Instructor/MSDT
Year of Professional Certification: 1992
PADI Level: Master Scuba Diver Trainer
About Me: With over 34 years of diving experience, Julie’s lifelong dedication to marine science, conservation, and education has inspired countless students, divers, and fellow adventurers around the world. Whether developing innovative educational programs, exploring the waters of the Gulf of California, or teaching the next generation of ocean stewards, she continues to share her passion with curiosity, warmth, and purpose. Her remarkable career reflects not only a deep love for the ocean, but also an enduring commitment to protecting and understanding it for generations to come.
Favorite Dive Destination: Cocos Island is legendary for exactly that reason — it’s one of the few places where the biomass in the water feels almost unreal. A comparison to the Monterey Bay Aquarium because the visibility and density of marine life can feel more like a curated exhibit than open ocean. Massive schools of hammerheads, yellowfin tuna, clouds of jacks, and lobsters out in the open instead of hiding — that’s what a truly protected marine ecosystem looks like when it has decades to recover and thrive. Combining Tonga with Fiji in the same trip is hard to top. Snorkeling with humpback whales in Tonga alone is a bucket-list experience, then shifting into Fiji’s macro and reef diversity gives you a complete style of diving. Seeing creatures like the Blue-Ribbon Eel, Ornate Ghost Pipefish, Leaf Scorpionfish, and Mantis Shrimp on one trip says a lot about how healthy and varied those reefs are. Very few divers get both at that level. Marine protected areas really do prove their value in places like these. When fishing pressure is limited and habitats are preserved, the ocean can still look astonishingly alive.
Favorite Marine Animal: Mola Mola / Sunfish and the Leafy Sea Dragon! I taught Scuba in Southern Australia and on every Open Water Dive my students got to see the Leafy Sea Dragon!
Favorite Dive Gear: Recently, I replaced my 25-year-old gear with the new Aqualung Axiom BCD and Aqualung computer. Still love my 25 yr old Mares fins and Tusa mask and snorkel.