Where to find a "Compatible" dive buddy

[DiveMom1]

Ok... suggestions please. I used to have many dive buddies and when I lived near civilization it didn't seem complicated to find a few good ones. Now however I live quite remote and know NO local divers other than my family.

When my husband certified I was so sure we'd be a fun diving deo.. No way. He is an armed torpedo that just got a "big fish" blip on his internal sonar! He has become an underwater hunter.. while great he swims faster than I could possible keep up and is so "zoned" he isn't really aware i'm in the water and his reasoning skills go right out of his thought process. (yes, based on real dive situations, I'm talking from experience)

I on the other hand putter along the bottom and look at EVERYTHING! I'm still in love with the soft corals, sponges, small fishes, you name it. Let me near a wreck and I'm in heaven looking at every minute detail.

Needless to say we do NOT make good dive buddies.... any suggestions on find us good counterparts to dive Monterey?

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Join a local dive club. Consider buddying up with a photographer.

 

[RJP]

Consider buddying up with a photographer.

Good luck finding a photographer who wants a buddy!

 

[DiveMom1]

Hum... that's too funny. A photographer would be a perfect buddy as I am a "wannabe" photographer! I could learn a ton in AND out of the water. ~smile~

We are looking at some [almost] local dive clubs... but with that said, we are 1 1/2 hours driving from the nearest small town. Most of those don't have a LDS much less a club. It's over 2 1/2 hours to a slightly more populated city to join one which makes participation harder.

Any other rocks I can turn over?

 

[RJP]

Any other rocks I can turn over?

Where do you dive? There's gotta be divers there, no?

 

[Lee Taylor]

Speak to your husband about taking turns doing what you want to do and then doing what he wants to do. If you plan this dive, he plans the next.

 

[DiveMom1]

We generally dive Monterey, CA and yes, it's a divers mecca. How do you "find" folks also looking for buddies? Maybe a sign on the back of the van "Dive Buddies Wanted" .. grin.

We thought about joining a dive club in that area but that's waaaaaaay to far to drive for mid week meetings.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Good luck finding a photographer who wants a buddy!

Any photographer would be more than happy to get help spotting macro-life.

We generally dive Monterey, CA and yes, it's a divers mecca. How do you "find" folks also looking for buddies? Maybe a sign on the back of the van "Dive Buddies Wanted" .. grin.

We thought about joining a dive club in that area but that's waaaaaaay to far to drive for mid week meetings.

You don't need to live in the same area in which the dive club is located. You don't need to attend all of their events either. Just find out how/where/when they arrange club dives...and meet them at the dive site. No big deal. Many of our local dive clubs arrange dives via email or on a dedicated Internet forum.

Another idea is to post in the NorCal Forum to see if anyone would like a buddy for an upcoming weekend.

My last recommendation is to take an advanced diver course on pretty much any interesting topic: rescue, deep diving, photography, night diving, etc. You learn something new and build your dive network at the same time.

Have fun out there...

 

[RJP]

We generally dive Monterey, CA and yes, it's a divers mecca. How do you "find" folks also looking for buddies? Maybe a sign on the back of the van "Dive Buddies Wanted" .. grin.

We thought about joining a dive club in that area but that's waaaaaaay to far to drive for mid week meetings.

There's tons of Monterey divers on ScubaBoard...try the California board.

 

[ligersandtions]

Wow, you and your husband sound like me and my husband! We just dive differently. Nothing wrong with that....until you don't want to compromise underwater (because at that point, it's just not fun for either of you).

It's really too bad you don't live closer to Monterey because it has some fantastic diving with an even better selection of dive buddies. It sounds like you need to discuss what you want to do and how you want to dive with a potential buddy before selecting them. Maybe posting in the local NorCal subforum would be helpful. I know there are divers up there that dive the way you do....the problem would be making the time to drive a couple hours every time you want to dive (or convincing them to come to you ).

Best of luck finding a compatible buddy. I know, from experience, that having buddies who dive the way you like to really changes your diving!