Keeping Track of Buddies

My two sons, 16 and 14, recently got certified and we did a dive vacation together with my wife, also recently certified, in Bonaire. One thing I found while diving with my family, due to their lack of experience, was that I devoted a lot more of my attention (compared to my dives with experienced divers in the past) to them. While I've always been a very conscientious buddy, I was much more concerned with monitoring them than I would otherwise be.

My question stems from the difficulty (not sure if that is the best word to describe how I actually felt) with keeping track of them. I had them flanking me on either side and they were generally trailing me by about half a body length. We enjoy a leisurely pace on dives but we do move and I found myself constantly having to pause and look back to make sure they were doing well. Not once did I ever look back and not find them but I don't like to make assumptions while diving. Too much can go wrong too quickly to stop paying attention.

So is there a better way to orient ourselves to make keeping track of each other easier? To caveat that question, we did try some other configurations. But any time they were farther up where I could see them, they said they had difficulty being able to see me well enough to know when I stopped or changed directions. And I also frequently passed the lead responsibilities off to them so they could get some experience leading dives. They expressed the same issues with keeping track of followers that I did.

All polite responses welcome. :cool2:

Sounds to me like you're doing all the right things. There's no getting around the limitations a scuba mask imposes on your vision. And dive lights are no help at all in the tropics (except at night, of course).

It does get easier with practice ... as long as your sons and wife are making a conscious effort to be where you expect them to be, I'd say that's about as good as it gets.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

NWGratefulDiver:

Sounds to me like you're doing all the right things. There's no getting around the limitations a scuba mask imposes on your vision. And dive lights are no help at all in the tropics (except at night, of course).

It does get easier with practice ... as long as your sons and wife are making a conscious effort to be where you expect them to be, I'd say that's about as good as it gets.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

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Hmm, well. That's good and bad. I didn't get flamed because my MOO is good. But it doesn't improve anything either. But safety will always come first while diving for me so I'll press on as is.

Thanks!

I don't have near as much experience as you or the other poster but I have been diving with several people as buddies since I am not married and don't have a permanent dive partner. My instructor(s) taught me to stay beside them where they could quickly glance and see me in their peripheral vision. I have found this to be an easy way to dive in a group situation of 3 or more people. Hope it helps...

If your family was trained to buddy dive, then that's what they should be doing. I know that ideally you want to stay together, but it can be difficult to stick together as a foursome under certain conditions (Bonaire typically has great vis so keeping the group together there should be relatively straightforward). Make sure that each diver is buddied up with another. Then...just try to keep the twosomes together. If the twosomes get separated, that's OK. Each pair simply continues the dive. If a diver is separated from his buddy, then buddy separation protocol should be followed.

When leading a bunch of divers, I find that moving slowly and deliberately is the key. The leader can check on the position of the others by turning his neck to the left or the right or between the legs. I find that it's easiest to peek between the legs with my drysuit (neck seal issues). Always assign buddy pairs prior to the dive. This can't be stressed enough.

The most common problem that novice divers have when leading is moving too quickly. That was my tendency anyway.

Another tip is to do a clear pre-dive brief on navigation. Specify the general route of the dive, which pair will lead/follow, turn pressures, etc.

Keeping a larger dive group together takes good preparation, communication, experience, and constant vigilance. This can be made more difficult when you're leading newer divers who are still getting used to working their gear. Due to the inexperience of your family, it's completely natural that you would want to know where the entire group is 100% of the time. Sounds like you were doing the best you could...

The more buddies you have, the more time you'll spend looking for them, even if it's only a glance to see they are where they should be. While it's your job to keep track of them, it's also their job to keep track of you and of each other. It's also everyone's job to make it easy for your buddies to find you. When you are half a body length in front of them, it's easy for them to see you. It's not so easy for you to see them. Swim side by side. Trade places from one dive to the next. If everyone knows the difficulties of keeping track of the other buddies from every angle, it will be easier to get everyone to work together.

I find it easier when diving in a group of four to have two buddy teams of two people each. You each have one buddy and also keep a watch on the other buddy team. It's much easier doing it that way.

Bubbletrubble:

If your family was trained to buddy dive, then that's what they should be doing. I know that ideally you want to stay together, but it can be difficult to stick together as a foursome under certain conditions (Bonaire typically has great vis so keeping the group together there should be relatively straightforward). Make sure that each diver is buddied up with another. Then...just try to keep the twosomes together. If the twosomes get separated, that's OK. Each pair simply continues the dive. If a diver is separated from his buddy, then buddy separation protocol should be followed.

When leading a bunch of divers, I find that moving slowly and deliberately is the key. The leader can check on the position of the others by turning his neck to the left or the right or between the legs. I find that it's easiest to peek between the legs with my drysuit (neck seal issues). Always assign buddy pairs prior to the dive. This can't be stressed enough.

The most common problem that novice divers have when leading is moving too quickly. That was my tendency anyway.

Another tip is to do a clear pre-dive brief on navigation. Specify the general route of the dive, which pair will lead/follow, turn pressures, etc.

Keeping a larger dive group together takes good preparation, communication, experience, and constant vigilance. This can be made more difficult when you're leading newer divers who are still getting used to working their gear. Sounds like you were doing the best you could...

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Actually, I wasn't as clear as I could have been about our situation. I think I did say that in the situation I was most concerned with, it was just myself and my two sons. If all four of us dove, I buddied with my wife, and my two boys buddied up. Technically we were bending rules a little because my younger son is 14 and is supposed to dive with someone 18 or older. But I did require them to be within visual range of us at all times. So we did use the buddy system in that case.

Now, my wife did only half the dives. So when the three of us dove, we had to go as a threesome. (Wasn't interested in finding a stranger to pair with my son and this wasn't a safety issue, just a convenience thing.) And that is where the majority of the issues arose. I did try putting them both on the same side but what we ran into there was the reef, which typically slants up on one side at about 45 degrees in Bonaire. Not always, but a lot of the time. Having them both on one side caused one of two problems. Either they were on the side away from the reef and it made looking back from the reef toward them a long turn, or they were on the reef side and someone was fighting to stay off the coral.

Believe me, we really noodled through this and tried some different things. But never really found something that made keeping track of buddies while enjoying the reef as the lead diver, really easy. Thought maybe there was some trick I missed in my OW class but it sounds like it's just part of the game when working with equipment that limits visibility.

Thanks!

Almost all inexperienced divers will tend to be slightly behind and above a lead, as they feel more secure when they have a good view of you. If you explain that to them, and then ask that they stay level with you - and specify a distance - 1m of grabbing distance for a new diver - they'll tend to stay about 2m away which is fine.
Make sure you are diving as 2 pairs with a lead pair, or if as a 3 as a buddy pair +1 (ie you). IN time it will just become second nature - or with luck the kids will lead and you can just potter along behind them

Herk_Man:

Now, my wife did only half the dives. So when the three of us dove, we had to go as a threesome. (Wasn't interested in finding a stranger to pair with my son and this wasn't a safety issue, just a convenience thing.) And that is where the majority of the issues arose. I did try putting them both on the same side but what we ran into there was the reef, which typically slants up on one side at about 45 degrees in Bonaire. Not always, but a lot of the time. Having them both on one side caused one of two problems. Either they were on the side away from the reef and it made looking back from the reef toward them a long turn, or they were on the reef side and someone was fighting to stay off the coral.

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Ahhh. The joys of threesome diving. In low vis situations, it's best for the leader to be in the middle and the other two to be in flanking positions on either side of the leader at the same depth. This is pretty tough to do with inexperienced divers.

The configuration in which your kids were on the reef-side with you on the outside would seem to be the best solution. If your kids were "fighting to stay off the coral," then they need to really work on their buoyancy control. Have them practice in a pool at home before the next trip...or enroll them in more advanced training. As you know, neutral buoyancy only gets easier with practice. It is possible for beginner divers to have good buoyancy control -- usually this is determined by the quality (and duration) of instruction.

The majority of my diving is done in a threesome. All three divers, however, must have the skill and the proper attitude to make it work. No one should ever be placed in the position of "monkey-in-the-middle" with the other two divers swimming off in opposite directions.

Have fun out there...

basically, it's second nature to try to keep track of your family very closely when in uncomfortable or unnatural situations. in situations like yours, you just have to just relax and understand that the people you're diving with have undergone the simple precautions necessary to be safe while diving! like yeah, you can be worried, but they're fine. really. if they're really new and are 'scary' to watch while diving, then the divemasters will have already taken notice and will adjust the dive if necessary.

for example - when i did my first deep dive to 140, i was following the DM to the point where we were going to stop and do some math to display the effects of narcosis, etc... my dad was following us the whole time. when we touched down on sand, the DM pointed back and my dad was literally nowhere in sight within the canyon. i pretty much **** my pants, because i was narced. i eventually found him directly above me and relaxed, but calmed down because i remembered that he had done this plenty of times. basically, you have to take care of yourself and understand that others can do the same, regardless of age.