When I first began telling people that I had plans to leave my dive home on Utila in the Caribbean for Canada, you can imagine their reactions!
But doesn't it get really cold there?
Are you switching careers?
Why would you ever leave paradise for snow?
Can you even dive in Canada?
And the majority of Canadians who I met on Utila during their vacation just thought I was plain mad.
I should say now that this isn't a blog about why cold water diving or dry suit diving is great, if that's what you're after then check out the article I wrote for the Dive Saga Magazine '5 Benefits of Dry Suit Diving' here. This is more a diary entry on my feelings towards why it was my time to move on, and some of you may have shared similar feelings when starting off in the scuba industry.
[Gearing up for a dry suit dive in the snow!]
Canada has always been a country where I have wanted to spend a lot of time. My Mum has the fondest memories of growing up in Ontario when she was a young child, and she's been eager to return ever since. Then when I first met my partner on Utila, he also told me the most incredible stories from his four winter seasons all across the west coast, so it was always high up on my list of places to visit!
After a few years of instructing on Utila, I felt a natural pull towards change. I had met a few people who had stayed too long and had started to resent the island, getting burnt out from working (or partying) and forming unhealthy habits and bad relationships. I was very career driven whilst working there and whilst I enjoyed going out with colleagues, I always took the job seriously. I wasn't worried about going down the wrong path, but I never wanted to taint my experience by staying too long.
Well what do I mean by too long? I arrived on Utila when I was just 22, not having dived in many other countries nor travelled that much. I think it's hard not to want to see more and work elsewhere when you're literally surrounded by visitors and colleagues sharing their scuba stories from across the globe all day every day - funnily enough it can be all we talk about! Some days it felt as though nowhere in the world could be better than Utila and I didn't want to risk my idyllic job by leaving: gorgeous dives, perfect weather and visibility, encountering whale sharks and dolphins... and then other days I felt as if I had major FOMO, dreaming of diving with different marine life and tackling new challenges. Sometimes I felt panicked that I could be missing out on a new opportunity whilst fearing that I would be throwing away what I already had for something potentially worse. Major "what if" dilemmas!
I can totally imagine some people reading this thinking how ridiculous I might sound or "oh how I wish I could have that dilemma!", but maybe some of you have also shared these feelings and they are valid.
Two and a half years of working on Utila had gone by and I felt entirely comfortable and confident in teaching every course and speciality that I was certified in; and that's down to working for a 5* PADI dive center that give all of their staff the opportunity and support to grow their dive resumes and career. As an instructor at Bay Islands College of Diving you have the opportunity to regularly teach fun specialties such as Full Face Mask, Technical Diving, Sidemount, Self Reliant, Adaptive Diver, Trimix Diving... the list goes on and on.
[Tec, Full Face Mask and Sidemount gear at The College of Diving]
Whilst I felt experienced in teaching courses, I was very aware that 99% of all my dives had been in tropical water with next to no current and perfect visibility; and for some people that's the goal! Why would you want anything else? But for me, I wanted to experience cold water diving, being in low vis with strong currents and to eventually feel as comfortable and confident teaching in those conditions as I did in Utila's waters. I was striving to be a more well-rounded diver with a resume that stood out: put me in any ocean or recreational diving situation and I'll feel prepared!
At this point my partner Asa and I applied for our Canadian working visas. We were both so fortunate that this process was not overly complicated nor expensive, and it seemed like the next step for us to take. The diving in British Columbia is known to be home to some of the best diving in the world, offering wreck diving, wildlife encounters such as whales, seals, orcas and the most colourful, alien-looking soft corals that you could imagine.
However, the universe works in funny ways and just days after putting in our visa applications, I was offered a dream job: Program Manager of a marine conservation NGO, The Whale Shark and Oceanic Research Center (WSORC). This opportunity meant that I would be managing and running the very same internship program that had originally brought me to Honduras years ago, and was closely affiliated with The College of Diving. It is safe to say that I was shocked at this proposal! I couldn't help but compare myself to former staff in that role and immediately I felt inferior and out of my depth. I didn't have any official training or education in marine sciences, only the knowledge that I had gained through instructing and diving over the last few years. My initial response was to turn it down, and not because I didn't want the opportunity, but I thought I would embarrass myself and let the NGO down.
After taking a few weeks to think about it and a good long chat with my personal Yoda (AKA: my Dad) about where I wanted my future in scuba to go, I took a leap of faith and decided to take on the challenge. Though a background in marine biology would be helpful in the role, it truly wasn't necessary - that's what the role of Marine Biologist was for! I quickly understood that my knowledge of Utila's dive sites, local marine life, being an experienced instructor, social media management, written communication skills combined with a thorough understanding of how WSORC operated alongside the dive college was absolutely crucial to running the internship program.
Straight away I had my hands full with emails, creating schedules for staff and interns, coordinating with other dive staff, organising dive boats and scuba certifications for our interns, running the social media accounts, leading the majority of survey and research dives, and presenting half of the internship program's lectures. All in all, the first six months of being Program Manager was stressful to say the least. I had walked into the role somewhat blindly, without much guidance nor following an example from previous staff. Whilst this was daunting and at times overwhelming, it also allowed me to pave my own way and start fresh, I was offered a blank canvas to figure out what worked most efficiently and smoothly for me: I basically had full reign to do whatever I thought worked best!
After those first six months, it all seemed to fall into place. The internship program was thriving and I had recruited two incredible team members, Andrea and Joe, to make our NGO family complete. Though it was tough, I couldn't have been more in love with my role. Something pretty incredible happens when you're forced out of your comfort zone, dealing with awkward and confrontational situations and learning about who you are as a person. I felt so proud of myself! What I had accomplished in that year as Program Manager, both personally and for the NGO, will stick with me forever.
[With my WSORC family: Joe, Andrea & my brother James]
During this time, Asa was also offered a role in management at the dive college. This opportunity to manage a 5* PADI Career Development Center was career defining for him. Though I may be biased, he flourished in the role, demonstrating such humble confidence and professionalism from the get-go. We couldn't quite believe that we had both landed our dream jobs at the same time! So what about our Canadian visas?
It didn't take long for our visas to be approved, which meant that we had just 12 months to enter Canada to activate them otherwise they would be deemed void. Asa and I decided that we wouldn't leave Utila until we had fulfilled one year in our roles, which meant that we would have to travel to Canada and only activate our visas, but sacrifice our first few months there to stay on Utila until our full year in each role was complete. On paper, this would only result in us missing the first 5 months or so of our 2 year visas... that was until a global pandemic put a spanner in our travel plans and we ended up loosing out on ten months.
Aside from completing my PADI Dry Suit certifications and getting a taste for cold water diving in a 4 degree celsius lake, like most, the past year hasn't been what I planned. My hopes of finding dive work on Vancouver Island were crushed from lack of tourism and jobs. Instead, Asa and I headed to the mountains for a year of snowboarding, camping and hiking, still completely grateful to be amongst nature and to experience a side of Canada we may not have otherwise.
I do not regret my decision to come to Canada. Utila will always be home and maybe I'll return for good one day, but right now I'm keeping my eyes open for new opportunities across the globe, wherever they may arise. Canada has given me perspective and time to take a step back to assess what I want out of life, which is fundamentally what I was hoping to achieve by moving here.
[Summit of Cascade Mountain in Banff, AB]
Some people may think I should have stayed in my dream job on Utila, others may applaud me for taking the leap of faith by leaving, either way, this past year has proved that life can be unpredictable and therefore it's vital to be versatile and adapt to change. The bottom line still remains that my future goals for a career in scuba have not changed and I cannot wait to sink beneath the surface again, wherever that may be.
Thanks for reading if you've made it this far - it was a long one!
Safe diving & happy dreaming,
A.
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