When someone’s passion gives a birth to a fascinating project that inspires thousands of people. This is a beautiful story of Sarah Richard which passion for scuba diving transformed into the largest online community of Girls That Scuba. GTS gathers together women passionate about scuba diving. We were lucky to talk with Sarah and listen to her story.
D: Hi, Sarah! Nice to meet you! It’s a pleasure to have an opportunity to talk to you personally. So tell us how did all this started, how long have you been diving?
S: Hi My pleasure! Mmm, nearly 10 years now. I first started in 2008 doing my discover scuba dive in the Maldives.
D: I know you worked as a divemaster on liveaboard for a while, tell us a little bit more about this experience. What was the main challenge being on a boat and what was the main reward for you personally?
S: I worked in Micronesia, a little known island in the Pacific Ocean as a Divemaster in the beginning of 2015. It boasts some of the best diving in the world, and only very few divers are lucky enough to visit each year. I worked on board a huge liveaboard, SS Thorfinn in Truk Lagoon, and lived, ate and breathed diving for months. It tough, but great fun working on a liveaboard – you get used to doing 4/5 dives a day, sleeping early and waking up at sunrise. The dive sites are spectacular, clear waters, WWII wrecks and planes, sharks and marine life galore. It’s easily some of the best diving in the world. I’d say the main challenge was constantly being on board a boat – never being on land, and not having any where to ‘escape’. But diving became my ‘escape’ and I developed an even larger passion for it during my time on board.
D: Why go diving on a liveaboard is so special and different from daily diving?
S: You get to dive and see so much more, for me, liveaboards are the ultimate diving trip. Diving all times of the day, in multiple locations allow you to discover so much more than you would from shore diving. There’s a lot less hassle too – your equipment is all in one place for the whole duration, so all you’ve got to do is wake up from your nap and dive straight in.
D: If you had to pick just one outstanding dive (or at least dive destination) from your whole experience, which one would it be? What was so special about it?
S: Deep South in Egypt – on liveaboard of course. Actually that’s the only way you can do. The Red Sea has it all, and each and every dive provides something new, different and exciting! You can expect dolphins, sharks, mantas and everything in between. It’s scuba heaven – for me, at least.
D: What is next in your bucket list?
S: My scuba bucket list is never ending! My ultimate dive trip would be the sardine run in South Africa, I dream about that daily.
D: You are a founder of Girls That Scuba, I would even say you are like a mom of the project Where do you see it coming in couple of years, what are your ambitions about it?
S: Ah, scuba mom, I like that! I always want GTS to be an open and encouraging place to be – after all we are all in there for a reason; to talk about our love for scuba. In just over a year we have 10,000 members and thousands and thousands more over social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter). With this influence I hope to encourage more women into scuba diving and show the world what a beautiful place our ocean is. Sky’s (or should I say “oceans”) the limit with Girls that Scuba. We’re a force to be reckoned with and there’s absolutely no getting rid of us now – we’re here to stay and make the ocean a better place!