Staff profiles
Dive Otago staff are highly trained diving professionals, dedicated to providing you with the knowledge, skills and equipment needed to explore the underwater world.
Dive Otago staff make diving FUN! They have been selected for their personal teaching qualities and diverse skills in such areas as Photography, Marine Search and Rescue, Marine Biology, Freediving and Spearfishing. They have dived around the world and love to share their diving passion with you!
Dave and Mary Watson
Directors
Dave Watson— a well known New Zealand diving identity — services equipment at Dive Otago, drives charter boats and oversees company progress. As a PADI Course Director with over 25 years in the industry Dave has extensive knowledge and experience in all aspects of Diver training and company management.
Mary Watson has been involved with all aspects of Dive Otago's administration since its inception and has been a keen recreational diver with a wealth of experience leading dive trips in Fiordland, Stewart Island and many Pacific Island destinations.
Barbara Hawkins
Financial Administrator
Jen Clent
Tertiary Programmes Manager: Responsible for management of tertiary training programmes.jpg)
- IDC Staff Instructor
- Technical diver: Nitrox, Cave, Extended deep
- Started Diving in: 1996
- Fav dive sites: Cenote Diving, Mexico: Thistlegorm Wreck, Red Sea
- Fav Uw critter: Turtle
- Places dived: Galapagos Islands, Mexico, Belize, Canada, Red Sea, Fiji, Tonga, Turkey, Otago Coast, Stewart Island, Milford Sound, Lake Alta (Ice), Poor Knights
- Specialty Instructor: Naturalist, Navigation, Multilevel, Drift, Wreck
Virginia Watson
Marketing Manager Virginia has been diving since 1995 and has been involved with Dive Otago since it opened its doors in 1996. " As an artist, diving is an hugely inspirational experience for me, gathering new unusual forms, colours and textures to fill my image bank is one of my favourite passtimes. I find that diving perfectly complements many of my other pass times including photography, surfing and yoga.
- PADI Rescue Diver
- Started Diving in: 1995
- Fav dive site: Sheraton Caverns, Kauai HAWAII
- Fav Uw critter: Starfish
- Places dived: Otago Coast , Milford Sound, Pupu Springs, Koh Tao - Thailand, Hawaii
Tracey Channon
- Open Water Scuba Instructor
- Qualified research diver
- MSc Marine Science Otago University
- Started Diving in: 2006
- Fav dive sites: White Island
- Fav Uw critter: Slipper lobster (underwater giant cockroach!)
- Places dived: Fiji, Otago Coast, Stewart Island, Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, White Island
- Specialty Instructor: Deep, Digital Photography, Navigation, Search & Recovery, Night
Adam Illingworth
Adam has a passion for all marine life and is rarely caught underwater without his camera, had recently just become an amateur spear fisherman, and is always keen for a dive anytime anywhere.
- Tertiary instructor
- Master scuba diver trainer
- Specialties: Underwater Naturalist, Night, Deep, Marine ID, Digital underwater photography
- Started diving: 2009
- Favourite dive site: Greenstone point in Milford sound
- Fav underwater critter: Wobbegong shark
- Places dived: Otago coast, Milford sound, Mikhail Lermontov, Stewart island, Remarkable (ice dive)
Garrath McArley
- Open Water Scuba Instructor
- Specialities: Night, Deep, Search & Recovery, Drysuit, Boat
- Fav dive sites: Akatore Reef
- Fav underwater critter: Octopus
- Places dived: Otago Coast
