I had an amazing time with Martin and Scuba IQ. He is super nice, professional, fun, and a fantastic dive instructor. Everything was top-notch, from the equipment to the personalized diving experience to the talks about sea life on the boat. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced diver, I can’t recommend Scuba IQ highly enough.

For context, I am a certified diver who came to Port Douglas having previously completed 13 dives. I always try to go on guided dives when I can for two main reasons: first, because I feel much safer in a group of 2-4 divers than I do with a group of 8 divers, and second, because the local instructors are usually super familiar with the dive sites and know where all the cool sea life can be found. I dove with Scuba IQ for 2 days, with 3 dives on each day (6 total), and could not have had a better time.

On the first day, we went out on the Calypso, a large boat that takes certified divers, uncertified divers, and snorkelers to dive sites on the reef. There are three large boats that take groups of divers out to the reef, and I was very impressed with the Calypso. The staff and dive personnel were awesome and made the whole trip even more fun. Martin gave me all the equipment I needed, and it was very high-quality—newer and better than any equipment I have rented on other trips. While we were on the boat heading out to the reef, he answered all my questions, gave me refreshers on how to perform my safety checks, and gave me a great run-through of the marine life we would be seeing. On the dives, he was a fantastic instructor/guide, locating hard-to-find creatures—he even had me look at tiny critters through a magnifying glass. He also taught me how to deploy my scuba marker buoy, a new skill I wanted to learn, and had me practice with him on our last two dives. On the way back to land, he went over my logbook with me—helping me calculate my air consumption and reminding me of everything we saw on our dives.

On the second day (the only other day I could dive), Martin was unavailable because he was teaching a certification class for a group of divers--also on the Calypso--and so he was accommodating enough to set me up with Tom, a similarly outstanding instructor. Martin told me that Tom knew more about the area’s sea life than anyone else, and he wasn’t kidding. Tom gave an in-depth talk about the animals and coral we would be seeing. The coolest part was the detailed explanation he gave us about coral and the science behind coral bleaching. On our dives, he brought with him a slate so he could tell me the name of the creatures we were looking at. The combination of that with the talk he gave us on the boat made the whole dive feel like a treasure hunt.

After my two days diving with Scuba IQ, I stayed in touch with Martin and he ended up giving me super helpful advice about my next diving adventure. He’s an extremely great guy who cares a lot about making sure that whoever he takes diving with him has the absolute best time possible. I highly, highly recommend Scuba IQ.