Put this in your snorkel and drink it.

The day I have been working towards the past 5 weeks and also treading, finally came. It was time for my snorkel test, the last test I had to pass to become a dive master. I have explained the snorkel test in a previous post, but I will explain it again.

The snorkel test involves the dive master to wear a slightly modified mask and snorkel. The modification involves a plastic bottle taped to the end of the snorkel to act as a funnel. Once donned, the dive masters instructor pours a bucket (cocktails in Thailand are served in mini buckets) of Thailands flagship whiskey Sangsom mixed with foreign juices into the snorkel. The problem for the poor dive master is that due to wearing the mask you are unable to breathe through your nose as it’s enclosed. Then the dive master takes one big breath and drinks until he finishes, spews or sprays it everywhere.

Some people would call this peer pressure and binge drinking, others would call it tradition. Imagine trying to explain this ceremony to an alien who is new to earth. You could imagine their response “OK, so your telling me that you pour perfectly good alcohol into a snorkel funnel and the person has to drink it down until they spew up. And once finished the person is so completely drunk that if they don’t spew up they will probably be so drunk that they will wake up in the morning having with a sore bottom, only 1 flip flop, no wallet and sleeping beside a lady boy, and not remembering how they have got themselves in this situation”. And you would have to reply “ummmmm, well yeah, that’s about it, except maybe you would lose both flip flops”.

So in the name of dive master tradition, myself and 3 fellow dive masters, Luke, Shannon and Mika had our snorkel tests. Those of you who were at my 21st birthday for my yardie (a New Zealand traditional that see the birthday boy being timed to see how long it takes him to skull a yard glass of beer) will already know how it went. In short it went, drink, spray, spew and not waking up beside a lady boy.

But my good friends, I am now a dive master, woop woop. Always feels good to achieve something that you have set out to do. You’re probably asking will I work as a dive master? I led my first group of divers the other day and will hopefully pick up some more work over the coming 3 weeks. Then in June I will be leaving Thailand for a couple of weeks in New Zealand before heading to Argentina. So I have no plans to work as a dive master long term or go on to be an instructor. As for me working the world has to involve an array of different jobs. For me completing my dive masters was about the lifestyle, the experience and learning skills and knowledge that I can apply in other areas. I loved every minute of it.

So yeah, I’m a dive master, sweet.