Where do you find your dive buddies and local diving information?

[ScubaJill]

@ScubaJill

From the you of last year (aka the me of this year) thanks for this thread and for connecting me to the local meetup. Unfortunately I was a total failure at meeting folks down at Lake Phoenix the other weekend, but hopefully I'll be able to connect with you and others this coming Tuesday. As a starting point, I'll agree with @sheeper about using a dive shop to coordinate. Several of us who have met through classes at Submerged usually piggyback on their class schedule to meet up for non-class dives when they have something going on and coordinate who will be there through the shop. But, we've also been discussing finding other times to get together and other ways to plan dives. Of course, that was mostly around the idea of connecting with each other, but it could definitely be extended. It also doesn't help people who aren't affiliated with a particular shop or who are visiting the area.

So then, continuing down the path that isn't related to a particular shop...

First, I'd say if we're talking about a local group to do local dives (even if that means driving a few hours) I think it's good to have met in person first if at all possible. It seems like Meetup can definitely fill that role. I don't have a good sense of how Facebook groups work and maybe they offer a more elegant solution, but it seems like if we could get everyone who potentially wanted to dive together using Meetup then anyone could create an event when they were thinking about going diving locally and anyone who wanted to could join. That kind of defeats the idea of having met first, but maybe there are controls that can be put in place within the app to help with who can join a particular meetup.

The other option I can see (if something else doesn't already exist) would be a public, shared Google calendar or people sharing links to a diving specific personal Google calendar. The trouble I can see with the shared Google calendar solutions is the potential for accidental (or taking off my "were all nice adults here hat" deliberate, mischievous, or malicious) editing of the calendar. I can also see trouble with circulating a notice that people should look at a particular personal calendar when it was updated. I'd imagine the solution to the public calendar would be having a limited number of editors that people could email requests to, but that means someone being willing to take on that responsibility.

One last idea that I just had, since we're discussing this here, would be if ScubaBoard could add calendars to the Regional Forums. I know this would require moderators/ administrators to be involved which I'm sure is not a small request, but it is a place that already exists and that we know a good number of divers from many areas are visiting with some regularity. It's also an easily remembered name to share. Maybe some other folks will chime in with ideas and opinions.

Mark

I like your ideas. Let's chat on Tuesday!

 

[sheeper]

Well, I have dived with you, and I have a shirt to prove it!

We don't have any clubs in this area. Some meetups, but the folks who attend don't create a cohesive dive community. As I found, there are a number of shops in the area, just none close enough to me to make hanging out feasible. But anyway, joining up with a dive shop - which is likely a fairly blind choice in the beginning - seems to be a pretty big investment for all but the most invested. And I'm betting that there are a large number of newer divers who are interested but not invested. Still, rather than this being about me, I'm thinking about the "me" of the past and how I can help others in that same predicament.

Does your club have a website other than Facebook? How do you communicate with the group?

We communicate several different ways. We actually have a (little used) forum here on ScubaBoard.
We also have a club website (www.verobeachscubaclub.org).
Facebook is the #1 method. the website is member oriented with specific areas open only to dues paying members.

now you have to come back and dive again!

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I will share my a little of my own experience from the DC area and perhaps you can relate.

I also saw diving as an individual activity instead of a group activity and that ended up costing me. I used to log on to internet, find places and charters to dive and just show up as a solo-diver. I realized that this was a horrible way to go about things at the experience level that I was back then. Firstly, I would get the "insta-buddy" and most of the time it would be someone who had no clue what they were doing in water. If there were no insta-buddies then I would become the third wheel in a group of two which meant that I was diving solo next to a buddy team.

My certification level was AOW and AOW does not prepare divers to competently dive 100" or below. It was not part of my AOW curriculum to calculate SAC rates, realize that an 100 ft tank would be better suited for deeper dives than the AL 80 one I would normally be given etc. I was the typical "poorly trained" AOW diver industry likes to produce who will be "shop dependent" but I wanted to go out and do my own thing so diving was OK but not the best.

I wanted to experience liveaboard diving so I booked myself on a liveaboard to Dry Tortugas only to discover that it was in fact a spear fishing trip which was not permitted to go into the real Tortugas area that I was hoping to dive. These guys were not allowed to shoot fish there so the liveaboard never went where I thought it was going. I still enjoyed the trip but it would have been better if I knew more about how liveaboards worke or if it was arranged by someone who did.I was depriving myself of group rates, shared expenses etc. Above all I was missing on one important aspect of diving and that was mentorship.

There was one advantage of my initial "solo years." All these crazy "solo-trips" that I was doing put me in contact with divers from all over the East coast. After a few years of being the lonesome dove on NC trips I had already dives with folks from Florida, MA, NJ, as well as some West coast guys. I also made some new dive buddies during Caribbean trips. Thus the second phase in my evolution as a dive traveler was to find local divers in the area I was diving and hook up with them. This adds a lot of value to the trip because locals know best dive spots, best restaurants and over all experience is a million times better. Scubaboard was also very helpful because you can start a thread and a group will be created.

I have not done LDS trips as much as I should have. I now realize that the first few years of my diving would have been better if I had joined LDS trips and then branched out on my own after a few years. The LDS culture has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that you make dive buddies in your area. Secondly you always have more experienced instructors and divemasters on these trips. The disadvantage is that they all want to go to the tropics. Every shop will have multiple trips to Bonaire each year but if you would like to dive the Browning Pass then that is a trip they feel they cant sell. Browning pass is cold water and there are not a lot of drysuit divers to fill the trip etc. My diving interests are now starting to diverge away from "the shop" so other means of networking are more suited for my own purpose but a few years ago LDS would have been the best option.

In our area I would recommend the following:

1. Jeff and DeeAnna from DiveWell in Woodbridge.

This place is run more like a club than a shop. Divers who dive with them end up knowing each other outside of diving too so after some time it feels like being in an episode of "Friends." They have helped me a lot in gear purchases, equipment recommendations etc.

Divewell 2015

2. Submerged:

I have never gone on a trip with them but I did Essentials of Tec and my style of diving goes very much in line with what they do. You will also learn a whole lot diving with them.

www.submergedonline.com

3. BAREG

If you like wrecks and history then you can get in touch with Bill Chadwell. They do a lot of serious archeological dives.

www.coraledgeadventures.com

So staying in touch with their travel and events calendars would be a great start.

 

[nolatom]

To paraphrase Blanche DuBois, "I have always relied on the kindness of instabuddies", in general it's worked out fine.

On a good boat, an early chat with the DM or captain will typically get you matched up with a better buddy than you'd have found on your own.

Yes, going with your shop is best at first. Then take a chance on instabuddies. They are much better than the message forums might lead you to believe.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

I have used Scubaboard.com in the regional forum and Divebuddy.com to find divers and google for local spots to dive (lots of websites and very interesting sites can be found)...

Many different ways to find dive buddies - don't be afraid to extend yourself and meet some new folks...

 

[ScubaJill]

I will share my a little of my own experience from the DC area and perhaps you can relate.

I also saw diving as an individual activity instead of a group activity and that ended up costing me. I used to log on to internet, find places and charters to dive and just show up as a solo-diver. I realized that this was a horrible way to go about things at the experience level that I was back then. Firstly, I would get the "insta-buddy" and most of the time it would be someone who had no clue what they were doing in water. If there were no insta-buddies then I would become the third wheel in a group of two which meant that I was diving solo next to a buddy team.

My certification level was AOW and AOW does not prepare divers to competently dive 100" or below. It was not part of my AOW curriculum to calculate SAC rates, realize that an 100 ft tank would be better suited for deeper dives than the AL 80 one I would normally be given etc. I was the typical "poorly trained" AOW diver industry likes to produce who will be "shop dependent" but I wanted to go out and do my own thing so diving was OK but not the best.

I wanted to experience liveaboard diving so I booked myself on a liveaboard to Dry Tortugas only to discover that it was in fact a spear fishing trip which was not permitted to go into the real Tortugas area that I was hoping to dive. These guys were not allowed to shoot fish there so the liveaboard never went where I thought it was going. I still enjoyed the trip but it would have been better if I knew more about how liveaboards worke or if it was arranged by someone who did.I was depriving myself of group rates, shared expenses etc. Above all I was missing on one important aspect of diving and that was mentorship.

There was one advantage of my initial "solo years." All these crazy "solo-trips" that I was doing put me in contact with divers from all over the East coast. After a few years of being the lonesome dove on NC trips I had already dives with folks from Florida, MA, NJ, as well as some West coast guys. I also made some new dive buddies during Caribbean trips. Thus the second phase in my evolution as a dive traveler was to find local divers in the area I was diving and hook up with them. This adds a lot of value to the trip because locals know best dive spots, best restaurants and over all experience is a million times better. Scubaboard was also very helpful because you can start a thread and a group will be created.

I have not done LDS trips as much as I should have. I now realize that the first few years of my diving would have been better if I had joined LDS trips and then branched out on my own after a few years. The LDS culture has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that you make dive buddies in your area. Secondly you always have more experienced instructors and divemasters on these trips. The disadvantage is that they all want to go to the tropics. Every shop will have multiple trips to Bonaire each year but if you would like to dive the Browning Pass then that is a trip they feel they cant sell. Browning pass is cold water and there are not a lot of drysuit divers to fill the trip etc. My diving interests are now starting to diverge away from "the shop" so other means of networking are more suited for my own purpose but a few years ago LDS would have been the best option.

In our area I would recommend the following:

1. Jeff and DeeAnna from DiveWell in Woodbridge.

This place is run more like a club than a shop. Divers who dive with them end up knowing each other outside of diving too so after some time it feels like being in an episode of "Friends." They have helped me a lot in gear purchases, equipment recommendations etc.

Divewell 2015

2. Submerged:

I have never gone on a trip with them but I did Essentials of Tec and my style of diving goes very much in line with what they do. You will also learn a whole lot diving with them.

www.submergedonline.com

3. BAREG

If you like wrecks and history then you can get in touch with Bill Chadwell. They do a lot of serious archeological dives.

www.coraledgeadventures.com

So staying in touch with their travel and events calendars would be a great start.

Thanks for this, Aziz.

 

[Neilwood]

As I previously mentioned, I generally dive with a bunch of friends from the dive shop where we all go.

We now have a facebook messenger group that we use to keep up on who is diving, when and where as well as organising the truly important stuff like nights out and other social activities.

Get a couple of buddies, dive with them, add them as friends on FB and then create a group which can expand as you see fit when you dive with buddies buddies etc.

 

[BDSC]

I now realize that the first few years of my diving would have been better if I had joined LDS trips and then branched out on my own after a few years.

That's exactly what I did when I was first certified. I took several "shop trips" because it was easy to just go in and sign up and wait for the trip. I met several folks that way and still dive with some of them today. Absolutely nothing wrong with going on trips with the LDS but many shops run the same trips over and over at the same time each year. So eventually we decided to branch out on our own.

A number of years ago 6 of us (4 local and 2 from Arizona) decided to go to Belize and stay at Turneffe Island Resort. It was a great trip and while there we made friends with another couple who said, "Next time you guys go on another trip we'd love to join you." Well that started the ball rolling. The next trip it was the 6 of us plus that couple and one other couple they knew. We're now at 10. You see where this is headed. We now have a network of between 40 - 50 folks who travel together to destinations all over the world. Obviously not everyone goes on every trip but when we book liveaboards, we fill it up. When we do land based we'll fill one or two boats.

What's really nice about all of this is two things. First and most important is we have a group that have formed some really strong friendships from all across the US and Canada. We travel well together and everyone gets along. We don't have to worry when we charter a liveaboard if "that guy" is going to be onboard. Second, we all save money now when we travel as a group. Sometimes we may only save $100 to $200 on a land based trip. Other times, we have saved over $1000 on a liveaboard. That's significant! Everyone shares equally in the free spots/commissions/group discounts. No one goes on another persons dime.

ScubaBoard has certainly played a role in all of this. I'd guess without actually counting that we have 12 to 14 folks on our trips I met directly on SB. I posted a trip and they signed up and I guess they thought we were a decent bunch because pretty much all of them continue to travel with us here and there. What has now happened is I don't seem to find myself posting trips on SB as much as I use to because all the trips fill up so fast from the regulars there isn't much space to offer new folks. But I'm actually trying to make an effort now to hold a few spaces open each trip for someone new.

But what I describe here is "destination diving" and really not local diving. We have a quarry not far from me but I seldom seem to go anymore as I go on enough trips during the year to get my fill. There are a number of local folks who like to dive every week or weekend and make their way to the quarry. A lot of times if they don't have a dive buddy they will post on a couple of the FB groups to find someone. It seems to work pretty well. We also have a very active local dive club that is not affiliated with any particular shop and they are really a good group of folks. I try to make those meetings each month. It's an excellent way to keep in touch with what's going on with local diving.

ScubaJill, I hope you are able to accomplish what you have set out to do. Maybe it just takes a person like yourself to get it all started at more of a local level.

 

[Stoo]

Mrs. Stoo and I are not big on group travel with people we don't know, but we love travelling with a few friends. Often I will become the unofficial organizer, if for no other reason than I have a little time on my hands.

SInbad, places like Browning Pass are amazing, but you're right, these areas only appeal to those who can deal with chilly water and are there for the diving, rather than sun and beaches. I am heading there in 10 days and the weather is already getting into the low 40s at night, and only 50s during the day. It drizzles constantly but the area seriously looks like it's right out of National Geographic. Typically the water will be about 47°-48° but for a bunch of Great Lakes divers, all of whom dive regularly in drysuits, this is actually ideal and we manage three or four dives a day easily (and then sleep very well... it's hard work)!

I agree with Neilwood that Facebook is a great way to network. A couple of my friends began a FB group called Great Lakes Technical Divers a few years ago which currently has 543 members from around the area. The name is a little misleading since most members are not really techies, but pretty serious rec divers who wear doubles. There are no organized trips through this group, but members will frequently just book a boat someplace and then post "who's coming" and they fill pretty quickly. There's great depth of experience within the group as well, and discussions of all flavours are frequent.

When I am organizing a little trip someplace, I will create an Event page, and circulate the info and again, typically the trip is full in a matter of days. I think some folks just like to have someone else do the legwork, and I am one of the folks who is happy to do it.

 

[ScubaJill]

Mrs. Stoo and I are not big on group travel with people we don't know, but we love travelling with a few friends. Often I will become the unofficial organizer, if for no other reason than I have a little time on my hands.

SInbad, places like Browning Pass are amazing, but you're right, these areas only appeal to those who can deal with chilly water and are there for the diving, rather than sun and beaches. I am heading there in 10 days and the weather is already getting into the low 40s at night, and only 50s during the day. It drizzles constantly but the area seriously looks like it's right out of National Geographic. Typically the water will be about 47°-48° but for a bunch of Great Lakes divers, all of whom dive regularly in drysuits, this is actually ideal and we manage three or four dives a day easily (and then sleep very well... it's hard work)!

I agree with Neilwood that Facebook is a great way to network. A couple of my friends began a FB group called Great Lakes Technical Divers a few years ago which currently has 543 members from around the area. The name is a little misleading since most members are not really techies, but pretty serious rec divers who wear doubles. There are no organized trips through this group, but members will frequently just book a boat someplace and then post "who's coming" and they fill pretty quickly. There's great depth of experience within the group as well, and discussions of all flavours are frequent.

When I am organizing a little trip someplace, I will create an Event page, and circulate the info and again, typically the trip is full in a matter of days. I think some folks just like to have someone else do the legwork, and I am one of the folks who is happy to do it.

Your post just prompted me to create a Facebook page, Stoo. I'm calling it DC Divers Connect. I'll be linking to the available resources for divers in this area (and there are at least a dozen or so websites), including relevant posts on SB. If nothing else, I hope it's a resource a newbie can find (that isn't linked to a dive shop). Maybe a website will follow for those not on FB, like me.