It is already the 21st day of our internship. We have been living in Labuan Bajo for three weeks. Time is going so quickly!
There were no daily trips or classroom sessions today. Instead we spent the time to complete our diving training. Haries, Muti, and Luci completed their exam for PADI Advanced Open Water, while Niomi completed her PADI Rescue Diver training.
At 7am we were already at Dive Komodo to prepare our equipment for the day and meet our instructor Rian. We walked together to the harbour to meet our dive boat for the day called Lestari, and begin the journey to our dive site Sabolon.
Lestari, our boat for the day
We began our exam for the Advanced course by setting up our diving equipment, and then Rian gave us a briefing to explain the plan for the dive. We entered the water using a negative entry, and found the water warm with little current. One of our objectives during this dive was to demonstrate our underwater naturalist skills, and so we recorded the species we saw – hawksbill turtle, giant clams, nudibranch and many more.
Giant clam at Sabolon
After the dive we boarded the boat, and then it was time for Niomi to do her Rescue Diver exam. With Haries and Gerald acting as her casualties, Niomi learned how to deal with a diving accident.
Niomi demonstrates her oxygen administration skills
As the day turned to night we arrived back in Labuan Bajo, but our tasks are not over yet! It’s time for the interns to visit dive operators in Labuan Bajo and check which operators will be heading to Manta Point tomorrow. Hopefully we can join one of these operators, to give manta briefings to the guests and help them maximise their manta encounters, and of course do our manta surveys.
Then it was time to prepare our equipment, eat dinner, and then return to our room to organize our data. What a great day, we are all very enthusiastic to become better divers, and we continue to learn and practice!
