't good enough for others (I like diving even in low viz) 2. I can take my time and soak in the surroundings (good for my PTSD) 3. I can go diving within my own schedule 4. I can end the dive at my choosing (usually after 60 to 90 minutes) 5. I can take my time videoing or just hover allowing the water take me where it wants. With insta-buddy - I was surprised to be criticise once for describing where my safety equipment was stowed, as in signal mirror, SMB, signal rattle, and Nautilus Lifeline Marine Rescue GPS - reason was it made them fearful. Since then I'm really carful not to tell other insta-buddy's as I don't want them to fear being lost at sea - but if things do go pear shaped then they should be comforted in knowing rescue is higher because of the safety gear I carry basically every dive. What's your thoughts James?

[@MrJustinreese]

I would be very satisfied to have you as a dive partner if I were first shown all of your safety equipment. It is a shame that interaction didn't go so well. I would love to hear that my dive buddy can cover me in most extremes, and by showing where everything is he covers my but even if he loses consciousness.

[@JohnAnderson-ox2be]

On my fist chartered dive (probably my 10th overall dive at the time) my dive buddy (my step dad) couldn't dive because his sinuses got messed up that day. The dive master put me with another pair so we went down as 3. they seemed pretty confident and I was comfortable because i was a pretty confident in myself, i didn't get in their way and just stayed near by.

[@1badsteed]

That's also a great comment. Sometimes a party of 3 isn't crashing someone elses fun.

[@guillermopelaez5859]

Never ever through about taking the solo diver course... but now that you mention it... Thanks!

[@DiversReady]

Hi Guillermo, thanks for watching. It's not a bad option for the reasons I stated and they're becoming more and more popular. Dive safe, James

[@guillermopelaez5859]

@@DiversReady Yep... will put it on my shortlist... now, I can imagine the face from the guys at the front desk at the Caribbean resorts when checking my profile at registration and seeing a "solo diver" cert... :) I have been quite lucky with my insta buddies. Never had serious issues thou... a matter of time I guess.

[@MetroMessanger]

Your music is a bit overpowering. Good video though

[@DiversReady]

Hey Mrc, thank you. Yes, it's something I'm working on! This video is one of our first... I've gotten better at audio mixing. I wasn't using headphones before (big mistake!) I have since invested in a good pair and now I know better! Thanks for watching, James

[@sarcasm198]

Great video, James!

[@WaterlineShorts]

Great topic. My wife doesn't dive so I always need an instabuddy. Luckily I find as an instructor I always get paired with someone experienced. Makes a great case for doing your next course. The more you dive and the stronger your qualifications the more you will be exposed to diving with more experienced divers and the more you will learn.

[@DiversReady]

I find exactly the opposite! If they find out I'm an Instructor, they normally pair me with a newbie. I don't mind, but that's been my experience. Often I don't let on that I am an Instructor unless asked.

[@mauroaiello1217]

@@DiversReady It happened the same to me in Thailand a few months ago , they did not accept my solo diving and they paired me up with a newbie...nothing wrong but we ended the dive pretty quick

[@DiversReady]

@@mauroaiello1217 Yeah, that can be a bad effect, too!

[@richadcock70]

I've had several insta-buddy dives and am happy to announce they were all good dives and I still keep in touch with a couple of them so if my normal dive buddy (WIFEY) isn't available I can call on them. Thanks for this video!

[@jimmobley533]

My best insta-buddy story: several years after graduating from college I was in Bermuda and went on a dive. I was on my own on the dive. Then down the dock comes, Paul, a college friend that I had not seen since graduation. We were pared together. Small world. All went well on the dive.

[@pucioy]

1st obligatory question to instab. : "So... how many sharks have you killed?" and watch his/her reaction. That will tell you much :)

[@peterriddlestone208]

Diving in the Maldives on a group dive, but two of us had buddied up. This was on a rock out crop with no island visible from the boat so basically in the middle of nowhere. After some time the dive guide asked everybody how much air,both myself and buddy had around half tank along with another diver from Asia. The dive leader gave us another 15 minutes then we were to surface. I was given the job of leading the remaining diver. I signaled which direction to continue headed off. Within five kicks my original buddy was tugging on my fin the recently joined buddy had found “nemo” and was oblivious to any thing else and was solely intent on making a feature length film, even though I had explained clearly what the plan was and she gave the OK. I got her attention and called her over still got an OK. Turned to continue but looked back she hadn’t moved still intent on her view finder. At this point I went over and made sure she followed. I couldn’t believe it at the time and years later I still shake my head. It was her first dive on that site. On the surface there was on visible reference point she didn’t have an SMB. With out doubt she could of found herself alone.. maybe it’s just me but if I have given an OK that means that I understood and I will tag along. It could have easily been happy snappy followed by oh dam I am out of air and where is everybody...

[@phill8599]

One of my insta buddy just finished PADI OW a week before our dive. The first thing I remember about him was he jumped into the water breathing from the safety 2nd stage attached to the BC.

[@bodee1994]

I like the subtitles, keep using them

[@moocowp4970]

Solutions to instabuddy problems: > pair the single diver up with another pair so it's a group of 3, it's not without its own issues but overall more eyes is better I believe. > Make sure you do a debrief after the dive with your instabuddy, check if you did anything they considered dumb, dangerous or different to usual and figure out what you can change for the next dive to make both people comfortable.

[@gillesturner734]

I've had both positive and negative insta buddy experiences. This led me to take my Rescue course and then my Solo. I have become more specific in the dive buddies I dive with and I avoid insta buddy scenarios, but I will do them if the "surface interview" goes well and this is easier now that I have more experience and can ask better questions and realize what a qualification really provides. I've done a few solo dives and really enjoy it; might do one tomorrow if the weather holds.

[@Alex-ev3gd]

Was left two times by instabiddies, at 31m with nitrox mod 30, having them decent to about 40-45m(outside the plan). Taking onlinelessons and reading reading reading. Making v-drill, mask-loss with reliable buddies, Makes me just confident and calm. Even without the certification. I kind of hate the 100dive limitation, even I understand why it's set. I would love to have a in-between certification. Apart of that I got much more confident and aware at what point I have to engage my buddy when he gets in trouble. Solo diver for me, is maybe the single most important lessons you can take after the owd!

[@alter7181]

Another excellent video. I'm a new diver (AOW and about 35 dives) and on my first trip after my certification I went to Cozumel. Looking back I'm pretty lucky I didn't get hurt. (Ok, some minor barotrauma on my last dive, not sure how that happened). All week it was insta.buddy time or in some cases the old tag along with the dm. Second dive out of the gate I look at depth guage and realize we're at 117 ft. What the heck! I go up to 90 ft increase my NDL and get swept off the edge of the wall. Ascent and safety stop end up being totally solo. It isn't till mid week that someone says "oh, you should really be on the other boat". On that boat I'm paired with the same buddy for the remainder of the days and things went well. Lesson for me is when is take that solo diver course at some point. Also rescue diver. Being self-reliant seems imperative.

[@nickxavier9519]

Awesome video dude!!

[@DiversReady]

Thank you, Sir!

[@lauraallen8025]

Being curious about instabuddy equipment has served me well. One guy didn’t know how to dump his weights, another woman told we that if I were out of air I would breathe off her Air2, and another guy read somewhere that good divers don’t need much weight so had only 8lbs - in 53 degree water where we were all wearing 7mm suits with hooded vests on top…. All those dives went about as poorly as you could imagine even after I tried to compensate for the giant red flags. That being said, I’ve met a ton of dive friends because we ended up paired. I just try to skew the selection process in my favor by doing activities with built-in prescreening, like scientific surveys. Also when I am in a tropical vacation area, I look for the divers who dive locally, particularly in cold water.

[@shawnskiver1341]

I've experienced both ends of the spectrum. I believe the key is communication and patience. Remember we were all beginners. That's not exucing carelessness.

[@captguitarj]

OMG all insta-buddy,(thank you for the new term) situations have truly sucked and borderline dangerous. I’ve been told by many senior divers the solo divers are butt holes but having a dive operation set me up with people that truly had no business the water, well who’s the butthole.

[@MauricioGarcia-mk5bz]

Awesome video!

[@edchasan5283]

I was on a boat with insta buddy. Did one dive with them, told captain didn't want to dive again. He paired me with another group. I was satisfied how they handled it

[@harleycullen6102]

Been diving for 15 years and nearly all dive have been solo never heard of a solo dive course, just did a lot of reading on tec diving and integrated the redundancy processes always found buddy's will cruise of by themselves never to be seen again until they surface or add generic problem glad to know its not just my problem. Night dive by your self and your light starts flickering then fails is still a weird experience 😂

[@richardhouser2414]

My very first dive post OW certification (didn't have the card issued yet, just copies of all the paperwork signed through the final checkout dives with other dive shops), I took a night diving specialty near West Palm. I was with the instructor, who had 3 other students in a group, not dedicated buddies. Part way through, he points to another student, and signals for me to go to him. So, my first dive was dealling with a real out of air emergency on a severely overweighted individual (almost maxed my Coldwater BCD lifting us both) after 25min total underwater time, at night. With the very same idiot that kept turning off his light, had to be pulled down from a runaway ascent, and yo-yo'ing off the bottom. I got bicycle kicked in the head from the black plenty of times. A truly solo dive with no lights would have been so peaceful by comparison. Luckily, I was a former life guard and about as comfortable as could be starting out underwater. That could have ended very, very differently with an average newbie diver. I was never comfortable with the idea of relying on another for anything underwater (including the instructors), and instead treat it as an obligation for a partners benefit, but no expectation of assistance in return. The hunter/lobster drift pairings are about ideal for me. Keep your partner in visual range (no closer than the surface) to trade off on a flag tow, and otherwise just dive solo with your own redundancies. Despite the constant dive shop recommendations otherwise (saying it's too small, don't bother). I still dive OW with a 3cu ft spare air. It's enough to get me topside safely from 100ft. I keep at least one level of redundancy for every piece of critical equipment I carry.

[@batman6749]

Paying for a guide is good you move faster and enjoy your dive

[@timl8302]

Great Info!

[@peterclark85]

Most places I go have a dive master leading the entire group around, so not having a designated buddy hasn't been much of an issue. The only place I can think of that I have been diving with a dive shop who did not put a dive master in for every group was the Florida Keys. When I lived there I would often call my preferred dive shop (Tilden's in Marathon) in the morning asking if they had any openings for 1 person that morning or not. If they only had groups they would say no, but if they had another single diver they would pair me with them. Always came out well. Normally experienced. At one point I took a kid (teen) as my buddy since his parents burned up air fast and he didn't so my being his buddy worked out best for him. Technically I did have a rookie as a buddy in a dive in Lake Michigan off Chicago (where I live now), but we worked well together. Helped there wasn't much to see and was so cold (even in summer) that we were both ok ending dives with tons of air left. As for solo diving, when I first moved to the Florida Keys I would go diving with a coworker and his wife off their boat every weekend. I was really shocked when we got to the dive site and they said something along the lines of "ok you go ahead and get in and then once you are done we will go." They had dogs on their boat so wanted someone always on the boat watching them, so I ended up with a summer of almost all solo dives, always on the same site though. Found I loved it for photography. Last summer I took a trip to Bonaire and did a mix of boat dives (with instabuddies), night shore dives (with instabuddies) and regular shore dives (solo). When solo I stayed very shallow and played it extra safe. If I go back there (fingers crossed) I will want to get the solo certification first to be extra extra safe.

[@charlescollard502]

I’ve generally had good experiences with insta-buddies but I had a terrible experience while travelling in Australia: I was insta-buddied with a French husband and wife who were newly certified (I was AOW with only 25 dives under my belt at the time so hardly experienced!). We agreed on the plan and it was a simple reef dive from the boat to roughly 16m. It didn’t take long to things to go south - every time I turned around to see where they were they were nowhere to be seen; off chasing fish and not sticking my with me. After about 20 minutes of turning around and searching I’d had enough and called the dive - indicating that we should surface. Once on the surface I realised I was one diver short and after 10 minutes of frantic searching we found him below us, still chasing fish. After eventually getting him in the surface I was furious and wanted to know why he hadn’t surfaced with his wife and I: “I still had air in my tank” came there reply! Fortunately I didn’t have to dive with them again!!

[@SD_Trojan_7]

French are the worst in my experience. Don't know if it's the training in their country or a cultural disregard for safety/protocol.

[@vikinginfidel4293]

So I've been building powerlines for almost 10 years and I recently decided to get my open water cert thru NAUI. I currently don't have a buddy so I've considered solo diving. Every single day before work we talk, as a crew, about possible hazards depending on the job at hand that day. I think I'll go about my solo dives that way, I'll do a "pre-job" hazard assessment like we do at work, not do anything ignorant or risky, and stay within my comfort zone.

[@never2old-sd638]

Good stuff 🤙

[@BillWong]

Between solo and insta-buddy, I would choose solo, so I have been doing for over ten years.

[@matthewwyjad]

It's funny, I have had both good instabuddies and bad insta buddies. However I only remember the bad instaBuddies. The good ones we're smooth and unremarkable and so they haven't stuck in my mind.

[@seasic_official]

Great topic.. I’m always unsure about insta buddies..

[@miks8]

Trying to get my solo license now. Reason being - i just enjoy solitude more than anything. A person there with me with their own wishes and habits is an annoyance for me to be honest. I just want to spend time in a single spot for no reason, maybe observe a fish or a feature or just meditate even.

[@DannyB-cs9vx]

My opinion is having a dive buddy is just for a false sense of security. If something happens my buddy will save me. Likely they will be busy looking at other things to see that I am in trouble. I dove when younger and want to get back into it in my retirement. I can't say my past dive buddies were overly attentive of me. When I went skin diving hunting Abolone, nobody was close enough to me if I got caught up in kelp. Should snorkelers and skin divers have a dive buddy or hire a scuba diver escort? Most marine life in in 30' or less. If I do metal detecting at beaches it will be less than that. Nobody will want to swim in circles around me while I poke around in the dirt. All the certs I got back in 1975 have disappeared. None of the agencies have a record I took a course. So I will be starting from scratch. For the most part I think I will be a solo diver.

[@doubleu1017]

thanks for this video. i just got open water certified, and i dont have any family/friends to regularly dive with. i have booked 2 dives on my cruise this month - one in grand turk is through the cruise line (so im sure it will be a large group scenario), and one in curacao (i have hired a private guide). i havent encountered an instabuddy scenario yet but i'm sure i will in the future. i'm hoping to join a local diving club to meet others so i can have a dive buddy that i know for local diving and dive holidays in the future.

[@DiversReady]

Thanks for watching, doubleu1017! I have a video planned called 'How To Dive From A Cruise Ship' but I don't have a production date for it yet! Hiring a private guide is never a bad idea and I LOVE dive clubs... perfect for you to make buddies! Dive safe, James

[@doubleu1017]

@@DiversReady That's a great topic for a video! I have spoken to both companies ahead of time, and both assured me that their dives are appropriate for new divers. I'm looking forward to the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean as I have been diving in a murky quarry here in NC!

[@mikesanservino8306]

How were your dives? Did they meet your expectations? I’ve never taken a cruise ship dive so I’m very Leary of those. I’ve been diving for 40 years and the idea of being paired to an insta buddy isn’t appealing to me. I dive solo about 95% of the time and as a photographer, I’m sure that most would not want to dive with me while I’m trying to photograph.

[@doubleu1017]

@@mikesanservino8306 They were good! I felt very safe and the company was very professional. In curaçao it was just me and a guide. In turks and Caicos there were 7 of us total. I saw a lot - especially in curaçao. the dives were not very challenging though so if you have a lot of experience, you may be bored.

[@stephendoherty8291]

Very few dive boats will allow you to dive alone unless you're a dive instructor/master/friend. Once you say you're going solo, they litterally only care about whether you surface on-time (and even then they care more about the majority group of other buddy divers) So if you don't turn up they will presume you will be the last one and you're experienced enough for them not to care. What is an issue is the boat pairing you (as the experienced diver) with an almost total newbie so you're worrying more about them and not enjoying your dive as much. This naturally works when your diver is way more experienced than you (has dive gear that looks like he is an ex-navy seal going on an military mission/torch could light up the whole ocean/has 3 dive computers)

[@aaronchristopher71]

“Interpretive dance moves”. Ha!

[@WadeAbout]

Hey James love the videos. Really. I’m a Padi pro and a SR diver, I mostly dive for fun on vacation the last year or so. Do you say your “real” level of qualification or just, say, advanced etc. I am worried that some SEA operators wouldn’t give the same attention to a pro or.. expect the pro to step up under water and be paired with the “baby”. Wade

[@DiversReady]

Hi Wade, it's a great question! I usually show my Rescue Diver cert, nothing higher, and for the reasons you mentioned above. I never write my true dive count on the waiver either, always much lower. Thanks for watching! James

[@amanmontazeri125]

I still need to log some dives to get to 100 and get eligible for self-sufficient course; but will totally do it as soon as I can. underwater, I don't want to be checked/check someone else, I just wanna float and don't have any human interaction basically lol

[@DiversReady]

And there's nothing wrong with that, Aman! Dive safe. James

[@jwillard911]

I prefer solo over insta-buddy. I guess it's the difference between certified and qualified.

[@myoceanadventure3367]

hey would you have time to chat about my insta buddy experience in Kenya as a scuba instructor who loves the ocean.

[@aarongoldsmith3727]

My like 10th dive when I was 14 I did a dive with a instabuddy, didn’t ask anything about how to coordinate our dive together and he just wanted to go lobster hunting, basically my dive was chasing this guy who was chasing lobsters, wasn’t a good time

[@andrecandrade]

Great video. What certification agency do you recommend for the self reliant?

[@DiversReady]

Thanks Andreandrade! It's really not about which agency, because the course minimum requirements are all pretty much the skills. It's about finding the right, dedicated and passionate Instructor who can teach the way you learn. Also, (and this goes for any course, any agency) if an Instructor only teaches you what's on the Course standards for knowledge and skills, remember that that is the minimum requirement. Which means you're getting the lowest passing grade. C. or C-. Look for Instructors who teach everything on the course minimum requirements and give you additional values to give yourself an A+. Dive safe, James.

[@andrecandrade]

Tks

[@tericlem6015]

Solo diving is away to go when comfortable. As a Military service member my duty schedule and personal time is different than others. I am not counting on others to be on my schedule. I have spent too much money and personal time not to be able to enjoy the sport, continue my skills, and rack up dives. When I have free time I am diving with a buddy or not. Also a dive buddy can make or break a dive. Some dives now become a baby sitting adventure instead of an enjoyable time.

[@dtt3426]

when i'm south i try and dive with the dm only because i use him as a tour guide. its different when you're diving a wreck once you get to the site and can explore on your own. even though i solo dive i prefer to have a buddy in case the unexpected happens its called murphys law. even a student is caring an air supply and can possibly untangle you

[@KimonFrousios]

I've had partial instabuddy experiences, and they were mostly negative, due to lack of proper planning. My first dive post-qualification started with a friend in a guided group, but I used up my air faster, so during the dive the guide re-buddied me to another person and we were told to surface. The other person just shot straight up, leaving me (a rule-conscious newbie) really torn between doing my safety stop alone or following them to the surface too fast. :/ (I settled for a slow ascent without stop) I've also had a couple dives with people from my club at the time, but whom I did not know well and with whom we ended up having too different styles, so these ended up being frustrating and stressful too. It's very easy to assume we're all on the same page, when sometimes it turns out we're not even in the same book... I don't think I'd mind an instabuddy. But I'd like to have time to get to know about them a bit before diving, to find our common ground, plan, go over signals and safety procedures. But dive operators are usually in a rush and I'm not the most naturally outgoing person...

[@KimonFrousios]

So I nagged my gf into getting into diving. So now I always have a buddy. She's not as into it as I am, but it's nice not having to play diver roulette for every dive.

[@scooterschannel51]

I had the insta buddy from hell this week. She wouldn’t shut up. Talked over Captain, talked over the DM, wouldn’t stop moving her mouth all week. I was ready to dive with a junior open water diver just so I didn’t have to dive with her anymore. Ugh!!!

[@gee4526]

Hey James, I am curious about diving with buddies. When you're on a dive boat they assign you with a dive buddy most of the time, but since you're on a dive boat and they furnish most of the gear it is hard to recognize a certain person or buddy underwater, so with that in mind would it not be safer to make everybody everybody else's dive buddy. This way all divers would be watching out for one another instead of trying to focus on just one person that they cannot identify underwater?

[@richardhouser2414]

IMO, no. Beyond 3 in a team doesn't work well, as it's too easy to miss someone entirely. Perhaps a better idea is to bring some flare you could ask your insta buddies to wear? Like an extra, colored strap band, or such? I'm easily recognizable with a florescent yellow pouch and extra band strapped along the right side of my tank, for example.

[@krpcannon123]

Do you think a self-reliant diver course would be a good way to prepare for (eventually) doing the rescue course?

[@OnlyKaerius]

Just do the rescue course. Ideally everyone should do it, the sooner the better, preferably you should do open water, advanced, and rescue pretty much back to back, depending on how the agency has the courses set up (In CMAS for example the open(1 star) and advanced(2 stars) courses have rescue baked in).

[@YouTube_user3333]

Insta buddy: tec diver $20k of gear. Gets separated from group. I tell him to follow me. Goes off in wrong direction. Me: always solo diver. I’m not going to look after someone who has tons of experience ( and money) and doesn’t talk before a dive. Doesn’t do buddy checks and is constantly looking for me while he’s got the go pro out and not paying attention to the group

[@adeitsch]

When asked for my C-Card, I never give anything beyond my AOW card otherwise I have found I get insta-buddied with a muppet. I want to enjoy my dive, not be a guide for a newbie insta-buddy. Even then, it doesn't always work. I once got paired with a new OW diver who clung to me like sticky rice. I'm solo certified and an underwater photographer so prefer to go it alone when I can but some places don't allow solo diving.

[@j.140]

i had an insta buddy 8 years ago when I restarted with diving after a 10 year iaitus . He would just not keep close to me, he only was interested on taking pictures without caring a shit about the buddy system. It was not only his fault, but als the DM fault IMHO, as this is what a DM should check too. I think this "loner tax" is just messed up. Is really not a nice thing to be in this situation all the time and having to pay more for the same as couples or groups. I do understand James' argumets for being 100% behind the charters who refuse to take insta-buddies, but still I think is wrong. DMs and Charters should take care about creating buddy couples that match according to the needs of a dive. Otherwise why would we hire them? You could rent the equipment you need and form your own dive group.

[@mau8093]

ohhh... I understand the use of private guides now....

[@DiversReady]

Thank Mauricio! I love hiring a private guide when I'm traveling solo, because it means I can shoot the video I want without impacting the group's enjoyment of the dive.

[@harrisonmundschutz2654]

I’d rather dive with a buddy but I don’t have any friends who are into diving. Any pointers on how to seek out a dive buddy

[@DiversReady]

We made a video for that! Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3fdqZVreKmFqrM

[@derrickwilliams1902]

I have a nightmare story from having an insta-buddy. At least he briefed me ahead of time but he told me that he had a habit of wondering off. To make a long story short, I ended up not enjoying my dive because I had to make sure this guy was within sight and not doing anything stupid. We had the same certification but not the same skill level, i was surprised at some of the basic stuff he wasn't aware of.

[@DiversReady]

Disaster! So do you hire a private guide now, or did you get Solo certified? James

[@derrickwilliams1902]

@@DiversReady I was a member of a dive group from a shop in Seattle, we used to meet up regularly for different dive sites. The first time I met this particular guy should have been a red flag when he mentioned that statement to me. I have since gotten to know him better through out that year. I quietly told the Divemaster after that first dive with them that I would like to have a different buddy the next time. Apparently this person that I dived with has quite the reputation, the reason I say that is that I was on a dive boat in Seattle with a different shop and another person (a different insta-buddy) that I happen to meet on that boat knew this guy too, he had a different horror story from diving with him as an init-buddy. That insta-buddy happened to be pretty good. So, back back to the fist insta-buddy, I would dive with this group and now be paired up with another person, but that one guy would be left out, so he would dive with the person leading the shore dive instead. I have seen this guy on one occasion have an "episode" where he would have to be assisted in surfacing immediately by the divemasters. I was on a boat dive in Anacortes Washington and was the first in the water with my dive buddy only to finish the dive and see him sitting on the boat in deep thought. My wife who was a none diver that stayed on the boat told me that he was struggling after he entered the water and almost drown, they pulled him out of the water. I am no longer living in Seattle for the moment, I live near Jacksonville FL.

[@margaretriyan284]

Have had an instabuddy a couple of times. Each time I felt exploited. I'm an instructor and whenever I've had an instabuddy it's always been the guy who did their open water last year and hasn't dived since!!!!!

[@1badsteed]

@@margaretriyan284 Ugh! I'm a newbie, but cannot wait to get more dives under my belt.

[@paulclark7637]

Worst instabuddy type: the selfish photographer. If you're taking a GoPro and capturing what's around in the progress of the dive, fine. If you have a full rig and your primary (first secondary) objective is to photograph some micro reef fauna, you're expecting me to hang around and be your redundancy; you don't have attention to spare to be mine; and unless you're super-experienced, lugging that big photo rig around is probably going to make you suck air and needlessly shorten our dive. Which, on reflection, may be a mercy! Maybe a video idea for you there James - "reasons why photographers should learn to dive solo"!

[@unisuit]

DM announces we are doing a 100' dive and my Insta buddy says "I aint going back to the chamber".........

[@gentlerain8537]

When I decided to become a solo/self reliant diver... During my first diving class the instructor was somewhere between a jerk and a complete asshat. He answered safety questions with sarcasm and bad jokes without the actual answers. His behavior was extreme complacency... then I saw just how much of a Pay to Play being a dive master was. Egotists and Affluents... Who wants to be around spoiled drunk rich kids and jerk military jocks-?... That has been my entire experience of the diving community. As someone who got into diving for the opportunity to do underwater environmental cleanup- the Affluent Club is a big turn off... So I skipped the first actual set of dives with the inital non-quality-instructor as it was clearly a dangerous practice to do anything safety related with complacent people - let alone an instructor who seemed to get a kick out of not letting me get comfortable in the over chlorinated pool, falsely answering safety questions, intentionally weighting students wrong and telling storines abouts his military experience where they would skip safety stops... That particular dive master broke his leg the following day at the dive he had set up for the class. As a industrial occupational EMT+M with/Firefighter in the railroad and underground mining- we are trained to spot safety hazzards quickly. The most common safety hazzard is attitude. I will ONLY dive private guides due to the life knowledge of just how low quality training can be. This permanently rules out insta buddy...

[@likeroley2129]

from a longtime solo diver buddy's are liabilities ive saved more from death than is anything id like to call funny, on my own no problem just hate the last deco on my own in sharky waters the old mind games lol does depend on your skill level obviously

[@fishingexchange3742]

How you don’t trust your student to be your buddy!?

[@DiversReady]

It's not that I don't trust them... they are a student! If they are new to diving, how would they know how to rescue me if something unexpected happened?

[@fishingexchange3742]

@@DiversReady You were talking about the buddying up not a rescue operation! And at any entry level in any diving agency SSI, PADI .. there should be basic rescue techniques! Assuming you deliver the course completely and the demonstrate competency you would be able to buddy up with them safely. However, I consider buddying up with my instructor is a privilege! Thanks

[@thehawkeyesnest5208]

I could tell stories about why I hate diving insta buddies. Suffice to say every time I go diving and they find out I am an instructor, I get the problem case. Panic, or buoyancy issues, sucks his/her tank dry in 15 minutes. Or my absolute favorite the gear/gimmick diver. Has so much shit hanging of his gear that he doesn’t need weights, no idea of how to use half of the stuff he carries but tells the story of how he did thousands of dives. No control over nothing. Then there are the ones that don’t listen to the briefing and then you hit the water and they immediately take of on there own doing whatever it is they want to do or look at whatever was shiny. Not to bash insta buddies only, I also had dive guides who were less than stellar during their duties. To all you guides out there if you run on empty wile I still have 150 bar in my tank, you should rethink your training regime or take a bigger tank. Sorry it became kind of a rant. Go out,get wet, have fun and be save doing so.

[@diverdave4056]

but but but most are PADI certified which makes them highly skilled and knowledgeable about everything SCUBA because they paid for a beginners course at the local dive shop ! Ha Ha Ha and that's why I solo dive 95% of the time during the last 43 years . I do not want to baby sit

[@stucorbett]

F**k Insta buddy. I'm done babysitting people who can't even be bothered to look at me. Photographers are even worse. Not only don't they not even look at you, but I've been stuck waiting for them to get their picture. Every man and women for themselves. Let's be honest. That's what it is.