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Emma’s top dives 

Emma Nicholsby is a dive instructor with Divetech who originally hails from Edinburgh, Scotland. You probably couldn’t find two more different climates, which may be part of the reason why she moved to the Caribbean.

Emma grew up working for the family business, Geoffrey Tailor Highland Crafts Ltd., a company that specialises in kilts and highland dress. By the time she left school to join full-time, she was an official international kilts salesperson and the general manager.

When Emma was 21 she went on a trip to New Zealand and Australia where she took a Scuba resort course at the Great Barrier Reef. It was a great experience, but she didn’t really think much about it when she went home to Scotland. Over time, however, the memories came back as she began to get itchy feet working with her family for so long. She and her younger brother were working together which was driving her nuts.

At the age of 27 she took a trip to Turkey and got her Open Water certification on a liveaboard diving vessel there. Her job with the family company also allowed her trips abroad, and so she could now take full advantage of them, diving in Key West and Bonaire.

Later when she went to Cyprus she attained her Advance and Rescue certifications, and also realised that she wanted to go further with this whole diving thing. She asked her parents for six months off and planned a trip to Thailand. Three months later after studying and diving in Koh Tao she was a Divemaster, and she spent the other three months travelling around Southeast Asia.

This time when Emma returned to Scotland, she knew that she needed to make some major changes in her life. It was now 2005 and she gave her parents one year’s notice. She studied for her Dive Instructor certificate at the London School of Diving, and took her exam in Malta as apparently she drew the line at diving in the balmy waters off the UK.

Once Emma was free of the family business she got her first job in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. While she worked there she met a man (isn’t it always the way?) and so after 14 months they decided to move on together.

They went to the British Virgin Islands which they loved, but it just wasn’t busy enough there to sustain them long-term. They began looking elsewhere, and sent their resumes to the Cayman Islands.

Christian (her boyfriend) was instantly offered a position at Divetech as he was a boat captain. They came over in 2007 and Emma got a job with Red Sail for a year before moving to Divetech herself. She has been there ever since.

Emma likes working at Divetech as they have easy access to shore dive sites, diverse courses on offer, and they promote an eco-friendly environment. This dive company is definitely keen about being green. She reckons she’ll definitely stick with this job for the forseeable future. Her parents understand, but would love to have her back if she ever decides to trade in her wetsuit for a kilt.