Simon Liddard,
Owner
Born in England but living in Indonesia for the past 25 years, I have been an active scuba dive instructor since 1986, an active technical instructor since 1992 and in 1998 I began specializing in Close Circuit Rebreather training. I am an IANTD Instructor Trainer at Trimix level- both open circuit and CCR, a member of the IANTD Board of Advisors, a TDI Trimix Instructor Trainer, a PADI course director and DSAT Trimix Instructor Trainer. Currently I am the only IART JJ-CCR level III Trimix Instructor in Indonesia. I have thousands of logged dives in Indonesia and over 150 logged Trimix CCR dives beyond 100m, including the first ever solo deep Trimix rebreather dive to a depth of 150m in 2002. I have the luxury of teaching deep technical and CCR trimix for my personal enjoyment and not for income.
SEBASTIEN DOUET,
General Manager
French guy that fell into diving without knowing it. Away from home since 2005,
I started Scuba Diving in the Philippines on the island of Malapascua, only going for a Discovery Scuba Diving (try dive). By the end of the confined sessions, I decided that I needed to give it a real try… so I went for the Open Water course.
That was in 2009 and within one year I was a Scuba Instructor. I have since worked in some of the best destinations in the world, Egypt, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Maldives and of course Indonesia.
I came to Gili Trawangan in the holidays as an Advanced Open Water Diver(2nd Level), and after a week of fun diving meeting great people and opening my mind to the island life here… yes you got it, I decided to stay and changed my way of life.
Diving has been a huge change in my life, enjoying the moment, looking forward to the next adventure, the next people I am going to meet, and the next shark I will see ;-)
I have spent about 7 years on Gili Trawangan. I’ve been in and out to see the next best spot, but I always came back to my home “Gili Trawangan”.
Jan ,
Instructor
Jan, Instructor
Jan hails from a small town in the South African Bush-veld. An avid sailor, Jan has been deeply connected to the oceans from an early age. He became a scuba diving instructor to deepen this bond with the ocean.
"Sailors often look forward to coming back to land after a long voyage, but my favorite part is heading out to sea and seeing only the ocean surrounding me," he says.
Always bustling with energy, it is unusual to see Jan idle. In his non-diving time, he is usually attending to his plants, setting up a garden around his house or writing poetry.
The way to make him happiest is bringing him a big hearty meal cooked with love.
Victor bertrand,
Instructor
Im Victor and I come from France. I was introduced to the underwater world as a child through free diving which is where my love for the ocean began.
In 2020 I decided to quit my day job and to follow my dream of becoming a diving professional. It has become my true passion and I’m constantly in awe of what happens below the surface.
My passion for teaching followed suit as it’s amazing to see in the eyes of my students how their passion for the ocean grows and becomes an integral part of who they are.
The underwater world and everything about it is fantastic and my goal is to explore as much of it as I can, to learn from it and to pass on my passion to others.
Katie Stoddart,
Instructor
I'm Katie from Devon in the UK and I've spent the last year living on Gili Trawangan. My love for diving started when I took my first dive in Sulawesi and I've been hooked ever since. Since then I've been lucky enough to dive in some of the most stunning places around the world, like Thailand, Fiji, Maldives, Philippines and of course Indonesia. However it was Gili T that stole my heart on a holiday, and I never left.
I love teaching and seeing my students faces when we surface after an unforgettable dive, especially taking them to see their first sharks and turtles which is guaranteed here!
ABILIO CALVO,
Instructor
Born in Barcelona in Spain, I have been obsessed with being underwater since my childhood when I kept testing my mom’s patience by diving as long as I could at the swimming pool while she was not watching. I got certified as an Open Water diver in Spain in 2016 and moved to Gili Trawangan in 2018 to become an instructor.
Been working in Thailand, Greece, Maldives… but at the end of the day I always come back to Gili Trawangan, the only place I call home. I’m very passionate about marine life and underwater photography, so every time I have the chance to I take my camera underwater.
Shruti Chakraborty,
Instructor
I started my diving career in 2014 from the Andaman Islands in India. A former business journalist, I have happily exchanged my office cubicle in the city for an island life.
When I started diving in India, it was not a common career choice or a popular hobby for Indians. I am excited to see that changing now.
After the Andaman Islands, I moved to an island in the Maldives and then on to Gili Trawangan in Indonesia. When I go on vacation from my diving job, my favourite thing to do is - more diving.
Being underwater is therapeutic for me. I am obsessed with looking for macro life underwater which makes Indonesia the perfect place for me to be at.
I eventually hope to inspire more of my students to take up this career and become divemasters and diving instructors.
Besides my love for teaching diving, I love being surrounded by animals when I am out of the water.
Yudi,
Instructor
Hi I’m Yudi, I’ve been living and working on Gili Trawangan since 2004. I started as boat crew but found a love for diving very quickly. I began working as a Divemaster in 2006 and became one of the first few local Instructors on the island in 2010. Working in shops close to the house reef, Bio rocks, I find it by far one of my favorite places to dive. I think it is the best place to find Nudibranches and Frog fish and that’s just one of the many reasons why I love diving this spot.
I still love both teaching and guiding, however, I find myself mentoring more these days. I also have a passion for bird life, taking care of and flying pigeons in my spare time. I love nothing more than spending time with my 2 boys, teaching them how to look after their environment so they can follow in my footsteps.
Heru,
Instructor
Hello to all ocean lovers!
My name is Heru and I would like to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about my life:]
I’m from Lombok and I started working in Gili Trawangan since 2008 as a builder from year to year.I then changed work again to becomming boat crew on the island and that’s where I was exposed to the diving industry.
Little did I know that I will fall head over heels in love with the underwater world and find my new passion! I decided to do my Divemaster in 2014 and that is where it all changed for me. Doing the course was amazing and so much fun, I will never forget it!
I have a big passion for the underwater life and it broke my heart to see it go downhill over the last few years! That’s why I am now involved in protecting our beautiful coral and our amazing reefs and would like to share this breathtaking experience with everyone and get people involved to help us protect our ocean and also find a passion for scuba diving.
As my passion grew for diving I decided to become a Instructor to teach people how to dive aswell as how to protect our ocean and what we can do to make a change! Becoming an Instructor changed my life and I find the biggest joy after a dive when I see the excitement of people and the passion I so much share. Step by step we will form one big family and make a difference in our beautiful underwater world.
I found my passion and the thing that feeds my soul and would love to share this with you!
Atex,
Divemaster
I’m Atex and I’m also from Lombok, I finished my Divemaster last year but I’ve been diving and helping guide since the shop opened. I love diving but I hate being cold! So I don’t enjoy diving in the rainy seasons as much, when temperatures drop down to 26 degrees. My favorite dive site is Shark Point, it’s great to see people’s reaction to seeing sharks for the first time and it never disappoints.
My goals for this year are to become better at spotting macro and maybe invest in a thicker wetsuit!
Iwan,
Divemaster
Hi there, I am Iwan and I'm from Lombok. I started working at Dive Central Gili as an equipment servicing technician.
My first dive was in 2015 and I slowly increased my diving level to the point of becoming a professional Divemaster. I love diving but especially getting to take people around the beautiful sites and show them things they have never seen before. It's great to see people's reactions when they see the views at each dive site and never disappoint. All the dive sites on this island are my favorite because they all have their own beauty to be enjoyed.
My goal for the future is to learn to be even better than before and to become an instructor so I can introduce people to the underwater world.