DSM DIVE : Gili Trawangan, Indonesia

Fantastic experience with DSM!”

My husband and I went to DSM Gili to get our PADI Openwater certification last week. We were toying between 2 dive schools, but on hindsight we couldn't have picked a better place than DSM. Special thanks to our instructor Damien Via and our divemaster Claire. Damien was probably born to be a diving instructor. He has great knowledge and experience and was very patient with me, a nervous newbie at diving and very scared of depths. He was joyful and made sure I learnt at my pace and made learning fun. He was not focused on churning certifications but on individual experience. Damien made sure that we understood the nuances of diving and answered all our questions. He also ensured that we got our share of experience with assembling the gear. The entire DSM team is fun and welcoming and made the entire trip more memorable for us! We had Christmas dinner with this team too! I'd totally recommend DSM Dive and five stars for Damien! Do ask for him, if you go to DSM. I'd follow him for my next dive too! :). Visited December 2013

Fantastic, friendly dive centre focused on safety

My friends and I enjoyed a great stay in Sengiggi last week. We dived a total of four days (8 dives) with the team at DSM Dive and given an amazing experience. They went above and beyond what we expected of them! Firstly, I was in touch with them six months prior to my trip to ask about availability (yes, yes, I may have been gung-ho!). I outlined that all those in my group had different diving needs and they were willing to accomodate. They responded quickly and gave me the necessary information. I wasn't sure if I should stay on Gili T or in Sengiggi - in the end, we opted for Sengiggi. Diving from Gili Trawangan is a little easier as you can walk to the dive shop from anywhere on the little island. But, we wanted something a little calmer so opted for staying in Sengiggi. We had to drive about 30 minutes to the Sengiggi port and then take the 30-50 minute boat ride over to Gili T. Since we were on vacation and our focus was on diving - it wasn't such a big deal - but expect early morning pick-ups and late afternoon drop offs. (Did I mention DSM will do both!?! So great!) We took this travel time as a great opportunity to meet the staff, ask about local culture, listen to some tunes, meet other divers joining that day and see the beautiful scenery on Lombok. Christmas time is the rainy season and DSM was very clear in telling us that many of the dive sites off of Gili Trawangan would be off limits because of the strong currents. Their priority was safety and they didn't want to put anyone at risk, despite them having new, fancy-dancy GPS trackers and walkie-talkies for their dive masters. Apparently other dive shops in the area will take those types of risks and have had accidents in the past. From what we were told, DSM Dive hasn't had any accidents like those (knock on wood!). The team went above and beyond for our group. Even after I finished diving there, I went to them for some medical help and the co-owner, William, loaned me cab fare to get to the hospital. FAR and BEYOND what I expected! They made us feel like part of the family and we have every intention to go back or see them again. The staff at DSM were incredibly friendly, approachable and fun to be around. They have a lot of local staff, including dive masters and the majority of the foreign staff were French nationals. Everyone spoke English well and there was a lot of comraderie between all of them which felt very good as a stranger coming into that world for just a few days. It was really a great environment to be around. As for the diving itself, the groups were small. The biggest group we ever had was about 5 people. The sites felt big enough that no other dive groups were joining our group and there was a lot to see (both micro and macro). We saw turtles on EVERY dive :) Great, great drift diving! Tripadvisor jan 2014