The friendships forged through scuba diving

Photo credit: Simon Rogerson

As divers, we get to know each other in ways our other friends would never understand, says Yo-Han Cha.

I love meeting people that I’ve met through diving, whether it be recently or many years ago. Even if it’s someone that I’ve not seen in years, there’s always a warm hug or handshake exchanged before spending some time catching up. For that reason, I do love going to a Dive Show, where there’s usually lots of hugs and handshakes going around.

I always feel like there’s a deeper connection between old dive buddies. It could be due to the shared experiences underwater. There is also the element of trust that’s required to dive together successfully. And by ‘successfully’ it doesn’t necessarily follow that the dive has to follow exactly to the plan. 

There’s always lots of fun to be had remembering dives, even if it’s particularly memorable due to me getting everyone lost! I bumped into three such friends recently from Reading BSAC: Ian Donaldson, Tanya and Mike Godley, who were all very keen to bring up my lack of navigation skills in Vobster last year when I was leading the dive, got lost and accidentally took them to see ‘Jester Henge’. We ended the dive with a very long surface swim. Well... we had Christmas calories to burn off… or at least Ian, Mike and I did. Tanya of course, did not.

I feel like it’s not just people we’ve dived with where there’s a deeper connection. It could be with those that were on the same dive trip. It could also be with skippers and crew members. When I go diving, I feel like I’m disconnected from the outside world and I enter a place where I can get away from it all and share that with the people on the boat or shore. Even if I’ve not dived with them specifically, there’s a level of trust with other members of the group that’s required for a dive trip to happen.

There’s also a level of honesty on a dive trip. Before and after dives, there’s usually activities going that aren’t accepted in normal polite society. There’s all that spitting before a dive and afterwards there’s usually plenty of snot to get rid of, or at least there always is with me!  

It’s not just being able to look past leaking bodily fluids; we’ve all needed help at some point in our diving career. It doesn’t matter whether it’s help needed to fully tuck in a neck seal or needing your buddy’s alternate source because your first stage has blown up (thanks again, Rick Ayrton!) diving is much easier and safer with your friends around you.  

Outside of a situation that involves a free flowing first stage, asking for help can be difficult, especially for stubbornly independent people like me, but it’s worth it in the end. Life’s just easier when we’ve got each other’s backs. 

So when I meet up with people that have seen me looking my worst and going in the completely wrong direction, but still accept me for who I am, how can I not love seeing them again? 

Article ‘In praise of dive buddies’ by Yo-Han Cha first published in SCUBA magazine, Issue 155 May 2025.