“It was like diving into
a whole new world!”
With over 10 years of admirable experience in diving, Adrien has seen and experienced a lot of exciting things in the diving community. He fell in love with scuba diving in France and has since been diving in many countries such as Spain and also Madagascar! From language barriers to learning leadership skills that apply even outside of the scuba world- Adrien talks to us about his passion for diving and the challenges he had to face during his journey to finally becoming a PADI Divemaster.
When did you first start scuba diving? Why?
“I started scuba diving in France 10 years ago. Actually, I was doing a master’s degree in Toulouse, France, and the school, as part of the sports education program, was offering scuba diving courses.
Theory, pool sessions and eventually if you were interested, you could just go for open sea diving to get fully certified.
As I was just keen to discover a new experience, I took that class and fell in love with diving. Since then I never stopped.”
Where have you dived and which one’s your favorite?
“Couple of many places. I’ve obviously mainly dived in Spain and France in the Mediterranean Sea where I did all my previous diving certifications. Other than that I had the chance to dive in Madagascar, close to the humpback whales.
Then I moved for work in the USA where I discovered the gulf of Mexico. Diving in Florida mainly. After that, southeast Asia with dives in Indonesia and obviously a lot all around Malaysia.
But if I have to choose my favorite amongst them all, it was in Seal Rocks, New South Wales – Australia. Big Rock (name of the dive site), during peak shark season, is home to hundreds of sand tiger sharks (Grey nurse sharks) which can size up to 3m. A fantastic experience I would never forget!”
What made you decide to start the PADI Divemaster course?
“I was coming from another dive certification agency called CMAS which doesn’t have any instructors in the region. As I was very eager to learn more about dive planning, develop my self-awareness of risks, environment & safety, and push further my contribution to protecting the ocean, the logical choice to progress was to enroll in the PADI Divemaster divemaster program.
And I’m glad I did! PADI is a very professional organization that has done a tremendous amount of work to make diving accessible for all, in the best conditions and contributing to ocean preservation. I learned a lot!”
Why did you choose PADI and Big Ocean Dive?
“PADI and their courses are recognized worldwide as the leading scuba training agency PADI Standards are part of the bests and it is recognized wildly around the world. This success did not happen for no reason.
Regarding Big Ocean Dive BOD, I’ve actually learned about them from a freshly certified Divemaster that I met on a boat to Tenggol #Yorck. He told me about his experience, the professionalism of BOD, and the convenience to have a club in KL instead of an island-based business club. For me, who has a full-time job in parallel, it was a real plus! He put me in touch with Tim and BAM BIM, it was a match!”
Could you describe your personal challenges of the course, the journey, and the rewards
“Well, the journey took me around 5/6months. Here are a few of the assessments done: a physical exam, theory exam, dive site mapping, preparing an emergency plan, dive site set up, dive briefings, student assistance, and more.
Getting familiar with the PADI mindset and standard was like diving into a whole new world! On top of that, you add the English vocabulary specific to the diving world -for a non-native English speaker like me- and use that to teach, brief and lead a group of divers and you have yourself quite a challenge there.
But this definitively developed my leadership skills and that doesn’t apply only to scuba diving.
On the other hand, the diving skills were not an issue, so in the end, the underwater part of the training was the most relaxing.”
What’s one thing you would tell someone looking to learn to dive?
“Don’t wait further and go for it! It’s an amazing world down there. Learn from it and protect it!”
What’s one thing you would tell someone looking to start the PADI Divemaster course?
“I would tell him that this needs commitment & professionalism but the reward in terms of self-development is definitely worth it.”
What’s next?
“I’ve recently received an underwater camera – TG6 – quite good for macro pictures as I’m fascinated by the small creatures living in the corals. So I guess I will study and practice underwater photography for a bit”
If Adrien’s interview has inspired you to become a PADI Divemaster, why not send us a message? We will get you started with your personalized journey immediately 😊 Click here to send Menzi a message and we’ll get you started!
(psst!~ You’ll have to be an Advanced Open Water (AOW) diver + Rescue with 40 dives minimum) 🐙
