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All In A Day's Work: Underwater instruction

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Andrew Couch, PADI course director at Mandarin Divers, brings the diving experience not only to local adults but to a large number of school children.

We have a wide range of students, both locals and foreigners working in Hong Kong. Some are teachers, while others are bankers, entrepreneurs, marketing professionals and accountants and so on. Diving appeals to a wide range of people and we find that our student ratio is 50 per cent men and 50 per cent women.

The non-pristine dive conditions in Hong Kong have been a great catalyst for change and respect for the ocean. We are heavily involved with local schools, teaching students dive courses, ranging from open-water to rescue. Many local school students also get involved in underwater clean-up days jointly organised by our company and their own schools.

My typical working day starts at 10am and finishes at 6pm, unless pool training is scheduled for after work, which generally spans from 7.30pm to 10.30pm.

Mornings are usually spent catching up on e-mail inquiries from people wanting to start new courses and overseeing incoming orders for new equipment, spare parts and other items. It's also a time that we use to update the website, schedule the week's activities and contact our team of instructors who are rostered to teach in the pool or conduct open-water dives throughout the week.

Midday is usually spent running around collecting gear in the sun. If there's a pool session in the evening, I need to put together packs for the students, including wetsuits, buoyancy control devices, weight belts, fins, masks, booties and so on. We also need to pump the tanks and move them to the car.

After arranging gear and equipment, I normally return to the office and have student packs set aside for incoming students. Each student is required to complete forms and sign liability releases and medical forms before starting a new course.

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