5 minutes

One of the dreams I’ve had is working in diverse marine environments, which includes getting cold very often for long periods of time. A way to combat this, is drysuit diving! A drysuit is exactly what it sounds like, a specialised suit that keeps you warm and snug no matter how long underwater you are. So, I headed down to Sydney in NSW to begin upskilling myself in the realm of drysuit diving through various different courses.

You have to crawl before you walk, so I begun with a PADI peak performance buoyancy course at Dive Centre Manly. This course is designed to help you master the BCD (inflating jacket) very well. It’s an extremely helpful course for divers wanting to improve their trim and technique, and it’s a powerful tool for letting photographers get the perfect shot while not flying away from a subject in currents.

Next on the list was a PADI Drysuit course, also at Dive Centre Manly. They taught me what a drysuit is, how it works, and the best practices / emergency exercises you need when using it underwater. Diving becomes a little bit trickier when you body suit is connected to your air source. You need to manage both the jacket containing air on your back and your suit both expanding and contracting as you travel around, to ensure you are in the correct position with the right amount of buoyancy at all times. If you’re not careful, all the air can move towards your legs or head and you fly up to the surface unintentionally.

I was lucky to do both courses at the iconic Shelly beach, a world-class beach famous for its beautiful views and marine life, which sits just a stones throw away from the largest city in Australia.

My next course was a Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) Drysuit Primer course at Dive Centre Bondi. The GUE courses pride themselves on going the extra mile towards training safe and well-equipped divers, and this course was no different.

We headed out in the Sydney harbour and spent around three hours in the water perfecting various techniques. From safely ascending and descending, to masterfully moving around an area with exceptional trim, the continuous practicing they embed into courses means you will never forget the skills you learn which is wonderful. I was a little self-conscious about my trim after my first few dives considering I was only recently certified to dive in this very new way, but GUE helped me clear all of these worries. I want to thank Kieran (pictured below) for running such an awesome course, and also introducing me to the GUE world simultaneously.

I then met up with diving photographer / wonderful human Jayne Jenkins, who showed me the ropes of the best Sydney diving. We headed to Chowder Bay in Clifton Gardens, where we broke a lot of ‘new’ records for me on a few dives throughout the week: longest dive duration (116 mins at max 8 meters), first seahorses, first frog fish, first pygmy leather jacket, I could go on..! It was great being underwater with a titan of photography to dedicate some time to continue building my skills and experience using strobes and a macro-lens.

On the last Friday in town, I was fortunate enough to head out with Pro-Dive Sydney, a company that’s been operating in Sydney for decades. It was my first boat dive in the drysuit after a few practice dives in Clifton gardens, and it went splendidly. We got to hang out with lots of port jackson and wobbegong sharks, blue gropers, my first sea horse (weedy!), and many more animals.

My last stop for the visit was the PADI regional headquarters for Asia-Pacific. I didn’t actually know PADI sponsored the scholarship until I was the recipient, and you can imagine my excitement when I realised I could utilise their immense resources to advance my diving abilities throughout their programs. The team were incredibly open and welcoming to me. I got to meet and pick the brains of the PADI AWARE team about how they embed conservation practices on a global scale through diving which fascinated me. I hope to continue their legacy of safe, environmentally focused diving throughout the rest of my year.

I want to thank the various incredible sponsors that made this trip possible. All of the dive companies I engaged with including PADI, GUE, Dive Centre Manly, Dive Centre Bondi and Pro-Dive Sydney. I had an incredible two weeks diving the best locations in the city thanks to all of your support and generosity! I also want to thank the gear sponsors including Tabata Australia, TUSA, Waterproof, Mako eyewear, and the Fourth Element for providing me with equipment to conquer the marine environment. As always, I want to thank the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society and Rolex for making these incredible opportunities happen.