A few guidelines to help ensure your diving is safe

[And]

Meeting new buddies and diving with them is what YD is all about. It is a friendly internet forum which encourages safe diving and friendly discussion. Here are a few guidelines which may help you get the most out of your new found diving freedom and also ensure that sport diving retains its excellent safety record.

Rule No. 1. Do not dive with unsafe divers.

Before diving with a buddy you have never dived with or even met before then please take the time and effort to review the following;

Certifications and/or Qualifications : Are you happy they have the right education to do the planned dive?

Recent Diving History : Are you happy that their recent experience is adequate for the planned dive?

Plan the dive together (remember your training) and ensure that you are both happy with what you will be doing, that both you and your buddy are capable of doing the dive you are planning, and that the equipment you have is in the proper condition to support you and your buddy on your dive.

Do not be afraid to call the dive if you feel it isn’t going the way you wanted it to and do not bow down to peer pressure if you feel the dive is too adventurous and outside your comfort level. You can always plan a shallower/easier dive and do the 'big' dive another day.

Most of all, have fun, and remember to write a report of your trip to let all your new friends know how it went.

Kindest Regards

Andy

PS You should also read this post from Jay who has some advice about meeting people from the internet Meeting Internet Friends for the First Time