Ok, going back to give feedback to another posters response:
The following post is one of a serious of threads resulting from a collaboration between [user]Bubbletrubble[/user] and myself.
We have dived the What if...? idea into a series of topics and posted the main thread as a sticky here:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...514-what-if-what-do-when-things-go-wrong.html
* What would you do if you lost sight of your buddy underwater and couldn't find him/her?
We use the look around for 5 mins. then surface rule.
Five minutes of being separated can be a long time. I won't say that this is right or wrong, but you do need to give some consideration to the conditions you're diving in and adjust accordingly. In 5 minutes time, if you get turned around and swim in opposite directions you could end up a significant distance apart when you finally surface. The important thing is that you have a plan, that you discuss it ahead of time and that you take conditions and experience levels into account.
* What would you do if you're in a buddy team of 3 divers and one buddy went left while the other went right?
I've had this happen. I stayed put and watched them both. Luckily it was in the Bahamas and vis was practically unlimited. But it made my dive no fun!
It's easier to let yourself drift apart from buddies when you have good vis and can see each other. One thing you need to ask yourself is "why do I have a buddy?" One reason is to assist if there is a problem. If your buddies drift apart in opposite direction, and you maintain a position in the middle, are you close enough to either of them (or them to you) to respond quickly in the event of a problem?
* What would you do if you're in a buddy team of 5 divers and, all of a sudden, you only counted 3 other divers in your field of view?
Hmmm. I guess get the problem across to the two remaining and then follow the 5 min search then surface rule?
The first problem here is a buddy team of 5. It's almost impossible to keep up with that many buddies. One solution would be to split into a team of 2 and a team of 3 and make sure that everyone knows which team they are part of and responsible for.
The next challenge is identifying which diver is missing. Was it the one on the right? On the left? The lead diver? The last diver? Knowing that will help you figure out where to search.
There are a couple of ways you could approach this problem. One solution would be to split the remaining 4 divers into two teams of two. The team with the most air/experience stays down and searches, the team with the least air/experience surfaces. The search team could shoot a SMB to make it easier for the surface team to follow them and the surface team could tug on the line to indicate the diver is on the surface.
You could also choose to surface as a group and wait. I would only recommend not splitting the group into solo divers, either searching or ascending.
* What would you do if you're diving in two buddy pairs and you lost sight of the other buddy pair?
For the most part I agree with this. Two buddy pairs may dive together in a group, but each pair is responsible for their own buddy. If the two pairs become separated, they should still have their own dive plan to follow with their own buddies.
* What would you do if you got a leg cramp but your buddy didn't notice and left you behind?
Work it out then try to catch up but stick with the 5 minute then surface rule.
Note my answers are inside the quote due to my lack of computer skills!
Looking forward to the more experienced divers input.
My first instinct here is to try and get my buddies attention first, either by flashing my light or banging on my tank.
Depending on the cramp, you may need your buddies assistance to work it out. Even if you work it out on your own, it may flare up again if you work it too hard trying to catch up with your buddy.
Hopefully your buddy will notice quickly that you've fallen behind and return to assist, but if they don't, I would do as you suggested and try and work the cramp out myself then surface and wait for my buddy to do the same.