Komodo Divemaster Blog entry - July 1st

1/7/2012

I can say life in Labuan Bajo has been pretty busy. The tourist season has officially started. Things are rolling well at Wicked;  we’ve had loads of local diving daytrips, been exploring more dive sites by snorkeling and diving. Jaya is coming and going to and from the Komodo National park every three days. I’ve gotten a good insight on how a dive shop works. 

I’ve had the chance to arrange and take part on the daytrips. I’ve assisted on courses, drawn my first dive site maps and given my first little dive briefings. Which by the way is not as easy as it looks, especially for someone who can’t draw to save their life and is nervous about speaking in front of people. It’s been lots of new experiences and awesome diving. I have definitely learned a lot in the past few weeks.

I’ve had the chance to be onboard two of the Komodo liveaboard trips and the diving in the park… WOW! I’ve never been diving in such currents. At times it felt like being inside a washing machine, at other sites you could almost stop kicking and let the current take you. I think I want to become a drift dive specialist, why bother to swim ;)? 

And the things you see under water there; turtles, cuttlefishes, lionfishes, nudibranchs, eels, huge schools of fusiliers, sharks, rays, mantas, napoleon wrasses and jacks so big they look like they must be on steroids. I could go on and on with the list but I think you get my point. Above the surface tranquil scenery and sunsets that take your breath away. I can say I don’t miss bartending in back home in Finland.

The past couple of days I’ve had the privilege to assist on an open water course. It was really a joy to take someone diving on their very first dive. I remember clearly how excited I was when I saw my first Christmas tree worm and I thought it was the coolest thing. I actually still think they’re cool but they’re not exactly super special. And Hannah the student was such a natural. All the skills and everything nailed with no problems. And most importantly she had a really good time. A turtle on your first dive is not too bad. Dives 3 and 4 we came across a leaf fish and a frog fish which were both the first ones of their kind for me and made me a very happy dmt :)

-Linda

Our Komodo Divemaster course still has available spaces in August!