Meet the team: Staff Instructor Ja Atienza
A dive centre is only as good as its people and here at Lalaguna Villas we are fortunate to work with some of the very best in the business.
Today the LLV blog sat down with our longest-serving instructor, IDC Staff Instructor Ja Atienza, 37, and talked teaching, turtles and triggerfish!
Hi Ja! So tell us… where are you from and how did you get into diving?
I was born and raised here, on Big Lalaguna beach in Puerto Galera – my parents are from here.
After I finished college and my university degree in hotel and restaurant management, I worked in a few bars as a bartender, and then I started working in a dive shop as a dive shop secretary.
My boss then was a very nice Norwegian guy, Magne Nielsen, he was a course director married to Rosemary, a staff instructor. They started a five star IDC centre in a dive shop in Big Lalaguna, put up an office, and got me in as a secretary in 2013.
They asked me if I was a diver – I said “I’m a swimmer, but not a diver”, because I have always lived close to the beach so every day I was swimming, but not diving. They offered me a Discover Scuba.
From my very first dive I loved it. I thought “This is like swimming but I can stay longer underwater, this is so cool, I can stay down here!” And you can get very close to the fish and the corals, I really enjoyed it.
They asked me if I wanted to continue and pursue diving lessons, so they offered me the Open Water Diver Course, and I kept asking, “What’s next, what’s next?”
So I did the Advanced, and to cut the story short, I became a Divemaster in 2015. And beyond that I kept on with continuous learning, taking courses, and lots of speciality courses as well. I was very fortunate to have them.
Then in 2017, he offered me the chance to do an IDC. I had already participated in a lot of IDCs where I’d acted as a student, so I grabbed that opportunity and I did that IDC. I became an Assistant Instructor at first and kept working, and then in January 2018 I took the IE and fortunately, passed first time.
That year I started work at Lalaguna Villas. I was already friends with [former LLV instructor] Conan, he said he was looking for someone to work with him here in LLV as they were starting to put up a dive shop – back then LLV was only a hotel.
So I said yes. I was working freelance so it was good to have a full time job here, and so me and Conan set up the LLV dive shop – and the rest is history!
I became a Master Scuba Diver Trainer here – that means I’ve done five specialties with the help of LLV – and I’m now certified as a IDC Staff Instructor with the help of LLV also.
The aim is to become a Master Instructor soon, and hopefully in the future a Course Director.
So what is your favourite thing to see underwater?
Believe it or not – turtles! I’m not only happy when I see them, I want to see the look in the face of my divers when they see the sea turtles.
Every time, even if it’s every day or every dive, I am still happy to see them.
What is your favourite thing about diving?
It’s the teaching actually. It’s inspiring people, and having non-divers become a diver. Seeing them appreciate what we have underwater here in Puerto Galera.
Even if I’m tired, maybe I’m doing two or three Discover Scuba Diver courses in one day, it is so fulfilling for me when I see the diver enjoyed the dive – especially their first dive.
What’s your favourite dive site?
Fantasea Reef, it’s just so beautiful.
Tell us about a memorable dive
Okay… I tell this one whenever it is triggerfish mating season.
On my very first time guiding, as a divemaster, I was working in one of the dive shops in Big Lalaguna, and I took two divers out to Fantasea Reef.
After about ten minutes of diving, this big triggerfish started attacking one of the divers.
And I was so panicked, it was my very first dive guiding, and of course I am trying to protect my divers – but you know what it’s like during triggerfish mating season, they’re really aggressive.
I didn’t know if I needed to bring them up, or continue the dive and swim away – anyway we managed to swim away from the triggerfish, it was all fine, we ended the dive in normal time and went up to the boat.
And the diver turned to me and said “What’s the name of that fish, they’re really cute!”
And my heart was still pumping, I had been worried about them getting attacked – and they were just enjoying the dive!
Nothing bad happened, but it was scary for me on my very first guiding experience. So every year during triggerfish season I’m very alert, my eyes are always looking ten metres away from where we’re diving to see if I can see triggerfish!
Thank you Ja!
If you want to come and hang out with Ja (and who wouldn’t!), learn from the best, and enjoy diving in the Diving Capital of the Philippines, why not get in touch to book a stay at Lalaguna Villas?
Book your stay at LLV today and visit the best place to dive… in the best country to dive… in the world!
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See you soon!
