Luka Apps, from the UK, has been lucky enough to dive in many places around the world and, only one month after his 12th birthday, gained his Junior Master Scuba Diver™ Rating and completed 100 dives! We caught up with him to find out a little bit more…

Luka Apps MSD and 100 dives

How did you get into scuba diving?

My parents bought me a PADI Bubblemaker™ session for my 9th birthday. I found it fun, exciting and I felt comfortable breathing underwater. I immediately knew this was the thing for me so started doing my PADI Seal Team program until I could do my PADI Junior Open Water Diver certification, which I did shortly after my 10th birthday with Chen at Bandos Maldives.

Who is your favourite dive partner and why?

That’s a really tough one to answer as I have dived with many buddies and each has taught me different things.

How did you go about becoming a Junior Master Scuba Diver at such an early age?

I was really lucky that my parents and I were able to dive in amazing places two or three times a year since I did my PADI Open Water Diver certification. This gave me plenty of dives and I did various specialities along the way so, by the time of our last holiday, I only had my PADI Deep Diver and Underwater Navigator plus PADI Rescue Diver to do to gain my Master Scuba Diver rating. I was lucky enough to be able to do these a few weeks after my 12th birthday with instructor Wong Chen Yet, who I did my PADI Open Water Diver certification with.

Luka Apps and Wong Chen Yet - MSD
Luka Apps and instructor Wong Chen Yet at Bandos Maldives with Luka’s PADI MSD Application.
Photo: Professional Images

 

To gain a PADI Master Scuba Diver rating you have to complete 5 specialities, which was your favourite?

My favourite speciality was AWARE – Fish Identification, which I did with instructor Jacqui Hedley in Malta, because I liked discovering new things about fish and it has helped me learn how to recognise individual species wherever I dive.

You recently did your 100th dive – where has been your favourite place to dive?

My favourite place to dive so far has been the Maldives and in particular a dive site called Stingray City in North Male Atoll. I got to dive with massive groups of huge stingrays and gigantic moray eels of different types. On my last trip to the Maldives I was also lucky enough to see my first ever Manta Ray at the Sunlight dive site.

What does My PADI mean to you?

My PADI has enabled me to explore the underwater world, see animals more clearly and to start to understand how they cooperate and interact with each other. It’s opened up future possibilities for me to become a PADI Instructor or a marine biologist. I hope to gain lots more experience before I do a PADI Divemaster internship somewhere in the world when I’m 18. There is so much to explore!

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