It was the second day of the interns’ PADI Advanced Open Water course. Today we began with a Deep Diving training dive at Sebayur Kecil, a beautiful dive site with crystal clear water. After a knowledge review with Sofia the dive instructor, it was time to descend slowly to 30 meters before completing some simple drills and experiencing the effects of depth on colour and our bodies.

Our next training dive was at Tatawa Besar, a beautiful dive site with colourful corals and numerous fishes. Our plan was to practice a Drift Dive at this site, but the current was not yet strong enough. It would be a pity to miss the remarkable underwater views of Tatawa Besar, and so we decided to use this as an opportunity for a Fish Identification training dive. And there was so much to identify! We found eagle rays, black tip reef sharks, batfish, snappers and hawksbill turtles digging in the coral in search of food

A green turtle is only one of the many species we found today

We were a little disappointed not to find any current at Tatawa Besar, but we should not have worried. Sofia took us to Siaba Kecil, another site that is famous for drift diving. The current was pretty strong, and we were drifting very fast as soon as we jumped from the boat. But the interns all remembered their theory, and all enjoyed the experience of flying along the reef propelled by the current. At the end of the dive we drifted up into an area of shallow reef, and found another great opportunity to practice fish identification. This time the interns were challenged to find a fish they could not recognise and to remember its features so that we could describe and draw it when back on the boat.

Today we were not only focused on training dives. We also enjoyed the rich marine life in this area. Eagle rays, blacktip reef sharks, whitetip reef sharks, green turtles, hawksbill turtles, and many more. No mantas today, but it doesn’t matter. There will be time for mantas soon, and the exciting news today is that all the interns have now completed their PADI Advanced Open Water training. It was a tiring day, but their journey has only just begun. After a week focussed on Education, next week the interns will focus on Research, and we are all ready to Rock the Ocean!

Happy faces as the interns complete their PADI Advanced Open Water training.