Here’s an update from our latest DMT in Gili Air (Divemaster Trainee)…
A little over a year ago, I did a bit of a whirlwind tour of Bali, including visits to Nusa Lembongan and Gili Air – I loved them and promised to come back!
So, this year: I resigned from my job after realising life is short; packed my bag full of things that I didn’t need and set off on an adventure to become a PADI Divemaster! My advice: take your own mask, snorkel and fins!
It’s been a huge learning curve, I’ve felt the lows and the highs and will be forever scarred by the deployment of the SMB!! I even had to go to an SMB Clinic to remedy the traumas – reel entanglement, a dropped reel, a dropped clip, alternate air source entrapment, knots in my reel, and ascending only to find a floppy sausage at the surface!!
I arrived at Two Fish Divers Nusa Lembongan needing a fair few dives to get up to the required 40! By 7:00 am most mornings I was dripping in sweat and had done a hardcore work out taking the tanks to the boat! But maybe the hardest thing – or most foolish – was thinking I was hard enough to walk across coral barefoot! You know you’ve made an error when one of the guides asks you where are your boots?!

Enjoying life as a DMT in Gili Air
There I completed the EFR and Rescue Course – ‘Diver, Diver! Are you okay?!?’ And I don’t think I’ll ever forget the ketchup blood that I got smothered in as I responded to a ‘hurt’ IDC candidate! I also did some specialities: Deep, Drift, Nitrox and PPB. Oh, and I got to see Mantas and Molas! These in the bag (not the mantas or molas as that would be very challenging and not be the role model of a dive professional!), I headed off to Two Fish Divers on Gili Air.
After walking into the dive shop, I knew that it was going to be brilliant! The beaming smiles of Jenny and Kelly, their positivity and their intention to make this fun and to enjoy every minute was just the start that I needed. Not only that, I was starting this journey with another DMT in Gili Air who I had already met in Lembongan! Together we got through a huge amount! Particularly smashing the equipment exchange – thank you Dario! Building a friendship like that helped me immensely and in that task you really do need someone you trust – especially when things go a little awry! That pesky instructor giving us a virtually empty cylinder!! She did have a good old chuckle afterward!!
As a DMT in Gili Air, I completed the rest of the water assessments of which the swim was probably the hardest – I needed training and when you come to do it, if in the open water, wear a rash vest! For fear of not wanting to be a wimp, I continued to swim through jellyfish and if you didn’t already know – they really do they hurt!! I was washing myself down with vinegar at 8 am! At least I got to put into practice the skills from the EFR and Rescue!! People said it would be character building! I just didn’t realise in so many ways!

Gili Air offers phenomenal sunsets after a day of Divemaster Training
Skills practice was a blast – I mean how can you get confused with ‘you watch me!?’ During one skill, I was laughing so hard I had to abort and ascend as I thought I was going to spit my regulator out!! It was at this point that I thought I belonged as a DMT in Gili Air!
The dives were great – especially my first dive to Bounty Wreck! We’d been swimming along for a good period of time, when the instructor turned and looked at me and gesticulated with comedy genius that she had no idea where the wreck was! We’d swam right past it! I got to see a huge amount of turtles during my DMT in GIli Air and my new favourite critter is the mantis shrimp! I got to work with people doing their PADI Open Water courses, their Advanced, Rescue Diver and Discover Scuba Diving! I feel that this whole experience as a DMT in Gili Air has made me a far better diver, and a lot more knowledgeable!
I’ve met some truly wonderful people that have made a huge impact on me and made my soul sing! A huge thank you to all that have been part of this, and particularly to those who helped me as a DMT in Gili Air – you’ve made a lasting impact and will not be forgotten. The course may not be complete yet, but watch out – I’ll be back!!
Do you want to become a PADI Divemaster? For more information about becoming a PADI DMT in Gili Air – or at any of our other locations in Indonesia, fill in the form below and we will get right back to you.
124 days ❤?