I am currently affiliated with Scubatech NWFL in Destin, Florida. My primarily responsibility is in teaching Basic Open Water Diver Courses, Advanced Open Water, and leading Discover Divers. I also dive master, guiding recreational divers in the Gulf of Mexico and offer continued training for my students, as they advance into Speciality Courses, Rescue Diver or Dive Master programs.

As an instructor, I take pride in helping my students gain the skills and confidence to become an independent diver - someone who is able to plan, prepare, and execute a dive in a buddy team, while understanding and respecting their limits to assure fun and safety. 

For more information, please see the Scubatech company page and don't hesitate to text me at 504.758.9192 to set up an appointment to chat on the phone. 

MY DIVING STORY:

I started my dive training in 2015 by doing a discover dive in Tulanben, Bali, Indonesia along with my sister Anni. At the moment, I had no idea that this new activity I had always wanted to try, was going to lead me to a whole new life. I was excited about diving and decided to travel to Saudi Arabia to get certified just four months later. 

Anni and I after our first dive in Paradise Dive Resort, Tulanben, Bali

In December of 2015, I completed Open Water Diver and Advanced Open Water diver courses with Desert Sea Divers, under the instruction of Mohammed Mostafa Kattoah and stayed in Saudi Arabia to practice my diving for the following month. I had no plans of becoming a professional at the moment. I simply wanted to be able to enjoy diving with my mom, who had been diving for almost 15 years. 

Sheraton Beach Resort, Abhur, Saudi Arabia

What happened next wasn't really planned. As a person, who loves to learn, I got hooked into studying diving and still with no plans of becoming a professional diver, I wanted to learn more and decided to sign-up for the Rescue Diver course and the Dive Master program the following winter. I returned to Saudi Arabia in December of 2016 and took the Rescue Diver Course partnering with my mom under the direction of Ali Sakee Mambra of Desert Sea Divers. We swallowed a a whole lot of salt water that week acting out each scenario with the passion comparable with the best Broadway actors and we both walked away more confident and more prepared to handle emergency situations. I stuck around for a month to dive with mom and I worked on my underwater photography skills taking one of my favorite above water hobbies below the surface.

Red Sea, Jeddah Coast 

After spending December in Saudi Arabia, I flew back home to New Orleans for a day, repacked my bags, and headed to Bali, Indonesia to start in the Dive Master program with Bali Atlantis, in Sanur in January of 2017. 

The experience training and interning with Atlantis was incredible. The organization and professionalism at the training center were impressive and the instructors, who were trained by and worked under the supervision of Patrick Tassin were demanding, yet encouraging. I learned everything from how to organize an incredibly busy dive operation with daily dives to numerous sites along the East Coast of Bali and to Penida and Lembongan Islands to diving the fantastic currents of Indonesia. I experiences every type of boat dive from modern, perfectly set up dive boats to tiny three seated local traditional boats and saw some of the most incredible wildlife in the world. The team at Atlantis was spirited and we had a great time learning and diving together. Prior to heading to Bali, I had imagined Dive Master being my final step in scuba training but during my internship with Atlantis, I realized that I wanted to learn more. When I left Bali two month later, I knew I wanted to do the Instructor Developement Course (IDC) and I knew that I wanted to complete it with Patrick Tassin, the Course Director in charge of training at Bali Atlantis. 

Soon after returning home, I signed up to do the IDC in December of 2017. I contacted Patrick Tassin and found out that this IDC would be ran out of Lutwala Dive in Gili Travangan, Indonesia. I was excited about the opportunity to visit a new island and to learn from a different team of divers. I spent the following few months preparing for the winter, as I decided to stay in Indonesia for four months the following winter. 

Just the instructions on how to get to Gili Trawangan after arrival in Bali, made the journey exciting. I received a message from Lutwala Dive that instructed me to take a taxi from the Dempasar airport to Sanur and stay there for a night. The following morning, a driver would pick me up to take me about two hours North, to Padang Bai, where I would board a ship that would stop at three other island, before arriving in Gili Trawangan. Once there, I was to walk up the beach (apparently, there was no dock or pier in Gili T) with my bags and look for a horse and buggy ride because this island had no motorized vehicles and barely any paved roads. I was to tell the driver that I needed to get to the North side of the island and look for Lutwala Dive. 

When I arrived in Gili Tavangan, I was stunned by the little horse that was going to carry me, my two huge suitcases full of dive gear and study materials, my carry-on, and a backpack. I was sure that the "My Little Pony" wasn't going to be able to handle the load nor would we be able to fit all that in the little buggy behind the "horse." Surprisingly, the little horse managed through sandy paths through coconut palm forests and flooded, muddy trails just fine, pulling us so hard, I had to hang on tight not to fall off the sides and I soon arrived at Lutwala - my home for the next four months. 

I found Gili Twawangan and it's neighboring islands of Gili Meno, Gili Air, and Lombok to be far more interesting than I had imagined. Gili T was a mere 4.25 miles around with stunning views on all sides and curious sub-cultures in each part of the island. 

Volcanoes on both sides of of the island. The first is Mt. Rinjani on the island of Lombok and the second one is the holy Mt. Agung on Bali, which was erupting during my time in Gili T. 

That winter and spring was full of excitement and my IDC was just the beginning. I soon found out that Patrick Tassin lived up to his reputation of being an excellent and demanding course director. He ran one of the longest IDCs and made sure that we were fully prepared to succeed in the Instructor Exam (IE). By the time we completed our training and got on our bicycles to ride to the first day of examinations, we were quite relaxed in knowing that we were more than prepared for the things to come. 

After completing the IE, I stayed in Southeast Asia through the spring. After a few weeks in Singspore, Vietnam, and Bali, I returned to Lutwala Dive and continued to extend my stay there. I was able to intern and co-teach with more senior instructors, and eventually graduated into independent teaching certifying my first Open Water and Advanced Open Water students. 

To complete my spring in Indonesia, my mom joined me in Bali for us to complete the SSI Solo diver course with Patrick Tassin leading us and we headed to Komodo National Park for some additional fun diving before returning home. During my time training with Patrick, I had decided to continue on to tech diving and he instructed me to get some more diving experience to continue to work on my skills until I was ready for tech. 

For the next couple of years, I continued the cycle of running my business in New Orleans for 7-9 months out of the year and traveling and diving the rest of the year. I was gaining experience and confidence in diving, while enjoying long stents of time in the tropics. When the pandemic started, I knew that I needed to leave New Orleans, so my husband and I packed our things and began to look for a new home in June of 2020. By Mach of 2021, we landed in Destin Florida for an opportunity he received in entertainment and I found my home in teaching diving for Scubstech NWFL in the Destin Harbour. After all those years of training with no plans of actually working in diving, here I was, loving every minute of teaching it and challenging myself to become a better instructor! Unknowingly, I had prepared myself for my new life in Florida. 

I have taught a lot of things in my life but so far, diving is my favorite thing to teach. To see a student get excited on their first open water dive is a thrill for me and I love seeing their hesitation turn into confidence. 

Currently, I am expanding my services from teaching diving to also teaching swimming because I have noticed that a lot of students come to their first scuba class lacking confidence in their basic water skills. In October 2022, I will be certified to be a mermaid instructor because I also love freediving and mermaiding will make freediving lessons just that much more magical. On a serious note, I also see a need to assure that people don't get themselves hurt assuming that putting on a mermaid tail will suddenly make them expert swimmers. 

By next year, I plan to get back on track with my own continued scuba training by finally starting in the tech diving line. 

I hope to see you soon Under-the-Sea!