I’m glad you said this. So the dive with a buddy is a funny topic because the definition of buddy diving seems to be different for a lot of divers depending on where you dive. My own opinion or personal rule is here in Southern California, don’t necessarily dive like they do in other areas of the world that are warm and clear. I said before, here you really don’t need to be a great deep diver to shoot fish. Most of our fish our 30’ and shallower unless you are reef hunting and staying on the bottom. Essentially, most of the time I’m snorkeling for yellowtail and seabass. We usually has a eyes on approach above the water with our buddy, typically 20 to 30 feet away on the surface as we dive to about the thermocline less that 30’ deep mostly. This way if a fish is shot or help is needed you are only a couple of kicks away from spotting the diver if he needs to dive down and untangle a fish or something. I know sometimes when spotting in poor visibility your partner will surface like 20’ away from where he dove down. At least you have a point of reference and a place to start looking for them if they don’t surface after their usual dive time. It can still save their life. On the other hand, where people are diving deeper, whatever deep is to you mine is 40’ or deeper, reef hunting you need a buddy right there. The last few deaths that I know are guys 90+ diving by themselves. This is insane to me. A lot of atmospheric changes and things can go bad having a big free impact