I’ll never forget the first time I saw divers in a resort on a family vacation when I was a kid. They looked so cool! They could breathe underwater and had knowledge of a whole world I knew nothing about. I wanted to be like them!
When I was 25 I finally booked a diving holiday and got my Open Water Certification in Hurghada Egypt. It was all that I had hoped it to be and more! On my first dive I saw a huge Napoleon fish, he was so big and so different, I always described it like it looked like as if he was a cartoon. I also saw a couple of really big tunas coming past. Their silver strong bodies made a big impression on me.
From that time on I have always chosen my vacations based on diving locations. Every time I got to be in, near or on the ocean I realized it was my happy place. But I always went back to my amazing hometown Amsterdam and kinda got stuck in the rat race of life and forgot about my wish to be near the ocean.
I obtained my Advanced quite soon after, in Koh Tao with Kim some years ago when Kim and Bastian were still there. We had so much fun under water and I will never forget the day that I saw a turtle for the first time. I will always remember where we saw him and how it was. And Kim signaling to me: “don’t forget to breathe!” I was so excited I’d forgotten to breathe!
Since then I’ve been lucky enough to go on a liveaboard in Komodo, Indonesia and see more manta’s than I could count. And on a dive in Maui, Hawaii when I heard the whales sing or diving with dolphins in Kauai, Hawaii.
Following my passion at Scuba Center Asia
Being underwater with just my breathing and the vast colours of the reef and the wild mix of small and big oceanic creatures has always been so special to me, it’s kind of like meditation, nowhere else I can find that kind of peace all my worries and thoughts leave me as soon as I get on the boat.
When I was 35 and in Hawaii I bought a sunrise shell and a pearl necklace, to remind me that I need to be around water, that that’s where I am happy. The same year whilst working all kinds of amazing jobs in The Netherlands with the business I set up myself, I decided that yes, I was doing cool stuff but I needed more. I need to be near the ocean.
So I got back in touch with my instructor Kim who (together with Bastiaan) had set up a 5 star IDC PADI dive resort on the beautiful island of Lembongan near Bali. And within a month I was on my way to that magical place to start a PADI Dive Master course.
Becoming a Dive Pro at Scuba Center Asia
The course is challenging, hard and exhilarating. The team at Scuba Center Asia are all so kind and professional, although they’re busy there’s always plenty of time to joke around. Quickly I got nicknamed (underwater)Melon and started off with the Rescue Course. It was hard work there’s so much to learn and do, but I was so proud when I successfully completed the course in a few days and got to be a Dive Master Candidate.
At Scuba Center Asia they make sure that as a candidate your comfortable in the housing behind the shop, you instantly have a whole group of friends to hang out with in THE BAR NEXT DOOR and can do more diving than you could have dreamed of.
