Arif Hamid - Dive Manager
I was born and raised in Wakatobi, Sulawesi. School was never his passion, so he left university after a few months and worked as a mechanic. That's when he met a guy from the Wakatobi resort who offered Arif a job. But Arif didn't want to work with foreigners because he lacked English skills. Only after his family and friends pushed him hard into accepting such a life changing opportunity, Arif gave it at try. But then, being a shy person, Arif's nightmare came true as his job at the resort was - barman!
Arif wanted to quit the job after his first day, but it seemed that the managers wanted to keep him desperately. He got help to improve his English and worked hard on it. His efforts in both behind the bar and English payed off and if you ask him nicely today, he might pour you a drink at the Pef bar :) Arif got more and more involved in diving and in 2004, he became a Dive Master in Wakatobi. But Raja Ampat called for him so in 2008, Arif went to the four kings for the first time. Here, he contributed to building up different dive centers and finally became a Dive Instructor. When Arif came to Pulau Pef in 2013, he immediately knew that this was the place for him to stay. It is also where he met his future wife Lia and in the meantime, they have a little daughter and a little son. Arif knows the dive sites in Raja Ampat like the back of his hand an has a vast experience in the diving industry. After several years at our resort, he became our Dive Manager in 2017. Arif is a charming person who manages to create a harmonic and joyful atmosphere and always has a joke up his sleeve. Arif speaks Indonesian and English. Arif:
"I was born and raised in a very nice place, but now I am really living in paradise. The rich nature all around, the people here who became my family - I am very happy to share all those amazing memories with you!" |