Buddy Procedures

Almost every emergency procedure begins with the words "your buddy". Out of air? Your buddy's octopus. Stuck in a net? Your buddy helps free you. Caught in panic? Your buddy calms you. The buddy system is not a formality but the foundation of the recreational safety philosophy: two divers who are each other's safety net. And yet it is often done half-heartedly, with two people "diving together" but barely watching each other underwater — until something goes wrong and the buddy is nowhere to be seen.

The difference between a real team and "two divers in the same ocean" lies in habits: seeing each other, staying in position, dividing tasks, and agreeing in advance what to do if it goes wrong. A good buddy knows at every moment where the other is, which way the air, time and depth budget is going, and what the agreements are for a problem. That takes discipline, not extra equipment.

The buddy system is an active agreement. A buddy you cannot see is not a buddy. The system only works if both divers actively watch each other, stay in position and know the agreements. "I thought you were watching me" is the classic cause of a lost buddy. Responsibility lies with both, always.

Key concepts

Term	Short definition	Why it matters
Buddy system	Two (or more) divers who are each other's safety net	Foundation of recreational safety
Buddy check (BWRAF)	Systematic pre-dive check	Catches equipment faults at the surface
Positioning	Where you swim relative to your buddy	Determines how quickly you can help
Staying in contact	Seeing/feeling each other during the dive	Prevents a lost buddy
Task division	Who navigates, watches gas, time, DSMB	Prevents nobody or everybody doing something
Team of three	Three divers as one unit	Requires tighter positioning
Lost-buddy procedure	Agreement for losing your buddy	Prevents two divers in trouble
Self-reliant / solo	Deliberately diving alone with redundancy	Alternative, requires training and extra gear

Understanding buddy procedures

Why the buddy system exists

Underwater you are vulnerable to problems you cannot always solve alone: running out of air, getting stuck, panicking, going unconscious. A buddy offers three things you do not have alone: a second gas source (the octopus) if your own air fails; a second pair of eyes and hands to see and solve a problem you cannot reach yourself (e.g. entanglement behind your back); and a second brain and calming presence that helps you stay clear and make decisions. This is why recreational diving is built on the buddy system. The price is that you fill that role for the other too: it is reciprocal.

The buddy check (BWRAF) in depth

The buddy check deserves detail, because it is the most underrated safety action in diving. You do it together, out loud, checking each other's gear, not just your own.

Letter	What you check	What to look for
B — BCD	Inflator, dump valves, inflate and deflate	Does the inflator work? Do all dumps work? Is the LP hose connected?
W — Weights	Presence, amount, quick release	Right-hand release? Not trapped under other straps?
R — Releases	All buckles/straps of tank and vest	Tank secure (not loose in the band)? All fasteners closed?
A — Air	Valve fully open, breathe-test primary and octopus, pressure	Does the pressure not drop while breathing? Does the air smell/taste clean?
F — Final check	Mask, fins, computer, cutting tool, DSMB, signals	Everything present, computer on, dive plan briefly repeated?

The check takes a minute and catches exactly the faults that are hard to fix underwater (valve closed, tank loose, dump open). Always do it, even with familiar buddies and your own gear; routine breeds sloppiness.

Did you know? A common, dangerous fault the buddy check catches is a not-fully-open tank valve. You can breathe fine at the surface, but at depth, where you need more air per breath, a half-open valve delivers too little and it feels as if you're "out of air". The breathe-test at "A" must therefore be done while watching the gauge: if the needle drops as you inhale, the valve isn't fully open.

Positioning and distance

Where you swim relative to your buddy determines whether the system works. Rules of thumb: side by side or slightly staggered, at a distance where you can reach each other in one or two fin strokes (depending on visibility, usually a few metres); on your octopus side can help, so air sharing is easy — agree which side you swim; and glance at each other regularly — a look every half-minute keeps contact alive. In current and at interesting sites you lose each other fastest. Too far apart and the buddy is useless in an acute problem; on top of each other and you collide and tangle. The right distance depends on visibility: the worse the visibility, the closer.

Staying in contact, even in poor visibility

In clear water you keep contact with your eyes. In poor visibility (the Netherlands is the textbook case) looking is not enough and you use: physical contact (swimming side by side with an occasional hand or arm touching, or a short "buddy line" between you); light contact (keeping each other's beam in view, even by day in murky water); a steady, slow speed (whoever swims fast or erratically loses the other faster); and checking more often (in poor visibility you check much more frequently that your buddy is still there). The rule is simple: match your contact method to the visibility. What looks excessive in the clear Red Sea (physical contact) is a necessity in a murky Dutch quarry.

Task division

In a good team everyone knows who handles what. Divide in advance: navigation (who keeps heading, distance and the way back; the other checks along); gas and time (each watches their own gas and the shared time/NDL, and communicates at thresholds); DSMB/surface (who shoots the buoy); and leadership (sometimes one is the "lead" who sets pace and decisions, with the other as active check). Without task division you get the "everyone thought the other was watching" problem. With it, someone is always responsible and someone is always checking.

Teams of two and three

A team of two is the standard: easy to keep contact, clear role division. A team of three can be safer (more help at a problem) but demands tighter discipline: three people lose each other faster, and the positions must be consciously held (for example in a triangle, or with the weakest/least experienced diver in the middle). Avoid a team of three becoming, in practice, a team of two plus a "loose" third. Larger groups (guided dives) are not true teams but a guide with followers; even then you keep a fixed buddy within the group and watch each other, because the guide cannot watch everyone at once.

Scenario. A team of three dives in Egypt, but two experienced divers swim ahead and the third, less experienced, falls behind and out of sight. If that third has an equalising problem, nobody sees it. Had the team kept the least experienced diver in the middle and counted regularly ("are we still three?"), this would have been prevented. A team of three only works with conscious positioning.

Buddy agreements: always in advance

The briefing is where you make the buddy agreements. At minimum: signals (hand, animal, emergency, surface) aligned; the lost-buddy procedure (search about one minute, then a controlled ascent and reunite — the most important agreement); the turn criteria (at what pressure and time/NDL you turn); air sharing (octopus positions, which side, how you ascend at OOG); and who leads/navigates and what you do at doubt (any diver can call the dive). A team that agrees these five things in advance solves almost any problem in a manageable way.

Solo/self-reliant diving and the team spectrum

At one end of the spectrum is self-reliant / solo diving: deliberately diving alone, with mandatory redundancy (an independent second gas source like a pony, an extra gauge/computer) and additional training. It is a valid, recognised specialty for experienced divers, but it trades the buddy safety net for full self-sufficiency and extra equipment. It is not an excuse for sloppily swimming alone; it is a disciplined, separate discipline. At the other end is the tight team system of technical training such as GUE: active, continuous communication, standardised equipment and procedures, fixed positions and joint gas planning, with the team operating truly as one unit. Between these extremes lies the recreational buddy system. Wherever you sit on that spectrum, the core idea remains: you always have a thought-through safety net.

Real-world examples

The Netherlands (poor visibility). The buddy system is tested here: in murky water you keep contact with physical proximity, a contact line or light contact, and check each other much more often. The lost-buddy procedure is practised most seriously here, because losing each other happens fast.

Egypt (guided dives, clear). Group dives behind a guide, with a fixed buddy within the group. The ease and the visibility tempt you to relax; that is exactly when you keep consciously watching your buddy instead of only following the guide.

Indonesia (current, macro). In current you lose each other fast; tight positioning and a negative entry as a team are important. In macro/photography the pitfall is that the photographer "disappears" into their subject; agree that the buddy stays in view.

Maldives (drift, groups). Drift dives with larger groups: keep buddy pairs within the group, drift together, and have a clear DSMB and reunion agreement for the surface.

Mozambique (Tofo and Vilanculos). At Tofo a group spreads out easily in the swell and current on the offshore reefs; keeping buddy pairs, locating each other immediately after the negative entry and a tight lost-buddy agreement are important. At Vilanculos the sometimes changing visibility around the sandbanks makes frequent contact and buddy proximity valuable. In both cases: the guide leads, but you and your buddy remain each other's primary safety net.

Common mistakes

Mistake	What goes wrong	How to avoid it
"Same ocean" diving (together in name only)	Buddy gone when it goes wrong	Actively keep contact; glance regularly
Skipping or rushing the buddy check	Equipment fault found only underwater	Always do BWRAF, out loud, on each other
Swimming too far apart	Cannot help quickly at OOG	Stay one to two fin strokes apart
Contact by sight in poor visibility	Lost buddy	Physical/light contact, check more often
No task division	Nobody watches gas/time/navigation	Divide tasks in the briefing
Team of three without position discipline	The third falls out of sight	Least experienced in the middle, count regularly
Lost-buddy procedure not agreed	Endless searching, two in trouble	Agree "one minute, then ascend"
Solo diving without redundancy/training	No safety net	Only self-reliant with proper training and gear

Pro tips

• Always do the buddy check, out loud and on each other, even with familiar buddies; routine breeds sloppiness.
• At "A", test the valve with your breathing while watching the gauge; a half-open valve reveals itself this way.
• Match your contact method to the visibility: eyes in clear water, physical/light contact when murky.
• Stay one to two fin strokes from your buddy and glance at each other regularly.
• Divide tasks in advance (navigation, gas/time, DSMB) so someone is always responsible and someone is always checking.
• Always agree the lost-buddy procedure: search one minute, then a controlled ascent and reunite.

Frequently asked questions

What three things does a buddy offer that you don't have alone? A second gas source (octopus), a second pair of eyes and hands to see and solve problems, and a second brain/calming presence to stay clear and make decisions.

What do you check at the "A" of BWRAF, and why look at the gauge? Whether the valve is fully open and whether you can breathe well from the primary and octopus. You watch the gauge because a half-open valve reveals itself by a dropping needle when you inhale; you wouldn't notice it at the surface otherwise.

How do you adapt buddy contact in poor visibility? You don't rely on sight alone but use physical proximity (hand/arm, contact line) or light contact, swim slowly and steadily, and check much more often that your buddy is still there.

Why does a team of three demand more discipline than a team of two? Three divers lose each other faster; without conscious positioning (e.g. the least experienced in the middle) and regular counting, someone easily falls out of sight. The team must actively stay one unit.

What is the most important buddy agreement, and how does it go? The lost-buddy procedure: if you lose each other, search about one minute, and if you don't find each other, ascend in a controlled way and reunite at the surface, rather than searching endlessly at depth.

Summary

The buddy system is the foundation of recreational safety: two divers who are each other's safety net, offering a second gas source, a second pair of eyes and hands, and a calming second brain. It only works when active; a buddy you cannot see is not a buddy, and "I thought you were watching me" is the classic cause of a lost buddy. It starts with a thorough buddy check (BWRAF), done together and out loud on each other's gear, watching the gauge on the air test to catch a half-open valve. Underwater you keep position one to two fin strokes apart and match your contact method to the visibility: eyes in clear water, physical or light contact when murky. You divide tasks (navigation, gas, time, DSMB) so someone is always responsible and someone is always checking. Teams of two are the standard; teams of three demand tighter position discipline. You make the buddy agreements in advance in the briefing, with the lost-buddy procedure (one minute searching, then ascend) as the most important. At the ends of the spectrum sit self-sufficient solo/self-reliant diving (with mandatory redundancy and training) and the tight team system of technical training; wherever you sit, you always have a thought-through safety net.

The 10 things every diver should know by heart

1. Your buddy is your fastest backup: second gas source, second pair of hands, second brain.
2. The system only works actively; a buddy you cannot see is not a buddy.
3. Always do BWRAF, out loud and on each other, even with familiar buddies.
4. Test the valve with your breathing while watching the gauge; a half-open valve shows itself.
5. Stay one to two fin strokes from your buddy and glance at each other regularly.
6. Match your contact method to the visibility: sight, physical or light.
7. Divide tasks in advance (navigation, gas/time, DSMB); always someone responsible and someone checking.
8. A team of three needs position discipline: least experienced in the middle, count regularly.
9. Agree the lost-buddy procedure: search one minute, then a controlled ascent.
10. From solo to tight team: always have a thought-through safety net; solo only with redundancy and training.