At Oceanic, we love our dive buddies. That’s why it’s time for a long-overdue Ode to the Dive Buddy.
Always there, and always ready for an adventure, our dive buddies are what make our dives complete. From having our back, to sharing the gear haul, to enjoying a cerveza post-dive, our dive buddies are with us through thick and thin.
Sure, solo travel has its benefits and solo missions allow more freedom. But without a dive buddy, who will you recount it all with at the end of the day, or many years later?
We love our dive buddies because they help motivate us with their energy and excitement. The dive stoke is real—and we all know it’s contagious.
Dive buddies teach us about ourselves, about diving—and about the gear we’re using. Sometimes, it’s up to us to teach our dive buddy a thing or two, which reinforces our knowledge and enables us to mentor and develop someone we care about. Like most things in life, having a dive buddy is a give and take.
Dive buddies are great to gear up with before a dive and decompress with after a dive. And let’s face it: we all have blind spots—no matter how seasoned we are. Having someone to keep us honest, accountable and safe is par for the course.
Without a dive buddy, who would you kick back with while enjoying a sundowner, talking about that huge school of fish or manta you saw earlier that day?
Who’s gonna zip or unzip those hard-to-reach spots? Who’s going to pee on that jellyfish sting? Hopefully, not the random dude from the dive shop (crossing our fingers)! Great dive buddies let us be vulnerable and dork-it-up without bruising our egos too much.
And sometimes we see some pretty crazy stuff out there. Dive buddies lend us the confirmations we crave. When regaling the school of hammerheads or that mid-hunt octopus to a bunch of seaside doubters, our dive buddies are right alongside us, nodding in agreement.
But what do the haters and shop kids know? We were there!!
And last—but certainly not least—our dive buddies make us feel safe. That’s really important for people with health concerns, past traumas or natural phobias.
We all want to feel supported, whether that means help gearing up, a watchful eye in the deep end, or access to a buddy’s redundant second.
Diving has the potential to be a dangerous sport, but with proper knowledge and a reliable buddy, we can all feel a little safer—and expand our world—one dive at a time.
Show your dive buddy how much you care!
From February 8-14, visit us on social and tag three buddies on our contest’s Instagram/Facebook posts and give us a follow to enter.
The winner—and their three buddies—will take home a new Duo Mask and BARE neck gaiter.
Show the buddy love this Valentine’s Day and enter to win free gear this spring!