The dive team and the buddy system

In short

You never dive alone. The dive team (called a palanquée in France) is the group of divers who dive together; your buddy is the team member you watch first and who watches you. Depending on their levels, the team is led by a guide or dives independently, always under the responsibility of a dive leader on site. Staying together, checking each other and knowing what to do if the team gets separated are the foundations of safety.

Why it matters

Almost every solution to a problem underwater involves a buddy: sharing air, helping to ascend, recognising breathlessness or narcosis, raising the alarm. A diver on their own no longer has these resources. The dive team is not an administrative constraint: it is a diver's first line of safety.

Definitions

• Dive team: the group of divers who dive together with the same limits (depth, time, route). The French term palanquée is used mainly in France; elsewhere people speak of a group or team.
• Buddy (buddy system): two divers who look after each other throughout the dive. In a team of more than two, everyone has a designated buddy.
• Team guide: the qualified diver who leads a team of supervised divers, chooses the route and watches over everyone. Depending on the agency, they are called a team guide, divemaster or guide.
• Dive leader: the person responsible for organising the dive on site: choice of site, team composition, dive limits, emergency organisation. In France, this role (directeur de plongée) is defined by the Sports Code; other countries have equivalent roles (trip leader, dive supervisor).

Team composition and privileges

Team composition depends on the divers' levels, their qualifications and the conditions. In France, the Sports Code sets for each level:

• whether the diver may dive supervised (with a guide) or independently (with divers of the same level);
• the corresponding maximum depth in open water;
• the maximum number of divers per team.

For example, a beginner dives supervised and at shallow depths, while a more advanced diver can dive independently down to a given depth. Qualifications from other agencies have equivalences with these levels, specified by the regulations and by dive operators. The exact tables are in the official sources, and the training levels guide presents the courses. The dive leader can always set limits more cautious than the regulations.

Staying together

Before entering the water

• Listen to the briefing and check who your buddy is.
• Do the buddy check of the equipment: air (valve open, pressure, second stage and alternate), BCD (inflator, dump valves), weights (releasable), straps, mask, fins, computer.
• Agree on signals, turn and reserve pressures and the separation procedure.

During the dive

• Stay within arm's reach of your buddy and within the guide's sight, in the agreed position (beside, behind the guide, on a set side).
• Look at your buddy regularly, not only at the scenery.
• Adapt your pace to the slowest diver.
• Signal any problem, even a minor one.
• Descend, turn around and ascend together.

After the dive

Stay together at the surface until the boat picks you up, then take part in the debriefing.

Losing your team

Despite precautions, you may lose sight of your team, especially in poor visibility or in a current. The usual procedure, to be confirmed at the briefing:

1. Search briefly around you, turning around and looking up to spot bubbles, for about a minute.
2. Ascend safely, at a controlled speed, with the safety stop if possible.
3. Meet at the surface and signal to the boat.

Do not prolong the search underwater: you would use air and drift further away. The other team members follow the same procedure.

Key takeaways

• You never dive alone: everyone has a designated buddy.
• The dive leader organises, the guide leads, everyone watches their buddy.
• Do the buddy check before entering the water.
• Stay within arm's reach of your buddy for the whole dive.
• Separated: search briefly, ascend, meet at the surface.

Further reading

In the app, a dive session can be shared with the clubs you belong to, so that the team and the instructors can find the dive. The guides on training levels, briefings and air management complement this one.