Always wondered why you can’t dive alone?

Buddy diving is the use of the buddy system by scuba divers and is a set of safety procedures that improve divers’ chances of avoiding or surviving accidents in or underwater by diving in a group of two or three divers. When using the buddy system, the group dives together and co-operate with each other, so that they can help or rescue each other in the event of an emergency.

In recreational diving, a pair of divers is the best combination in buddy diving; with threesomes, one of the divers can easily lose the attention of the other two. Groups with more than three divers are not using the buddy system. The system is likely to be effective in mitigating out-of-air emergencies, non-diving medical emergencies and entrapment in ropes or nets. When used with the buddy check it can help avoid the omission, misuse and failure of diving equipment.

As JJ, a dive instructor for ten years puts it, having a buddy offers not only security but also a partner in crime. He fondly recounts, “Sometimes, you and your buddy are together and the rest of the group is at some distance and we see a shark zip by together and the others miss it and we get to tell the rest when they catch up-We just saw a Shark!” Your buddy is the only other person who will truly understand what you feel in that moment when you see that shark or manta together.

Have any such stories with your buddy?

Send them right in!