This week I had the pleasure of teaching Thomas, from France, his Deep Speciality, at Two Fish in Sekotong, South Lombok.

Thomas came to Sekotong as an Open Water diver keen to learn. He came along with his Partner Lisa, a very experienced diver, for a few weeks to complete some fun dives and his Advanced Course, and to try out Belongas Bay.

Thomas really impressed his instructor Jake on the Advanced Course with his skill underwater and ability to take on new challenges. Itching for more, Thomas spoke to me about conducting the Deep Speciality. The decision was made to head to Belongas Bay with him to complete the additional three dives he would need for the certification.

Belongas proved the perfect training ground for this one-on-one course with interesting features all the way to 40 metres and beyond. We were blessed with very calm conditions on the surface and some mild currents underwater, plus great visibility. We had fun seeing the effect of pressure on air inside a packet of jackfruit crisps, a drink bottle, and the yolk of an egg.

We were also able to test for narcosis at the Cathedral, both of us experiencing a mild dose which made the narcosis test exercise a giggle-filled event. Aided by the slight narcosis, Thomas also happily overcame a fear of sea snakes, learning that these creatures were quite beautiful to watch as they patrolled the pinnacle searching for snacks. His least favourite part of the dives was the simulated emergency decompression stop, which was a chilly 8 minutes in the colder waters of Belongas.

Thomas enjoyed getting to use the information he’d learned about multi-level dive planning during his Advanced Course to better understand the profiles of the three Belongas dives and figure out how to conserve some NDL for the last of three deep dives.

It was a fun few dives with a really great student. Thomas left us keen to continue his diving education, planning to complete his Nitrox Speciality on his next diving trip, and both he and Lisa are now discussing rescue training. We hope to see Thomas and Lisa again in the future!