Divemaster life – living legends
Great diving experience this week!
I’ve been at Crystal Divers for almost 2 months, I’m having really great time, meeting very nice and interesting people and the best scuba experience ever! At this moment I’m about to complete the Dive Master course. Part of the courses are, theory lessons which gives you the mandatory knowledge to be a professional DM, water skills and practical application which make you getting confident with what will be one day my daily duty and last, but not least, assisting Dive Instructors during their courses and sometimes we just go for fun dives as well!
I have been studying and diving almost with all the instructors and the divemasters, any day spent with each of them it’s always been fun, safe and professional. I spent the pass two days diving as assistant with two legends of Crystal Divers…
and probably two legends of diving in Bali!
They’re the only two Crystal’s instructors I never dive with before: but this moment came! I was really excited to finally spend the day with them! These guys have thousand and thousand dives logged in their logbook: if counted together it’s more than 15.000!!!! They basically spent more time of their life underwater than on-land
I was really looking forward to see how these guys behave underwater, what’s their approach with costumers, how they spot fishes…basically how they do the thing they most love to do, scuba-diving!
I’m talking about the two “living legends” Magic Toto & Amin!
Destinations of the two days were: Tulamben, wreck dive to see Liberty (US Navy cargo ship from WWII, sank in 1963 after been torpedoed by Japanese submarine in 1942) and Padang Bai the next day to see some cool underwater creatures!
Both days started with a nice ride to the diving sites: during the trip Toto and Amin entertained our guest whit amazing stories about their diving adventures and about life in the beautiful Bali. Me and the costumers were extremely entertained by them I was impressed about the passion and joy they’re transmitted us!
All the dives went very well: we seen many different type of fishes and coral, met Mr.Frank the Barracuda, white tip sharks octopuses, dozens of tiny nudies and many others beautiful creatures….oh…and I’ve finally seen pygmies!!! YEAH!!!!
During the dives I was almost their shadow underwater. I wanted to stay close as much as possible to them, learning from their movements and their behavior. I was totally amazed by them! They look like fishes: it seems they’ve got gills! They know each dive site we’ went diving like their own pockets.
Diving with these amazing guys was an experience that I recommend to every diver: both experienced and beginners! They transmit you love for diving, for underwater life and for life in general. Their smiles are very contagious…and that the best way to start every day!
…oh….and watch out for special fish when you’re next to Magic Toto….you might be able to see the Picacku fish 😀
//Roberto Divemaster trainee, Crystal Divers
IDC August 2013 ~ Opening Day
Here we are at Crystal Divers and time to do another IDC. This time we have : Sabrina and Astrid from Germany, Julie and Stefano from USA, Josephine from Hong Kong, and Kiyoshi from Japan. In staff instructor side will be Rakhmat from Indonesia and Indo from Australia. Mari, Greg, Robin and Wulan will be on and off for staffing. Of course under our Course Director Minni and Taka.
It will take 16 days and 3 days for IE. They will develop their knowledge, skills, and attitude during these days and of course afterward. These 3 elements work together but the most important is attitude, with a good attitude you will be a good instructor for your students and your surroundings.
The course starts with orientation, this time you need to introduce yourself, where do you come from and why you want to become an instructor. Minni and Taka gave presentations for the IDC candidate as well as assignment during the presentations. Greg explained us about learning, instruction and PADI system nicely and finally we learn to make Knowledge development. The IDC candidate got their very first assignment for the Knowledge Development Presentation. Let’s the fun begin!
Mapping Trip
Mapping is one of the Dive Master requirement, we need to make an underwater map of one dive side in Bali. Seven of us will make one dive site map and the choice goes to TULAMBEN DROP OFF “The fantasy wall”. Minni helped us out to make a choice this time because almost all other dive sites have been made before. So we need to prepare all the things to bring to Tulamben because we wouldn’t do only the paper map, we would also make the 3D map so need more preparation than others right. We planned what we need to do, the tools we need to bring, the equipment to make the 3D structure, transport, tank and the accommodation. We haven’t been going in one go because we will be in the car with the other customer so it saved some transport money. Three of us – me, jink and imam – went first because we need to do the deep specialty before we begin our Mapping diving. The second group planned to arrive in Tulamben at night with motor bike and the last group would be arriving next morning with motorbike as well.
First day…
We were ready to do the first dive now!
The first group is me and Eri, the second group is Jink and Vintty, and the last group is Nico, Imam, and Made. Each group have their own duty. My group’s duty was checking the compass heading, finding the distance for the place we mapped, and surface compass heading from entry point. We did the dive for 60 minutes and we had lunch with Minni and Tony (from PADI). We were talking a lot about what we gonna do after we finished this course and he adviced us about how to find a job. It’s really a good advice for us and a reward for our 1 year course. The second dive, my group need to count the kick cycle from the wall, the details of the wall, and the distance from the block. We were done with the diving for day 1 now! We made the structure for the 3D Drop- Off map. We have been doing it together and it looks like we are a good team. We made it from cement and all of us have our own speciality in this thing Like Nico is good in mixing the cement First structure was done in first day and we need to make it dry then we can continue to the next structure. Not an easy time because if we use cement for all of the structure it will be really heavy (it’s still heavy like hell even with the steroform inside!!).
Second day…
This dive was focusing in the wall contour and the interesting points. We need to find the distance and the depth for all of that. It took us not so long to do that because Eri and Jink already familiar with Drop Off. We were finished earlier that day and we were playing in the beach for a while collecting the rocks, the sand for our map and Jink took us to the edge of the beach and we dug a hole about a couple meters from the sea and yes, the water indeed not salty. It’s so weird but that is the mystery of Tulamben. The rest of the day we spent to finish the contour of the 3D Map. We discussed a lot about the contour and we need, is to wait again to do the next dive because there was still something missing in our mind. We also went to the hill on sunset, Eri showed us the place where we can see the Agung Mount and the sea in high place. It was a good view and really nice to end our Mapping Trip to Tulamben. We also a made sketch for the paper map that night. We had fish grill dinner like always and Eri’s family and friends came to join us there and we had a little party that night because this is the end of our trip to Tulamben. Thank you for the hospitality of Eri’s Family!
Third day…
Final dive today because some of us will go home today and we needed to finish the contour at Crystal. We were diving for 1 hour to make sure again the interesting point of the place. And that was it. We finished our mapping dive and time to go home now. We were separated into 3 groups again to go home…
This Journey was also the first journey for all of us and it tightened our friendship. We will do it again for celebrating our Instructor maybe That was our 3 days Journey to Tulamben and for finalizing the map we were doing it in Crystal with our document. We put the rock and the sand to the structure, made Jukung miniature, the coral, sponge and paint it. The hardest part was searching for the material for the miniature because we can’t use play-do! The play-do cant be hard and we need something that last forever. So we need to skip this part first and focus to another map. The paper map is not so hard to be finished because its only drawing so we finish it in less than a week.
I was searching the material to create the miniature and with Milan help, I found the shop where they sell CLAY! I could move forward then. I made some miniature of jukung, coral, sponge, and the block. We put all the miniature in the place and paint it. It Looks pretty cool now and we need 1 month to finish all the things.
The Self Reliant Diver
Kitted up and Ready to go
As part of my continuing education in diving, not just the gaining of experience, I decided that I would rather enjoy undertaking the Self Reliant Diver Course, a relatively new course from PADI. My aim being that once qualified, I could complete the necessary qualifying dives to undertake the instructor qualification.
First let me say that self reliant diving is not Solo Diving. The self reliant dive training provides you with another skill set that increases your ability for self rescue, identify and anticipate problems before they become life threatening and equip you with the skills to extract yourself from a situation should it arise.
Diving without a partner requires you to be willing to make the required commitment to train and equip yourselves properly and to accept the added risks involved. You must have the right attitude and ability to dive independently. This is true in other adventure sport activities such a solo rock climbing.
Diving without a partner requires the right attitude and equipment. This includes, but is not restricted to redundant air sources, specific dive planning and management of independent diving problems and emergencies. However, no amount of redundant equipment can effectively back-up a diver’s brain better than another individual
In simple terms, responsible independent scuba diving is not for everyone; however it does have a place. So, who should develop self –reliant diving skills and why? The course will appeal most to photographers, videographers, traveling divers, wreck divers and TecRec Divers. This is by no means an exhaustive list and will appeal to anyone with the necessary course pre-requisites.
Having completed the necessary pre diving study and knowledge reviews, we traveled to Tulamben on Monday 10th October to complete the three qualifying dives. Having gone through some very thorough pre-dive planning and briefing we kitted up ready for the first dive. We were certainly carrying much more equipment that normal; redundant equipment that is either critical for survival or critical to the dive objective’s success. This included a backup 4.7 ltr cylinder, complete with regulator and SPG. This would allow us the opportunity to initiate an emergency exit from a life-threatening situation without undue stress and with a minimum of confusion in the event of a major equipment malfunction.
Entry for Dive One
During the first dive we were required to complete a number of skills, which were, with all standard and specialized equipment, conduct a buoyancy check at the surface, complete a 200m surface swim, demonstrate neutral buoyancy by hovering for one minute, perform a relaxed, nonstop 200 meter surface swim, demonstrate the ability to switch to a redundant air supply system, simulating a regulator free flow and breathe from the redundant air source for at least two minutes, perform a SAC rate swim by swimming for approximately five minutes at a level depth, recording the appropriate information for later calculation and deploy a lift bag or DSMB from the bottom. All skills were completed without issue and one skill that was practiced a great deal was switching to our alternate air source, which had to be done one handed and within thirty seconds.
Swimming without a mask
After our required surface interval, we kitted up again for dive 2. During this dive we would have to complete further skills, comprising of demonstrating time, depth and gas supply awareness by writing the depth and cylinder pressure on a slate at 10-minute intervals, swim at depth for at least two minutes covering a distance of at least 18 meters without a mask. We would also have to whilst continuously swimming, simulate an out-of-air emergency and change from our primary air supply to our redundant air supply system within 30 seconds, then breathe from the redundant air supply system for at least two minutes, complete two navigation exercises, perform a SAC rate swim by swimming for five minutes at a level depth recording the appropriate information for later calculation and deploy a lift bag or DSMB from the bottom. Again, one of the key components and something practiced repeatedly throughout the dive was switching from our primary to redundant air supply. Again, all skills were completed and there was even time to interact with the aquatic life, especially the turtle that seams to have taken up residency on the wreck.
Swimming without a mask
Ready to go our seperate ways
After lunch, we began our third and final qualifying dive. For this dive we were truly diving alone but it was not just a fun dive. The instructor gave us our briefing for the dive and set us our tasks. This was to demonstrate time, depth and gas supply awareness by writing the depth and time on a slate for each 20 bar of gas consumed, demonstrate turn around pressure and time limit awareness when either the pressure or time limit established during the briefing is reached by writing the time (if pressure limit reached first) or the pressure (if time limit reached first) on a slate, demonstrate navigational control and return to the exit with no assistance from the instructor and while continuously swimming, simulate an out-of-air emergency and change from your primary air supply to your redundant air supply system within 30 seconds At the conclusion of the dive we then had to deploy a lift bag or DSMB and ascend to the surface, stopping at 5 metres/15 feet for a three minute safety stop and most importantly surface from the dive within the established time frame and with no less than the planned pressure remaining in the cylinder.
Through the Wreck
The third dive was a new experience, diving alone and with no buddy. We have all no doubt at some time or other been alone for a short while but to do a whole dive alone was something new. What was noticeable during this dive was that you checked your dive computer more often than usual and you became more aware of your surroundings and where other divers were, just in case.
At the end of the third dive we had completed all the skill requirements and were now qualified as Self Reliant Divers. Twenty more self reliant dives and instructor qualification beckons. The benefits of completing this course are not about diving alone. It is about being self reliant, equipping you with the skills and knowledge to be a better diver, able to self rescue if the need ever arose. These are certainly skills that anyone should have and teaches you how to manage situations where you may be separated from your buddy for extended periods of time.
Deploying the DSMB whilst on redundant air supply
If you want to do the Self Reliant Course, then there is no better place than Crystal Divers. Take a look at the Courses Section and see what is entailed.
DDD
Interns & DMT Skin Diving
As part of the Interns and Dive Master Trainees (DMT) continuing education, one requirement is to undertake the Skin Diving Course. It is one of the many skill sets that form part of every Dive Masters training. Here at Crystal Divers a little fun is injected into the training and every participant is assigned with coming up with a skill or game that can be used during the course. Any number of games are thought up and whilst fun, they do have a great deal of added value.
The ideas for the games are varied and diverse and it never ceases to amaze the ingenuity of those that come up with them. Games vary from the simple to the more inventive. Examples of the games were swimming from one end of the pool to the other, swim through a submerged hoop and collect as many weights as possible before returning to the other end; diving from one end of the pool to the other, exchanging masks underwater, writing your name on a slate before returning underwater to the other end.
Other games played were swimming around the edge of the pool whilst keeping one fin out of the water. No easy task and if you don’t believe it, try it. Another popular game was two skin divers battling underwater to try and remove the others mask whilst keeping hold of your own. More often it would be a draw as each of the players lost their own mask. One skill game that brought out the competitive nature of those taking part was the longest breath hold, with some showing themselves to be as near to fish as possible.
But by far the most inventive game was one thought up by Wulan, combining ’aquatic life trivial pursuit’ questions with skin diving tasks. She gave each diver a clue as to the identity of an aquatic life form and then the diver had to swim underwater to the far end of the pool and find the weight with the correct answer. Some wrong answers meant the diver returning with the wrong weight and an early exit from the game.
Whilst the games and skills were fun, there was added value, from breath holding techniques, finning techniques to buoyancy control when navigating though the submerged hoola-hoops. All skills that are important to the skin diver but also the diver in terms of buoyancy. Not breath holding of course as all divers know the most important rule of diving;
”NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATHE”
In all it was a most enjoyable experience for those partaking and is testament to the internship at Crystal Divers. I have no doubt that the interns will go from strength to strength, becoming amazing Dive Masters and Instructors.
DDD
RESCUE DIVER
