u/DivingTheDream

The last couple of weeks have been a blur of incredible diving. I’ve got loads of photos and videos to share, but I had to start with this one.

It was taken by the hugely talented Michel De Brouwer on an amazing dive on the MV Karwela, during his time with us at dive systems Malta - I rarely get the chance to have a pro photographer take photos of me, so I jumped at being a model for a minute or two. Whats your favourite engine room to photograph?

A different day this end. Four of us picking up rubbish plus Nadine taking photo and watching over us, doing a clean-up dive on our house reef at Exiles, Sliema this week — one hour, single cylinder, two mesh bags each.

Usual haul: bottles, cans, fishing material, a load of old clothing. A car tyre that needed a lift bag. A torn-up oil tank that took two people to shift.

The one that got us talking was a carrier bag printed "100% biodegradable". Still holding its shape, still perfectly usable. It's a fair point that those labels are describing industrial composting conditions and not a seabed — but it does raise the question of who the word is actually aimed at.

Couple of things I'm curious about from people who do this more than we do:

1. We noticed the stretch we dive daily was basically clear, and everything was on the reef just past it. Is that everyone's experience — that regular presence alone keeps a site clean, or were we just lucky, are you doing your bit and pocketing a few items when its safe to do so.

2. For those running regular clean-ups, do you bother sorting or logging what you pull up, or just bag it and bin it? We're wondering whether the data is worth the faff.

3. How do you handle the big stuff? We were kitted for an hour and had to leave more tyres down there. Twinsets and more lift bags next time, but interested what setups people actually use.

Happy to link the write-up with all the photos if anyone wants it — didn't want to lead with a link.

I’m super lucky that as a technical guide I get the chance to dive with skilled divers and talented photographers who always have fun ideas…and would be rude to turn them down right 😂

This was taken by Luca as we played about with how a “buzz the tower” style photo would look. Thanks for your trust, and for not flinching while catching this epic shot!

Diving my XCCR in Gozo Inland Sea.

People ask what I do for work.

This. This is what I do.

XCCR, scooter, swim-throughs in Gozo, and a loop amplifier for my underwater concert nobody asked for.

Not a bad office, to be fair. Bit leaky though… although that might just be my drysuit, which is more Aquasure than fabric at this point.

Are you the one singing into your loop, or the one telling your teammate to shut up?

Love diving with this dude. Luca started as a student and has since become a good friend who comes back every 6 months or so for more dives.

I’ve been experimenting with lighting lately using a pretty basic GoPro setup, and I’m honestly surprised by what you can get with a stable diver, decent positioning, and a bit of patience.

I’ve also been spending more time on my XCCR recently, so balancing getting comfortable on that while guiding and trying to grab shots has been an interesting challenge — but definitely feels like a match made in heaven after investing the time and money into it 😂

For those who’ve dived Malta, what’s your favourite iconic shot location or subject here? Wrecks, caverns, reef scenes, wide angle, whatever. Always curious to see what others have managed to shoot while diving out this way.