The Scuba Teacher

13/07/2023

So after being blessed with world-class diving overseas for my first initial dives, my 28th dive was in my own backyard! Lady Musgrave Island on the Southern Great Barrier Reef didn’t disappoint. I’m smiling big in this photo coz I swam alongside, not one, but two, beautiful big ᗰᗩᑎTᗩ ᖇᗩYᔕ!! Still without an underwater camera to capture my sightings, the experience will stay etched in my memory forever!

01/07/2023

Once I learnt to dive, I was never quite the same again! 🤯 You?

25/06/2023

First ever photo of me underwater on scuba, captured during my Open Course! Every time I glance at these images, they transport me back to that remarkable period in my life. Learning to dive was a pathway to regaining myself again, it allowed me to rediscover and reconnect with my true self. During a phase of my life where self-acceptance and self-love were lacking, my put me on a collision course with the person I was always meant to be. Beneath the water’s surface was where I learnt to love myself again. Even today, I continue to experience a liberating sense of feeling uncaged, as if the confines of life are lifted away when immersed in the underwater world.

24/06/2023

I had the privilege of starting my scuba diving journey at the esteemed Don Fosters, the leading dive operator in Grand Cayman. It was there in the pool overlooking the ocean, that I received my certification under the guidance of , who worked at this charming place. Don Fosters was staffed by an incredible team of individuals who truly embodied the spirit of scuba diving. It was an instant love affair for me; I adored the store, the shopfront, the dive boat, the staff and the entire scuba lifestyle they lived.

I often lingered in the company of the crew as they concluded their day’s work and closed the shop. I recall watching them fill tanks over a quiet beer and diligently washing gear in the tubs. I have vivid memories of the daily dusk swim back to shore, once the boat was put on it’s mooring!

All the while, I thought I was just helping a friend and having a good time, when in fact, I was getting a taste of a future career—one that I never knew I wanted.

Which dive shop did you learn to dive with? Did that place leave a lasting impression?

16/06/2023

While you’re here browsing this account, expect to feel inspired, expect to have a laugh, expect to be amazed, expect to learn something new. But most of all, you can expect to fall in love with the ocean and the possibility of exploring it on scuba…

12/06/2023

Safety vs freedom…. 🤔

09/06/2023

The evolution of The Scuba Teacher: After 10 years working as a high school teacher in Sydney, I needed to TᗩKE ᗩ ᗷᖇEᗩTᕼ! Whilst my fondness for my teaching career was really strong, I knew deep down that I needed to make some personal lifestyle changes. I’d simply had enough of the bright city lights, relentless work demands, endless emails and the fatiguing, fast-paced, modern world. Oh and the traffic… I’d had enough of that damn Sydney traffic! Having already had some exposure to the world of diving in exotic destinations, the palm trees were certainly calling my name and a dive instructor qualification was on the cards. It was time to pursue a fresh start with a new profession in a new abode. Fate led me straight to the tiny tourist town of Port Douglas, an hour outside of Cairns in Far North Queensland, Australia. Here I found a beautiful place to call home, as well as ample work as a PADI scuba instructor and ultimately found the work-life balance I so desperately sought. Finally I could breathe again… but now… I could do it underwater… and TᕼE ᔕᑕᑌᗷᗩ TEᗩᑕᕼEᖇ was born.

08/06/2023

Hello and welcome to TᕼE ᔕᑕᑌᗷᗩ TEᗩᑕᕼEᖇ! I am Haylie Bennett! I was born and raised in Sydney’s west, at the foothills of the Blue Mountains, a good hour and a half from the nearest ocean. But perhaps there was something special about the name of those mountains I grew up in, because the ᗷᒪᑌE holds an irresistible allure that I’ve never been able to ignore.

Despite the distance between me and the ocean, submersion was a natural part of my childhood, all thanks to my family. My mum had a deep fear of water and avoided it at all costs. She never wanted me to fear the water the way she did, so she started my learn-to-swim journey when I was just a baby. And my dad, he was virtually Aquaman, a scuba diver, fisherman and all round water lover. He noticed my pure bliss whenever I was in and around water, so he enrolled me in squad swimming and charmed me with his stories from the deep blue. They were complete opposite’s, but I have them both to thank for my natural affinity with water.

I never had much success in the world of competitive swimming, but throughout my youth I undertook almost every other endeavour that required water as a prerequisite. I was an ocean swimmer, a wakeboarder, a triathlete, an aqua-aerobics enthusiast, a kayacking instructor and even a very clumsy, inept surfer! 🏄‍♀️

Strangely enough, it took 31 years of loving water to finally take the ultimate plunge and try scuba diving…. and those first underwater breaths set in motion a destiny that was beyond my wildest imagination…..

08/06/2023