No dive buddy

[wagonburner]

Going to be in Panama City Beach Florida. July 30th till August 5th . Was wanting to do a couple of boat Dives one with PCDC and maybe one with Dive Locker..Or at least One..
BUT NO ONE ELSE IN MY Family IS CERTIFIED . Do the charter boats have people that need a dive buddy or is this even possible.. I'm a new diver so I'm new to all of this so any insight would be awesome.

 

[Marie13]

Call the dive shop/charter op and explain you don’t have a buddy. Shouldn’t be a problem. People are in your situation all the time.

 

[northernone]

Tons of divers show up alone.

There's an "insta-buddy" system most tourist boats use. Pairing up strangers is really common (plan the dive together and review expectations and dive styles before you splash down). You can check first with the dive shop to see they don't want to have you hire a private guide. That's another common solution.

Enjoy,
Cameron

 

[TMHeimer]

Yeah, I've always been alone as my wife doesn't dive. Has always worked out. You will get an "instabuddy". I've had very good luck that way, but you could get a lemon. Have a thorough pre dive talk about plans, the whole thing. Try to asses the buddy's ability. It's also possible they'll buddy you with the DM if the DM doesn't usually stay on the boat. I dived years ago with Dive Locker and wound up buddied with an instructor. He descended down the anchor line well before me as planned (so he could asses the anchor). I had to look a bit to find him on the bottom--I figured he'd wait for me at the anchor line on the bottom. Wasn't the case.

 

[wagonburner]

Okay this is great feedback like I said I'm a greenhorn. I just hope I get someone that's not really impatient..

 

[Marie13]

Okay this is great feedback like I said I'm a greenhorn. I just hope I get someone that's not really impatient..

Be very honest about your experience and issues.

 

[wagonburner]

Yeah for sure I got nothing to hide.. I only got knowledge and experience to gain. I'm not sure that I really have any issues.. obviously being new to diving all my skills need work of course...

 

[flyboy08]

We all started somwhere....hopefully you'll get paired with someone with mentoring skills.

 

[Searcaigh]

We were all beginners at the beginning wagonburner.

I hope you are allocated a good buddy, and don't forget to have a pre-dive chat as to what both your expectations are.

 

[TMHeimer]

On my early boat trips it seemed all were laid back telling stories until the crew announced time to gear up. Then mayhem--why was everybody in such a rush? Maybe they weren't, since the gear up stuff (particularly on a boat) was new to me. Then again maybe they were. As I gained more "boat" experience, it seemed they weren't in such a rush, but still moving faster than I like to.