Getting my SSI Advanced Adventurer!
Date of Dive:
June 28, June 29, and June 30, 2024
Location of Dive:
Vinkeveense Plassen, The Netherlands
Noticeable Sightings
Virile crayfish (Faxonius virilis)
Pikeperch (Sander lucioperca)
Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis)
After a year and a half I wanted to get my next license! Fortunately, I was made aware of a programme ran in The Netherlands called The Scuba Challenge. This programme is part of a national effort to get young people (age 18-30) involved in their communities. With government funding, there are many ways in which this takes shape: some programmes are aimed at helping refugees, others are aimed at combatting loneliness among elderly, and The Scuba Challenge is aimed at marine conservation.
These goverment programmes are called Maatschappelijke Diensttijd (or community engagement programme in English). One of the requirements for The Scuba Challenge was that you had to volunteer for one of their projects. For me this meant that we went to Zeeland for a day to collect data. In return for this volunteer time, we got to obtain another scuba certification. For me this meant that I could get my Advanced Adventurer license with SSI.
For this next step in becoming a dive master (yes, that is ultimately the goal), we had to complete an E-learning and we had to complete 6 (specialty) dives:
Exploration: this dive was aimed at getting back into diving and exploring the area. For me, this was the first time diving in fresh water. This area attracts a lot of divers, and to make the fresh water diving a bit more interesting there are some purposefully sunk items such as a bus, some playground items, and more!;
Perfect buoyancy: the second dive on day one was aimed at perfecting our buoyancy skills. We also learnt about how to check if you have enough weight on you. This dive was initially the one I was the least excited for, but thanks to our instructor my buoyancy improved dramatically! Not that I’m a pro by any means, but it made me a better and more comfortable diver for sure;
Navigation: Day two started of with a navigation dive. We got to learn how to use the compass underwater, and how to plan and navigate a dive. It was a fun dive, though not my favourite. I tend to get distracted by the fishes and other critters, which made it significantly harder. Still, I did well enough, so onto the next dive;
Fish ID: Honestly, this dive was great. We had to observe all the underwater critters, which is my favourite thing about diving any way. We got a brief lesson on the types of animals we could expect to find, and what kind of characteristics to look for when we couldn’t recognise a certain species. Though these fresh water lakes aren’t necessarily known for their biodiversity, it was still a really fun dive! We saw a massive pikeperch, some more perches, heaps of gobies, and a couple of (invasive) crayfish;
Boat dive: Last day of diving already. We headed out on the boat to one of the nearby sand ‘islands.’ The water here was a bit deeper (and much colder!). We got a briefing on how to safely dive from a boat, and what to look out for in regards to safety. As I had already done a few boat dives, the information wasn’t news to me but I suppose that it’s always good to be reminded of the safety measures in place;
Wreck dive: The final dive of the weekend was a wreck dive. For this dive, we had to measure the wreck while maintaining our buoyance. It was really fun to practise maintaining good buoyance while having to focus on something completely different. The wreck we had to measure was an old fisherman’s boat that’s over 110 years old. It’s approx. 13,5m long and 4,5m wide. A really fun dive as well, and with this one concluded we all passed for our Advanced Adventurer!
Though the Vinkeveense Plassen isn’t the most exciting place to go diving, I was really good for learning more technical skills. It has made me really excited about diving as a sport as opposed to as just the manner used to see a bunch of fun species. I’m sure that I’ll be continuing learning and improving my knowledge and skills to eventually become a dive master.
Lastly, I would like to say that I feel incredibly lucky for this experience: of course I got to get my next certification for free, but we also had a really nice group, and incredible instructors. I have learnt so much, and I think I will write more about the programme as a whole in a different post, so stay tuned for that!
