This week in Bunaken we have had a few visitors but none were quite as lucky as our youngest, Rohan. Rohan turned 11 this week and the day before his birthday was the last dive of his PADI open water diver course. When he came to Bunaken we were told that he wanted to dive with turtles for his birthday. If there is one thing we can almost guarantee on Bunaken it is that you will see some turtles while you are here. Sure enough, on every dive, we had some awesome turtle encounters. The highlight for Rohan was the last dive of the course, with all of the skills and challenges overcome he decided to concentrate on counting the turtles, the rest of us gave up as we were distracted by the multitude of other marine life surrounding us, not Rohan, he kept on counting. When we reached the surface he couldn’t wait to tell everyone that we had seen seventeen turtles! Not bad for your fourth dive ever!
We were also visited by Elliott and Kat from the UK who are coming to the end of their long travels and almost on their way home. While they were with us they decided to increase their dive skills a little by getting their Nitrox certification. Giving the ability to stay in the deeper parts of your dive for significantly longer, it should be on every divers to-do list. It was great to share this experience with them and send them off to west Papua for their last few dives of the trip.
Another highlight of our week was teaching the Open Water course to Bella, a very special guest who comes from Manado (our local major city), Bella had started her course over Christmas and then taken time with family and friends before returning to complete the course with us. Some of the course was a bit challenging, all divers remember the first time you have to take off your mask underwater! “You want me to do what?!” But she tackled the challenges like a true professional and is now a PADI Open Water Diver.
Rainy season is not always rainy, in fact, we have quite a few pink skinned guests and staff this week in Bunaken as we try to soak up the sunshine while it lasts. Why not come and visit to see? Or book yourself some time in the dry season to come and see our stunning little island.
