So here we are, at the end of a 5-week long training. I have completed my PADI divemaster internship, and it has been a wonderful experience through which I have been able to acquire a wide range of skills. It certainly has allowed me to expand my knowledge base of the diving industry.

For my final week I got my two specialty courses completed which were deep dive and sidemount. Both were a lot of fun with Hiro and Dom putting Ken and me through some interesting sidemount challenges and exercises, out of air, problems with our tanks, swimming with one fin, etc. They certainly know how to keep things hilarious, Ken and I really enjoyed the course, so thank you guys for that.

Also managed to go out one afternoon for my project AWARE with the crew and a few guests. We decided to spend the time finding crown of thorns starfish which have started taking over the reef. Doing this periodically allows us to keep the population of crown of thorns starfish under control. If they are left to spread quickly they sadly invade the reef and destroy the coral. So in Bunaken, Two Fish is committed to making sure they are removed on a regular basis. We picked a site where they are known to have outbreaks and managed to collect 50 crown of thorns starfish in about one hour’s time of snorkelling, although they were all concentrated in one area. Many of the Two Fish staff joined as well as two guests from the resort. Once we got them back to shore we burried them. There are not many options for killing the crown of thorns starfish, aside from burrying it is also possible to burn them but 50 was not a large enough amount to justify a barbacue. There are still several areas that need to be checked to ensure the reef around Bunaken remains healthy. So thank you to all the staff at Two Fish for helping out with this, could not have done it without you guys and you are really doing a great job, hats off to you!

Also want to say a special thank you to Sandy, Dion and Hiro, you have given me so much knowledge and awareness about being a divemaster and diving in general, the time you have spent with me is invaluable, so a very big THANK YOU to you guys and I wish you well in your future endeavours. Of course thank you to the entire staff at Two Fish as well, you have made it a memorable experience and have certainly taught me a lot. Thank you for your patience and your smiles, it has been a pleasure going through these 5 weeks with all of you guys. Will miss you!