When we first met Tom, he was a boat crew member of our dive dhoni at Kihaa Maldives. He was picking up tanks and equipment from the dive center, loading it onto the dive boat. Tom was helping guests set up and after the dive take apart and pack their equipment. He was looking over the ocean waiting for divers to surface. He was helping the divers come up the ladder back onto the boat. During the boat ride he was teaching us the fish names in his local language. And he was listing to our stories of what we saw under water.

After a while he came to us and asked if he could join the dive team. He wanted to learn more about the underwater world and diving and if we would have any kind of job for him. As it happened, we did have a job for him. He joined the Ocean Dimensions crew as a compressor tender and receptionist.

As his job was dealing with divers, he wanted to learn diving as well. This would only help him answer any kind of questions divers would have. Tom started his PADI Open Water Diver course in December 2019. With a break during the COVID period, over the next couple of months he just practiced his diving skills and joined us on dives on his days off. It took a while until he started his Advanced course in 2021. Now Tom has 102 logged dives and became a PADI Divemaster in May 2024. Of course he still has a special relationship to the dive boat crew.

Congratulations to Tom for becoming a PADI professional.
While diving Tom has been taking a lot of GoPro videos. Now he is our number one private videographer for Discover Scuba Divers at Brennia Kottefaru in Raa Atoll, who want to take home a memory of their underwater experience.

Next step – Tom becomes a PADI Scuba Diving Instructor.

From Boat Crew to Divemaster