Luis “Melky” Berhuno became the first Timorese scuba diving instructor in 2019, certified through Scuba Diving International (SDI) by Dreamers Dive Academy in Dili with support from a USAID grant. He has since taught young Timorese to dive in Tetum, helping more local people take part in a dive industry that had mostly served foreign visitors.
From shore watch to instructor
Melky’s first job at a dive centre was keeping shore watch alone on the beach while divers walked into the sea. He helped them with their equipment when they came back, listening to them describe an underwater world he could only imagine.
Dreamers Dive Academy was opened in Dili in 2018 by dive instructors Kate Barker and Ivan Samra, and one of their first goals was to train a Timorese instructor. Working with SDI’s Oceania regional office, the academy certified Melky in 2019, and he joined its staff. His instructor course was funded through a grant from USAID’s Tourism For All project, which ran from 2018 to 2023.
“When I started working at the dive center I only knew a few fish and mostly just that you could eat them!” Melky said. “There’s a big difference in my life now. I feel I have learned a lot about dive theory, how to find animals, give briefings and be a dive leader. Also, I can use my monthly salary to help my parents and buy my own dive equipment.”
Teaching in Tetum
Dive courses are demanding: students must learn dive theory, physics and emergency procedures as well as skills in the water. In Timor-Leste many people are not confident swimmers, and course materials are usually in English. As a Timorese instructor, Melky could explain the course in Tetum. According to the official tourism site, he had taught 20 young Timorese men and women to dive and all gained their open water certification through the programme, and he had logged more than 400 dives. He was later also trained as an instructor for Emergency Response Diving International’s public safety diving courses.
Kate Barker described the reaction:
“We’ve had huge responses from the community, interested not only in doing diving but in general looking at the sea, snorkeling, swimming, and engaging with their marine ecosystem… This shows that the USAID program is changing how people think and that they are recognising diving as one of the potential industries in Timor-Leste.”
Why it matters
Timor-Leste’s reefs are among the most biodiverse on Earth: in 2016, Conservation International scientists recorded an average of 253 reef fish species per survey site around Atauro Island, the highest average ever documented. The government has identified tourism as a way to create jobs and reduce the economy’s dependence on oil and gas, and trained Timorese divers and instructors mean more of the income from diving stays in the country. Local divers are also getting involved in marine conservation and awareness-raising.
Learning to dive in Timor-Leste
Dreamers Dive Academy is still listed by the national tourism site, offering SDI and TDI courses from open water to technical diving, with courses in Tetum, Indonesian and English. See our Dreamers Dive Academy listing, dive operators in Timor-Leste, diving in and around Dili and the dive site guide.
Further reading
Sources
- Timor-Leste official tourism site: A dream come true for the first Timorese dive instructor (original article)
- DAN Alert Diver: Empowering Timor-Leste’s local dive industry (Q3 2024)
- Timor-Leste official tourism site: Dreamers Dive Academy
- TDI-SDI: Dreamers Dive Academy
- Mongabay: Atauro Island has highest average reef fish diversity in the world (2016)