Anyone who has been to a Trawangan Dive quiz night will be familiar
with James, our quizmaster and one of the lead PADI Instructors at our
dive resort on Gili Trawangan.
His story from office job to dive god is a familiar tale to many of
us in the dive industry. At one point, we all decided to say goodbye to
the usual nine-to-five in order to take a leap of faith into the world
of diving. And just like the rest of us, James has no intention of ever
going back…
What was your previous job?
After studying accountancy at college in Essex, I started my first
job with a construction company in East London. I was 18 years old at
the time, and I stayed there for 3 years. It was awful, really awful.
The daily commute was mostly spent sitting in someone’s armpit
listening to some idiot chatting rubbish on his mobile. The late night’s
journey home was inevitably on public transport, trying to avoid
catching anyone’s eye in case they had a knife and an attitude.
To be honest, I hated England. It was cold, boring and it never
stopped raining. If my family didn’t live there, I could happily never
step foot in the country ever again.
Not your happiest moment then! So what did you do?
I saved up some dosh and booked myself on a six month trip around
Africa. It was an overland trek in a bus with a bunch of other people
who were disillusioned with the real world. It was my first trip outside
of Europe so it was big eye opener. We started in Cape Town and I
learnt how to dive there. But blimey, it was cold. The water was 13
degrees – we had to wear a 7mm semi-dry and I was still freezing!
Despite this, it was an amazing experience and I continued to dive
throughout trip.
Lake Malawi was my first taster of diving in fresh water. Lots of
different fish and also different planning was required because it was
also altitude diving. In Zanzibar I had my first dive in warm water and I
couldn’t believe the change it makes. I saw loads of stuff – turtles
and lots of different reef fish. In between, the trip included numerous
safaris, white water rafting, trekking to see gorillas, etc. It was
fantastic. And for six months, I lived in a tent and learnt how to make a
fire, how to cook for the group and got in touch with my inner caveman!
Did you head back home at the end of the trip?
Absolutely not! When the trip ended I flew to Bangkok, Thailand and
celebrated New Years Eve at a full moon party Koh Pha Ngan. Mental.
After a month or so of partying in Thailand, I made my way to Borneo
where I volunteered at a wildlife centre called Matang Wildlife Centre.
This involved helping with the orangutans, helping to build enclosures
and lots of trekking into the mosquito-infested jungle.
After that, I made way round the South-East Asia backpacker circuit
including Laos, Cambodia, Philippines and Singapore. I dived whenever I
got the chance. In particular, Sipadan blew my mind. There was so much
going on during each dive that I didn’t know where to look.
And then, did you head home?
Nah! I applied for a working holiday visa and headed to Australia.
I’d always wanted to experience life down under. Rather than making a
beeline to Sydney like everyone else, I went to Melbourne. I was worried
that Sydney would just be London-on-Sea.
And for the first time in what seemed like ages, I got myself a
proper job as an accountant again. It was the easiest way to earn some
decent money. After all the travelling I had done, it was nice to enjoy
some of the comforts of the developed world again. I had a good group of
mates that enjoyed a drink or two, so every night was spent down the
pub. And at the weekend, I would try to get away. On one occasion, I
headed up to Cairns for a dive trip on the Great Barrier Reef, which was
cool, but not really what I expected.
Did you continue your PADI education there?
Actually, it was on the way home that I stopped off in Malaysia and
did my next course in the Perhentians islands. I had planned two weeks
of chilling on sun-drenched, palm tree lined beach before heading back
to the UK. But I was bored after a couple of days so I signed up for my
PADI Rescue Diver course with Emergency First Response. It was a fun
course with loads of people pretending to pass out underwater or
drowning on the surface. I had to tow a fat guy for what seemed like
miles. It was good workout.
Were you excited to be going home after so long away?
You would think so. But no, not really. Of course it was nice to see
friends and family. But the main reason I went back was because I had
run out of money, not because I wanted to return to office life.
Nevertheless, I did get an accounting job again. I figured it was time to grow up and stop running away from responsibilities.
After three months in the job, I realized I didn’t actually want to
grow up so I saved up some more money to go travelling again and then
quit my job! Again!
How did you find out about Trawangan Dive?
I did a Google search for ‘diving in Indonesia’ and the Gili islands
popped up. I emailed various different dive centres and the reply from
the manager at the time, Amy, was the quickest and the funniest. That’s
all it took! I booked my flight the next day and a month or so later I
arrived on the island.
What do you think of the Gili islands?
When I arrived, I was really pleased with my choice. It has the best
balance of social life and diving of any island I’ve been to before.
Sometimes you arrive in a diving destination and while they are picture
perfect, there’s absolutely nothing to do in the evening.
If you don’t want to dive the Gili islands (which would be damn
shame) you could still do lots of things – kayaking, sunbathing,
snorkeling, horse riding, trek up a volcano in nearby Lombok, etc. Some
girls even sunbathe topless so it provides the guys with a nice pastime
between dives!
How was your PADI Divemaster Course?
I honestly loved every moment of it. I had Philip as my mentor and it
stood me in good stead for the rest of my diving career. I assisted on
lots of different courses from – Discover Scuba Diving, Open Water
Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver and Rescue Diver courses. Every
Divemaster’s favourite is the assist on a Rescue Course – fainting,
screaming, puking, bleeding, panicking! So many opportunities to channel
my inner drama queen!
I’ve seen you in a fair few costumes since you arrived…
I do love a costume party! I’ve been dressed as Tarzan, a school
girl, a go-go dancer, the Hoff, and many more besides. And who can
forget the teenage mutant ninja turtles? That was for my snorkel test at
the end of my Divemaster course – another mental night I can barely
remember!
How did the find PADI IDC?
Ayala is an fantastic PADI Course Director. The two weeks went by so
quickly because we were so busy. I was under the impression we would be
locked in the classroom all the time, but there were so many workshops,
we never seemed to be out of the water.
I think I surprised many (including myself) with my knowledge
development presentations. My Essex accent is a constant source of
amusement for the people I work with, but in the classroom
presentations, apparently I changed my accent and became a polite
Englishman speaking the Queen’s English. It’s never happened again
since!
And what about the PADI Instructor Examination?
For my PADI IE, we went to Bali. The conditions were much different
to those around the Gili islands. We had 5 metre visibility and raging
current that made the open water presentations kinda challenging. In
comparison to the other groups there, we seemed to be much better
prepared and this showed in the final marks – I passed with flying
colours!
And so you began your new life as a PADI Instructor…
When I came back I helped out doing some diving and then they offered
me a position as a permanent dive instructor at the dive resort.
Financially things are much easier now. I can make ends meet without
having to dip into savings. In fact, I’m even managing to save a bit as
well. I love teaching and the variety it brings. One day I’ll be
conducting a Discover Scuba Diving session and the next day I’ll be
teaching Deep Specialty or Enriched Air.
What are your plans for the future?
I really want to stay on the island long term and would like to
invest some money in property at some point. The island is slowly
getting busier as more people are venturing outside of Bali and there
are lots of good investment opportunities.
Obviously, I’ll continue to work at Trawangan Dive as well though.
This place really is home now. I’m going to continue hosting the weekly
quiz night until I get thrown off it! It’s a good laugh. Some people
commented the other week that it was the least serious but most
entertaining pub quiz they had ever been to. Job done!
Originally published on the Trawangan Dive website for PADI professional courses:
http://www.idc-gili.com/how-an-essex-lad-became-a-dive-guru/
The PADI IDC Program covers all of the usual topics as required
by the PADI curriculum as well as many additional components which have been
added to the course and are designed to enhance the learning experience in a
fun and enjoyable way whilst providing the best possible support to candidates.
The student control workshops are designed to prepare
candidates to always be in full control of their students and looks into
various ways to achieve this allowing new instructors to be able to adapt their
personal training techniques for various conditions and situations whilst
providing the best possible training that you can.
Another new workshop that has now been absorbed into the
program is the PADI Online Workshop which is designed to introduce PADI online
and its functions. Candidates will learn how to process their own
certifications and review some of the other functions of the PADI website such
as the dive check, classifieds, updates, training bulletins and more.
Although the PADI IDC Syllabus dictates that candidates
participate in the DSD workshop, an extended DSD workshop will cover how to
conduct the DSD repeat dive in Open Water.
