A day in the life learning to dive on Hoga Island

First a little back story. I came to Hoga Island after spending a week in the rainforest. My body did not react well to the humidity, and I have never been so sweaty before in my life. So just coming to Hoga Island was a treat in itself. Nice weather, not too humid and my clothes actually dried! Also, it was nice to have a mattress to sleep on after spending a week on a field mattress.

My first day at Hoga Island as a diving student started early in the morning. Our alarm went off at 5.30am. It was time to get up and get dressed before going to the restaurant for breakfast. After eating rice for breakfast for a week, it was nice to get freshly baked rolls with jam. Then we had to meet our dive instructors at 6.30 am at the dive center. First, we were taught how to set up our diving equipment. Then we gathered all our gear and walked out on the jetty. Standing on the jetty in our wetsuits in 30 degrees sunny weather was very warm so when it was finally time to get in the water we jumped in happily, ready for our first experience under water. We spent an hour under water working on different skills before ascending to the surface.

Back at the dive center it was time to switch to new air tanks and wash our gear before heading to lunch. We filled up our plates with rice, noodles, vegetables, and tofu, and grabbed a glass of nice ice-cold squash cordial before sitting down to eat with the other students.

After a little social break, we headed back to the dive center for our second dive of the day. We geared up and headed out to a boat that took us out to the dive site. Getting out of the boat and into the water was done by taking a backflip backwards off the rail of the boat. A pretty cool entry into the water if you ask me. Spending another hour under water, we practiced more skills for our dive training.

After our second dive we rinsed off all our gear and returned all the equipment before we headed to the lecture room to watch our PADI dive training videos. An hour later we had a little free time to get a mandi (bucket shower) and change our clothes before dinner. Heading out for dinner we brought our headtorches and got ready for the darkness. For dinner they always serve tuna fish and that was some of the best tuna I have had in my life. Maybe because I had only eaten tofu the previous week? The meal ended with a piece of fruit, the juiciest slice of pineapple I have ever had.

The day was not over yet. After dinner we gathered in the lecture room for a lecture about marine species, specifically corals. We were guided through the different species of corals, how they differ and how to distinguish them. While gobbling down cold soda and biscuits, we tried to remember as much information about corals as we could.

Finally, it was time for bed. After putting on our head torches we walked back to our cabins, ready for bed after a long and exhausting, and very fun, day. Hurrying to make it into bed before the power went off, we changed, squatted, and brushed our teeth. Getting into bed with a book and the head torch on we were ready for the darkness. At 10 o’clock the power shut off and it was time to sleep and get ready for the next day!

All photos by Thea Hjerholm