Week 8

And just like that… my last week at Indo Ocean Project arrived. 

Day 62: The Hell Dive

I’d been counting down to one particular dive since the beginning: the infamous Hell Dive.

The Hell Dive is basically a controlled underwater chaos fest. Instead of a normal dive, your buddies “mess with you” so you’re forced to solve problems like a proper Divemaster. I was both excited and a little terrified, because you never know how far people will take it.

Within minutes, I was already sprinting around underwater trying to keep up. I burned through all my air in just 35 minutes, which says a lot about how crazy it was. My fins were stolen and passed around like trophies. My tank strap was unclipped, so I had to take off my BCD mid-water to fix it… but of course that’s when they stole my mask and tied it in a knot with my SMB. Picture me, basically blind, fumbling around while trying to untangle everything.

But the grand finale was during the safety stop. Everyone deployed their SMBs at once and then, just to really test me, handed me all their reels. Suddenly I was shooting to the surface with four SMBs wrapped around me like spaghetti. The lines got so tangled that we spent 15 minutes on the surface just trying to undo the mess. It was exhausting, stressful, and absolutely hilarious. Honestly, one of the most fun dives I’ve ever had.

Days 63–64: Strong Currents & Shark Encounters

After surviving Hell Dive, I had two leads lined up. Both were absolute current monsters. The first was supposed to be a BRUV dive (Baited Remote Underwater Video), but the current was so strong we had to call it off. The second dive wasn’t much better, we surfaced after only 30 minutes. At least the ocean gave us some love in return: a close encounter with a grey reef shark and a whitetip reef shark. Short but sweet.

The following day was a shore dive and also my last dive with Shamira, one of my best buddies here. We decided to make it as fun as possible: underwater somersaults, silly tricks, and taking way too many photos. It wasn’t about training or ticking boxes anymore, just pure joy, laughter, and soaking up the moment. The perfect way to say goodbye.

Day 65: Freediving & Farewells

This day was a dry one for me. We had a freediving workshop, but since I’ve had issues with rupturing eardrums before, I decided to skip the in-water session. Instead, I joined the theory and breath-hold challenge, made it to 2 minutes 10 seconds, which I was pretty happy with.

In the afternoon, more goodbyes. Another one of my closest friends left, and it hit me just how much had changed since the beginning. I struggled so much with the social side at first, and suddenly I was surrounded by people I didn’t want to leave.

Day 66–67: D-Day: The Stress & Skill Tests

These two days were the big ones. To officially become a Divemaster, you have to pass both your Skill Circuit and the dreaded Stress Test.

I was a bundle of nerves, especially knowing my coordinator was in full “serious face” mode. Surface skills that I normally nailed suddenly felt shaky, and even my underwater demonstrations started off rough. But once I settled in, things started to flow.

Then came the stress test: buddy gear exchange while people mess with you. Think: masks ripped off, fins pulled, constant shoving. Pure underwater chaos. And yet… we survived. When our coordinator clapped at the end, we all knew what that meant: we passed. Officially Divemasters. 

We celebrated with the infamous snorkel test (I’ll spare the details… partly because I don’t remember much after midnight). Let’s just say the next morning wasn’t pretty.

Day 68: The End, But Not Really

And just like that, it was over. Watching the boat head out with my friends on board while I stayed behind felt like a movie scene.

Week 8 wrapped up my divemaster journey in Raja Ampat, and it couldn’t have been more fitting. From total underwater chaos to peaceful shark sightings and a playful farewell dive, it reminded me why I fell in love with diving in the first place.

Raja Ampat, you’ve been unforgettable.  And this isn’t goodbye for Indonesia, I’ll be back in Nusa Penida soon for my Instructor Training Course.