A Life Long Dream
My very first experience diving must have been around 10 years old. My father was a passionate diver, whom I remember leaving on diving trips a couple times a year with his best friend. What he came back with, were stories that blew my mind; of moray eels from the ground to the ceiling or sting rays as big as myself. My eyes always got big and I was filled with a sense of awe and terror. Well anyways, like I said I was around 10 years old when I was able to blow my first bubbles under water. I like to say that I take to water like..well a fish. I remember learning swimming when I was three by emulating the “frog movements” under water diving rather than on the surface like the other kids. I almost drowned as an infant once and my sister had to jump in the pool fully clothed to pull me out, to my families surprise I came out of the water giggling. My further bootcamp was in the bathtub where I would submerge my head in the murky bath water and hold my breath until my lungs exploded. This practice culminated in my longest ever breath hold 20 years later here in Mexico of exactly 4 minutes and 42 seconds. 18 seconds shy of the five minute mark. Also my star sign is pisces to add to everything else. All of these things to say that water is kind of my habitat. When it was time for me to dive for the first time I was hooked, a bug that will never leave me. Non the less, I pursued my academic path and various jobs as any regular person would. I worked in supermarkets, bars and the like to finance my bachelor studies in Amsterdam. I had the time of my life during my undergrad degree. I lived alone for the first time, I met friends for life, I explored so many new aspects of life and I was in Amsterdam in my early 20s. Do I have to say more? When I realized that this chapter inevitably has to come to an end I was really devastated. I was convinced that I will never experience as much joy and adventure as in the three years of my undergrad degree. Then that familiar old diving bug appeared once more and saved me from this existential crisis.
A little Background
It was my mother that always encouraged me to fill my life with what makes me the most happy. And more concretely, it was here that said “you would be a fantastic diving instructor”. For years it was something we fleetingly mentioned once every blue moon. We both thought that it would be a pretty special way to take some “gap years” after university. As my bachelor neared it’s final months (besides mentally breaking down from my thesis) I started to do some concrete research into diving possibilities around the world. I came across one barrier that many people will face and is one of the biggest critiques I have for the sport, the price. I will talk about the opportunity in Mexico, and why it was my only option but first I will give an introduction into how to become a professional diver. Every diver starts with the “Open Water Course”. This is a three day training program that introduced the most important theory aspects of diving like pressure difference, physiology, environment, equipment etc. Lets not forget that this is an extreme sport with a considerable risk if done incorrectly. Then you learn how to dive and how to respond to (almost) all situation you might encounter in recreational diving. You will learn how to swim, breathe, and use your equipment correctly. Anyways, this course is about 400-1000$ depending on where in the world you do it. After is the advanced which allows you to dive deeper and in new conditions, such as at night or in ship wrecks. The price for that is also around 500$. After is the rescue course, in which you learn how to help other divers is distress and is 300-500$. Great, at this point you have completed the three recreational diving courses, you haven’t even started with the professional side of things and already spent almost 1500$. Now to become a professional there are two more stages 1) the Divemaster 2) the Instructor. As a divemaster you improve all aspects of your diving, plus you learn how to engage with divers as “clients”. You are only allowed to be in the water with certified divers (Open Water or above) and not allowed to teach any courses. The training for this course takes anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months (I’ll get to that part) and costs around 800-1200$. You also have to find and reach a place that offers it, it’s quite hard to find good options in Amsterdam for example. I will go over the training and everything more but lets say you completed this part, now you are finally ready to become an instructor. What awaits you is the most expensive and stressful (but also rewarding process) of the whole experience. I will discuss this whole project and everything that goes into it on my Egypt entry, where I became an instructor. But finishing this section, you have to fly to one of the more selective places that offer the Instructor Development Course. Mine was in Dahab, Egypt. The course was around 3000$ which is quite standard but the flights and accommodations for the three week duration easily pushed it to 4000. Lastly, you will probably arrive with your own equipment, because you want to practice with the gear that you will work with later on. Almost all employers expect you to have a full set of diving equipment. If you’re curious that is at least another 1500$. Lets recap, to work as an instructor you have to finish your recreational courses, find a divemaster course and fly there and then do the instructor course after. The total price of everything I listed here not counting all the flights and so on is about 7000$. How I managed to accomplish all of that I will discuss in the next section. But a little teaser for a future entry, after all of this investment and effort, super excited for my first instructor job, I got payed an astonishing 700 dollars per month. Its a miracle I didn’t retire then and there.
Head First
Well let us get to the fun part now. How I was able to make my first steps in this difficult but beautiful industry, despite all the potential obstacles.
My New World
Talk about the people I met there from my new best friend to love interests and all the weirdness in between. Maybe talk about social life and the benefit to go somewhere new. (Talk about the management or internship section)
Maturing
Talk about becoming a divemaster. Finally achieving this goal. What the job meant and what new responsibility came.
Adios Mexico
Describe the end of this chapter.