Yesterday was one of the most productive days I’ve had here so far. We got our instructor manuals and candidate workbooks, completed the initial exam of the IDC (Instructor Development Course) and got a little bit of studying done as well. I did an 800 metre snorkeling test, a 100 metre tired diver tow and the stress test all in one session, which guaranteed a good night’s sleep. Not that I still wasn’t feeling a bit sore from the strain.

There was also an exam to see where we come from, but I didn’t find the results very conclusive. I aced physics, failed equipment and passed all the others, but many of my mistakes had more to do with the English language than actual knowledge. I sure hope the instructor examination (IE) doesn’t have that many trick questions.

Anyway, the IDC should start next week. More on that later.

One of the reasons for yesterday’s productivity was weather. By the time I had finished the swims, it was raining so hard I could spot pikes swimming on shoulder height. At the same time there was a power cut, so all we could do was to study. The rain caused a bit of a problem by reaching our terrace-like outdoor office (regadless of the roof and straw mat walls), so I had to tuck myself in the corner and face the wall in order to keep my paperwork dry. I have to take a photo of the manuals at some point to illustrate what I was dealing with yesterday.

Finally around seven the rain gave up and we could go home. I grabbed us some McD’s, we ate it in candlelight and crashed to bed. It’s been a while since I’ve slept this well.

Tags: divemaster internship, exams, instructor internship, it's good to be me, PADI IDC, studies

Our schedule got updated a bit (like there really was an old one) and we’re doing our instructor course already in March. After that we’ll have our OWSI certifications and we can start teaching while we’re still here. We’ll get some proper teaching experience and some real students before trying to find jobs, plus we don’t have to just hang around for several months without proper objectives to achieve. Nice.

And my youngest brother is here with his GF and they’re starting their OWD course tomorrow. Something tells me we’ll be assisting on that, which would also be nice.

And I almost forgot the best news of the day: we have a bottle of Ardbeg on us, kindly brought in by Andy. Bestest!

Tags: divemaster internship, diving, instructor internship, planning, practical stuff

I think it’s again time for a photo update. I got some really good ones today, plus there’s a host of stuff to publish from last week or so. Here goes:

Melon butterflyfishes are plentiful all around

Starfishes can also be found every here and there

Small shrimps live in anemones, seeking shelter from predators

Triggerfishes eat coral and sometimes attack your fins

How do you say “oriental sweetlips” in plural?

More manta rays starting from this photo

Nudibranches come in all colours…

…like this…

…and this…

…and like this. Besides these, there’s about a million more.

All this and much more can be found from Indonesia alone. Just imagine how much stuff there is to see arond the world.

Tags: divemaster internship, diving, photos, why I wanted a change

Oh, the joy of endorphines after a good swim. We did our 400 metre test today, along with the 15-minute float (last 2 minutes with hands on the surface) and a mapping exercise on a dive site in Nusa Penida. We still have to do an 800 metre snorkeling swim and a 100 metre tired diver tow. The total score from these four skills must be 12 or above, and after the first two I’ve already got nine. The float was an easy five since you only lose points for not being able to float the whole time or by taking your hands underwater during the last two minutes. Even I with my ridiculously low buoyancy could ace it with ease, let alone the ones with natural flotation aids.

Tomorrow we’re doing more guiding practise in Tulamben, and Sunday is again a day off. We’ll be having a beach party on Saturday to celebrate Eeva’s birthday and our first anniversary. Feel free to join us

Tags: Blue Season Bali, celebration, divemaster internship, diving, friends and family, it's good to be me, parties, swimming, training

Things are rolling smoothly most of the time, we’re pretty busy but able to squeeze in all the necessary functions to stay well fed, sleep enough and have a bit of fun on the side. In general,our weekly schedule looks like this:

Monday and Tuesday: Diving in the sea, possibly doing speciality courses

Wednesday: Skill demonstration practise in the pool

Thursday: Theory exams, studying

Friday and Saturday: Diving with or without guests, practising guiding or other divemaster stuff in real-life situations

Sunday: A day off, but we can go diving if we want to

…and I’m guessing we’ll be following this guideline for quite a while now.

Since I had some neck and shoulder tension from yesterday, I decided to stay at the dive centre today (instead of several hours in the bus, probably making the tension worse).  I think I made a good decision, since I got to teach my first skin diver course as part of the student’s pool session. Since I am not certified to do that yet, we had to have an instructor looking after us all the time, but I was the one doing the actual explaining and demonstrations.

Which was nice.

Tags: divemaster internship, diving, schedules, teaching, time

We got our new gear out of the plastic bags today and boy was it fun! The stuff is pretty ligtweight, looks brilliant and seems to work very well in water also. We tried them out in the pool immediately after unwrapping it all, so we have the initial experience already under our weight belts. Mine is all black and red, Eeva’s is blue and black:

Of course we ran out of batteries while taking the photos, but I guess we’ll have a chance to take some more in the near future. I have to exchange my fins to a different model since the ones I got don’t fit properly, but otherwise all seems to be well. More diving to come tomorrow, so we’ll see how they perform in actual open water.

Reports will follow.

Tags: divemaster internship, diving, diving gear

Well aren’t we in a nice flow. Yesterday we completed our rescue diver course and today I mastered my first divemaster exams like an old pro. For the first one, we went out diving, came up and were told that there’s a missing diver. Back in to the water, a few minutes of search patterns and we found our victim. We took her up, brought her to the boat, provided CPR for the whole time and administered 100% oxygen. While it was exhausting and even a bit scary, it was also great fun and we learned heaps of practical skills. Let’s hope we never have to use them.

The exams were about assisting student divers, guiding certified divers and conducting training programs independently as a divemaster. I scored 100 per cent in the first two, but misread a question in the third and got “only” 95% from that. Anyway, a pass is anything over 75%, so no problem there. These were the easy ones, we’ll get down to business when we start studying physics, physiology, decompression theory and so on.

Yesterday we also got our new equipment and it’s waiting for us in the office until it’s paid for. If everything goes well, we’ll get to try it all out today in the pool. Right now I’m waiting for the dive shop to produce a bill for me to pay. Otherwise we’re clear to go, and I’ll snap some photos if we get there today.

Tags: divemaster internship, diving, exams, pool practise, rescue diver course

So, you want to know how life is really like for a diving intern?

First of all, it’s actually quite hard work in relatively rudimentary conditions. We typically get up at 5:30, have breakfast from the fridge (no cooking equipment) and arrive at the dive centre at 6:30 the latest. Then we pack up, help the centre staff haul all the equipment to the van, wait for the guests to arrive and head out for a dive.

The Bedroom in all its glory – a bed, a cupboard, a fridge and a toilet

It takes from forty-five minutes to three hours to get to the dive site, depending on which one we’re going to. Some coastal sites can be reached by car, but most of the time we take a boat directly from Sanur.  Usually we do two or three dives and practise some skills during them, have lunch on board or in a beach restaurant and head back to the dive centre around two o’clock or so. After the return trip we wait for the equipment to arrive, service our own stuff and usually give a hand to the staff with air tanks and such. If we’re not exhausted enough after this, there’s always some studies to do in the afternoon.

Returning to Sanur after dives

Finally, if time allows, we take some time to relax, surf the net and spend time with the dive centre staff.  There’s nothing waiting for us in the Bedroom, so we’re in no hurry to get back there. Usually we grab some dinner around seven, take a quick shower and hit the hay at nine. Rinse and repeat.

This is what we have to put up with day in, day out: fish

And yes, it sounds worse than it actually is. We commute by bike, go diving on a boat, get a lot of sun and fresh air on the way and the general philosophy of the whole industry is to have fun. We’ll also stay pretty fit just by attending the training, there’s a million places to eat in, and we actually get to do something we like. Right now it’s the best job/training/whatever in the world, but I’m sure it will be worse some days.

Still, why didn’t we do this any sooner?

Tags: accommodation, Blue Season Bali, divemaster internship, diving, food, the Bedroom, time, transportation

Oh dear.

We’re so bloody busy with the internship program we hardly have the time or energy to write anything. Just for you to know that we’re still alive even if you don’t hear about us every few days.

Tags: Bali, divemaster internship, diving, time, training