PADI Women’s Dive Day - Changing the Lives of Two Indonesian Female Divers

What is PADI Women’s Dive Day all about?

The very first PADI Women’s Dive Day was celebrated on July 18th of 2015. Inspired by 3 fabulous female divers: matriarch of the underwater World and the founder of ‘Mission Blue’, Sylvia Earle, PADI AmbassaDiver Christina Zenato and the first Saudi Arabian Female Dive Instructor, Nouf Alosaimi.  PADI Women’s Dive Day was not only created to encourage more women to start diving, but It was also to promote, celebrate and strengthen the community of female divers in this industry.

As you might be aware, the diving industry is kind of male dominant. Did you know that approximately 65% of all certified divers are men? That’s right. Sixty-five-percent. Crazy, eh?

So, what happens on a PADI Women’s Dive Day?

Every PADI dive centre in different parts of the world celebrates a little differently - some take all the ladies out for a dive, some go for cocktails while others spread it out to be a week-long celebration (wahoo!). This year it was celebrated in over 100 countries with over 1,000 events! That’s a lot of celebration. But let’s think about this for a moment. We’ve established that this industry is dominated by men. SO dominated! So is one day, or even a week really enough to promote the fact that WE NEED MORE WOMEN IN DIVING?! Oh hell no.

Enter Blue Corner Dive

Did you know that the female-male ratio in Blue Corner Dive is about 50-50? Yes, that’s within our staff, students and fun divers! We love our ladies and they’re some of our best guides and instructors. So, instead of settling for taking our ladies out for a dive or for a nice little afternoon tea, we decided to go BIG for PADI Women’s Dive Day. In cooperation with PADI, we decided to offer 2 full Divemaster internships for two local Indonesian women. That’s right. With all expenses covered by us and PADI, we were ready to change the lives of 2 awesome Indonesian ladies.

The first time we did this was in 2017. For that years PADI Women’s Dive Day we found 2 amazing girls who we taught all the way from Open Water Divers to Divemasters. And guess what? Those girls are still with us! If you’ve been diving at Blue Corner Dive in Lembongan, you’ve most likely met Kamalia and Fathima. They’re the best, aren’t they?!

PADI Women’s Dive Day 2017 winners Kamalia (left) and Fathima (right)

The application process For PADI Women’s Day Internship

In order to grasp the attention of as many lovely Indonesian women as possible, we used the power of social media. Ads were spread out across Facebook and Instagram and it didn’t take long until we had hundreds of ocean loving ladies reaching out to us!

However, we weren’t after a traditional written application. We asked the girls to submit a 1-3 minute video where they would talk about their passion for the sea. After reviewing all the videos, we then picked out 4 girls for a Skype interview and FINALLY chose 2 lucky winners! It was tough. We had a lot of incredible applicants.

The Blue Corner Dive Chosen Ones

Meet Tabitha and Azel. Two girls who just BLEW US AWAY with their commitment, motivation and love for the ocean. Both being Open Water Divers already, they were eager to take the next step and go pro with us! On July 21st,PADI Women’s Dive Day 2018, Tabitha and Azel started their journey towards being PADI Divemasters. How exciting!

the winners of 2018 PADI Women’s Dive Day Divemaster Internship Azel and Tabitha

the winners of 2018 PADI Women’s Dive Day Divemaster Internship with Rosie Dixon and Stephane Khan

Before they could start the PADI Divemaster course, the girls completed their PADI Advanced Open Water Course followed by the PADI Rescue Diver - and EFR course. They performed exceptionally well. And my god were we impressed by their amazing work ethic! They fit in our team like a glove, and there is never a dull moment with them.

Meet our newest PADI PRO Women

Azel is 21 years old and from Semarang, Central Java

Azel started diving in April 2018, when she became an Open Water Diver in Tulamben, Bali She is also a Marine Science student, so was already highly motivated to explore more of the underwater world. Azel’s studies are very theoretical, so when we asked what she loves most about diving, she replied: “I love how I can see what the book tells me”.

PADI Women’s Dive Day 2018 winner Azel

Azel has never been away from home for this long, but learning about life in Nusa Lembongan and how the community works together , is one of the highlights of her internship. and is excited to keep on diving after she becomes a Divemaster! Once Azel finishes her studies, she plans to  become a Scientific Diver and is already thinking about completing the Reef Check Specialty in October.

Azel diving

PADI Women’s Dive Day 2018 winner Tabitha

Tabitha is 19 years old and from Bekasi, West Java.

Tabitha found out about this internship through our last years' winner, Fathima, who also happens to be a senior at her diving organization in Semarang. Tabitha had not actually thought about becoming a divemaster, but just couldn’t not resist this opportunity!

As an Open Water Diver, Tabitha had already developed a passion for underwater photography and videography.

She loves the Macro life and was blown away by the diversity of Nusa Lembongan’s marine life.

What she really loved about this internship was how it helped her become a better and more responsible diver. Tabitha dreams about one day opening her own dive shop. And we have no doubts at all that she will do it. But first, back to Java to finish her studies.

Tabitha diving with her mentor Rosie Dixon

Becoming a Divemaster is not easy. It takes a lot of dedication and determination. Long days of studying. Spending hours in the pool. Practising skills. Assisting courses. Diving. Every.single.day. And you know what? These young ladies did it all.  And in a language, which is not their own! Ever tried to read a PADI Divemaster Manual in another language? Not easy! We work as a team in Blue Corner Dive, so the girls received support from all our Divemasters and Instructors!

It was a pleasure watching these girls grow and develop, both in and out of the water. Their amazing personalities and were a fantastic addition to our team. Despite their young age we were all impressed by their ability to take it all in as quickly as they did.  They are now PADI Divemasters and we couldn’t be more proud! One more time: CONGRATULATIONS!

Until next year…. Keep on diving everyone! And for all the ladies out there thinking about starting scuba diving or going pro: Just do it! The industry is changing, but it won’t change on its own.

The female PADI Dive Staff of Blue Corner dive Nusa Lembongan