I remember growing up as a kid watching Jacques Cousteau and holidaying down at Indented Heads. Snorkelling in the shallow with a Clarke rubber mask and snorkel and getting badly sunburnt on my back. Wishing I could be a fish and marvelling at the deep blue water below the rock I used to jump off. 2 metres was deep when you're a kid!
It wasn't till my 40's that I actually took my first breathes under water doing a try dive in Fiji and then getting my Open water and Advanced the following year.
I did a few holidays and slowly got more dives under my belt but was crap underwater as I didn't know any better.
I was lucky enough to dive with Tech divers in the Philippines and this was a pivotal moment. That's what I want to be! Through years of training and hundreds of dives I honed my skill and then leant towards helping others in their journey. I qualified as a PADI Divemaster and PADI AI. This was an extremely rewarding experience.
I dived with Ting Ting socially for quite a few years and we have a fantastic relationship, through highs and lows we would always make time for a chat, a dive and to eat food.
I watched in awe when she did her PADI Course Directors Course and did not hesitate to jump on board to be in the first batch of students trained by her in the ADI Instructor Development Course.
The eLeaning took me back to Divemaster. There was so much that I had forgotten. You had to demonstrate like an instructor, think like an instructor and talk like an instructor. With the help of Ting Ting and Ian the three of us got it done. It was challenging, tiring but extremely rewarding, in the end, everything just jelled together.
Words cannot explain the happiness when the PADI Instructor Examiner said congratulations you are a Padi Open water Instructor three times. We were cold, tired and elated in one hit.
The three of us have a bond that will last a lifetime as we journeyed the IDC together, through the highs and lows we come out the other side better divers and better people than we went in. I know that they have my back and me theirs.
Ting's and Ian's support through this course was remarkable. I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone who is thinking of becoming a PADI Open Water Instructor.
We are all looking forward to mentoring future divers in their journey of underwater discovery. Our journey to do so has just begun.
- Colin
