Best Dive Job in the World
I loved swimming, so much that I joined the swimming course in school every year even though I’ve taken the course before and had completed it. But then one day, I told myself, “I’m never going to swim again unless it’s diving. I don’t want to see walls in the pool. I want to see more!” Then I started working after I graduated from college and I got so busy with work that I never actually start diving until about a year ago, the opportunity arrived.
A friend of mine has been diving for years and pestered me to take my OW course. At that point of time, I did a little research on the course. Found out I could take the theory online with PADI and the practical with a local operator. So I finally took the first step. After completing my OW, I went straight to take my AOW. Since then, I’ve been diving almost every month.
Back in Singapore, I work in a cigar retail shop. I sell wines from France and Italy, whisky from Japan and Scotland, and cigars from Cuba. This is my fifth year with the company. I met people from mainly Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Japan, American, Europe and of course, Singapore. Work took up so much of my time that I don’t even have time to meet friends. Actually, they are busy with work themselves as well.
Just recently, I was with a group, diving at Bali. I met this group of people in April when I went diving at Layang Layang. We liked each other’s company, so we decided to meet up and dive together once every 6 months. All we ever talked about is diving and photography.
Fishes never interest me, but documentaries, about the underwater world does. It made me want to see them in real life. The more I dive, the more interested I became about fishes. I enjoyed talking about my diving experiences, the islands and the dive sites I’ve been to. Diving become something I cannot live without and I want to share my experiences with a lot more people not just friends.
Once, in Sipadan, I met this girl who has been afraid of water since young, but she managed to complete her OW course. She thanked me for helping her many times in the water while diving, which I didn’t even realized I did help her. Although it was a short meeting, after the trip, she felt more confident and went to take her AOW and has been diving more frequently.
That experience has been, for once, more than just diving, helping people overcome fear of water.
The diving and meeting different people has made me realized that being a Dive Instructor, is as challenging, if not more, than any other professions.