For many years, SCUBA diving was very much a male-orientated sport, in fact to be more precise, full of macho-types who saw themselves as striding forth and wrestling with the forces of nature, armed with spear-guns and knives the length of your arm. Which I guess was a natural progression as SCUBA diving did originate from the military forces.

More recently, partly due to environmental issues, not to mention a hint of education, and the onset of peace (well… relatively speaking), the style of diving has undergone a dramatic change in perspectives. Maybe partially as a result of this, though more probably due to a little help from our ever broadening spirits, the sport has become more and more popular amongst women.

Throughout diving history past and present, there have been numerous women who have breached the aquatic boundaries, some of whom I feel needed a mention here:


Simone Cousteau:
Who was involved with the original aqualung trials with Jaques, and bizarrely was the missing link through her father that enabled him to develop the demand valve, without which diving would remain a very different activity to the one we have now.

Lotte Haas:
Who was one of the first women to bring diving into the public eye. She convinced her husband Hans that she would make the best underwater photographic assistant for him, so joined his team and aside from her obviously valuable input to the programmes, could quite possibly be the original diving eye candy. And let's face it, sex sells.

Evelyn Bartram Dudas: Still an active wreck and cave diver, she was one of the first women to dive the Andrea Doria, also one of the the first women to venture forth in the use of mixed gas diving.

Dr. Eugenie Clark: Otherwise known as the shark lady, world renowned ichthyologist. (one who studies the fundamental basics of fish life in the lab and in the field) She is currently involved in two projects, both of which are detailed in her link above.

Tanya Streeter: contsantly pushing the limits of freediving multiple world record holder, I have begun to lose track of her achievements! She is now being studied by scientists researching breathing disorders such as apnea, curious as to how her body can survive so long without breathing. Find out more about her incredible training schedule here: Aside from this, she has single-handedly brought diving and the aquatic world into the living rooms of many through her numerous television programmes.

Audrey Mestre:
who sadly died attempting to beat Tanya's no limits record. Despite reaching a depth of 171M, she died on her return to surface.

Do you know of a woman diver, who may not be changing the world, but is making a go of it working in the industry in one way or another? If she wants to share her story, do drop us a line. It maybe that she is working as an instructor, or involved with a conservation project, or maybe she has just begun diving against the odds.

Here is our first member of this special club: Amanda. Who has been working as an instructor out in Sharm el Sheikh on and off for several years now.

Eventually over a few too many glasses of wine and some seriously tasty toffee vodka… I got together with Jilly who not only taught Amanda to dive, she has ventured into the realm of technical diving, the dark side. Find out from her that whilst it is seriously challenging, it is not quite as dark as you might think. However the really dark stuff is what she has been doing of late. Yes Jilly has been learning to cave dive. And by cave, we don't mean a piddly little cavern where you can still see a hint of daylight, we mean proper dark caves and tunnels! Follow her progress here.

We also have Kay who recently learned how to venture a little further in diving with her advanced nitrox and extended range courses. So inspired was she that she went on to complete both the Deco Procedures and Extended Range courses straight afterwards.

And last but by no means least, we now have our own celebrity diver: Nina Priesner who completed the deepest wreck dive for a woman ever with her 165M dive on the Yolande Wreck here in Sharm el Sheikh in May 2007.

If you know someone who has been missed off our list, do drop us a line. Help make this site the first stop for all you women divers out there. (Ok… you blokes can join in too, we would hate to be accused of excluding you)

Feel inspired? Got someone to add to our list? Then drop us a line:

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