Director of Instructor Development - PADI Course Director / EFR Instructor Trainer
Full-Time
Martin has been diving since the mid 1980's, starting in the UK and then eventually doing his instructor exam in 1992. Since then Martin has been actively teaching in the UK and diving all over the world. He reached his goal of Course Director in 2003, and set up dive centres in both the UK and Europe prior to developing and opening our inland dive site, the Blue Lagoon, which enabled him to map his experience in all aspects of diving into our Instructor Development Courses. Martin is currently focused on running an active instructor development calendar across our two dive centres in addition to teaching instructor courses for other centres in the UK, Malta, the Red Sea and Turkey, achieving gold and platinum status within the Course Director frequent trainer program for many years. His passion remains with technical & rebreather diving and he has recently added Truk Lagoon to his experience. So, whether your interest is becoming an instructor or technical/wreck diving, Martin's the one to speak to.
Business Manager - PADI Course Director / EFR Instructor Trainer
Full-Time
As the Business Manager at Above & Below and a PADI Course Director and lecturer at the University of Hull, Sharon strives to keep a professional and organised atmosphere whilst moving the dive centres forward, and retaining our high standards within the diving industry. Sharon enthuses the new and up and coming instructors to provide a fun and exciting learning experience for students of the future, but with her passion for environmental awareness, having gained a Masters Degree in Aquatic Biodiversity, Conservation & Monitoring, she is always focused on promoting the environmental awareness elements of our dive programs in addition to promoting and developing our academic programs for schools and universities. Sharon has been diving since 1992, and has racked-up thousands of dives all over the world. Still, one of her favourite places remains St Abbs on the UK North East Coast, where you will always find her routing for her favourite critter - nudibranchs!
PADI Staff Instructor / EFR Instructor
As one of our earliest Instructor candidates Rob is always willing to give a helping hand to anyone who needs a little help. Frequently giving up his own time to help out and always keen to 'muck in' Rob puts his own brand on our diver training.
Triathlon and Open Water Swimming Coach
Full-Time
Morgan has been leading the development of triathlon and open water swimming for over 10 years. Having seen the good, the bad and the ugly of sport he has a passion to help athletes, participants and other coaches develop using simple yet effective methods learnt from both his work in sport and in his previous incarnation as a business development manager in the commercial sector.
- British Triathlon Level 3 Coach
- BTF/ASA Coach Education Tutor & Assessor
- British Triathlon Coach Mentor
Service Technician
Peter is our resident Service Technician - any regulator, BCD, computer, valve or shiny thing you need fixing or servicing, Pete's the man. He's been SCUBA diving since 2005, but his main passion remains with cave diving, having attended courses with some of the major players in this area. His favourite diving remains the Forest of Dean, South Wales. It can be difficult to spot Pete due to the speed he walks at, which does break the site speed limit!
Jack Russell
Deco is our little Jack Russell who skips around and loves nothing more than to bark at the rescue boat when we test the engines. Like any good terrier he even gives chase when the boat heads out on to the lagoon! He often joins Divers for the short walk from the office to the water, and you can usually find him catching a lift on one of the stand-up paddleboards!
Fruit Loop!
Zara was rescued by us in 2016, from a life of abuse. She is simply adorable but is rather anxious around people at times. For this reason you will quite often find her tucked away in the office where she is less likely to be stressed. She does say hello and loves a fuss!