I have now given a few dive briefings as an assistant divemaster. It goes something like this:
“Good morning everyone. My name is Galen and I will be your divemaster today where we will be taking you to Stringer. This is an Open Waters dive with a maximum depth of 18 meters, but we will mostly dive at an average depth of 12 meters. It’s a beautiful reef with lots of cracks and crevices, as well as sand patches and bommies in the center. We will be making a controlled decent on the northern point here, and then work our way along the reef going south.”
And then something a little like this:
“Along the journey look out for Bluespotted Ribbontail Rays on the sand patches, moray eels resting within the crevices, as well as micro-life such as Nudibranchs and cleaner shrimp. If we’re lucky, we may come across Whitetip Reef Sharks. Do not panic if we do sight some, they are non-aggressive and shy by nature, so just slow down and enjoy the special sighting as they cruise by.”
Fortunately we had been seeing lots of sharks.
Dive briefings are followed by safety and emergency procedures, such as what hand signals to use to indicate that you are low on air, if you have lost your buddy, or if anything is wrong. Apart from that, I like to throw in a fun fact or two. For example, “Peacock Mantis Shrimp are sometimes seen in this area. Fun fact is that they stun their prey with an air bubble punch with such force, that it can break the sound barrier.” Dive briefings are great fun and fuels guests with excitement.
The stories shared after a day of diving are also always a treat. One group swam with dolphins. Another group dropped right above a Ragged Tooth Shark when back-rolling off the boat! One lucky sausage saw a moray eel hunt and eat on octopus. (It’s nature). On one of my dives, we got attacked by Triggerfish! These grumpy bastards are fearless. One bit the instructor on the head. I managed to shoo my long-toothed pursuer away with my fins.
One of my highlights was watching a HUGE moray eel and Potato Bass swimming together like they were good buddies. They made a beeline towards a ledge where a fellow diver was busy poking his head around. I tried to warn him audibly as much as one can when underwater, but he remained unaware and released a torrent of air bubbles when these intimidating-looking creatures appeared in front of his face! I exhaled half my air from laughter.
Then you get your difficult type. I was often getting tasked with towing the buoy line and hanging back to make sure that everyone was sticking together and going in the right direction. This elderly overweight gentleman at the back (who had the shakes on the boat) totally ignored my signals. I had to babysit him while he filmed something mildly interesting. At the surface, he couldn’t get back on the boat, snapped his mask strap to reveal a bloodshot eye, and wheezed and heaved once we hauled him on deck. I saw him pounding beers at 10am once back at base…
A more special moment was diving with a differently-abled diver in a wheelchair. She didn’t dive with the wheelchair, but was very capable using just her arms with very little assistance. One divemaster shared how she once dived with someone who was deaf and dumb. I believe that one can even dive if blind. That must be quite an experience!
Just goes to show that scuba diving really is for everyone.
Previously: Divemaster Fully Geared-Up and Ready to Rumble!
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