Arif Hamid - Dive Manager

Arif was born and grew up 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 of his lacking English skills. Only after his family and friends pushed him hard in accepting such a life changing opportunity, Arif gave it at try. Initially a shy person, Arifs nightmare came true as his job at the resort was: the 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 in improving his English and Arif worked hard on it. His efforts in both, behind the bar and in speaking English, payed off and if you ask him nicely today, he might pour you a drink at the Pef bar :)

More and more Arif got involved in the diving business 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 helped in 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. 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 an open and very charming person who has always a joke to tell and maintains a harmonic and joyful atmosphere.
Arif speaks Indonesian and English.

Arif:
"I was born and grew up 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!"