Your Internship Experience - Our Team
Blue Season Bali employs the most active professional development staff in the region. You will be learning directly from our senior staff during your internship in order to gain the maximum skills and knowledge during your time here in Bali. Please allow me to introduce some of the key members of our team.
Everyone you see here is a full time employee of Blue Season Bali. We do not employ part timers for our professional development programs. Our candidates deserve- and receive- 100% dedication.
Professional Internship Manager - Dr. Neil Chamberlin
At the day-to-day helm of the divemaster internship program is Dr. Neil Chamberlin. Neil comes to us with years and years of experience in diving, having taught previously in Europe and Central America. Neil's previous life saw him working as a Chartered Civil Engineer specializing in Maritime and Coastal Engineering. His work also involved commercial diving, in which is also highly qualified. Neil now enjoys living in Bali and working directly with our divemaster internship program.In September of 2011, Neil joined the team as our Internship Manager. Originally from the UK, he was most recently working as a resort manager and dive instructor in Roatan, Honduras. Diving around the world for over 20 years, he brings with him a wealth of experience as an instructor and a passion for diving- whether that be cold green waters of the UK or in warm blue waters of destinations further afield.
Neil’s passion is anything to do with water, from his career as a Coastal and Maritime Engineer to his current profession as a dive instructor. He is also a keen sailor and has represented Great Britain at numerous world championships in both dinghies and yachts.
Platinum PADI Course Director - Jonathan Cross
CD Jonathan Cross is one of the owners/directors of Blue Season Bali and has been diving in Indonesia for over a decade. He is directly involved with all aspects of professional training here and loves to find any excuse to get out of the office and into the water!Originally from England, Jonathan's educational background is in Chemical Engineering and he applies his analytical skills to help identify strengths and weaknesses in each developing candidate. A counseling session from Jonathan always leaves a candidate inspired, motivated and well-informed about the work which needs to be done.
When he is not diving or watching the football, Jon enjoys spending time with his two young children.
PADI CD and Technical Instructor Trainer - Tom West 
Yep, that's me. I'm a lifelong geek and I can probably answer that crazy question you have about decompression theory or dive physics. As I mentioned in the introduction, I'm ultimately responsible for the technical and professional development programs here at Blue Season Bali. My time is now largely dedicated to running our series of websites, teaching IDCs and conducting technical diver training.
I grew up in the United States and have lived in Asia for the past six years- diving, traveling and teaching.
I've been living in Bali and teaching for Blue Season Bali for the last three years and it's the best place I have found so far in my adventures. My educational background is varied, but major emphases were in Mechanical Engineering and Philosophy. I started my first company in 2000 and exited that venture before leaving the country in 2005.
My current passions in diving are technical decompression, the location of new wreck projects and mapping previously unknown underwater cave systems. Naturally, I love teaching and sharing these passions with other divers.
When I'm not teaching, I enjoy playing guitar and trying to beat Jon Cross at pool. If you can beat him, you're a better man than I!
Master Instructor - Wakaba Toyoma
Wakaba-san is another owner/director here at Blue Season Bali. She founded the business in 2001 with a small budget and a big dream. Wakaba has worked hard with the help of her partners Jon and Mark to see it grow into Bali's top dive operator.
Wakaba-san coordinates our Japanese internship participants, IDC candidates, and daily diving guests. Usually found in the office, Wakaba can assist with all manner of logistics and the ins-and-outs of living in Bali. She is also responsible for being the primary contact point for our female interns. Wakaba understands that sometimes a woman just needs to speak to a woman- she's here for you.
Wakaba is married to company director and veteran boat skipper Sila. They have a beautiful young daughter named Kotoha.
Master Instructor - Ikuma Aoyama
Ikuma-san is another key member of our professional develompent team here at Blue Season Bali. He has lived in Bali for five years now, teaching diving to divers of all levels full-time. Ikuma is our Japanese liaison for the divemaster and IDC programs and has applied to attend the 2012 Course Director Training Course in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. He is highly organized and has become an invaluable asset to our IDC and internship programs here at Blue Season Bali.
Plus many others!
The individuals listed above comprise our senior professional development staff. Our total professional dive staffing numbers vary throughout the year, but it averages at around 20 at any given time. This includes professional instructors and divemasters from Indonesia and all over the world. Each one of these members has something special to add to our business- and your education. Remember, you will be working side by side with our team to learn what it really means to be a scuba diving professional during your internship here at Blue Season Bali.Heard enough?
Contact me now to get things started! I'll get back to you straight away and will try to answer any questions as thoroughly as possible.If you're still not quite sure, just click to see what your day-to-day scuba diving internship will be like! We are here to answer any question you may have about our internship courses.