I have never slept more peacefully anywhere than at Araya Dive Resort. I’m not sure if it was from exhaustion from having a ridiculous amount of fun, or if it was the tropical serenity that surrounds the dive center. Never the less, every morning of my divemaster training I would be jumping out of bed before my alarm – eager anticipation for the best diving in the world tends to have that affect.
I always tried to get to the dive center before Is, the resident DM, but he’s unbeatable. He would usually have all the gear and tanks placed out before I even brushed my teeth. I couldn’t be more grateful to have had him as my outline of how to be an awesome divemaster.
Once we had all the gear set and checked, we were ready to go. The small group of divers were shuffled onto the boat and we sped off over the turquoise marble sea. If this isn’t paradise, I don’t know what is. We pass palm lined shorelines and Bajo stilt villages until the reef comes into view. We plunge into magnificence. The fish life is thriving, the coral landscapes roll into the 30+ meter vis like a metropolitan panorama. Then, you reach the wall. Yes, it’s always a wall. If you don’t like wall diving you’re out of luck. But also, if you don’t like wall diving, you’ve been diving the wrong walls.
It was days that began like this that would make the hard work worth it. Except I suppose that the hard work, in retrospect, was the most rewarding work. With Pia and Elly’s expertise and instruction, even seemingly difficult challenges became conquerable. It was such a valuable experience to do my DM in the most incredible place in the world, one on one with the best instructors.