Rui Juan's Open Water Diving Experience!

Last weekend, one of our Kaia Initiative Open Water Diving contest winners Rui Juan took her PADI Open Water course and became a certified scuba diver!

Let's hear from Rui Juan about her experience as a 17-year-old student who had the opportunity to take the Open Water course at S.E.A. Aquarium sponsored by Kaia Initiative, and how diving felt for the very first time!

Hi I’m Rui Juan and I am one of the winners of Kaia Initiative’s Open Water Diving contest.

Just like everyone else, I was really shocked when I found out I was one of the winners because there were so many amazing entries and honestly, I didn’t think I stood a chance.

However, somehow, I won the OW course and I knew that this was an opportunity I could not waste.

My love for animals goes a long way and the fact that I can now swim with them to a certain depth in the ocean has changed my life forever thanks to Kaia Initiative, my instructors, Chip and Ferdy, the divemaster Aaron, and of course the people that went through the course with me.

Before all this I would have never seen myself diving because I had never actually thought of it. All I knew then was that it was a really expensive activity and my mom would never let me go, because I wasn’t a good swimmer as well as the cost.

However, after winning, she took it as a sign and agreed!!! I spent hours doing the eLearning course making sure that I got everything right so that on the day itself I would be able to execute everything perfectly in order to get my cert.

Unfortunately, I was unable to make it to the first session with the other winners and I had thought that it was over, but Isabelle and the people at RWS were able to find a suitable day for me to take my course from the 30th of August to the 1st of September and this was when my journey began.

On the first day, I was really nervous because I really wasn’t good at swimming. I spent hours the day before doing last minute swimming practices like teaching myself how to thread water and trying to cramp my notes so that I wouldn’t fall behind. But when the day came, I noticed I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t good at swimming or didn’t remember everything and it made me really comfortable knowing that I wasn’t alone. The divemaster, Aaron, even assured me that he would teach me along the way as long as I knew how to swim. Everyone was so nice even with our huge age difference, as I was the youngest student there with at least a 7-year age gap from everyone else. When I first stepped into the water I saw SOOO many animals and let me just say they are sooo much bigger in the water than through the glass of the aquarium. Seeing all of the beautiful creatures really helped calm my nerves — just watching them swim around made me even more excited for the days to come. Not only that, but one of the instructors, Ferdy, was really cute as he gave fist bumps and clapped elegantly underwater to encourage us whenever we executed the training activities.

On the second day, I was already comfortable with everyone there. None of the instructors judged and they would always tell us “no question was a dumb one”. They also shared a lot of fun facts about the animals and told us that there were at least 20 different species of animals in the tank that we were training in!!!! That really amazed me because I don’t think I’ll even get to swim with soooo many animals at once and still see them so clearly in the ocean. One of the animals I saw was a ray-shark! WHICH WAS LIKE TWO OF MY FAVOURITE ANIMALS MERGED INTO ONE!!

On the third and final day, I went 12 metres deep doing my first and second dive. My buddy, Cassandra, was really good and would give me some advice or help me along the way when I was too shy to speak up. During  one of the dives I saw this GIANT grouper which my buddy pointed out was lying on its back!! Which was honestly really cute. After that we had our group lunch after training and these meals were always really wholesome even if it was only for 3 days. During the last dive of the day I felt so much more comfortable with diving as I was making small improvements and could finally enjoy the sensation of breathing underwater without worry due to the training I received. Not only that but when every dive ended, I noticed that on land the equipment you carry may be heavy but underwater everything felt weightless. And the day came to an end, I would reflect on myself and wish that I could turn back time to relive these moments.

On the last day, I was really scared because the last two dives would determine whether I would become a certified PADI Open Water diver. Not only that, but I was really sad that I might never meet my new friends ever again. I had a lot on my mind that day especially after the 1st dive because I wasn’t able to execute the new skills and had difficulty hovering, a skill that was taught to us on the first day. However, once again I was reassured by my instructors as we went one round talking about things we hope to improve for our last and final dive. To find out that I wasn’t the only one with the same issue really reassured me.

We had our final mini practices and everyone was really patient. They really were the best bunch!! 

When the last dive came around, I noticed that it wasn’t as stressful as I imagined and we ended up taking a bunch of group photos underwater and out of water. I also had the chance to see the animals up close only when I swam above and around me or when someone pointed them out. One of the animals was a hammerhead shark, another one of my favourites! Now that was cool. Though I didn’t get to spend a lot of time looking at all the different animals I did enjoy every ounce of my experience from the first day of training with the most chaotic bunch to our silent conversations 12 metres deep. 

At the end I took what they called a “gen Z 0.5” photo, had dinner with my buddy and a long chat with my new friends.

And I guess what I am trying to say is, this opportunity was really an unforgettable one and will forever stay in my heart.

Diving has really brought all of us together even with the huge age gaps and has showed me a new perspective of the underwater world. I really can’t wait for my next dive, as I swim in the open waters of the ocean, enjoying the infinite freedom and silence. Each moment in the water felt like flying, showing me a powerful reminder that nothing is impossible and I can’t wait to dive again!!

Hence, though the animals were REALLY COOL, the people that I met who helped me along the way were WAYYYY cooler and the new experience of being underwater was the coolest!!

I hope to give the biggest thanks to everyone who took the course with me, Aaron, Chip, Ferdy, Cassandra, Audrey, Mavis, Yu Yang and Sebastian for being there till the very end.

-Rui Juan, 17