DiveMaster Internship With Alpha
/Month one:
Vietnam Rocks!! It was a shaky entrance because I thought I’d be able to get away without my invitation letter. Boy was I wrong, but after some very stern words from a very official looking, albeit short man, I got into Ho Chi Minh.
My first impressions of the dive centre, it blew me away! Ive met Fergus, Pavel, Alla and Phuc or as I know him ‘T’, and Jason who will be accompanying me on my open water course. Everyone is super accommodating, Pavel is my OW20 instructor; let the underwater adventure begin.
We started off with the confined water sessions at the navy pool, but this isn’t your average pool, its 4 meters deep at the deep end and ankle deep at the shallow end, very strange. But hey, it works. I’ve learnt very quickly the tiles around the side of the pool get very hot, I’m going to have to start wearing shoes. Next up open water!
Because I’m an intern, Glenn is expecting me to work on the boat, the first day was a bit of an experience, from the worlds most disorganised harbour, where the boats are akin to large floating bumper cars that fight tooth and nail for a spot at the wharf to the absolutely stunning beauty that has completely engulfed me in a 360 degree view. On one side Nha Trang and its lanky hotels that spring up overnight. To the azure ocean, that is absolutely flat (great for wakeboarding) to the emerald islands that jet sharply out of the water. The main island Vinpearl is connected to the mainland by a towering cable car system that lights up like a line of giant Christmas trees at night. The smaller islands are dotted with floating fishing villages, a first for me. All of this plus the seemingly out of place organisation on the boat over whelmed me a little and I was pretty useless on the boat.
As a swimmer and amateur free diver I’m no stranger to the underwater world, but Hon Mun Island is a whole different story, the beauty above the water is only rivalled by the colour under the surface, I wish I could just grow gills and stay under the water for ever! We did some of the skills in the water for my open water 1 and 2 I rocked it! Bring on 3 and 4.
After my first month I’ve finished my Open Water 20, Nitrox and started my Advanced 35 and become a lot more helpful on the boat (people aren’t shouting at me anymore) I’ve decided that this is something that I will be doing for a long time to come, the water calls to me (sounds cheesy I know) when I’m in it, it gives me a sense of peace that I don’t get when I’m above the water, like I’ve always belonged there, it’s hard to explain in words. I can’t wait to see where this is going to take me
Month two:
I’ve finally managed to figure out this buoyancy malarkey, it took me a while and couple of pool sessions but I worked it out! The key is no fins and don’t move! It’s still way harder than it sounds.
I’m still doing my advanced 35, I’ve got the time to take it slow and learn it properly plus I’m learning loads outside of just the standard courses, like compressor operators and gas blending. Mr Wilson my old math teacher was right math will come in handy one day. I’m starting to get glimpses into the highs and lows of a dive centre as well as the risk management protocols that have to be followed in order to cover the diver centre, but as always paperwork sucks, I just want to go diving.
We have had a couple of rains and to my surprise the street outside the dive centre flooded and nobody seemed to care at all, it’s really fun riding my bike through what seems like and endless puddle, just making extra sure to keep my mouth closed. Plus the scenery is way greener.
I’ve started becoming quite proficient at filling tanks since I got my compressor operators certification, the noise of the compressor kind of zones me out, it pisses everyone else off to no end especially when there are classes going on.
I’m moving at a steady pace and will be done with my advanced 35 by the end of the month then on to my master rescue!!
Month three:
Master rescue DONE! It was to say quite simply, intense. Lucas and Pavel where my instructors on this course and I’m sure they were trying to give me a heart attack, all in all it was a huge amount of fun and I can’t wait to teach it for myself!
This month also opened me up to a whole new horizon! The world of freediving has grabbed me, thanks to Alana my freediving instructor. I now have a whole new way of looking at the ocean and the tools to be able to get depth on a breath hold and do it for as long as I dare, the oceans is so loud when all you can hear is the sound of your slowly beating heart and a voice in your head calling you an idiot. I’ve done my freediving instructors and gotten down to 28 meters, but will only be certified as an instructor when I get my dive masters in either freediving or scuba diving. Will definitely keep doing this!
I have started guiding dives, just showing fun divers around the reefs and through the swim throughs if I think that they are good enough, it’s quite nerve wracking and I need to learn to trust my instincts more cause they aren’t usually wrong. But so far the clients have all had smiles at the end of their dives.
