Celebrating Arya: Nusa Penida’s Newest Dive Instructor

Arya’s story is one of resilience and growth. He began his career in tourism working behind the scenes—cleaning toilets and bartending—with almost no English. But it didn’t take long for the Indo Ocean Project team to notice his kind heart, sharp mind, and incredible work ethic. He joined us as a tank boy and boat crew member, and it was Dive Instructor Adi (Papa Naga)  who introduced Arya to scuba diving through the Open Water course.

At first, diving didn’t come easily. Arya battled seasickness, discomfort in the water, and a fear of the deep. But he didn’t give up. With steady encouragement, hours of practice, and sheer determination, he overcame those fears and grew more confident with every dive.

Just two weeks before the world shut down in 2020, Arya led his very first dive as a guide.

During the pandemic, Arya took on the role of Coral Ranger with CorAlliance, learning about coral ecology, identification, and restoration techniques from Pascal.

 When Indo Ocean Project’s Penida location reopened in early 2022, Arya was the first person we called. Though unsure if he was ready, he joined as a dive guide and research assistant—and he hasn’t looked back since.

Since then, he’s played a major role in training nearly 300 Divemaster and Research Diver interns. Nicknamed “God Underwater”, Arya became everyone’s favorite team member, leading workshops on lift bag use, knots, search and recovery, and our CoralWatch program—where he now teaches about “the symbiotic relationship between coral and zooxanthellae.” From no English at all to explaining marine symbiosis—that’s the level of transformation we’re talking about.