From Finance to Padi Instructor
We were lucky to meet Hakan as our PADI instructor in Gili Air’s most enjoyable diving school Oceans 5. https://www.oceans5dive.com
Hakan was 28 when he first started diving. After his first dive in North Croatia he knew that diving was a sport that really appealed to him! And after his open water course, there were many more to come and diving became a way of life!
He was born in Berlin but his parents now live in Ankara. He studied buisiness administration and managment. After his Bachelor degree he continued studying and got his Master of Science in political economy.
After 13 years in finance and economics, he came to a turning point and searched for a way out of the ordinary life.
How to escape from the everyday pressure of society ? Where one works crazy office hours, to come home exhausted, sleep, eat and repeat…
He turned his life around into doing what he loves everyday! It takes a lot of guts to do so and for that I admire him!!
Born a teacher
As a diving instructor he regularly changes base! How lucky we were that the dutch teacher was not available at the time 😉 ..
He teaches his diving skills with such passion and commitment it is contagious!
He stays extremely calm and he takes teaching very seriously! Which is a good thing because we immediately understood the dangers of diving and how to work with them. We knew the importance of every excercise and he took his time to make sure we got the hang of it properly.
Becoming an open water diver
Even the littlest skill he repeated time and time again. We also completed every excercise and we knew that it is important not to skip anything because being a Padi in the end is a worldwide standerd! He values that because as a Padi, everyone must have been taught the same skills and knowledge!
Teaching is a gift
I can imagine he would get bored repeating the same skills every day to different people! Although we never felt like that.. he teaches with so much love and patience! That also makes you eager to give it your best shot. It workes both ways.. Offcourse you are doing the course because you want to be a diver, but we also felt like committing really hard because he passed his enthousiasm on to us! That as a teacher, is a gift!
We were also lucky to have a really nice training group where everyone was more or less on the same level. Everyone passed the exams with good grades because we were basically drilled on the matter :)!
It were 3 intensive training days…but they were so much fun! Hakan has a strong and kind personality, he is calm and compassionate! As recquired, he is self assured and he reconfirmed us whenever we were in doubt!
He also is very aware about the aquatic life and taught us why and how to be so ourselves! when I asked him what he loves most about diving he replied ” I love the ocean, the shades of blue, the tranquility and the feeling of freedom that covers my body, mind and soul while I am in the sea.”
He has a lot of ‘best diving spots’ so far, he had enjoyable dives in places such as Komodo, Banta and Sangeang, Pulau Weh, Menjangan and Roatan. Still on the bucket list are Okinawa, Timor, Solomon Islands and Fiji as well as Cocos Island and Isla de Coiba.
Thank you Hakan for teaching us the joy of diving! We are forever grateful!
After getting our open water degree, we made sure to go diving again as soon as possible. In Belgium, options are limited but the Todi diving school is a really nice spot to practice and repeat your skills! https://www.todi.be/nl/
If you are keen on reading our full Bali Travel tips.. make sure you check out our itinerary! http://www.lavieenfie.com/a-3-week-bali-itenarary/
