Buddy system
Diving is something you do with someone
Two things happen here. You find the divers you have already been in the water with, and you find new buddies for the water near you or for a trip you are planning. Both run over the diver profiles, so that certification, experience and what someone likes to dive actually fit.
What the buddy system does
Find the buddies you dived with
Every dive in your log can name who was down there with you. Months or years later, that is how you find that diver again - the one who knows the dive site, or the one you want in the water with you next time.
Buddies where you dive
In your profile you name the regions you are open for - your home waters, the lake you drive to at the weekend, the coast you go back to every year. The search reads those regions, so divers looking for a buddy there find you, and you find them.
So that it really fits
Certification, number of dives, the countries you have dived and what you are after down there - wreck, macro, deep, photography. That is what makes a buddy the right one, and it is why the profile is worth filling in properly.
One way first, then connected
You can add any diver to your buddies, and you keep them there. You see what they made public. Once they add you back, you are connected: then you see each other's e-mail address and the photos shared with buddies. Divers who added you, the ones you added and the ones you are connected with are all on one page.
How you find a buddy
Fill in your profile
Certification, experience, interests, and the regions you are open for. The matching runs on this - an empty profile finds nobody and is found by nobody.
Search
By name, if you are looking for a diver from a past dive. By region, if you want someone new for your home waters or for where you are heading.
Add, dive, log it
Add the diver to your buddies. Once you dived together, note them on the dive in your log - from there you add the other divers of that dive, too.
What the buddy system has to do with points
Points come from your diving and everything around it: logged dives, a profile you keep up, your certifications, the buddy regions you name. The connections themselves are not scored - what is scored is that you keep your diving on record.
And your centre is credited a share
Ten per cent of your point total goes into the score of every dive centre you are a fan of. Two buddies who both follow the same centre therefore back it twice over.
A well kept profile is what makes you findable - that is the point behind the points.
Questions about the buddy system
How does the site know which divers fit me?
From the profiles. The buddy search only shows divers who have said they are open for buddies, and it reads their home base and the regions they named. Certification, experience and diving interests are on the profile, so you can see before you add someone whether it fits. Our goal is that the site brings such divers to you by itself.
What happens when someone adds me?
You get a notice in your account and can add them back with one click. You do not have to: as long as you do not add them back, they see only what you made public anyway.
Does my buddy see my logbook?
No. A buddy noted on a dive is an entry in your own log. Your dive log stays yours.
What do I need before I can start?
An account, a public profile, and the setting that you are open for buddies. Add the regions you dive in and you are findable.
Diving alone is only half of it
Fill in your profile, look at a few divers in your region and ask somebody. The worst that can happen is a no.