‘Aaaaaaaariba arriba’ is screeched by Rizal our snorkelling guide as we return to Tiger Blue, ‘Aloha’ as we board, and ‘Terimakasi’ (thank you in Indonesian) as we head back to our cabins. Onboard Rizal goes by the name of Escobar, is convinced he is from Caracas albeit born in Sumatra, looks like an Indonesian James Brown, and has the power to make the entire crew and guests to burst into laughter at any time. Identity crisis aside he is immediately a crowd favourite.

Rizal has been working on boats for over 20 years, and on Tiger Blue he is both the technician and snorkelling guide. He is truly in his element when in the water. Mesmerising to watch and reminiscent of a traditional Tahitian peal diver, he holds his breath for minutes as he moves graciously alongside schools of fish or giant Manta Rays as if thats where he really belongs. His excitement at spotting things he has obviously seen many times before is extremely contagious and brings the world under the sea alive. Without this man we might not have seen numerous turtles, swam amongst dozens of giant manta’s, or snorkelled some best reefs I have ever seen…

When we have reached our quota of tropical marine life for the morning Rizal announces ‘OK, enough!’ and with that we are done! As we paddle back to our boat Rizal starts to sing another classic Indonesian pop hit… and as one of my fellow travellers put it “I just can’t get enough of this guy”.