December is a time of happiness, traditions, and spending time with family and friends. All this applies to many people, but … how are the holidays for a Dive Instructor?
Scuba instructor life is a bit different. My first year as a diving instructor in a foreign country was a great year for developing my own traditions, but my winter (especially New Years) tradition is by far my favorite.
Where were you?
It was the year 2009 and I was working as an Instructor in Koh Phi Phi, Thailand. It was my first job as an instructor on an island with incredible diving, but the rhythm of life on land was not suitable for everyone. There is a very big party scene on the island. There you can find a party every day, but at Christmas time everything is quite out of control.
A difficult decision to make.
The scenario was quite bleak for my dive shop. December 31st, 20:00 and ONLY 1 client on the blackboard for January 1st. Someone had to volunteer. The manager did not want to force anyone to work on January 1 especially knowing that most of them would go out and party anyways.
The Grinch that lives in me.
For me, it was like seeing the doors of heaven open. Normally I have to give a thousand explanations to people why I do not get drunk and why I want to go home early. It’s not that I do not go out partying every now and then, but I did not like the vibe of professional diving in PhiPhi. There, it was more than just a bit of alcohol. It was shocking for me to see how many Instructors had that rhythm of life, especially as a new diving professional.
Making friends at work.
Without hesitation, I came to the rescue of the group … ‘Calm down guys, I’ll go diving!’
Everyone looked at me confused, excited, intrigued by my decision, but none asked questions. The decision was made. Everyone could go out to celebrate the new year, which meant drink until the body endured or just go out late without having to get up early the next day.
Of course, not everyone on our team wanted January 1st off just to spend it with a hangover. All of us had had weeks without resting due to the holidays, working with horror movie schedules, so a day off was needed.
We will talk about the topic of bad working conditions in the industry of diving in a future blog.
A dive among my Top 5.
Today, and with about 5000 dives under my belt, I keep saying that that dive on January 1st was one of the best dives of my life. I remember the client, a Spanish guy and his first time diving in tropical waters.
Koh Bida Nai is a small rocky islet, where the first of three dives began. I will not go into many details, but I have to tell you that in 20 minutes of diving, we saw more life and action than in 20 dives together in that place. Octopuses, black tip sharks hunting in squad formation, a huge group of Jack fish hunting a huge green moray, the biggest marble ray I remember, Goliath groupers and as the main attraction, 2 leopard sharks in the middle of a loving meeting.
This is how the new year should start and not with a hangover of death!
After only 35 minutes of diving, we came to the surface and my client took the regulator out of his mouth and started screaming!! Imagine the thrill of being on your first dive in tropical waters, accustomed to cold waters and with little life. I looked at him and I thought … He’s ruined… He probably thinks all dives in the tropics are like that.
I remember his words: this is normal for you, but for me it was incredible! I wish I could talk to him again and tell him that 9 years later I still remember that January 1 dive as one of the best.
A new years tradition to stay
The years have gone by and as a custom I go diving every January 1st. Sometimes out of necessity since we often have customers that day, and many others of my own volition. This is how I decided to celebrate entering into the new year, doing what I like most, swimming in the sea so that it takes away the things I do not want to drag from one year to the next.
Azul Unlimited
We teach responsible scuba divers and ocean protectors. The brand is run by PADI IDC Staff Instructor Sarah Valdez who teaches scuba diving in person and on YouTube. Now she travels around the states and Mexico in her van scuba diving in new and different places. Follow her adventures on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok or join the Azul scuba community on Patreon.
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