WHO: Michelle, Instagram @master_reef_guide_michelle
WHAT: Master Reef Guide
WHERE: Cairns – Queensland, Australia
If you’ve ever wanted to go diving the Great Barrier Reef but didn’t know how, here’s your chance. Michelle is a Master Reef Guide, a distinction that makes her one of the best stewards of the environment, and her passion for the reef shows. Take a glimpse into the world of #GuideLife with Michelle on The Spotlight.
(Interested in coral reefs? Check out some great coral reef videos)
How did you get into guide work?
I grew up in a small town in New Hampshire and went to the University of New Hampshire to obtain my degree in communications. Once I graduated I felt a bit lost, and eventually I needed a sea change and sunshine so I moved to San Diego, California! San Diego was incredibly vibrant, friendly, open minded, and culturally diverse. I was in heaven. After a few years in San Diego my boss recommended scuba diving to me since I loved nature and adventure. Those early days of diving I was obsessed. I wanted to be in the water all the time. So my brain shifted to figuring out how to accomplish this. Then in November of 2009 I decided I would head to Australia for a year, learn to be a PADI Scuba diving instructor and work in the industry. So I booked a one way ticket to Cairns, Australia, a city I’d never heard of and had no clue what I was in for. 13 years later I’m still here and a proud citizen of Australia!!
As a PADI dive instructor working in tourism boats you are taking either certified scuba divers, first time scuba divers, or snorkelers to the reef everyday. With my strong background in sales and marketing and a passion for my new role diving the Great Barrier Reef, I really wanted to make my mark on our guests, give them an experience they would never forget. After all, this was possibly their one chance to visit the reef. In the beginning, I was very self conscious and scared of public speaking, but as months went by, guests really led me to my ultimate calling. They were very vocal about what I did that they liked. Eventually I started really focusing on what aspects of my briefings and explanations landed. Soon I grew more confident to let my true excited self come through. I mean I would get over excited about everything on the reef! So I stopped holding back my excitement during my tours and just started to “send it”. The positive feedback started rolling in and I built on those responses to create better and better experiences for my guests. I knew I couldn’t control the elements, weather, or wildlife, but I could control my enthusiasm, the quality of the information, and the quality of the presentation.
(Want to work as a guide? Spend a day in the life with PacWhale Eco Adventures)
Run me through a typical day. What can your guests expect?
A typical day on the liveaboard starts at 6am on deck. We check all the dive equipment for the first dive and clean off the salt from the windows and sun deck. Then we tie up the boat, which sometimes involves getting in the water. All this before 7am for the first dive. We generally do 4 dives a day, each at different locations. In between dives, tanks need to be refilled, boats untied and re-tied at new locations, rescue tender launched in and out for each site, cleaning dishes after all the meal times. As the onboard Master Reef Guide I have some extra roles, too. I am running Edu-tainment presentations about the various facets of the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef, everything from geography, geology, cultural connections, marine biology, and even my terrible dancing that accompanies my trivia night. I also teach some seasonal Specialty Courses like PADI Dwarf Minke Whale awareness and conducting weekly surveys at select dive sites for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Why should someone go diving on the Great Barrier Reef with you?
From the second my guests arrive to the second they leave, they are my universe, my everything, literally the reason I get up in the morning. I have strict standards of service and sometimes working with me is hard as I will not let anyone around me slide. I get to do the job I love because those guests chose our trip, whether it be the 3,4, or 7 day trip. They had other options and they chose us. So for the time you are with me I’m gonna give you everything I have physically, mentally, and emotionally to make sure your trip is the once in a lifetime experience I promised on day 1.
What is the best part of being a guide diving the Great Barrier Reef?
The best part of the job is fostering the connection between the guests and the underwater world. When they run up to me telling me about their “ah ha” or “Oh my stars” it makes me incredibly happy and is truly what keeps me going sometimes. It’s addicting. The best part is when they travel the planet to come back again and again. That is incredibly flattering and humbling.
What is the worst part? The part that feels like work?
The hardest part I think for most guides around the world in any environment is when nature gives her worst. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do. The weather is too bad, the visibility is gone, currents too strong, the wildlife is a no show, the seas are too rough, or the boat mechanics fail. It’s disappointing knowing there’s nothing you can do to fix it.
What advice would you give somebody wanting to get into guide work?
Guiding is definitely a job of passion. If you love nature the way I love the Great Barrier Reef and want to protect it as fiercely as a mother lion, then you have to do it. Tourism is changing and guests want and expect experiences to match the location, truthful, fun, and relatable interpretation. As a guide, you are there to give them a dopamine releasing experience, immerse them in the location. You have to be willing to consistently educate yourself on your environment, want to improve and practice your delivery. Listen and learn from other guides. Guiding is an incredibly versatile skill encompassing public speaking, storytelling, sales, marketing, science interpretation, ad-libbing, and comedy. It’s a true oratory experience.
To see all her videos and pictures from her work diving the Great Barrier Reef, follow Michelle on Instagram here. You can learn more about the Great Barrier Reef by heading over to the Master Reef Guide website here.
Know a guide I should interview? Send me an email to: thelivelost@gmail.com, or direct message me on my Instagram here.
What a bad ass!!!
I want to go!!!!