The Team at Barefoot Scuba has been brought together by careful selection of professionals that fit in with our diving philosophy. Our staff are driven by a common desire to provide our customers with the best quality dive experience in the Andaman Islands: they do this by placing safety and quality foremost and this is best manifest in low group sizes (4 or less) and personalized attention.

Our instructors are specifically chosen from a variety of nationalities and are all multilingual – so your personalized attention may well carry the added advantage of scuba lessons being delivered in your mother tongue. Staff already on our rolls can handle instruction in English, French, German, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Bahasa Indonesia, Japanese, Hindi, Karen and Marathi and we are seeking to add more languages for the current season.

Barefoot Scuba, headed by Sean Nordbo, employs the largest number of qualified PADI professionals in any dive center in India.

Sean Nordbo

Director & IDC Staff Instructor With years of experience to back his credibility, Sean has been the driving force behind the immense growth of Barefoot Scuba. An inspiration to many people, Sean has proved that nothing is impossible when you put your mind to it. No conversation with Sean is complete unless you have had at least one lengthy discussion on world politics, economics, the unavailability of good cheese in Havelock and his pet dog Mango. His extensive expertise in managing a dive resort in addition to his experience as IDC Staff Instructor reflects in the fact that we are the preferred dive operation in the Andamans today. Sean speaks English, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish.

Thien Xuan Do

Course Director One of very few PADI Course Directors based in Asia with graduation from PADI Head Quarters in California, USA. Since Thien’s graduation as Course Director in 2004 he has developed more than 500 PADI Instructors and won several awards from PADI. With a wonderful personality, his wit and charm will ensure there’s never a dull moment in your IDC. Thien has received the highest honor from PADI and is one of the few Platinum Course Directors. You are in the best possible hands with this extremely motivated Course Director, with a passion for diving that knows no bounds. Thien speaks both English & Vietnamese.

Anne Hospital

Master Scuba Diver Trainer An Instructor with a flair for languages Anne can teach in French, English, German, Spanish, Catalan and Bahasa Indonesia. With a little more time we are convinced that she will be able to add Hindi and Karen to that list as well. She is an experienced Instructor who makes learning fun and easy. She is professional and our diving encyclopedia so feel free to ask her all the questions you have.

Olivier Baudouin

IDC Staff Instructor & EFR Instructor You will not find a man with more passion and dedication for scuba diving and divers than this Instructor. Olivier is our entertainer. His jokes will have you in splits, his instruction reflects years of diving experience and should you decide to share a table with him in the evenings you will be thoroughly entertained. Olivier can teach in both French and English, Spanish & Bahasa Indonesia. He is very hard working and passionate about his diving.

Julia van Beinum

Open Water Scuba Instructor & EFR Instructor Having started diving at an early age, Julia is our youngest Instructor who speaks both Dutch & English. She is extremely mature for her age and is both experienced and motivated. Julia is a writer too and has her own column in the largest Dutch diving magazine. You will find that Julia is always smiling, eager to help out, funny and very hard working. As soon as you meet her, her disarming smile puts you at ease.

Elin Lindqvist

Master Scuba Diver Trainer & EFR Instructor The newest addition to our team, Elin is both an experienced diving Instructor and an author, having publish 3 books in Swedish. She teaches in English, Swedish, French, Spanish, Japanese and is a great listener. Always ready to help with a very pleasing personality, she is a true professional who is loved by her students and is currently working on her new book as well. Be nice to her and she just might name a character in her book after you.

Romila Sil

Open Water Scuba Instructor & EFR Instructor Truth be told, Romila is the official geek at Barefoot Scuba having scored a near 100% in every one of her exams at both the Divemaster and Instructor Courses. A very happy girl in general she wears a smile on her face everyday and is very committed to her job as a diving Instructor . She loves challenges and as a marine biologist by education she is a wealth of knowledge of reef ecosystems as well. Originally from Pune, she can teach In English and Hindi fluently and is fondly called the cookie monster.

Manish Mahadik

Open Water Scuba Instructor & EFR Instructor He looks like a task master with his tough exterior but get to know him and this young Instructor, can be a whole load of fun too. His ambition to be a commercial pilot was forgotten the day he tried diving and with immense Divemaster experience backing him, Manish became an Instructor with Barefoot Scuba . He has his goals set, is very determined to achieve them, has a promising career ahead, absolutely loves diving and even dives on his off days. He can talk endlessly on boats and planes and is addicted to the food at German Bakery. Manish can teach in English, Hindi & Marathi.

Gayatri Jayaraman

Reservations Manager & Open Water Scuba Instructor An integral part of our team since 2005, she has worked with us in the capacity of a Divemaster and an Instructor. Currently on a sabbatical from diving Instruction, Gayatri takes care of Barefoot Scuba reservations and Marketing from our head office in Chennai. She speaks English, Hindi & Tamil and is always eager to assist you with your booking process. You will find her warm , frank, and more importantly extremely truthful in her replies to you.

Saw Stephen

Divemaster The longest standing employee of Barefoot Scuba, Stephen has been an integral part of the team right from the start. He belongs to the Karen Tribe from Mayabunder in North Andaman. He speaks Karen and English and is a wonderful Divemaster. He is shy at the start with new guests, but start conversing with him you will find that he is funny and has many a story to tell you. He is excellent at guiding your dives, has a great eye underwater and a better sense of direction than the compass itself.

The backbone staff of Barefoot Scuba (our boat boys and equipment handlers) are mostly employed from the local Karen community. Previously considered almost unemployable in the Andaman Islands before the advent of tourism, members of the Karen community have traditionally derived much of their sustenance from the forest and the seas. The Karens were viewed with much suspicion by local authorities owing to their ongoing links with their Burmese cousins, and have been long suspected of aiding and abetting and even taking active part in their poaching activities. What is generally accepted however, is that this community has unparalleled knowledge of the islands, islets, rocks and reefs that make up the Andaman archipelago and that the forest and the sea holds little secrets from them.

You are in the best possible hands with our charming, freediving Karen staff – our poachers turned gamekeepers – and are yourselves part of a mini success story in facilitating change with Barefoot through providing and supporting sustainable livelihoods. Do take the time to interact with them, as the effort you will spend getting to know them and encouraging them to open up to you, always proves immensely rewarding.

Most of our local staff have been provided scuba training in the PADI method and are at various stages of the ladder up to Rescue Diver level. We hope to bring some of them up through the ranks to Divemaster level and boost their careers. In this, Saw Stephen acts as a role model for them.

For your safety, all our boat crew are additionally trained and certified in First Aid and have completed the PADI Emergency First Responder Course.

In addition to our fantastic team of Instructors, Divemasters and boat crew we also have 3 staff from the animal kingdom who are always happy to meet you. Mango and Tango our lovely dogs, were born at Barefoot Scuba Dive Resort and are now on the payroll as well. They are warm, friendly and always looking to make new friends. Naina our cat is a princess and loves being petted and cuddled. You will get to meet them on Havelock and you will simply adore them.

MANGO

Mango is the most privileged of us all at Barefoot Scuba. She is the sweetest, cutest dog you have ever laid your eyes on and has the perfect temperament too. Adopted by our Manager Sean when she was a young pup, Mango and Sean are simply inseparable. We believe that Sean spends more money on Mango’s food than he does on himself. She is a content, happy dog who loves hanging around the dive centre and sleeping under the computer table. Life here would just not be the same without Mango. She welcomes us back from our dive trips, swims right up to the boat and follows you around wagging her tail constantly and you can just can’t help falling in love with her.

TANGO

Tango arrived at Barefoot Scuba unannounced in 2007. A sweet puppy with a tail that could easily pass off as a broom or a duster, he had a sweet temperament and followed the staff each day to the dive boat and back. Soon he was adopted by Barefoot Scuba and has grown to be loved by all our guests too. He adores our Instructors Anne and Olivier and even sleeps outside their room. It’s not uncommon to see Tango swimming to the dive boat to greet you when you return from the dive. He seems to love being in the water just like us and maybe one day he will learn to dive too!

SCUBA

Scuba was one of the four kittens born to Mini (although she was far from being a size you could refer to as mini) at the Barefoot at Havelock Resort. Rejected by Mini at birth, Scuba was brought to Barefoot Scuba Resort and raised fondly by the staff at the dive centre. He is an adorable cat now who loves being around people and its very common that she jumps onto your lap on his own, asks to be petted or makes himself extremely comfortable on your handbag. Children come around asking for Scuba all the time and as for Scuba, he loves to be the centre of attention too.