Time flies so quickly. It’s already been 6 months that I am enjoying my nice office on the beach. I am now settled into the job. As with every job I am kept busy with lots of things (developing education material for the resort staff, contributing to the regular WiseOceans newsletters, developing new and exciting activities for guests) but my favourite thing is of course being in the water. Every time you go out on the sea it is a new adventure.
One skill that I have developed whilst at Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita is being more comfortable in communicating with guests from all over the world and from lots of different backgrounds. When I started, I wasn’t totally confident about meeting the guests’ expectations and I worried about being too shy at formal gatherings like the Management Cocktails evening. But by observing my colleagues and other staff, I can see that all you need is to love what you do and share it with guests with passion and enthusiasm. Asking a few friendly questions about their experience of snorkeling and encouraging them to find out more about the amazing marine life of Mauritius soon puts everyone at ease. It doesn’t matter what your background is or where you come from, everyone loves to learn something new and I love to share my knowledge of my home country.
I’ve done a total of 78 snorkeling trips. It is so much fun doing the Reef Discovery Snorkel and all the time you see different things. One of my best snorkels was when I saw a hawksbill sea turtle (they are a rare sight where we snorkel) and also a few times I saw some great barracudas. Recently, there has been a school of big eye barracudas pretty much at the same place which is great for showing guests. My best snorkel is when it is high tide, as I can bring the guest to a special place that is accessible only during high tide. I call it the ‘anemone garden’ and there’s just SO MANY anemones and anemonefish – everyone loves it!
I get so many types of guests from dive masters to non-swimmers and it was always so interesting to bring them along for snorkeling. I have also taken out a lot of kids that have never snorkeled. They were scared to start with but once they put their head in the water, they realize that they can breathe and they are not sinking they really enjoy the snorkeling and observing the fish around them. Whether they are kids or adults – if they’ve never snorkeled or are non-swimmers, my tried and tested technique is to make them hold on to the boat, get used to having their head in the water and doing a nice and calm breathing, once they feel comfortable, they are ready to go. It works every time!
Up to now, all the guests really enjoy the trip and they really love to learn about the marine life. They also really enjoy the cool facts of each fish and corals. And that’s what inspired them and also want to know more about the ocean. My motivation for the coming months is to encourage more guests to do our Marvellous Mangrove Snorkel and make them see the beauty of this underestimated ecosystem.
