dive vs dive

[smellzlikefish]

I prefer to dive with a buddy only. Relying on others means you don't learn the skills that are crucial to keeping safe, plus when that divemaster does screw up, everybody suffers the long swim back. I like to dive independent from superiors, so while others may know the dive, I take it upon myself to learn enough about it before going in the water to find my way back should we get separated.

 

[Riger]

In the example you gave (Dubai) it sounds as though the Guide was also the Buddy for one of your friends. If the "buddy" gets 10m ahead of you and is not keeping regular tabs on you, that sounds like the buddy I do not want on my next dive.

A large part of the problem is that everyone does standardised buddy checks before taking the giant stride but never discuss the details of the "partnership" before the dive. When you have a regular buddy, the underwater arrangements are often established procedures/habits so it is of no consequence. When you have a new buddy, it is important to discuss these kind of things in advance, this way you have clear guidance on what to expect and what to be pissed off about if it does not go as planned.

On one of my first post OW dives with a guide/dm (as my buddy) I got too far ahead of him and when I was about 15m ahead, I heard this loud tank banging, when I looked back, he had no reg in his mouth giving me the out of air signal, thrashing around like a man possessed. (This was his way of giving me a huge wake-up call).

No matter what the circumstances, these things (buddy / guide / leading) must get sorted above the water, not after the fact. This is something that in-experienced divers expect will happen for them and does not. If there is one thing that Training Agencies should focus on with students, it is to be independent in their judgement/decisions, and not to expect things to be spoon-fed to them once they leave the training environment.

Best Regards

Richard

 

[Divenomad]

Logging dives is optional. It's something you do for yourself, a stamp is not necessary. Get your buddy to initial it if you choose to log your dives. Not logging dives is only a problem if you choose to take some types of more advanced training, and your instructor may want to see proof of experience. I ran into this, I have far more dives than I have logged, and it delayed certain types of training because I could not "prove" that I had done those dives. I had to start logging dives. My profile indicates a number of logged dives, not how many I actually have. It was a personal decision to post only what I can prove. There are no scuba police.

Logging has it's uses, and it can be fun looking back, like a scrapbook, but it isn't neccesary.

 

[boulderjohn]

The practice varies from place to place and depends a lot upon local conditions.

In many places, you and your buddy are just about always on your own to plan your dives and follow your plan. If you want a professional with you for a specific reason, then you have to make arrangements for that.

On the other extreme, in Cozumel and some other places, a divemaster acting as a guide is a legal requirement. That requirement makes sense because the diving is all drift diving without dive flags. If the dive group does not stay together, it would be mass chaos as the various boats try to find their passengers popping up all over the place.

In other cases, the complex geography of the dive almost requires a DM. You would never be able to find what you are looking for without one. Let's say that Cozumel did not require DM's and you wanted to dive the Devil's Throat at Punta Sur--finding that as a diver new to the area without help would border on impossible.

Some places will give you a choice by putting a DM in the water and letting you decide whether you want to stay with the DM or go on your own. When I did boat dives in Bonaire it was like that.

In other cases the possibilities change from dive to dive. When I did the wrecks at Chuuk (Truk Lagoon), we had dive guides available if we wanted them. In most cases, you did not need them, but there were some ships that were complex enough that having that guide was the only way to get to places you would otherwise never see.

So I don't think there is any one perfect answer. Mostly you will find that diving with your buddy alone is exactly what you want, but at other times a guide will make for a much more exciting and interesting dive than you could ever do on your own.

 

[Walter]

What exactly are "loged dives"?

A logged dive is a dive that's been recorded in a log, often in a book, but electronicly logging dives is becoming more popular.

Who is logging them?

The person who made the dive.

In thailand, for example, we sat down after every trip, loged down the dives, got a stamp and a signature + PADI/SSI number of the DM/instructor.

Perfectly acceptable, but totally unnecessary.

Yesterday, it was really hard for me to find somebody that gives me a stamp.

It was also hard for me to find somebody to give me a stamp yesterday. My dive was off the beach with no dive shop close by. Of course, I didn't look for somebody to give me a stamp. Stamps are cute, but not important.

Your log belongs to you, accept responsibility for it. Log what is important to you, not what is important to someone else. I record: day of week, date, dive site, dive number, depth, time in, time out, duration of dive, visibility, thermal protection, type of tank, lead carried, water temperature, boat name (if any), entry method, buddy's name (id any) and then a narrative about the dive. I sometimes will sketch out something about the dive. I do not usually get signatures or stamps, but there are a few of both in my logs.