Going diving!

[Aloha Joe]

It will be good to dive with other buddies. At first I was questioning myself - whether I was being over attentive, or whether my instructor was very particular with respect to 'standards and rules' (she said people give her a hard time about being a stickler). But as I started to realize my buddy was completely oblivious to lots of skills/standards, I started thinking about what it was like diving with the people in my class and realized I felt particularly safe with a few of them, and that's how I expect my dive buddy to feel at all times.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

I know what you mean, my buddy (husband) and I are very focused on being good buddies...not to say we don't get distracted and get a wee bit separated at times, but we continue to work on it. I had a recent experience with a new dive " buddy". We did not do our buddy check as she was helping with the class and getting a new dry suit diver situated, so I had someone else check me and I splashed in the interest of saving time as I need to get settled down in the water. Only to find a few minutes later that my buddy decided not to dive as the new drysuit diver had fin problems and my buddy "HAD" to lend out her fins. So I ended up instabudding (sp) with 2 people I had only exchanged hellos on the boat. Buddys? What buddies. We all lost each other on the descent. 3 solos in the pacific. Sheesh. There were about 12 divers or so in the water...which one was my buddy??? I couldn't tell, as I had really not paid attention to what their setup looked like on the boat. All I knew was one was in a dry suit and one in a aqua lung wet suit. I ended up just sticking close to to others. In retrospect I should have asked to join with another team underwater... lesson learned. Sticklers are good in my opinion.

 

[USMC CPL.]

We are chatting about good ole down home southern food until the OP @Aloha Joe dives and produces Vol I of his day at the Dive Park.

It is noted you were in USMC - I was in USAF so an exception can be made ...
La Jolla is a very easy dive , shore break, low surf , good visibility generally in October ....Lots of sand - not a great amount of sea life

Caution - slopes in to canyon monitor depth

So go for it ! Remember you are a Marine !

SDM

The canyon is what really interests me. And yes on keeping an eye on depth.

 

[jlcnuke]

Well I ended up being really disappointed with my buddy. We did 3 shore/park dives and 2 boat dives over 3 days. My buddy wasn't really into planning dives or really even being much of a buddy, and didn't want to take suggestions from someone who just got certified. I didn't feel very safe - it was like I was diving solo but still had the responsibility of being someone else's buddy.

But I saw Giant Black Sea Bass and had a seal swim past me, and enjoyed being on Catalina as usual. The dive staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. The last 2 dives I thought more about breathing and buoyancy and felt like I made some good improvements.

Dive buddies, whether you know them or not, can be "great", "good", "okay", or "crappy". As you can tell, I don't have 5,000+ dives. However, I can tell you that what one person considers "good diving" as a buddy may or may not match up with what the next person thinks the same thing is. My 2nd OW course didn't emphasize OW buddy diving worth a damn, and my friend who was doing it for the first time ended up actually out of sight at one point on the first dive (I was leading, following the instructor, and looking back in ~2-3 minute intervals and ~10 minutes in found him on the edge of my peripheral vision).

I talked to him afterwards and, while his communication didn't get much better, his sticking with the group improved (the "you could die if no one is near with air because you're off on your own" convinced him to stay pretty close to everyone else). I still don't know how he'll be when he's gtg (ear problems for his last two dives) and we're not in a class, but I'm hoping it will be better... but I'm prepared to try and thing of how to deal with problems/situations if he's not.

 

[Aloha Joe]

 

[Aloha Joe]

So, I want to go on more dives. My OW class was small and I haven't got anyone to join me yet. There's a bigger dive shop (where I'll likely do AOW) that has weekly 3-tank boat trips. I'm anxious about someone getting stuck with me (being new, using lots of gas, etc). I'll rent a bigger tank if I can, but I'm not sure if it's an option.

What's the protocol for this, or what's your experience/suggestion?

 

[Saniflush]

Be upfront with the shop. There are probably others that think they will be the air hog.

 

[runsongas]

look for a local dive club. chances are there will be people there that are willing to dive with someone who is new and mentor them.

 

[Aloha Joe]

I got laid off from work. I think it's going to be a blessing in disguise, but it means no spending money on dives. It's such a let down after getting so involved so quickly. But I've been busy getting out of storage, tying up loose ends, etc.

Anyway there's a very strong possibility that I'll be moving to Oahu in late Jan/early Feb. I might sneak in a dive or two while I'm looking for work there, but probably not getting too heavily into it until I'm employed. I at least know of a club I like down there...

 

[jlcnuke]

I got laid off from work. I think it's going to be a blessing in disguise, but it means no spending money on dives. It's such a let down after getting so involved so quickly. But I've been busy getting out of storage, tying up loose ends, etc.

Anyway there's a very strong possibility that I'll be moving to Oahu in late Jan/early Feb. I might sneak in a dive or two while I'm looking for work there, but probably not getting too heavily into it until I'm employed. I at least know of a club I like down there...

Sorry to hear about your job

but moving to Oahu sounds pretty nice...