After almost 3 weeks after my arrival here at TwoFish Amed, it is time to start writing a bit about my experience(s).

I was here in April and as soon as I arrived, I felt familiar with the surroundings. The staff welcomed me and it was nice to see those same happy smiling faces again. This time I was not staying at the dive resort but just next to it. So, I dropped my bag at the homestay and separated my diving gear, filled in the paperwork and after that, I met with my instructors and had a nice introductive chat with them. We talked about our past but more important about our futures.

I already knew Yvonne but Markus and Ezekiel were new to me. One thing that connects us is the passion for that other world on this same planet we all love, THE OCEAN. That majority of our planet, which is water. We talked about how the course was going to be and after the chat, a nice and cold Bintang was the ending of our introduction. Time to start my Divemaster Training.

I already read the Divemaster manual ahead in Belgium to have all my time spent here to do the practical thing which is basically everything that is about diving. And so we started straight on the first day.

DIVING!!!

That is what it is all about or not? Yes it is. But for the first time in my diving life I was not a customer but rather a person that is trying to become somebody to attract and help other people to feel comfortable in the water. Being an example for other people whether experienced divers or newborn fishy persons, hehehe.

So, after 2,5 weeks, I had amazing experiences. I saw many happy wet faces and had nice chats with people drinking a nice and cold Bintang while the sun was setting just next to Mount Agung. Oooooh and sometimes too, I saw the sun setting from the water just before we went under for a night dive in Amed. If you never did a night dive, you should come and experience it here with TwoFish Amed.

We prepare our gear, walk 20 meters to the ocean, inflate the BCD and let ourselves float until we are deep enough to start our dive. Mount Agung seems like a painting with the sun setting next to it. Oooooh yes, I forgot to mention it. Mount Agung is Bali’s only active volcano but except from some smoke coming out from time to time, there is nothing to worry about. Same goes with the earthquakes.

Once, my girlfriend woke me up in the middle of the night, telling me that there was an earthquake and we ran out of our room. But really, was there an earthquake? I still think she was dreaming. Another day we came back from the USAT Liberty Wreck and I was told that there had been a 5.3 earthquake while we were diving at 23m depth. I did not feel anything and the fish seem to get used to it as well. So… no worries mate.

But it is not all about personal diving experience. There is a lot of stuff to do before and after entering the water. Bringing on the tanks and cleaning diving equipments is part of the job as well as is the customer relationship too. The latter is one that I really love. That direct contact with a customer who will become a friend in the end.

There are many aspects in the life of a Divemaster Trainee and getting experience in the diving industry is something that comes along quiet naturally.

Following an Open Water Course from the start until the end is something that I really appreciate. Seeing people going from Zero to Hero. They start by watching a video, do some reading/studying and the next day they are in the pool doing The Skill Circuit. After doing the confined sessions, they are taken into the real world and it is time for them to see what a giant aquarium looks like from the point of view of a marine creature 😉

So, after 3 days you go from a Novice to a Certified Open Water Diver. It makes me happy to see how they evolve during these 3 days. And all of them already think about where their next dive will be. It was also a nice refresh for myself and learning to demonstrate the skills personally, helps you to become a better diver.

One day, Markus said to me “Axel, stop doing what you are doing and come with us on the boat”.

Hmmmm… Wonder what is coming up now???

A Pre-Wedding Photo-shoot of a British couple and Markus and Yvonne, both TecDivers, as assistants for their air supply. As a hobby photographer it was nice to see the action from the surface. My job was to stay there with a buoyant floating device in case one of the models had to come up at the surface. As they were wearing wedding clothing and lead hidden under their clothes… I loved it.

Another great day in my life as a Divemaster Trainee at TwoFish Amed was the World Cleanup Day, September 15th. Markus asked me to organize something on that day as it was also the start of Padi Aware Week. If there is one thing in my personality that is important to me is the preservation of our planet so I was really enthusiastic about it.

As a coincidence, we have an IDC Course going on in TwoFish Amed. The future instructors and their course director were happy to participate in it. So, apparently, our action was to be filed as an Aware Activity. I talked with Markus (who is also the resort manager apart from being an instructor) and he said he would give free. Thanks to all the participants to clean up the House Reef.

So, that was one thing done but I also wanted to give the beach a nice cleanup. I delegated this part to my girlfriend and she talked to the neighbouring kids. On that day, as usual, I started to “work” at 7 AM and when I got to the resort, I saw a whole school of kids cleaning the beach! What a wonderful way to start the day! For the diving part, we got in at 4 PM and except from the IDC Crew, we had almost every diving customer of the resort participating. It was great. We took out 6 big bags of rubbish out of the ocean.

I also had to learn a few classical knots that I was going to use to lift an object found after a search skill. Bringing up an unconscious diver and towing him to shore while doing rescue breathing is also one of the things that hopefully, I will never have to do but at least I am prepared for it. The swim tests are not my cup of tea but I hope I will make it 🙂

So… this is it until now. The story will be continued in a few weeks as I still have a way to go. But until now, I am very happy with my course and beside from learning a lot I am having a great time here in Amed with TwoFish Amed! Thanks for everything.

To be continued…