If there was a world record for the people with the most beautiful smiles, I would personally consider population of Indonesia for the award. In fact I will never forget the warmth of all the wonderful people I met in Manado, Indonesia, while on an adjudication recently.

On the 16 and 17 of August, thousands of scuba divers gathered at Malalayang beach in Manado, North Sulawesi, with the aim of setting a new Guinness World Records™ feat for the largest scuba diving lesson and to break the existing world record for the most people scuba diving simultaneously, previously set by 958 scuba divers off the Maldives in 2006.

Formed by the world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia includes more than 17,000 islands and is renowned worldwide for the immense beauty and range of its marine biodiversity.

Divers off Manado can see over 70% of all fish species that exist in the Indo-Western Pacific, and it is no surprise that divers who have swum in the clear Indonesian sea remain awe-struck by the experience.

So it wasn't such a hard task for Commodore Iskandar Sitompul of the Indonesian Navy to attract volunteers to participate the largest scuba diving lesson with an impressive total of 2,465 scuba divers on 16 August. The following day  an even bigger contingent of divers, 2,486 in total, went head-first into the most people scuba diving simultaneously record attempt.

The scuba lesson included instruction on some basic scuba diving techniques, such as the mask recovery, and to make the dive on 17 of August even more special the event's organizers conducted a full ceremony underwater to celebrate the 64th anniversary of Indonesian independence.

Once the divers reached the bottom of the sea, a depth of about 15 meters, they all watched as Vice Admiral Moekhlas Sidik M.P. raised the red and white Indonesian flag underwater.

The divers paid respect to the flag and prayed silently together as the event was broadcasted live on TV and reported by a huge number of national and international journalists present at the event.

It was a touching experience and a very special way of celebrating the 64th national day of such a lively country.

I was particularly impressed by how well organized both record attempts were. There were no delays, no accidents and no last minutes surprises: everything was just perfect.

It was for me a great honour to award two official Guinness World Records certificates to the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy Admiral Tedjo Edhy Purdijatino S.H. during a ceremony in the evening. 

19 August 2009