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Ismail Shahiq Shiyaad completed his PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course, PADI Underwater Photography Specialty Course, Emergency First Responder and Emergency First Response Instructor course at Dive Desk. He is a medical nurse by profession and is currently employed in Queensland, Australia. The very thought of turquoise oceans makes me homesick and every time I take a vacation and head home to Maldives, I try to make the full use of it. Between catching up with friends and spending time with family, I join fun dives and indulge in my passion for underwater photography. Even though I was a trained nurse I decided to take the Emergency First Response course and immediately moved on to the EFR Instructor course because I realized how important the basic skills and knowledge given through the internationally standardized curriculum is for the general population. The importance of First Aid and CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation) is misunderstood by people in the community mostly due to personal assumptions, culture and tradition. People tend to take it for granted that trained medical assistance from doctors, nurses and healthcare workers will be immediately accessible during an emergency situation. Despite the highly dispersed population of Maldives, access to medical facilities are available and within reach but the actions taken within the first few minutes of an incident could determine the fate of the injured – whether the person lives or dies or whether the person lives with a lifelong debilitating condition or makes a full recovery. But what if an incident were to happen to you, your family or friends? What can you as a bystander do as you wait for access to professional medical assistance – perhaps waiting for ambulance to arrive or taking the injured on a boat to the nearest healthcare centre? Getting trained in first aid and CPR teaches what you can do on the scene to help delay the deterioration of the injured person’s condition and things that you can do to help revive them till professional help arrives. I highly recommend family members with kids and people with high risk medical conditions to have the basic understanding and training in First Aid And CPR. You can help save lives. Remember you never know it could be someone close to you. As a Nurse and Underwater Photographer, I saw becoming a EFR Instructor the right choice to educate people in the society with my profession in healthcare backing me up. Internationally standardized curricula like PADI and Emergency First Response provide safety guidelines and teach the safe way of doing things! I wish to see more Maldivians going out to ocean, exploring and appreciating the true beauty of our reefs, and I wish to see more people certified as Emergency First Responders in our community! Don’t let societal fears hinder you from going out and exploring nature! Sharing some of my underwater clicks before I sign off. Enjoy! #KeepLearning #KeepExploring #StaySalty #HappyBubbles #EFR #EmergencyFirstResponse #FirstAid #SafetyFirst #SafetyAlways

At Dive Desk, we value every opportunity to inspire divers to act for ocean health. A big thank you to State Trading Organization for the opportunity to teach Project AWARE Specialty course to the staff who recently completed PADI Open Water Diver course with us. About Project AWARE Project AWARE® is a nonprofit organization that PADI has partnered with for more than 25 years to mobilize divers across the globe to protect underwater environments. Focusing on the critical issues of marine debris and shark and ray protection, Project AWARE empowers thousands of divers in more than 182 countries to work together for a clean, healthy and abundant ocean planet. From monitoring and protecting dive sites to achieving conservation wins for vulnerable species, the movement for a clean and healthy ocean has achieved positive change, locally first, contributing to a global outcome. Every action counts, and changing one person's behavior affects the collective outcome. We hope today's specialty course motivated divers to take individual responsibility to make sustainable life choices, and will share the knowledge with family and friends for positive change, and a collective effort for better impact. Dive Desk stands committed to support marine conservation initiatives to the best of our ability. Other Courses There are other courses that we offer that will help you deepen your knowledge of the marine world and help you to establish better diving habits. Dive Against Debris Specialty: Learn about the problems of marine debris, conducting Dive Against Debris surveys, and how divers are a part of the solution to keeping our oceans clean. Digital Underwater Photographer: Document your adventures and monitor change over time. Peak Performance Buoyancy: Improve technique and buoyancy to minimize accidental damage to corals and reefs. Coral Reef Conservation: Appreciate the complexity of coral reef habitats and learn how you can help conserve these vital systems. AWARE Fish Identification: Learning how to identify various species, family groups and good diving habits. Underwater Navigator: Find your way underwater and learn to locate corals. Always remember to be guided by Project AWARE's 10 Tips for divers! Happy bubbles! #ProjectAWARE #10Tips4Divers #GlobalGoals #ActNow #AWAREImpact #NoExcuseForSingleUse #TeamOcean #NextMillion2020

For Rafaal, a PADI SCUBA Instructor now working at Liquid Salt Divers, Dharavandhoo, Maldives, the best memory of 2019 was...guess where? Yes, UNDERWATER! Here he recounts the encounter: "At 14:30 we set out for a dive. We ended up not diving because the region outside Angafaru had 4 whale sharks and some mantas feeding due to the amount of plankton that had gathered there. I jumped in expecting to have to swim after the sharks. And we did try to catch up with two of them but we ended up with this big boy feeding with his mouth pointed towards the sun. He took massive gulps of plankton nonstop for a good 40 minutes. Best part? For the first 25 or so minutes, it was just me and my divers. This was the first time I was able to truly observe the anatomy of the biggest fish in the ocean. This shot (taken by @aquanautindia ) was of me returning to the surface after an extended look at the gills and the rakes inside. The little fish nabbing the little copepods that the whale sharks did not manage to capture. I got the chance to dive down to its tail fin, though I have often see the tail and how the slow movement propels them because of their size in previous encounters, this was the first time I was able to get a good look at the anal fin. A fine peek through the gaping mouth as well! With every gulp his body would expand and contract the pectoral fins going up and down. Spinning on its own axis. While the whale shark did his thing a group of mantas came out of the blue, literally and started going loop-de-loop right under him. Showing off their barrel rolls and back flips, probably going “omnomnomnom”. The moments burned into my memory. It was life, brimming and colorful, in all sizes, having a party because the moon had a phase. 🌚 August 2019  UNESCO Baa Atoll Biosphere Reserve Whilst on tour with @liquidsaltdivers Hussain Rafaal started his PADI journey with Dive Desk from Rescue Diver course and we have seen him through Open Water Instructor Course and specialties courses. Today we are so proud to see him working at a profession that he dearly loves. Being a dive professional exposes me to the marine life I want to conserve and study. The extended exposure this career path provides prepares me further for when I am a marine biologist. We hope the new decade will see his dreams come true. Ambitious, driven young Maldivians committed to making their dreams a reality is what we love to see at Dive Desk! #BeInspired #MeetOurDivePros #YoungPeople #Potential #ScubaDiving #MarineConservation

A massive thank you to all passionate divers who made amazing memories with us this year. Here is a look back on some of the most precious memories that topped the outreach stats. 1. PADI Instructor Development Course in June and September We count ourselves very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from the world's most experienced Course Director Mark Soworka. Mark Soworka is the founder of Dive-Careers.com, the most successful international network for development of dive professionals in the world. His extensive experience in diving, teaching and management have proven invaluable to all aspiring dive professionals, and Adam Ashraf has made it possible for Maldivians to avail of this opportunity by bridging language barriers at the IDCs. Three IDCs are planned for 2020 at Bandos Island Resort, the first one starting on 18 February 2020. If your #2020Goals involves choosing a career in scuba diving, we are here to help you realize those dreams! #LearnFromTheBest 2. #MeetOurDivePros series It's phenomenally cool to get paid for doing what you truly love, and dive professionals around the world will attest to this sentiment. Meeting new and fun people from different walks of life, sharing the love and passion for the underwater world and going on new adventures every time you slip into the ocean - these perks are what drives commitment and hard work from aspiring dive professionals. And each #PADIPro has a unique story to tell. 3. Empowering young people into the Maldives Dive Industry It is our pride and joy every time we play an instrumental role in turning a young Maldivian into a knowledgeable, hard-working and disciplined dive professional, ready to enter the workforce of the Maldivian diving industry 💙 4. #OurDiveProShotz series We strongly encourage our divers to develop their skills especially in underwater photography and videography and we gladly offer them our platform to showcase their talent. 5. Team effort to put Maldives on the Guinness World Records As a PADI Dive Centre that offers PADI Basic Freediver and PADI Freediver course, it was our pleasure to support a group of young keen free-divers to participate in the national event that made Maldives go on the Guinness World Record for the most people freediving simultaneously! 6. Exploring reefs in Male' Atoll with #FridayFunDives On most Fridays we head out on a boat with certified divers to explore reefs in North Male' and South Male' Atolls. It's time spent with like-minded ocean enthusiasts, share the passion for underwater photography and explore the beautiful geography of our island nation. 7. Getting our passionate divers actively involved in environmental conservation Uniting divers wishing to protect the ocean planet we love through reef clean-ups & Dive Against Debris, Reef-Check EcoDiver Course, coral nurseries and citizen science, coral reef conservation awareness sessions, and encouraging to #KeepLearning #KeepExploring and #SaveTheSeas. A heartfelt thank you for all your support in 2019! We start the new decade with the determination to do more, and hoping to work with you to make your #2020Goals a reality! #HappyNewYear #Goodbye2019Welcome2020

Who has access to the underwater world? Divers! Who witnesses, at first hand, the impact wrought on fragile coral reefs from climate change, global warming, ocean acidification, over-fishing and ocean pollution? Divers! Who must lead the fight against human activities destroying coral reefs before it is too late? Divers! This is why, here at Dive Desk, we do everything in our capacity to support motivated divers to take action to protect the ocean planet we love. When Farah Amjad became one of the two fortunate entrants to win the Earthwatch Shulman Awards 2019, Dive Desk happily supported her to implement the grant as the project partner. The project comprises of two main components: Setting up a coral nursery on a degraded area of the house-reef of Thulusdhoo island in Kaafu Atoll, Maldives. This component entailed the establishment of environmental baseline conditions, ‘planting’ of corals with a wide range of morphologies and genetic lineages to increase the diversity and structural complexity of the selected location, identifying larvae settlement rates on the reef and long-term monitoring of the coral nursery. The second component of the project was its citizen science aspect aiming to increase community engagement in the practice of reef restoration and monitoring. Farah used the globally standardized Reef Check methodology to teach key indicator fish, invertebrates and substrates to local volunteer divers interested to learn basic reef monitoring techniques and coral reef ecology. Both the Reef Check EcoDiver training and Coral Nursery Pilot gave exposure for divers, dive professionals and dive pro students at Dive Desk to the importance of being actively involved in marine conservation. Farah Amjad is a PADI Divemaster candidate at Dive Desk. She holds a Bachelor in Environment Management and is currently studying for a Masters Degree in Marine Conservation. Over the past few years she has done numerous marine surveys and ecological monitoring consultancies and is committed to advancing her knowledge and experience through volunteer work. #MarineConservation #ClimateEmergency #ProjectAWARE #Environment #ReefCheck #CoralReefs #OceanHealth #SDG14 #LifeBelowWater #CoralNursery #CoralPlanting #CoralReefMonitoring #Training #Education #CommunityEngagement #SaveOurSeas #CitizenScience #AForceForGood

We all take pleasure in diving and seeing vibrant coral reefs thriving with life, yet many people know little about what they are actually seeing or the importance of reef ecosystems. At Dive Desk, we take every opportunity to create awareness of the complexity of these habitats, the threats faced by these vital systems and encourage actions to protect and conserve marine environment . A big thank you to Malahini Kuda Bandos for inviting our founder Adam Ashraf to facilitate a session on Coral Reef Conservation at the resort last night. More than 99% of the 90,000 square kilometer of Maldives is ocean. A tropical archipelago of more than a thousand islands, colorful coral reefs infringe the islands, atolls and shoals, hosting an enchanting array of diverse forms of marine life. Coral reefs are an essential part of the ocean environment; 25% of fish species spend some part of their life cycle in reefs and an estimated 80% of the oxygen we breathe comes from the ocean. And yet, over-fishing, ocean acidification and pollution are pushing coral reefs into oblivion. Only by understanding how coral reefs function and the complex nature of life on a reef can individuals be inspired to take action to curb the human activity that is posing an existential crisis to the coral reefs systems. What actions are you doing for coral reef conservation? Tell us in the comments below. Get in touch with us if you would like to take the PADI Specialty Course on Coral Reef Conservation or unite with conservationists and become part of the global movement for ocean protection by becoming a Project AWARE Specialist.

Maldives is 99% water. According to official statistics, the total area of Maldives is 90,000 square kilometers, of which land area is 300 square kilometers. Maldives consists of more than 1,200 coral islands, each island with an average landmass of two square kilometers, embraced on all sides by the wild blue oceans. Water safety awareness is important for all inhabitants, but to start from an early stage, water safety sessions for children is especially important. While we advocate to have water safety aspects included in the national curriculum, Dive Desk is happy to facilitate such sessions and count ourselves fortunate to have had at least one such opportunity every year. Among the things we try to impress upon the young minds are: Always ask permission from parent or care-giver before going in the water. This acts as a reminder for parent/caregiver to always supervise child while in the water. Always swim with a buddy. If in trouble while in the water, remain calm, float and raise an arm to signal for help. A note to parents: 1. Teach your kids to swim. Children are curious by nature and parents are cautious by nature but always nurture their sense of adventure by helping them to develop their skills for the outdoors while reducing risks by having them supervised. 2. All parents should ideally take a course in infant/child first aid and learn resuscitation techniques to better respond when faced with a medical emergency. At Dive Desk we teach Emergency First Response Primary Care (CPR), Secondary Care (First Aid) as well as Care for Children ( designed for those who work with children or likely to respond to emergencies involving youngsters).

1. UNLEASH THE DIVER IN YOU! On 30 May, we had a very successful PADI Try Dive Event at Male' Swimming Track, organized by aspiring marketeers from MAPS college. We had a blast allowing fun-seekers to experience what it is like to breathe underwater! 2. The very first clean-up event! The very next day, Team Dive Desk was off to Villingili to take part in the The Clean-up Challenge 2014 organized by Save The Beach Maldives. Reef cleanup was not part of the challenge and, as the only dive team to show up to the event, we were able to remove a good amount of trash from the ocean. 3. The first PADI Dive Centre in Maldives get Green Fins certified! An initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme and Reef-World Foundation, Green Fins is the only internationally recognized environmental standard for dive and snorkel operators, helping to ensure the long-term sustainability of coral reefs, recreational scuba diving and local livelihoods. It was a well-received environmental education for Dive Desk staff, students and divers who took part in the training. 4. Reef Check Maldives Network Kick-off! Reef Check Foundation is an international network of volunteer citizen scientist divers who help to survey the health of coral reefs around the world. The results are used to improve the management of critically important natural resources - tropical coral reefs in the case of Maldives. Reef Check programs provide ecologically sound and economically sustainable solutions to save reefs, by creating partnerships among community volunteers, government agencies, businesses, universities and other nonprofits. Dive Desk is happy to have played an instrumental role in the implementation of the work of Reef Check Maldives right from the launch of the Maldives network. 5. Mobile camp at Kuda Bandos! One of the most fun and memorable experiences of the year was setting up mobile camp at Kuda Bandos. Kudos to all the members of the Dive Desk Team for pulling through! 6. Certified our very first Divemaster! Training dive professionals to the industry is at the core of the work that we do at Dive Desk. The first DiveMaster that #DiveDesk certified was a commercial pilot who came in for a Discover Scuba Dive. So taken was Sushant Joshi by the underwater world that he came back to Maldives to do his PADI Open Water Diver, Advanced Openwater Diver, Emergency First Response, Rescue Diver and Divemaster courses. He went onto become an instructor and served as the base leader at The Taj Exotica Resort. Eventually he moved back to his hometown Mumbai to set up his dive start-up Scuba Reels that allows city folks to learn diving by conducting confined water sessions in the swimming pools in the city and complete their open water course in exotic dive destinations around the world! His start-up also provides underwater photography and videography services for film shoots in India and the Maldives along with participating in educating the youth about saving the seas. It is our pride and joy every time we play an instrumental role in turning a young person into a knowledgeable, hard-working and disciplined dive professional, ready to enter the workforce of the diving industry! For aspiring dive professionals out there, Sushant says, "Be passionate and focused about what you would like to do. Life begins out of one's comfort zone." The first year of operation at Dive Desk was a truly blessed year! Heartfelt thank you to all who have supported us and made beautiful memories with us! #KeepLearning #KeepExploring #StaySalty #HappyBubbles

Dive Desk is delighted to support ADK Hospital to promote their upcoming Maldives Brain and Spine Conference 2019, scheduled from 17 to 19 September 2019. Dubbed “BrainSpine19”, the third year in the conference series led by the hospital's Neurosurgery Team. The hospital's neurosurgery team is led by the Senior Consultant in Neurosurgery Dr. Ali Niyaf, who started his PADI Open Water Diver Course with Dive Desk and is an avid ocean enthusiast despite his hectic schedule. “BrainSpine19” is organized with a focus on enhancing knowledge among medical professionals treating cranial, spinal and peripheral nerve disorders and aims to create an opportunity to share researches, recent innovations, advanced treatment modalities and experiences of pioneers in the field during our interactive scientific sessions.

Dive Desk is proud to be showcased at the first-ever Maldives Fitness Expo 2019, held at National Art Gallery from 19-21 July 2019. To promote scuba diving as a hobby that keeps you physically active, we are also delighted to offer PADI Open Water Diver Course to the lucky draw winner. Dive Desk thanks the organizers for the chance for our Managing Director and PADI Course Director Adam Ashraf to speak on stage about the health benefits of scuba diving for our physical as well as mental wellbeing. So many people are naturally drawn to the ocean by the therapeutic nature of water but far too many people are afraid to explore what lies underneath the waves! Scuba diving is good for your body, it’s good for your soul! Among the messages we wanted to give include: Swimming strengthens muscles and builds endurance, the controlled breathing induces a state of calm and relieves stress Meeting people from different backgrounds who share the same interest gives opportunity to make friends and develop your social circle Swimming for an hour non-stop might not feel like a lot while you are entranced by the vibrant marine life of the coral reefs, but scuba diving actually takes a lot out of you, calorie-wise! For scuba divers to move efficiently through water - a medium that is hundreds of times more dense than air, a diver learns to streamline their body by engaging the core, glute and back muscles and kick from the hip, strengthening major muscle groups without feeling the strain of a typical workout. Thank you to all our PADI Pros and divers who helped out during the event. A big thank you to Dr. Thaumeen and Dr. Wisham for your technical inputs to communicate the physical and mental health benefits of scuba diving.

Dive Desk is delighted with the opportunity by Galolhu Madharusa to conduct a Water Safety session for the pre-schoolers, for the fourth year in running. Being able to explore and play enables children to develop, grow and learn, and become confident and capable. We applaud the school's initiative to create a safe environment for children to explore even outside of school by providing information on basic safety skills. The earlier you start conversations surrounding basic safety the better, and this needs to be an ongoing conversation. It was lovely seeing youngsters so keen for knowledge. We hope our talk brought a positive influence on their behavior, from getting motivated to learn swimming, to always wearing a life-jacket on boat even when you know how to swim to many other basic information to help create a safe environment for kids to explore. Dive Desk thanks the administration for the wonderful opportunity to impart a bit of our knowledge to the kids.

Dive Desk is happy and proud to be part of the biggest PADI Instructor Development Course held in the Maldives in recent times. Before the Dive Instructor course commenced on 8 June 2019, some of the candidates who opted to do theory revision started with their preparation with us at Dive Desk in Male' on the 3 June. The Instructor Exams were held on 20 and 21 June 2019. We know that the Divedesk Instructor Candidates are in good hands with PADI Platinum Course Director Mark Soworka of Dive Careers Worldwide. Bandos Island Resort is a fantastic location to have this course and is a wonderful host. Our instructors (Master Instructor Adam Ashraf IDC Staff Instructor Shahfaan Waseem) were keen to expand their dive knowledge and update their teaching techniques to train the future Dive Professionals. It means the world to us when you appreciate the work we do, and thank you everyone for the beautiful words. We count ourselves blessed for been given the opportunity to do what we love doing the most, which is to teach diving. We are especially proud of the team spirit shown by each and everyone of you, supporting each other and learning from each other while thoroughly enjoying yourselves and getting through some very stressful times together! Wishing you all the best in your new careers!! We KNOW you are all built for success! For professional level of recreational scuba diving or PADI Pro, it is PADI that continues to offer the most opportunities for employment around the world. In Maldives, 80% of the dive market is PADI. Worldwide, three out of four dive professional jobs are PADI. With the scope of job opportunities available, we trust that each of the dive professionals that train with us will prove to be an asset to the industry, whether in Maldives or exploring the world. We wish all our instructor candidates the best of success in their dive careers. To check our next IDC dates and to sign up, contact Course Director Ashraf on (+960) 7937738. #LearnFromTheBest #BeTheBest #PADIeducation