Eva | PADI Divemaster
Eva was our very first Divemaster candidate and pioneered the internship that later became the standard for many others. She immediately set the bar high and has thus earned a special place in our Hall of Fame.
Hey, I'm Eva!
I'm from Zevenbergen in the Netherlands, and my diving adventure began at Porto Mari during a holiday in 2021, between the two corona lockdowns. That's where I got my Open Water certification with Joost, and honestly, I already knew then that this wouldn't be just a one-time trip.
What if I wanted to dive more and maybe live on Curaçao for a while? Was that possible? It turned out it was. In October 2021, when the world was slowly emerging from the pandemic and Curaçao was one of the few places Dutch people could still travel to, I came back. It was busy, it was lively, and I decided to seize my chance. I came for a few months to do my Advanced and Rescue courses and immediately continued with my Divemaster training—all still within the PADI system. I was supposed to stay for four months, but it ended up being six.
In March, I went back home, but I was already making plans to return. That same year, in November and December, I was back again for two months. And in March 2024, there was a third period of a month.
As the very first Divemaster candidate, I was a bit of a test case for everything that would come after. Together, we figured out what worked, what such an internship could look like, and how you could grow in guiding dives. During that time, I grew into a dive guide and got to take many guests underwater—something I enjoyed immensely.
Back then, we still had the tough blue Ford F150 pickup. With it, I drove all over the island: to dive sites, to clients, to new adventures. Together, we were a striking duo—the small blonde Eva and the big blue beast. During those periods, I really saw every corner of the island and experienced so much with the team. Beautiful and even more beautiful moments, and everything in between.
These days, I live in the Netherlands again, but I travel the world with my vegan lifestyle company Eef Beleeft, with which I organize cooking clinics, workshops, and retreats. Curaçao is still on my schedule a few times a year, and when I'm on the island, I almost always make time for a dive and a visit to Porto Mari. Some places just always feel a bit like home.