Last weekend I completed my PADI Divemaster course. I’ve been working on it since November, so it felt like it was about time to finish!! ;)
Most people complete their divemaster during a 1- or 2-month internship. I, however, managed to squeeze mine in over twelve weekends, thanks to the amazing flexibility of the dive shop where I trained, Blue Season Bali.
Being a Divemaster qualifies you to work as a dive professional - leading dives and assisting on courses. I wanted to get the certification for a number of reasons; so that I could work at a marine research station and lead dives, maybe work as a dive guide while travelling someday, but most of all it was because I wanted to become a better diver in general.
It was an amazing way to spend my weekends - I made so many new friends, learned new skills, and had a blast. And of course I saw some incredible things underwater, like dozens of mantas rays visiting cleaning stations, octopuses mating (so cool), even a Mola Mola (which are quite rare at this time of year!).
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| Beautiful mantas visiting cleaning stations. |
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| A manta just going about its daily business. |
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| Mola mola or oceanic sunfish! So derpy! So great! |
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| The USAT Liberty Wreck. My first big wreck dive! |
More than anything though, I loved the team at BSB. The amazing staff and wonderful instructors made it a total blast! And oddly enough there were some crazy small-world moments with my instructors - one of them was just a year above me at UBC during our undergrads and we have a ton of mutual friends; the other one worked at a dive shop on Phu Quoc, the island in Vietnam where I did my seahorse research - how crazy is that?! He left just a year before I arrived otherwise we'd probably have met - one of his staff assisted me on my first survey dives there!!
I’m so glad I completed my Divemaster course and can’t wait to see where it might lead me someday!
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| Fire extinguisher art at the Jakarta airport. |
