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Edy Sutanto’s Jakarta is a little different from everyone else’s. As a dive guide on Sepa Island, a 90-minute boat ride from Ancol, he interacts with the city on a level most Jakartans would have a hard time wrapping their heads around.

For everyone else, the island is a getaway, but to Edy it sometimes can feel like ‘a prison.’ But then again when it comes to prisons, they don’t get much better than Sepa, which has pristine reefs and white-sand beaches.

What is your work schedule like? How many days in a row do you stay on Sepa Island before you go home?

I have an irregular schedule. If some tourists want to dive, then I dive. If there aren’t any guests, then I don’t work. It’s that simple. I’m on Sepa for three weeks straight and then I take a week’s vacation.

Where’s home?

My house is in a small village in the mountains in Batang, Central Java.

How many dives do you do a week?

If there are many guests, I dive seven times a week. During the lean season, I do about four dives a week at least.

What are your credentials?

I’m a certified dive guide.

Do you ever get bored on the island?

Sometimes I do. Living and working on a small island can get frustrating sometimes, because you can rarely go anywhere. But I’ve realized that diving is my life. It’s the only way I can earn a living.

What do you think of Jakarta’s tourism industry?

I think the local tourism industry is doing good because a lot of places are being conserved and protected, in particular the dive spots. Now there are many dive operators and dive centers, so it’s not hard to learn how to dive anymore. Jakarta also has a number of great tourist attractions, because special sites like the Thousand Islands are located near Jakarta.

How long have you been diving?

I’ve been diving full-time for two years now.

Island life must be rough. Describe a typical day for you.

I’m up at 6:30 in the morning, sweeping around the dive shop yard. Then I take a shower, have breakfast, check the dive equipment and surf the Internet. Then I go diving, snorkeling or swimming. I also canoe over to the other islands and hang out with my friends. On Saturdays and Sundays, I help people go diving around Sepa Island. At night I just watch TV, check Facebook and then go to sleep at as late as 11 p.m.

What is your favorite place to dive around Sepa?

Kayu Angin and Kuburan Cina.

Do you ever get tired of being on the island?

Sometimes I do, but I’ve learned to manage my expectations about the conditions on the island. Besides, I believe there are a lot of places I can still go to here.

Have you thought about getting an office job?

I think about it sometimes, but it would be boring because I wouldn’t be able to dive as often I could. I’d be far away from the sea and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy nature as much as I wanted.

If you could work anywhere in Jakarta, where would that be?

It’ll still be at a dive center. To me, it really doesn’t matter where I work as long as I get to do what I love the most.

Do you ever get jealous of all the tourists leaving the city to come to your island? Do you wish you could just go back to the city with them?

I’m not jealous of them because I get to dive here every day for free, and when they come here they have to pay. But I am jealous of the tourists’ dive instructors, who live in Jakarta, come here to the island every week and dive anywhere with their guests. When you stay long enough on the island, you start to feel out of touch sometimes.

Does it ever feel like you’re in prison living on Sepa for as long as you have? Everyone leaves but you have to stay.

It can feel that way sometimes because I can’t go anywhere or do anything outside of the island. When my family in Central Java has a problem, I can’t help. When my sister got sick once, I couldn’t go see her because there isn’t a boat that heads out to Jakarta every day. You feel helpless. When there are no tourists on the island, it feels like a prison far, far away from the rest of the world.