Luke Evans completes his Divemaster journey at Buddy Dive Resort, and prepares for an intensive six-week internship
Day Nine
So for day nine, it was time to get back on the boat again, so with my morning routine in check and after some boat loading and briefing, we were off to our first dive site, which was 1000 Steps, an amazing site with lots of life and bright blue water – one of the more-famous sites and places of Bonaire.
After a successful guiding trip with a great group, it was time for the second dive, but this was slightly different as I was put on surface cover, which meant checking peoples’ kit and tanks just before they entered the water, as well as taking the time of entry and watching bubbles throughout the dive. At the end of the dive I helped guests back aboard and take any fins or cameras if needed, so a nice change to just guiding, and still learning some new things.
After the boat dives it was time for lunch and a chat with Lars and the new DM Mackenzie about our next task of underwater mapping, which was a very interesting part of the course as we had to come up with a plan for our dive and how we would map the reef, as well as a plan to draw up the final map with all of the depths, compass bearings and points of interest. So we split the tasks into counting finkicks and navigating but first we had to measure a single finkick to estimate our overall distance and create a key, which equalled to one finkick = 2.1 metres but after taking all of our notes and compass points, we still had some air, so decided to go for a little tour, seeing a little hawksbill turtle on our way before surfacing and starting our final map drawing.
This was the final part as we had written down most of the data onto our slates. The last thing to do was put it all together onto a piece of paper with some drawings and lines to show our topography of the reef. In the end it did look very well presented and all of our data seemed to match up.
So with a good ending to day nine, it was time for a drink and some food at Blennies – it was burger night!
Day Ten
Tuesday began slighty different to all of the others as after my morning routine of breakfast, I and another instructor Teun had to swim out to the Little Buddy as it was out on its mooring from the previous day, so this meant a nice refreshing Caribbean swim at 7.45am, but then we had to check the engine of the boat – just the usual things like fuel, coolant and oil levels – as well as test the prop and rudder before bringing it towards the dock ready for guests and to be loaded with tanks, but that was the next job, as I was again on the Little Buddy for some more guiding, and also some more surface interval work.
After coming back from the boat it was time for some more land-based skills but this time I would be the student for the new DM Mackenzie, as she would be participating in her reactivate course workshop, where Lars and I would be her students. The workshop went well and we were able to pull some real-life situations on Mackenzie, such as descending past our maximuin depth and not being very bouyant at times, or sometimes too bouyant and shooting towards the surface – all handled very well by Mackenzie.
And that was the end to day ten, followed by the same routine of drinks and a meal. Steak tonight…
Final day
For my last day in my DM course, I would be again on the Big Buddy in the morning with a large group of 14, as well as instructor Mark. For this trip I would put everything into action as I would be getting the boat ready as well as briefing the guests on the dock how to get onto the boat and the safety features and gear on board. As well as this I would be briefing the dive site and guiding the dive.
The site we dived was Forest, on the south side of Klein Bonaire. The two reef sharks that had been seen there multiple times did not show up, but we did see some large turtles and a frogfish, so still a great dive. As for the second dive I was on surface cover and helping the group in and out of the water. This was it for the first part of the day as we headed back to Buddy Dive.
Then a quick break for lunch at Blennies and then it was time for my final sign off and the most-important part, which is taking the famous Buddy Dive picture on the dock holding up a sign with whatever certification you got.
So this would be my last day staying on the Buddy Dive Resort, as I had to pack all my bags and food I had bought and move into the staff accommodation ready for the six-week internship that was to come next…
Summary
The Divemaster course is a great way to step into being a professional in diving, and it’s a great course to get a feel for the working environment and meeting new people – I have met so many new faces, that includes guests as well as colleagues, but overall it’s a fantastic course with lots of elements of experience and skill that will improve your future as a dive professional.
