Up Close and Personnel with Dive Guide Anton Horman

Some of you may be familiar with our “Up Close and Personnel” Blogs where we get to know some of our staff a little bit better. Have you dived with our Dive Guide Anton yet? Here we find out more about Anton, how he came to work at Murex Dive Resorts and why he loves Passport to Paradise, diving and underwater photography in North Sulawesi!

Anton (full name, Anton Horman) is from the small village of Enemawira on Sangihe Island which forms part of the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. Sangihe is almost directly north of Bangka Island, off the northern most tip of the mainland. Anton grew up in the village and went to school on Sangihe Island until he graduated Senior High School. After graduation, Anton moved to Manado in order to attend the Sam Ratulangi University to study Economics and Business Management.

In 2013 Anton left university early and later went to Surabaya in Java to study at the airport. Anton completed 6 months of airport training before heading to Bali in hope of finding work at Bali’s main airport in Denpasar. Airport work was difficult to find so in the meantime he began helping around the markets and learned about buying and selling clothing in bulk. Being industrious, Anton saw an opportunity and started buying clothing in Bali to ship back to Sangihe to sell. After 6 months of exporting and selling clothing Anton decided to return to his Island home of Sangihe and pursue his favorite pastimes – snorkeling, exploring, photography and being close to the ocean.

Using his technical skills, Anton created an online community for his friends on Facebook, which he used to promote his snorkeling tours. At the time, Anton could only take 2 snorkelers at a time as he recalls that he only had 2 masks!

“Many of my friends wanted to try snorkeling and see the underwater world – and they all wanted to have their pictures taken too”.

These comments inspired Anton to practice his photography and videography skills underwater – which he did with his friend Mario – who had just become a Dive Guide at Murex Dive Resorts. When Murex recruited for Dive Guide trainees, Mario suggested that Anton come along with him to Murex Manado and try out – which Anton did. Now Anton is a Murex Dive Guide and an important part of our team.

Anton remembers that his interview at Murex was on the 11th May 2018 – this is a date he will never forget as it was also his first time speaking English to a foreigner! He was extremely nervous but impressed us with his drive, determination and passions for the both the underwater world and photography.

Why does Anton love working at Murex Dive Resorts?

“I love it that I can meet people from all around the world and that I am always learning more about photography. It’s amazing that I get to dive in three unique locations in North Sulawesi (Bunaken, Bangka, Lembeh) and I am extremely fortunate because Murex encourage me to pursue my underwater photography. When I first tried taking pictures underwater I had just a small camera, now I am able to try out some of the photography equipment which we have for rent, including cameras, housings and strobes – it’s amazing!”.

Anton say that another part of his job which he loves is hearing from guests about their home countries and being able to share with them information about Indonesia and his life here in North Sulawesi.

“It’s incredible to meet so many different nationalities who are all interested in Indonesia”.

Anton is now certified by PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) and he says that he still has a lot to look forward and accomplish. Anton loves taking pictures of macro life and critters and his favorite photography subjects are the Shaun the Sheep nudibranch (Costasiella kuroshimae) and the juvenile pinnate batfish (Platax pinnatus). Anton is also hoping that one day he will see a hairy octopus, a whale shark and a mola!

Anton loves his life here in North Sulawesi and thinks that is an incredible region for guests from overseas to explore:

“We have amazing dive sites with so much diversity – wall diving, reefs and muck diving and the people of North Sulawesi are famous because they are always smiling! When people are not diving there is also so much to see and explore including mountains, volcanoes, lakes and villages. There is still a lot that I want to see and do too – I really want to try paragliding!”

When we asked Anton what his plans are for the future, he says that he wants to upgrade to a Sony A9 mirrorless camera with Nauticam housing and strobes, buy a Phantom 4 Pro+ Drone with LCD screen – and really big memory cards and hard disks to save his images on!

When Anton is not diving he is usually exploring North Sulawesi with his camera himself. If he is not taking underwater images, Anton also likes land photography – especially landscape pictures of the city with low shutter speeds.

Anton and our team of Dive Guides all share a passion for the underwater world of North Sulawesi and they have extensive knowledge of the marine life which is found here. Every Murex Dive Guide is trained in marine biology and underwater photography and they are happy to answer any questions you may have.

Are you planning your next trip to North Sulawesi? Why limit yourself to one diving area in North Sulawesi when you can dive three in one phenomenal trip? Bunaken -> Bangka -> Lembeh: Dive the staggering coral walls of the Bunaken Marine Park, explore Bangka island’s kaleidoscopic reefs and discover the World’s best muck diving in the Lembeh Strait. Boat diving transfers from resort to resort mean no wasted travel days – just dive your way around some of Indonesia’s richest dive sites.

To make a booking or for more information contact us on: [email protected]

We look forward to diving North Sulawesi with you soon!