About Us

Who is underwater australasia?

We are passionate about the ocean above and below. underwater australasia was created by divers for divers, snorkellers and other water lovers as a comprehensive information resource and to provide a virtual meeting place for the Australasia dive community and anybody else interested in underwater Australasia.

The Team behind this site

Tim and Wandy Hochgrebe - an active couple committed to promoting diving in the region - also running Planula Divers Retreat in Byron Bay as well as Planula Photo & Video, both established in 2000. Tim & Wandy have been active in the dive industry for over 20 years. Both also started the Underwater Festival™ in 2006 which has moved from strength to strength to become an Australasia-wide shootout from 2011 and evolved into the Underwater Project in 2014.

In 2018 they became co-founder of the Underwater Tour, an Australia-wide touring speakers event series featuring well known international underwater photographers and marine science speakers travelling together with an exclusive group of invited Tour Partners.  We designed the Underwater Tour to reach further afield geographically than just a single Sydney event, providing people that are as passionate about the oceans as we are with an amazing night out and  our Underwater Tour Partners the chance the meet face to face with a qualified audience in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.  We launched our first event series in 2018 and are happy to advise we are now in planning stages for our third year, the Underwater Tour 2020.

Nick and Sandra Lo, currently also running Ingredients are the database creators and web design team for underwater australasia. Our new shopfront has been developed independently.

Bec Smith senior designer at gammaray design is responsible for many of our web graphics and our logos.

What this is all about?

underwater australasia about everything underwater in Australasia. It is mainly focused on diving but also contains information on snorkelling, freediving and general enjoyment of the waters around Australia and the rest of the region. It's an intuitive, up to date and comprehensive website for anybody interested in exploring Australia, Oceania and the Asia Pacific underwater.

Our mission is to promote the amazing variety of diving and snorkelling in Australia, Oceania and the Asia Pacific to the world and to offer a useful shopfront for niche products of the diving and underwater worlds in general. underwater australasia will always be up to date and be full of interesting content.

Why we made this site?

We designed the site with the user in mind. We hope that people will get excited exploring the features of underwater australasia to then leave their computers to explore it for real!

We aim to help organisations and businesses in our industry promote their products and services to the international underwater community and help to grow the awareness of the thrills of being underwater.

We are customer driven and dynamic

We listen to our visitors and our operators. If there is anything we can do to make your experience with underwater.com.au any better please dont hesitate to contact us. This includes any suggested features, problems or encouragement.

What we are not?

underwater australasia remains independent and unbiased by any gear manufacturer or certification organization. It is purely a huge information resource, underwater shop and community meeting place for users as well as members of the industry.

Want to be a part of it?

If you are a member of the industry dealing with anything underwater Australasia, please contact us to become a part of this website. If you are a diver or just passionate about underwater Australasia, we would love to hear your comments on this site, publish your photos and stories and host your discussions with likeminded people.