Having completed an intensive Divemaster course, Luke Evans embarks on his six-week internship at Buddy Dive Resort
On my first day as a Divemaster intern and my last day as a newly minted Divemaster, we had a little celebration on the Buddy Dive dock with the other Divemasters who had completed their course, Jacob and Mackenzie. We had some drinks together and chatted about the course with our other colleagues.
Then it was time for some traditions of the Buddy Dive community, which was to first take a picture of the three of us stood on the stairs to the dock while all of the instructors took a knee and bowed down to us, which was a fun picture to have, as in relation to all other pros, DMs are bottom of the totem pole. More importantly, the next tradition was the ‘snorkel test’, which is when you have to enjoy an ice-cold adult beverage through a snorkel – definitely a fun way to celebrate!
Now onto the official first day of the internship, which was my first time on the dock, as I had a weekly schedule like everyone else. So it was dock in the morning, then helping with the one-tank boat in the afternoon. For my first day, it was organised chaos on the dock, as we had lots of large groups come into the resort the night before, so five boats were going out in the morning, which meant docking them as well as loading some with tanks, as well as people and their gear, and sending them off with the specific safety equipment onboard.
After all of the boats had left, I was then able to get to dock duties, which would be cleaning rinse tanks and wire brushing the two stairs that lead into the water. The next thing would be the water taxi that usually docks every few hours, so after docking and unloading passengers, it was then time for lunch – a lovely pesto pasta staff meal.
After devouring the food, it was then around 2pm, meaning it was time to get the one-tank boats ready for the afternoon, so after some loading and briefing, I set off on the Every Buddy for a one-tank dive at Forest, a well-known dive site recently as it is a popular nursery for juvenile reef sharks, meaning there was the chance to see them. The group was a very fun and energetic group with a lot of newly qualified divers, but not a problem as they were all very comfortable in the water, meaning an easy ride for me and my colleague Viaco, who was the other Divemaster on the boat.
Getting in and dropping to about 15m, we headed along the reef only to find two seahorses and two frogfish. After pointing these out to the guests, there wasn’t long before we saw two reef sharks about 1.5 metres cruising down the reef towards us, and then at the end of the dive, three more smaller ones as a last goodbye, so all in all, a great first day.
The next few days in the week consisted of more dock work as well as some more boats and guiding, which is great hand’s-on experience. Later on in the week, I was lucky enough to be able to help out on one of the mangrove snorkel tours that happen every Thursday during the fish behaviour and identification month hosted by Eric Riesch, which is a great day out and was a very interesting way to explore Bonaire’s mangroves.
We loaded up into some of Buddy Dive’s trucks and drove to Lac Bay, where we got into the water and snorkelled into the mangroves, seeing all types of juvenile fish such as sergeant majors and tiny barracuda as well as some arrowhead crabs and lobster and, most famously, the upside down jellyfish.
The evenings are slightly different now as I have moved into one of the staff apartment blocks, which is a more self-sufficient way to stay. I did a large food shop which should last me till next week, and I have a new room mate as well as a scooter that I use to get around and back and fourth to work. So a new different way to enjoy the island on my days off, which are Friday and Saturday.
With my first two days off, I decided to drive around a little looking for local places to eat and where best to buy my weekly shop, as well as a little sightseeing, such as the great coastal road towards 1,000 Steps. On the Saturday I decided to go for some fun dives, as I can book onto the boats if there is space, and additionally bring my camera.
After two great dives in the morning, i decided to eat out at the Stoked food truck, where I got some great food and watched the sunset on the beach next to it, ending a great first week.
