Junior Open Water Course-Bali-Tulamben

I'm 10 now, and I'm really excited to get my Junior OW Course. I have been waiting for around 2 years now, since my first bubble maker in the sea (Dec 2007).

I was really nervous on the first day of my pool session. I thought that I would fail, but I've done so many dives for my age (even though it was only around 2m), I can't let my parents get disappointed. So now I'm ready take the challenge....

It wasn't only me who was taking the OW Course, there was Jen, Dudley and Martina(adults). It was really fun having this course with them.

Day 1

Today, the first thing Idid was going to Ricardo's (my instructor) place (resort), with my mum, walking. When we reached there, Ricardo explained a few stuff about the Junior/ OW course. After that, we watched a video. An OW course video. It was aro

und 35-45 mins.

When the video finished, Ricardo said that he and the others will meet me and my mum at our resort. Because we're going to do our first pool session (not my mum, she's already an OW diver).

Ricardo doesn't have a pool at his resort. At my resort, the pool is too small. So we had to walk to this other resort nearby.

Pool Session

This is going to be the first session, and I'm exited and nervous!!!!

In this session, we just did the basic stuff like; putting our BCD (buoyancy control device), tank and regulator together, getting used to breathing underwater, mask clearing and stuff like that.

While we were doing the course, my mum was diving below us doing her own thing.

When we finished, Ricardo said, later that day, we're going to have a fun dive at the USAT Liberty Shipwreck!!!! YAY!

USAT Liberty Shipwreck

This is my first time diving near a shipwreck, I hope it's going to

be fun(it was fun!)!!! We saw the ruins of the ship, which was TOTALLY AwEsOmE(!!!), corals- soft and hard and tons of fishes!!!! Unfortunately, there wasn't any 'fascinating' ones. Although, there were big Sweetlips.

My family says that in the night, the Sweetlips and Parrot fishes are a lot BIGGER! (I wish I can go night diving!).

If you want to know which kind of fishes I saw, just go to my other stories. But not all of the fishes, in my other stories, are exactly what I saw.

Day 2

It was a fun day yesterday, but I hope today is better!!!

Like yesterday

, me and my mum went to Ricardo's place, first thing in the morning. We watched the OW course video (like yesterday) and the

n me and my mum went back to our resort, to get ready for my 2nd pool session.

Pool Session

Today we did buoyancy. It wasn't that easy. One of the drill that we did was, laying down on your tummy and estimating how much air you need in your BCD. If you got it right, when you inhale, you'll go up and if you exhale, you'll go down. There were other drills that we did, but it's hard for me to explain.

Coral Garden

That afternoon, we had another fun dive. This time, it's in Coral Garden!

Down in this dive site, we saw this little aeroplane made out wires. Basically It's just the shape of an aeroplane. This 'aeroplane' is made and put there so more corals can grow, which means more fishes! It was really cool! There, we also saw an eel.We didn't stay at the area because or else we'll get bored, so we went around Coral Garden.

Like the other fun dive, we didn't see any 'fascinating' stuff, apart from the eel, but it was still a fun dive comparing to the pool session.

On the 3rd and 4th day, I didn't feel so well, so I stayed in the room. Although, on the morning of the 3rd day, I did go to Ricardo's place and watch the OW course video.

I missed 2 days, which means I missed 2 pool sessions :(

Day 4-Drop Off

That day, I felt a lot better. But I didn't watch the OW Course video and I missed the pool session :( My mum said to rest in the morning, just to make sure I'll be fit to do the afternoon/fun dive.
I did my afternoon/fun dive at the Drop Off, which means we're using a boat to go to that dive site. It was really fun. Although the boat was really small.
We saw lots of things in this area. It was awesome. When we were diving there was a current. It was fairly strong. But I did, see quite a few intresting stuff. In the beginning, the others did the drill (underwater), from this morning, while I was swimming around them. After that, the exploring begins! Right in the beginning of us exploring, a current came. While drift diving, I saw Nudi Eggs*, a baby Lion Fish and others!!! Just before we went up, we saw this HUGE fish*. I can't remember what it was, but what I can tell you is that, it was TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

Day 5

Ok! Today, my dad wants me to finish my course. And luckily, I only have 1 more Pool Session!!! But the others has already finished their course, so I'm doing this last session by myself (including Ricardo).

Pool Session

For this pool session, I did it at where I'm staying- at Joe's (the resort).

The hardest drill that I did was hovering. You have to sit at the bottom of the pool, cross-legged. Fill your BCD with air/water, until about enough. If you got it right, when you inhale you'll go up. It was hard for me, because I kept on losing my balance. I did other drills, but it's hard for me to explain it.

USAT Liberty Ship Wreck

No more pool session, YAY!!! But in this dive I did some drills first. Also, I learned how to use

and underwater compass.

In the beginning, as I wrote above, I did some drills first.Basically, I did everything I learned this morning. That includes taking off my mask and putting them on again!!! I was so scared when I did this, even at the pool session. In the sea, I had to go up, with my mask off, because I was scared, and I felt really, really nervous. But in the end, I did it!

When I was using the compass(going straight and back), in the middle of the 'course', I accidentally tou

ched the sand, and I saw something moved!!! Guess what it was; Yep, it was a Flounder, and I went crazy when I saw it, because it was my first time seeing a Flounder! However I didn't swim after the fish, and I continued what I was doing.

My mum went along too, she also used the compass, but instead of going straight and back, my mum was going in a square. It sure would have been much harder. After all I'm only taking my open water course at the moment, she's taking her advanced open water.

After this dive, I'm going to have the test! Yikes!!! I was really, really nervous. The test goes like this: there is a booklet(which has all of the 50-ish questions) and there is a sheet for ticking which answer is the one I think is right. To pass, the maximum number of incorrect questions I can get is 14.

And guess what??? I only got 7 incorrect!!!! Which means I PASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY :) I was so happy when I saw the results!!!

So now, I'm a Junior Open Water Diver!!!!

After this, I can choose if I want to dive with my dad and my sister, or with my mum and Ricardo. My mum is having a course, so I'll have to wait for a bit if I join her. And also, she's going to the Drop-off and I've been there before. On the other side, my dad and my sister is going to Seraya Secret, and I haven't been there. So I chose to join my dad and my sister.

Seraya Secret

Seraya Secret is far from the resort, so we used a mini bus to get there, also because quite a number of people from the resort wanted to dive at Seraya Secret too.

When we reached thereI was excited. I'm a JOW Diver and now I can dive up to 12m!

In Seraya Secret, I saw more 'unique' stuff. There was this big semi-circular (3-D & made out of wire, i think) and around it, I saw Nudis*, either Stonefish or Scorpion fish, Lionfish and a few more! Also, I saw these little crabs on a Feather Star, and it was COOL! So far, that was the best dive in this holiday.

Day 6 -Last Day

I can't believe it's all ready the last day:( Never mind, as long as I have a wonderful day, which I did, I don't mind (OK, maybe a bit). Also, that day, it was my first time diving 3 times!!! :)

USAT Liberty Ship Wreck

This dive was with Ricardo and my whole family! Yay, at last, I went diving with my mum, dad & sister.

Somehow, I think diving with my family brings most of the good stuff out!!! Because, we saw a humongous group of Jack Fish and another Flounder!!! Not only that, there was a Barracuda, and I got quite close to it, well the closest I've ever went!! While going around, guess what I saw, a coral shaped like a heart, and surprisingly, it was pink! Now this is the best dive so far! :)

Coral Garden

This dive, my mum, my sister and the guide, are going a little bit deeper, so they can go to the cleaning station :( The cleaning station, is where fishes and other 'normal' sized creatures are cleaned, by either cleaner shrimps, or cleaner fish. Not just that, humans can be cleaned too!!! But that's only on the teeth and/or face by cleaner shrimps! I can't go there because it's around 18-21m. :( But I didn't care much really(but maybe a bit).

While me and my dad was waiting, we went around and saw quite a few Nudis, 1 or 2 Eels*, shrimps and a lot more!

When my mum, my sister and the guide showed up, we swam, while looking around, to the man-made aeroplane. There, we saw 3 Leaf Scorpion Fish*, a few Nudis*, Lionfish and A LOT more!

Cafe Garam

No way! It's the last dive now :( I hope me and my family have a wonderful time at this dive site!

Cafe Garam is a resort. This resort makes salt(garam-in Indonesian), from the sea. It's really interesting how they make it. But unfortunately, I only saw them MAKING it.

I love this site because on the beach, it's sand, and not rocks, unlike sites around Coral Garden. Not just sand makes me love that place, but what's under the water...

Cafe Garam, actually grows their own coral. Well not exactly, but what I mean is that they put stuff(not man-made wire sculpture), like rubbish, in the water, and let corals grow. It was amazing. These 'stuff' they put in, was one of their projects.

Like in Coral Garden, my mum, my sister and the guide, went a little deeper for a while.

Diving with my dad only wasn't bad, in fact it was wonderful. We saw LOTS of Lion fish, those little crabs on Feather Stars, and a lot of Nudis*, but most of them are the same kind! We were looking around and just near a Feather Star, I found a Ghost Pipe fish*! I was so happy when I saw it! I've always wanted to see a Ghost Pipe fish. And when my mum, my sister and the guide showed up, the guide found another Ghost Pipe fish. Just when we went up, we saw a White-Eyed Moray Eel*! Awesome right? And then the dive ends :(

Luckily, this was a really good dive, so I wasn't that upset when we finished.

'Keys' *-something awesome(to me)

De Best Day/s of moi's LIFE!!!

Tennis

This 'particular' day is my fave 'cause I have won 2 big trophies (champion for singles and doubles) and a racket (the racket is from the door prize).

For singles, it was my first time in the finals, and I won it!!! YAY!!! :)

For doubles, my partner was Nicole Tay.

It wasn't my first time to win in the doubles though. Before I have won once and my partner was Jasmine (she's really good). We won because both of us are good.

With Nicole, we won by teamwork. Before the tournament, we already practised our tack-tics. It was really fun being her partner.

I was really, really happy when I won both of the trophies!!! And then surprised when my name was called for the door prize!

But this tournament was only for the Panaga Club members. That means, I need to work a lot harder if I want to win the Schlumberger Open (Panaga).