Sai Kung scuba instructor Jowie trains 250 new divers

^{Jowie To (white top) and diving buddies}

Galaxy Diving, founded by Nam Wai resident Jowie To Tsz-ying, has trained about 250 scuba divers since inception, she told HONG KONG BUZZ.

A favourite location where you may see Jowie and her friends in their scuba kit is Little Palm Beach, Sai Kung. Here Jowie does most of her training.  Lessons cost $3800 to 4200, which includes your gear: air tank, mask, face regulator, buoyancy control device, wet suit and fins.

Jowie has seven years of experience as a diver and four years as a diving instructor. “Diving is more safe than walking across the road if you follow all the safety standards,” Jowie said. Galaxy Diving adheres to the standards of SSI, headquartered in the US. She gained her senior diving instructor’s  rating after being trained and examined by SSI.

^{Jowie in a t-shirt advertising SSI, which trained and examined her before awarding senior instructor status}

Jowie’s diving course at first requires five hours of classroom theory followed by an examination, then one day of training in your scuba kit in a  swimming pool or confined area off a beach. This is followed by the serious stuff: two days open water training with an instructor, “usually me”. Jowie’s scuba school has five instructors; she is the only one who teaches full time.

The initial training will get you an open water diving licence, if you measure up to required standards. This allows you to dive to 18 metres. All scuba divers are expected to stick to the buddy system, never going out alone. If you want to dive solo you need a higher rating, a solo diver’s licence and a Nitrox qualification, which means you can have more oxygen in your tank to go deeper and stay down longer. This is what you will need if you want to go diving in, say, the Philippines or Thailand.

Of the approximately 250 scuba students Jowie and her team have trained about half have attained instructor’s level.

BUZZ asked Jowie why she runs this operation. “It’s fun. There’s a lot that is beautiful and interesting in the sea. And it feels good to see people you’ve trained succeed and become expert divers.” Also she says diving raises environmental awareness. “Coz once you’re a diver you’ll be upset if you see trash in the sea. So not only we’ll pick up trash while diving but also it helps us to raise our self-awareness of environmental protection.”

If you have diving qualifications and you’d like to go on a fun dive with Jowie, she charges around $500 a time. Last year Jowie said she did 60 fun dives with about 700 divers. If you’d like to contact her email jowieto822@gmail.com Also you can look up Galaxy Diving on Instagram.