This week in Lembongan… Office staff Ludwig, the one who meets and greets all our guests in Lembongan when they arrive, the one who takes care of payments and helps around the resort, had the chance to get out of the office and into the ocean. With instructor Bryce, Ludwig completed his PADI Open Water this week. From last week, Ludwig, during quiet times in the office, was able to work his way through the PADI Open Water videos and answer the questions, before spending the afternoon going through the knowledge reviews and exams with Bryce.

Once complete with all the theory, it was time for Ludwig to put everything into practice in the pool. From equipment set up, to skills in the shallow waters to many many circles, swimming around and around in the pool to work on fin positions, fin techniques and buoyancy control. Over two half days in the swimming pool, Ludwig had completed all the confined water seasons and was ready to dive into the ocean.

Besides diving off the house reef in Lembeh, this was Ludwig’s first real trip out for diving. With all the knowledge from the videos and all the practice in the pool, it was time for Ludwig to put it all together and control himself while exploring the underwater world.

Like always, the first dive takes a little to get use to, there are more natural elements to think about, you go deeper and there is also much more to look at, compared to a swimming pool. With some help from instructor Bryce, Ludwig was able to work his way through the required skills and had the chance to look around the reef.

The following day, was the last 2 open water dives for the course. Now Ludwig knew what was to come and after briefings and debriefing from Bryce, it was time to develop that control and independence underwater. Within the first few minutes of the 1st dive of the day, something clicked and Ludwig leveled out, adjusted his trim, was using nice guiding fin kicks and fine turned his buoyancy with only his breathing.  Ludwig was looking like someone who had done more then just 3 dives. With all the skills completed for the open water dives done, the last dive of the course gave Ludwig the chance to refine his developed techniques and truly enjoy the open water and what he was able to spot underwater.

Ludwig is now one of our newest dive guides in training. You may have meet him when you checked into Lembongan, maybe in a few months time, he will be there underwater with you.