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OCTOBER 2011- March 2012 The Best Dive Job in the World 2012 - OFFICIAL SITE My Video Entry for The Best Dive Job in the World 2012
Why I want to change my life and become a PADI Instructor The ‘cool’ factor. To educate. To rediscover my inner self through never-before experiences. To explore. To develop friendships without borders. Meet people. Go places. Do things. Thank you, Blue Season Bali for having this competition and giving me an opportunity to make my dream come true. Ranjit Joseph READ MY ENTRY TO THE WORLDWIDE COMPETITION IN PDF FORMAT
EVENT PROMOTIONAL POSTERS (PITCH WORK)
FESTIVE POSTERS
SCUBAKNOW - My Education/Promotion Posters
My PADI Open Water Instructors, the best introduction to Scuba diving for me… My Instructors:
Scuba diving, the very thought of it conjures up images of awe and wonder along with a dash of fears of the deep…. big sharks with big teeth are the first images any common person would be seeing at the mention of scuba diving. A few others might have bouts of jealousy thinking about its all beautiful people in skimpy clothing. This seemed to be the one thing I was missing, so after travelling to Thailand and hearing and seeing so much of scuba diving there, my mind was set. As always, I did a fair amount of research and decided that Malaysia, being familiar, was the best place to get started. I settled on a dive shop in Petaling Jeya, my choice was Dolphin Sport Adventure, PADI 5 Star Dive Center. I met my instructors, Lee Boon Leong, popularly known as ‘Dolphin’ Lee and Cyrena Yong. Discussing with Lee, I realized that I had to learn swimming, to take up diving. Swimming classes was the answer, and it took me 2 months to be fairly comfortable in water. I went back to KL and took up the Open Water Course in July 2010, and I was with a group of about 10-12 guys and gals all to be certified at the same trip. Lee and Cyrena were a lovely team, both were very good in connecting with us students. The theory sessions with Lee were an absolute blast, with Lee being ever so funny with his comments and jokes which built up a great atmosphere and camaraderie.
The pool sessions was where the teaching experience of both Lee and Cyrena was demonstrated so well, now that I look back on it, I appreciate it a lot more. Your first scuba experience has to be a great one, if I did not have such a great experience, maybe I would not have been so keen and encouraged to become an instructor myself. The way how Lee explained the different aspects, though mixed with a lot of humor, it was very professional and hands-on. Every student was made to do a one-to-experience in the deep end with the all the skills and emergency procedures like CESA, BCD removal etc. It was a great experience for me especially as it was actually the first time I was in the deep end of an Olympic size pool. I also had to do the swim test of 200 mts. swimming which is another example of how Lee and Cyrena stuck to the standards required as much as possible. After the pool sessions, were the open sea dives in Redang island a few days later. Because we were a large group, Lee and Cyrena had a few other divemasters and specialists with us. During these dives, I was going haywire with my low pressure hose and was the object of amusement to all my mates, going now and then in uncontrollable ascents and descents. I used to be so amazed and even perplexed when Lee used to explain how to control your movement with just your breathing. After all the fun, finally on the last day, Lee gave us our certifications, signing our PIC and log books. My appreciation for Lee’s demonstrative skills was strengthened more during my Divemaster training, when I had to do the demos myself. I remembered many of the things Lee had shown me. Needless to say my certifying instructor, Funny Nagata was simply awestruck and said that I really surprised her, which really felt good. Thank you Lee and Cyrena, both of you were my first instructors and the best thing for me for my scuba career. I hope to make it to instructor just as Cyrena has written out in my log book, to become the first few instructors from India. According to a newspaper article, and by the best guess, there are probably less than 25 Indian instructors. Hopefully, by winning The Best Dive Job Competition, I can motivate others in India to take up diving and develop the scuba diving as a great adventure activity in India.
JANUARY 2012 Trip on a Dhoni... The start of the New year, 2012, waiting expectantly for the results of the Best Dive Job 2012, and there was my first opportunity to dive as a professional...yup, travel, accommodation, food and best of all... diving!!! Thanks to Planet Scuba India, I was on board to take the trip to Netrani island, also called Pigeon island, some 16 nautical miles off the coast of Murudeshwar. The town is a flourishing religious tourist centre, the attraction is the large statue of Shiva, for some odd reason not looking out into the sea, but looking inland. The statue looks to be metal based or could be just the paint too, hard to tell unless you get close enough. The trip from Bangalore to Murudeshwas was quite comfortable thanks to the concept of 'sleeper' buses, full beds where you can enjoy a comfortable sleep, well, as much as a moving vehicle on a hilly road can be, but definitely better than sitting it out. Driving overnight, we reached the town early next day around 7am and were out, ready to dive by 9am. And that's when I came face-to-face with the diving scenario in India. Netrani is supposed to be one of the better dive locations on the west coast, as compared to Goa. Having dived in Goa before, I was looking forward to better visibility and interesting dives. Of course I knew it cannot be compared to Malaysia, but this was diving in your backyard. Unfortunately, the industry or rather the infra-structure is not that developed, not even as much as Goa, which had better facilities. Standing on what I would say is not certainly a beach where I would like to lay down, we looked at what the 'official transport vehicle' to take us to Netrani island, a good 90 minute ride away, was... behold, the Indian Dhoni. To us Indians, no, not MSD, our famous cricket captain, but the famous Indian fishing boat. Yup, that’s the way diving is done in India, a fishing boat by night, is converted to a dive boat by day! Came complete with detachable outboard motor and ladder, and not to forget the 'convertible' type overhead roof blanket! Looking at it, it was not that disheartening, roughly 6-8 meters in length and about 1.5 meters wide at its broadest; it had pretty sturdy fiberglass body with ribs for seating. Practically, it was a quite uncomfortable, moving all the gear and tanks from one end to another, without proper setup area or dive platform, everything was just piled up here and there, as we set off with the smell of kerosene on our noses. I was already missing the big boat back in Tioman, where you actually even had a tiny loo, or in sea terms, 'head' on the boat with a boat captain turning the wheels, a nice big compass on the dashboard, and the nice chugging of the motor underneath. The first day diving was quite uncomfortable, with most of us, me included, being seasick due to the lack of sleep and proper rest from the overnight bus journey. Added to that was the unfamiliarity with the dive location, being our first time there. Approaching Netrani, there are actually 2 islands, adjacent to each other with about a 200 meter gap in-between. The smaller of the islands apparently had been reduced to what it is now due to the target practice carried out by the Indian Navy! Yeah, they just bombed it to bits, and there is supposedly quite a bit of unexploded shells lying at the bottom. Though Netrani is uninhabited, we were surprised to see goats on the rock faces on the island, left behind to appease the Gods by the local folk. The story goes that every year one goat is left as an offering to the Gods on the island or so. Most of the diving is usually on the leeward side of the island, i.e. the side facing the mainland to avoid the currents. Unfortunately, there are no beaches anywhere around, mostly sheer rocky cliffs or huge boulders, though there is a small area with pebbles, aptly called "Pebble beach". But just that the smallest of these pebbles are more than a handful! The sea is quite calm, occasionally there are small swells. The depth varies from around 12 meters and gradually slopes down to more than 25 meters out into the open sea. Sadly, there is no clear spot anywhere around and 'sandy bottom' seems to be stuff of dreams. This is quite a problem if there are students and its really difficult for them to try out the skills required to certify as open water divers. There is no flat area, or at least some clear space with smaller rocks, so this would not be an ideal location for new students to get certified. The first day dives were mostly exploratory, just trying to see what the area was like, and most of us were just waiting to get back, exhausted from the travel, and the boat ride. A hearty dinner at the only non-vegetarian restaurant in town did raise our spirits a lot, and that was followed by a good nights sleep. Next day, everything was a bit more organized, we had a bit more control over the tanks and gear logistics on the boat, and the diving was better, everyone was happy, shown by the fact that the great chicken sandwiches and fruits were disappearing quickly... and without recycles being fed to the fish. Dives on the second day were more fun, the students had also got a hang of things, skills were being performed and Jai our instructor was making good headway into their certifications. By the end of the day's diving, most of them were certified or almost there, with the option of some fun diving on the third day. There were usually 2 groups diving, Jai with the students and myself with the fun divers, exploring the area around. On the third day, we ventured out onto the seaward side as the water was quite choppy on the leeward side. The bottom was more or less the same, full of boulders and about 15 meters average depth. Swimming across to the adjacent smaller island had the bottom floor gradually sloping down to 20 meters, and the marine life much lesser. There was a lot of life only around the bigger island, a lot of blue trigger fishes were around, though not agrressive at all, as is commonly thought of them. Also spotted were large and very colourful parrot fish, angel fish, cardinal fish, moray eel and even a lionfish. As a fun dive, it was very interesting to explore the area around the island, and a good experience. Though there are no wrecks, walls, swim through or drops etc. it is a good dive experience with the limited visibility. The gap between the islands had a slightly more than normal current and can be a good area to try out drift diving. While visibility is still a limiting factor, as compared to the diving locations in south east Asia, Netrani has a lot to improve in terms of infra structure for the diving industry to develop and to do that there has to be more dive shops coming up as a permanent location to drive more tourists. At present there is quite a lot of water adventure activities like water scooters, banana boats, small boat taxis and even para-sailing on the beachside for the toursits, so diving is not really far away; and if some dive shops do take the step forward, it can be a lot more enjoyable and pleasant experience than going through dirty beaches and 'convertible' fishing boats.
Going PADI Pro … YIPPIE!!!!
The PADI Growth Chart
For every diver, once the sense of balance, or neutral buoyancy has become almost second nature, the next step or most 'wanted' task is "GOING PRO". The first step in going PADI-Pro is the esteemed title of PADI Divemaster. Joining the elite group of PADI Professionals worldwide, an estimated 160,000 only is a privilege like no other. Infact, crossing over the Divemaster step is so much more physically demanding and rewarding than going on to the next level, PADI OWSI (Open Water Scuba Instructor). For most who take the decision and the step to go pro, doing the Divemaster course is a full-time activity. Some who have the facility to be living close to dive shops and dive site have the ultimate leisure of being able to do the course over a long period of time, during weekends. For me, gaining the stability or establishing a proper nuetral buoyancy took a few more dives, as was properly ponited out by my first instructors, Lee and Cyrena, when I was very keen to go in for my Advanced certification right after my Open water. Instructors play an important role at this level, giving the right advice and guidance. My Advanced Open Water License came after about 15 more dives, 2 trips in India and to Tioman, Malaysia. One of the more pleasantly surprising and informative course is the Emergency First Response (EFR) course, where you learn how to administer First-Aid for adults and children too. The EFR manual is very exhaustive and quite an useful book to have at home in case of any kind of emergency. The course is very interesting and I feel should be made mandatory for everyone working in any kind of physical activity area, like swimming, action sports and games or even in regular offices. It would be great to have a couple or more employees trained in Emergency Care. Learning to perform CPR, and doing it the first time ever on the mannequin, it can send your blood racing, much to my surprise, you will shiver with the strength of the adrenaline rush, no jokes! After a couple of times of practise, you become more comfortable and try to focus more on the step by step procedure and wonder how you will react, should your skill be called for someday. Another step for me, to become an EFR Instructor and then giving courses in the many offices in Bangalore, atleast do a small bit in preparing the general employee for an emergency. EFR Course is mandatory before going in for the Rescue Diver Course. Travelling to Tioman was the best way and most comfortable for me, having been to island twice before. With the facility to being able to focus on my work requirements at nights,it gave me the advantage to stay more than 45 days out on the island, to do the course and dive to my heart's content, to the extent that after about 12-13 days of non stop diving, I actually needed a break for a day, only for a day though! Diving as a DMT or Divemaster trainee is a lot different from the leisure dives you do after gettting your Open Water License. As a DMT, apart from the physical tasks of carrying tanks (the hallmark activity of the DMT), there is an added sense of responsibility, both in looking out for the other divers and also the equipment.
Tioman island is the closest dive location to Kuala Lumpur, just a 5 hour drive away. If you are taking a bus, it usually leaves around 11.30pm from Tasik Selatan, the bus terminal that is further outside of the main downtown area. The terminal is new, and unlike Pudu Raya is well organised with a large area, and completely air-conditioned, so you do not have the claustrophic and sweaty feeling as Pudu Raya. Transnasional buses, travel to and from Mersing, the jetty point to Tioman. Bookings can be made online, very convienent and not too expensive either. The Tasik Selatan Terminal is well connected to any part of the city by the MRT, and is easy access from the MRT station also. The bus reaches Mersing very early in the morning, around 4.30 am, and the jetty point is a short walk away. If you are lucky, the tide is early and there is a special ferry that leaves at 6.30 am, which costs a extra 10RM. The regular first ferry time is 10.30 am, so you may have a long wait. There are restuarants that open around 7am so food is available and you can usually just stretch out either in the shopping complex or the waiting area. The ferry takes about an hour and half in normal conditions to reach Tioman, but in early monsoon and choppy seas, it may take longer. Tioman is a fairly large island with only the beach side being inhabited by the local people. The major part of the island is hilly and covered with thick forests and thankfully, totally untouched. There are about 4-5 stops where the ferry drops off and picks up holidayers, with the more busy spots of Salang and Tekek being further north. Paya beach is the quiter area, with just 2 resorts and a few chalets and restuarants and is ideal for a romantic getway with little activity. Diving is just about the only major activity in Tioman, second only to snorkelling. Weekends have boat loads or holidayers from Singapore and Malaysia, most of package tours. Paya Beach and Tioman Paya resorts have AC accomodations, slightly high budget with around 100RM a night for a twin chalet, which is about the normal rate at other chalets available there. Dormitory facilities are not avaliable except in Sealantis Dive shop, which is avaliable only for those taking leisure dives or dive courses. Food is a bit more expensive than the mainland, with about 8RM for a normal meal with a drink, nothing fancy. You have a choice of malay and chinese food with western food available in the resorts which is more high priced, around 15RM. What I would suggest: To have a pleasant stay anywhere, what you really need is building up a rapport with the people around, which gives you a nice at-home feeling. Some places can give you that is an overnight stay. I had first been to Sealantis on my 2nd dive trip and the casual and easy atmosphere struck me immediately. I went back to complete my Advanced Open Water and stayed for a week plus and then back for Rescue and Divemaster internship. It is better to do atleast a minimum of 3 weeks internship, during which you will have the unlimited opportunity to do 3-4 dive everyday, something you usually pay for. So it's best to take some time off and do the course slowly and gain confidence and improve skills by doing more and more dives. Essentially you may be diving in the same spots many times, use the opportunity to study the landmarks, trying to make a mental map of the dive site, even drawing up one later if you have a compass. You also start noticing the different aquatic life that are specific to each dive site and also how each species of fish move differently, feeding habits and also how they react to your presence. Rescue Diver to Divemaster As described by PADI, the Rescue diver course is indeed the most satisfying and rewarding course. It is quite strenous and physically demanding and completing the rquirements give a huge feeling of accomplishment. Tired diver, unconscious diver are situations that call for calm response while panic diver can be quite strenous and requires some physical overpowering. Even being a rescue diver, the option to rescue others is only second to self-preservation. Only when you are confident of yourself and your capability to handle or assist in a reescue situation must you volunteer. The course teaches you to first stop, think and then work out a course of action and act accordingly. Reacting widly to a rush of adrenaline will only worsen the situation. During the course, I had a tough time doing the diver tow, swimming to a tired diver over 100 mts away, checking the body vitals and then performing a tired diver tow. This includes swimming with the diver with full euipment, and performing emergency breaths whether directly or with a face mask, all the way to the shore and then removing all the equipment, administering CPR and on recovery, laying the diver in a recovery position. You really have to keep your mind on the task, remember the order of tasks to be done, while being physically exhausted from the swimming and towing. The position of towing and giving breath is most important as you can easily drown the diver if your are not porperly positioned. My learning experience was quickly put to test in the next few weeks during the Divemaster training where I had to assist a tired diver from about 10 metres down back to the surface, and then back to the boat about 100 metres away. Though there was no requirement for emergency breaths or CPR, it was an experience of using the skills acquired in your rescue course. The Divemaster course is an extension of everything learnt in the previous certifications and a little more 'flair'. The new version of the course from the year 2010 prescribes a set of 24 skills which has to be mastered and performed with exemplary style in PADI standards, slowly with strong emphasis on life-saving sub skills. Divemaster internships vary from dive shop to dive shop, some places insist on a 3 month stay and work, while others claim to have it done in 10 days. Essentially, its the instructors who have to take the call on the students skill level. If you already have completed the necessary 60 dives and are in good physical condition for the swimming and snorkelling tests, it is possible to complete the course in a week to 10 days. For me, the 40 odd days gave me the opportunity to dive to my heart's content. A regular day starts around 7.30 am with household chores of cleaning up of the shop floor and the sit out area. A hot cuppa coffee followed with checking mails and catching up of my essential work, mostly updates for my many clients. The broadband in Sealantis is great and a deciding factor for me in choosing a dive location. I need unlimited access! Other divemaster chores include learing how to use the compressor to fill tanks, logistics of equipments and other paperwork, like the liability release forms. The dive schedule for the day is already put up, after discussions the previous night, there are no weekends or days off, unless there are no students or no leisure divers, which happens usually once a while. Diving starts off with the 'warm up' exercise of hauling tanks from the jetty to the boat, along with the equipment. Everyone lends a hand wherever possible, though its the Divemaster's responsibility to keep the head count and the logistics of tanks, equipment and also food and water. Seas are usually calm that time of the year, March- September. Around mid October the seas become very choppy as the monsoons come in, and then the island effectively shuts down till around mid February.
Renggis, Soyak, Labas and more... The windward or east cost side of Tioman is where most of the dive spots are and also the closest. Most spots are within a 45 minutes 'slow' boat ride, while some dive shops use speedboats which take roughly half the time. Irrespective of which part of the island you stay, the dive spots you will go to are more or less the same. There are many dive site maps online, the one I have used is at the Sealantis wall, and sadly, this is not very clear. On top of the list is Renggis island. Situated just opposite Berjaya resort and midway between Paya Beach and Tekek village, Renggis island is a small circular island roughly about 200 mts from the beach. Being the number one dive spot in Tioman, it is almost packed with atleast 4-5 snorkelling boats during weekends. Average depth around the island is about 14 mts on the sea facing side and around 7 mts on the beach side. The visiblility is usually very good, with large amount of aquatic life. Common sightings are moray eels, bat fish, butterfly fish, spotted sting rays, puffer fish, parrot fish and lizard fish. There have been sightings of small black tip sharks and 2 sightings of baby whale sharks. The corals are very colourful and extend over a large area around the island. Sometimes there is a bit of current both on the surface and sometimes at the bottom. Renggis also has a sort of underwater play park where you can test your nuetral bouyancy skills swimming through the scaffolding like structure. There are some cuttle-fish or squids that can been sighted if you are lucky as I was, and its truly remarkable to watch the squid change its colour instantaneously. You may have read about it and watched it on television, but seeing happening right in front of you is simply breath-taking. Even as it moves over the different coloured corals, its whole body not only changes the colour, but also its texture changes mimicing the sorroundings. And all in seconds, truly amazing. Renggis is one site where you will certainly do quite a number of dives, ideal of new students and very good for watching aquatic life. Irrespective of the number of dives you will do here, every dive is still great and Renggis is beautiful as ever. Next on the list is the Marine Park at Tekek jetty point, the must-do spot for the boat loads of snorkellers flocking to it like bees to honey. The reason for its popularity is that it is just off the jetty there, so once you reach there from your location on the island, you can take a short walk to Tekek village, the main commercial area of the island with good restuarants and souvenir shops. Another reason is that since its just off the beach, there is a slow gradual descent of the sea floor and crytal clear waters at most times. Years of fish feeding also has ensured that there is always a large abundance of varieties of fishes nibbling away at the bread crumbs being thrown to them with wild abandon. Snorkellers can really enjoy the feeling of being inside a large aquarium with fishes of all sizes crowding around. There are a couple of platfroms tied down by sinkers which provides as a nice resting point for swimmers and snorkellers alike. For scuba divers, apart from being closer to all the fishes at the platforms, the sea floor further drops down as you go westwards, and after a short distance, you come to the Marine Park dive site. There are supposedly more than 11 large boat wrecks there, at varying depths, all purposely scuttled by the authorities to create the wreck site. These were confisticated illegal Indonesian and Thai fishing boats supposedly. However, it is not easy to find these wrecks, and even with a compass, I could find it on my own only the third time. The first wreck can be reached by following one of the lines from the maze of lines that criss-cross the floor, at a depth of 18 mts. There are 2 wrecks next to each other and swimming between them and further east, you will come to the third wreck at 21 mts. Swimming further eastwards, at around 24 mts, 2 more wrecks will appear in the haze. Visiblility is not very good, around 3-4 mts only at this depth, so care should be taken to stick together and only experienced divers should go to this level. The other wrecks are all splattered across the floor in different directions and even with an experienced instructor, its quite impossible to cover more than 3-4 wrecks on a single dive. The aquatic life consists of the usual Tioman inhabitants, but here you also have the troublesome remoras at depths of 10-15 mts. They can be quite a pain, specially if you are wearing a shorty, and you can be sure atleast one or 2 of them would have hitched a ride on your tank at some point. If you are lucky, there are really large spotted sting rays and moray eels hiding in the interiors of the wrecks. Most of the sea floor is sandy bottom with hardly any kind of corals or other life. While the sand is quite barren, it also hides a lot of dangers. Divers, specially beginners have to be very careful and try to keep away from stepping on anything without careful scrutiny. In one of my dives, I was assisting a student diver at a dept of about 9 mts, on the shallower side, and my knees brushed the sandy bottom. I felt a sharp pain, like something had poked on my inside knee area, and looking down I saw something that resembled a tiny sea shell, and then as I bent down to take a closer look, it moved and swam away, sending a shiver down my spine. I knew instantly it was a stone fish or something from that family, as I could clearly see the spines on it back. Quickly, I looked at the spot where it had nicked my leg, and I could see a tiny discoloration. Immediately, I squeezed as hard as I could all around and I could see a green slimy fluid come out of the cut. I continued to squeeze till all the fluid had oozed out and the blood started to flow out. Going back to the surface and the boat, I cleaned the wound first with fresh water, and then vinegar, which our instructor, Funny always carried in her first aid box. It could have easliy been a stone fish or scorpion fish, but looking back at the colours and after referring to many sites, I concluded it was a tiny wasp fish, though venomous, its not fatal as the scorpion fish. Thankfully, I did not have any other symptoms of a venomous sting, and was very relieved that there was no swelling or any further pain. The incident further reinforced my respect for the aquatic life, and never to touch anything in the sea, unless you are absolutely sure and well protected and it is of absolute necessity, like for eg., if you have to hold on to something in the event of a strong current, or to relax, if you are getting too tired.
Further up north is the dive site Soyak island , the favorite spot of the dive shops from Salang. Almost a replica of Renggis in terms of setting, Soyak is also just off the beach at Salang bay. Although a similar small island, the sea floor around Soyak is quite different from Renggis. There is not so much widespread variety of corals, as the floor is quite rocky. There are quite a number of nudibranches clinging on the rock faces, some of them not the commonly seen variety. Other uncommon sightings include the beautiful but dangerous lion fish. I was also lucky to have my first ever sighting of a scorpion fish there. Deadly and very, very lethal, this scorpion fish was about the size of my fist, and laying still perfectly camouflaged in a brilliant mix of red, orange, yellow shades, impossible to spot. The keen eyes of a lady diver, Dila, spotted the thin line of the mouth of the fish, and then the eyes gave it away. It was truly amazing and terrifying at the same time, the beauty of the colours and the knowledge that just a scratch, and the venom from its lethal 13 spines on its dorsal fins is said to be very, very painful and sometimes fatal. Sadly, we did not carry a camera on that dive to record its brilliance. Sea urchins, anemones are in abundance here and also, sea worms are particular only to this dive site. Different varities of them can be seen inbetween the large boulders, one of them jelly fish like, translucent whiteish, swaying in the current as they nibble out the soft corals. Quite a remarkable dive site, Soyak is not easy to forget because of its variety of aquatic life. The current on the surface can be quite notorious at times, as we found out on one of our dives. Going down, there was hardly a ripple, 45 minutes later, coming up, we were in the midst of 6 ft swells tossing us about even as we clambered aboard the boat. Even our very experienced instructor, Funny, was caught unawares, and had a little cut on the side of her head where she had hit herself on the boat ladder, when she was tossed up by the surge. Other dive sites in the vicinty include Pirate Reef, Malang Rock, One Tree Bay and Kador Bay. Pirate Reef has artifical reefs sponsored by DHL, and its quite amusing to see the DHL logo plaques on the artifical reef structures there. Malang rock and the other sites are more of less similar, with some rocky floors and some coral life. Not too much of aquatic life, its not much frequented by the dive shops and is usually covered by divers to build up experience and looking for a change from the usual. Depths in all these sites are roughly between 14 - 18 mts and is good for open water beginner divers and advanced divers. Malang rock is also a snorkelling hot spot and most times its just as crowded with holidaying snorkellers like Marine Park. About a 75 minute boat ride away are the island of Labas and Sepoi. Around the islands are the dive sites for the more experienced divers. First of these is Tiger Reef and Golden Reef very close by. The current on the surface is very strong, and you can feel the difference even as you approach the islands. The sea is very choppy and it requires a bit of experience to quickly descend as soon as you hit the water, otherwise you will be pulled away by the current before you know it. Using the line is very essential here, and after about 8-9 mts, the descend become more relaxed and you slowly go down to about 18 mts. The beauty of the rock formations and the coral is quite astounding, with many varieties of both hard and soft coral spreading out on the sea floor. There are lot of fire coral which when seen from the surface gives a golden glow to the water, the reason for it being named Golden reef. Just a little beyond the reef is one of the most spectacular dive sites in Tioman, the island of Labas. Here you have the incredible experience of going through natural openings inbetween the rock formations, or what you call 'swim-throughs'. The depth is not very much, just around 12 mts, but the reason it needs experience is that you need to have excellent buoyancy control, to swim through the passageways with rocks on either sides and a couple of instances of overhead environments. You will also need a very experienced guide who knows his way around the many twists and turns almost like a small maze, which may be quite intimidating for a first timer, but after a few dives, its becomes familiar. Labas also has a variety of aquatic life, and many times there have been large schools of fishes, sometimes fairly large yellow tailed barracudas also being sighted. The experience of Labas is unlike any other dive site in Tioman, and gives you quite a thrill. For those interested in macro, and nudibranches, the steep walls of the rock formations have many different varieties of them. I have also actually seen them move here, doing their slow sweeping dance movement, almost like a sweep of a dancer's skirt. Those with cameras can have a field day here, there is just so much to capture. Labas undoubtedly is the cream of the dive spots in Tioman, and well worth the long boat ride, and the whole day trip. Over the course of nearly 30 dive days, I completed about 50 dives, covering most sites more than once. Unfortunately, due to the fasting season, it was not feasible to go to the more far away dive spots of Chebeh in the east side and Jahat and Lighthouse down south. These are relatively the lesser explored dive spots and hopefully I will get to dive there soon. Meeting people, going places and doing things
Going on dive trips and also the long stretch of the Divemaster course gave me the opportunity of meeting people from all over, many of whom I could not take a pic with. Made a lot of friends in Malaysia, had the chance of experiencing first-hand, malaysian hospitality and the 1 Malaysia spirit during the Hari Raya season. Diving is really a common binding spirit like music and arts, and its a great feeling to go diving with a group of friends, or even togther as a family as some families that visited Tioman. It is like an extension of a normal holiday, rather than stopping with just travelling to different places, tasting the food and culture, this is one step more, experiencing the environment in a way not many others can. That's the reason why diving is catching in so much, and in places like Malysia and Thailand which has a well developed infra-structure, it's almost an industry, and diving is almost a normal hobby, like running or hiking. Waiting for my next stint, as a professional, as a Divemaster. The opportunity beckons, hope my luck is good.
Diving in India In the mainland, or India as we all know, diving is relatively under-developed. Andaman & Nicobar islands on the east cost is so far away that few people even recognize it as India until a few years ago. During the past few years however, with the private sector opening up in aviation, you have daily flights to Port Blair now, the capital. From Port Blair, you have to travel further by ferry to hit Havelock and the areas around it, which has the best diving spots in India, and on par with the beauty of Malaysia. Selected as one of CNN's 10 best places to dive in the world, Havelock is an exciting location, one I intend to travel to soon. Will fill in my experiences then as I don't have much information about Havelock now, other than what is available online. Goa on the west coast has about 4 or 5 dive shops, all of them based along the beaches, but not in anyway comparable to the scale in Malaysia, the reason most probably being that diving is hardly developed as an industry here. The experience also leaves you with not much of a memory, as most of the time, the whole diving experience is just about 4 hours in the morning. So unless you go with a group of friends and have an agenda for the rest of the day, the dive trip can be quite a lonesome experience, as it was for me. There are no 'dive resorts' here, and dive shops are very small with hardly any place to socialise with fellow divers. The atmosphere of a good dive trip does not develop mostly due to the lack of time. The visibility is an entirely different experience alltogther, the best visibility is worse than a real bad day in Malaysia... just kidding, but its nothing to write home about. My first dive was totally disorienting, and I was more intent on watching my buddy to avoid getting lost than being to look at anything. The wreck there, dive spot called Susie's Wreck is quite large and interesting, and also buzzing with good aquatic life. Sadly, the wreck is about the only dive spot in the area, so in the 2 trips I had taken there with different dive shops, I had dived in the same spot more than 3 times. There may be other dive spots which dive shops may go out to, but in my trips, there seemed to be nothing more. So, there may not be much to go back to, nor a place where you could take say a week dive holiday. But otherwise, it is a place you can always try out, so you have an experience of different diving conditions. What I would suggest: The best place to go diving on the west coast I heard, is close to Mangalore, an island off the town of Murudeshwar, called Netrani or Pigeon island.I have not made an excursion there yet, but dive trips can be organised with dive shops in Goa who usually take on a group as a excursion. Please check if the organisation conducting the trip have proper PADI recognition and has the required certified instructors. There may be operators without proper certifications operating out of Bangalore or Mangalore, which is not recommended, especially if you are a first time diver. You will need to have a small group of 4 to 5, then head out to Goa, and work out a deal with some of the experienced dive shops there.
Feeling fishy... first breath … dive in SCUBA, (for those who have not heard of it... Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) the world out there you see almost every other day on Nat Geo channel, what does it feel like to be the star of that show!.... that's quite the feeling on taking your first breath underwater… thanks to a' weight on your shoulders'! After more than 2 years of being fascinated by the ‘waterwold’, I finally had the opportunity to ‘sink’ in it. I would not call the first steps a ‘walk in the park’, for me, at least, nearing 40's and still could not swim a stroke before the year began. Well, after 5 months of soaking in the ‘chlorine’, I can claim to at least swim the 200 mtrs requirement, though not non-stop, to take up scuba diving. For most of us in India, swimming is not a requisite like doing well in class, the reason why most of us hardly saw any water other than from a very safe dustance all through our growing years. For people like us, anything more than 5 ft of water is very, very intimidating, and trying to float will seem a physical impossibility. But, as the saying goes, better late than never. So, swimming began in earnest and went well, my winter mornings, 5 days a week, 7 to 8 am were in a 10 ft tiny pool, for about 3 weeks. 6 months on, I was ready to don a rubber suit, wear a mask, and become a 'man in tights'... Masks, fins and tanks... Scuba started with 4 ‘confined water’ (the tech term for swimming pool) sessions. The first session was good, the feeling of breathing only through your mouth brought back memories of the deep panted breaths after sprinting, probably the reason why I used up air about twice as fast as everyone one else. But, going by the book, taking long deep breaths is the way to go. One of the reasons PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) courses makes safe scuba diving is the text book sessions, yes, a big book of 200 plus pages which is more of less like your science text book, but only here, you actually use every bit of information on the pages. There is nothing irrelevant here; someday your life may depend on what you read. The second half of the pool sessions were a lot more nerve wracking, you are constantly reminded, there is no ground to rest your feet on, and there’s a 12 litre aluminium tank sitting on your shoulder, panic clutches you every time you feel yourself going a bit lower, you pedal frantically on an imaginary cycle, and in-between all that, you have to perform the ‘skills’, fancy that! These include taking off and putting back your mask, the breathing hose called the regulator and the most difficult of all, taking off and putting back your 'BCD' - Buoyancy Control Device, the jacket sort of thing which is a combined life jacket which has a strap facility to hold your air tank . That, of course is your life support, so taking it off while afloat in loads of water is quite stressful, only the presence of the instructor around gives you the courage to try it. The fact that it was my first time in a pool that’s more than 5ft deep was painting a constant picture of me gasping for air amid drinking in the pool water. And of course, that fear showed up when performing some of the skills, due to which I had to repeat them a few times before my instructor Mr. Lee was satisfied. But those pool sessions had created a bit of fear inside me, if I was capable of doing this, or would I lose my nerve. The dangers of Scuba mainly lies in losing your nerve, making you do something you should never do, and having a steady nerve and forcing yourself to think in an emergency is the basic purpose of the theory and pool sessions. Doing the back flip, that was another scary skill, sitting back faced with your scuba unit and going head first into the water, makes you wonder how you will surface head first after that… but you do, and is that a good feeling or what. Waiting for the next couple of nights before going for the sea dives, I found myself googling for diving procedures, diving accidents, diving fears and just about everything related to diving, some sites were reassuring, some not. I would not say I was thrilled to bits about the forthcoming open sea dives…but I was going to 'go with the flow'.
Going down, down, down... Arriving at the beautiful island, the sandy clear water beaches and the loads of snorkeling holiday crowd was calming, well, whatever happens, I’m going to have to atleast enjoy the beach and the beauty I said. Snorkeling and diving seemed to be as routine as dinner and laundry at the Redang Bay Resort, everything was going like clockwork. Tanks were stacked up, filled, used and recycled after each dive, neatly organised areas for cleaning and storing wet suits and other gear. Very neat! The orange of the lifejackets seem to hit you wherever you turn, it was like being swamped by a horde of orange birds. Amidst them, now and then were little specks of black, as scuba groups walked in after their shore dives or boat dives. For us, there was going to be 2 shore dives and 2 boat dives, for my certification and 1 additional shore dive as a special package. After the briefing came gear up time, putting to practice all the necessary tasks, checking and double checking…this was the real thing…made more shaky by our instructors Lee’s warning that he was going to sabotage something, just to make sure we were checking everything perfectly. Not having air to breathe under 6 meters of water is definitely not a good feeling, so triple-checking was the order of the day. Thankfully, our first dive was going to be a shore dive, so at least I need not go into deeper waters, if my nerve ran out, I thought. Soon we were walking into the sea, 3 ft-4ft, putting on our fins, then snorkeling out to 7 ft and more. My adrenalin was pumping, I did not know if I was scared or thrilled, bobbing on the sea, the sight of other heads in the sea was calming, we were all together… At our instructors signal, we started to descend, I gingerly squeezed out the air from my BCD, I almost did not want to release out that life-giving air, feeling the chills again. The air pressure hose and the air pressure gauge were the most used objects in my first dive, claimed my very amused instructors later. As we left the surface and the sea enveloped us, I strained to look at the corals below, mesmerized enough to leave my fears behind. That initial moment of seeing the underwater life, is quite a changing experience. On the surface, the sea is miles of nothing, homogenous blue and choppy water, intimidating and scary, but below, it’s a dramatic change, even the colour changes, its much lighter and clearer, even the gentle rise of the air bubbles is so fascinating. That’s the experience which makes you forget, you are supposed to be afraid…this is underwater, in the sea…6 meters below… After the first 2 minutes, it was exploration all the way, no major fears, just deep breathing, and looking all around you, ofcourse, glancing every 2 minutes at your air pressure gauge also happens... make allowance for it... it's your first open water dive. A bit of a wake-up call then, to perform the skills we did in the pool sessions, here and now. Again, here there was a much calming effect than the pool, probably coz there’s more to occupy your senses... than panic. Images of Nat Geo and movies you had watched come to memory, so this is how it is, underwater, zero gravity, and you can actually enjoy it… after a bit. Shore dives done then, some amusing moments and 'stunts' happened, which provided a lot of entertainment to my buddies… and back to the surface. Wow, my first dive in the sea….I was impressed! Ah! Yes! Yippee!! The real, real thing One more shore dive later, the next day, came the boat dives. Our destination, a few kms out in the open sea to a small wreck site called Bahagian wreck. The thought of the back flip was uppermost, everything else under control, this was going to be only the second time doing it…and here was the real thing, 60 ft deep waters, falling head first into it… nervous in the boat as we sped to the location, trying to smile for the camera. The presence of everyone and the cheerful banter was calming to tightly stretched nerves. One by one, divers were flipping… my turn came… those last few seconds, I was hearing voices saying, ‘no, don’t do it, its scary’,…. but, with a deep breath I flipped, that one second as I hit the water and went in, was terror…. next thing I knew, I was up in the water, head first… how that happens I never know, but isn’t it great it or what? The next 5 minutes was pure fantasy, here the water was more clearer than the shore, you could see the wreck from the surface level itself, and soon you were descending, now you can actually see the depth gauge move, 5 metres – 6..7..15, 16 metres. Trying to grab the rope or line as its called, quite thrilling as it swayed with a life of its own… forget the line, just descend slowly… And wow, you can feel the water pressure, all the theory lessons of equalizations came flooding back. It is so very essential, you can almost feel your eyes and ears squeezing inside if you don’t equalize in time. Every few feet, equalize as you get comfortable and almost glide onto the sea floor beside the wreck. That’s it, touch down, and what a feeling!! I had to do this again, I can do this again, I want to do this again, I want to be a Divemaster and Dive Instructor…..! What I would suggest: Scuba diving is quite a thrill and may be addictive once you begin to enjoy the experience. To get off to a great start, it is essential you take your Open Water Course with a well-known, experienced dive shop. The Open Water dives also has to be in a conducive area with clear waters and good coral life and aquatic activity. So it is a good idea to go to the better dive locations like the east coast in Malaysia which has about 3-4 island dive locations or Thailand, which also has a few great spots also with world class education facilities with tens of dive shops along the coastline and around its many islands. In India, the Andaman islands are the best, with dive locations in Havelock being the more famous ones. Pricing is almost on par in most dive shops irrespective of location anywhere in south east asia, the cost variables will be mostly be on the accomodation package. Though every instructor will teach more or less the same curriculum, the learning process can be made more interesting or less, depending on the instructor and the atmosphere created by the dive shop. It is more fun when you are in a group of about 5-10 students getting certified together and have a nice socialising opportunity over the 3-4 days you are togther, than being alone or with one or 2 students in some unknown place.
Diving has changed me, like it has changed almost everyone who has tried it. Here are my experiences in reaching small, tiny goals and the joys along the way... PADI® - The way the world learns to dive Meet people. These simple words tell you about the possibilities that open up to you as a PADI diver. For those seeking adventure, and something other than your regular travel vacations, here is your chance to try something new, something that you have only seen on TV channels and movies. 'Live Curious' as NAT GEO says, is what will keep your minds fresh and your body conditioned to explore the world outside your comfort circle.
To most scuba diving may sound as an extreme activity, dangers that lurk beneath the surface, our fear of sharks and many such anxieties that drown us even as we put our feet into the water. Scuba diving may actually be safer than most extreme sport like parasailing, sky diving, or even high speed racing. One of the main reasons is that there are international agencies like PADI that lays down safety standards for diving, dive operations and dive shops which is usually not present in other extreme activities. From my personal experience, I have seen my own fear change to understanding and confidence, and a yearning to impart this educative and fulfilling experience to others, is my main reason to become a Scuba Instructor, step by little step. Scuba diving, surprisingly is not something that only a select few have tried, atleast one in every group of holidayers to Thailand has tried the famous 'Discover Scuba' course in one of its many 'abridged, fast-track' variations. Though the original PADI course is over a 2 day period with both confined water and open water sessions, in most places it is a quick 1 hour affair. In that, it does serve its purpose though, an introduction to scuba diving, enough to have you come back for more, if you experienced exhiliration instead of fear! Why you should try it! I had it grip me, everytime I stared in wonder at the crowd of divers who seem to be at every street corner in Bangkok, waiting for buses, taxis, or the next tuk-tuk to Koh Tai and the dozens of dive shops all along the Thai coast. It was intriguing, what were these guys doing, and how would it feel being underwater, the closest to being in space, an astronaut I can never become, but scuba diver, yes I can; you can too!!
LEAVE A COMMENT
You have a true gift for writing Ranjit. I can't imagine there is another entry in this competition who deserves it more than you. Good Luck.
You truly deserve this Ranjit… and your commitment to your diving students will be second to none. They will be very lucky. GOOD LUCK RANJIT……
Ranjit is an awesome, trustworthy guy and it would be great to see him as a diving instructor. He is so passionate about diving it’s fun to hear about his diving adventures! I’m not sure how the contest works but you cannot go wrong with Ranjit! Hey!! I was with u when u started to learn swimming... sinking like a sack of potatoes in the pool… after 2 hrs still no improvement... you were the oldest student among the chinese kids, so funny… look at you now, you have gone far… a Divemaster now… Be there, be in Bali.. am joining u too…
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Ranjit Joseph for The Best Dive Job in the World
