Dive People: Sharon Sharma

Fiji has a long history of tourism scuba diving, and there are a number of very good professional dive operations who look after visiting divers from around the world. Sharon Sharma, a diving expert and female role model, is fondly called 'Superwoman' by her boss, Whitetip Marine Adventures owner Andrew Cole.

Sharon's story

I started scuba diving when I was 12. My father used to clean boat and yacht hulls, and do work for dive shops in the area. There was a very good dive operation nearby, and thanks to one of their local instructors’ training, I became a certified 12 year old open water scuba diver. 

I had always been a water baby, but once I learned to scuba dive I started seeing all sorts of amazing creatures and marine life that fascinated me. I loved that the creatures weren’t scared of me and just went about their activities like I didn’t exist – I was seeing and experiencing real marine life. 

I was very fortunate to have proper training and a proper full set of diving equipment. The dive operator allowed me to use their full set of dive gear in my early days, and arranged for their local instructor to start my dive lessons as they knew my father and I were people who like to do things properly.

Looking back, I am very grateful for that wonderful opportunity to get properly trained and certified, as it set me on track to be a lifelong safety-conscious diver.

A childhood dream

From way back when I first started cleaning boat hulls and then getting my Open Water Diver certification, I have always enjoyed being underwater with the abundance of marine life we are fortunate to have here in Fiji. 

After high school I signed up to do the Marine Science/Biology course at the University of South Pacific (USP). After I graduated, I got a job with a local tourist dive company as a Crown Of Thorns (COTS) removal diver at South Sea Island out from Denarau Marina. This role was to remove the excessive number of COTS that had invaded the reefs around South Sea Island and help preserve the island’s reef system in the best condition possible.

Soon after starting my COTS role I was given the opportunity to move up the certification ladder and after six months was undergoing my ITC training and became a SSI dive instructor – and yes I was super proud of myself, incredibly so.

As time went by my experience as a dive instructor grew, and I was given the opportunity to work and dive at locations including the Shangri-La and Intercontinental Resorts on the Coral Coast, and through the Mamanuca and Yasawa Island groups, later becoming site manager for a range of the dive operations.

Moving to Whitetip

Andrew and I have worked together successfully for 13 years creating and building the success and reputation of the company, and we have achieved the success of being awarded ‘Fiji Dive Operator of The Year’ for 2022 and 2023. We are very proud of the team we have developed together.

As my instructor experience grew, the Scuba Schools International (SSI) Country Manager for Fiji offered me the opportunity to complete my Assistant Instructor Trainer certification. I later achieved the SSI Instructor Trainer certification, making me the highest qualified female dive instructor in Fiji and also the first Fiji-born citizen to achieve this level of certification. 

I humbly accept the Superwoman title Andrew has bestowed upon me, and am so very proud of what I have achieved personally, and also of the contribution I have been able to provide to many other Fijian dive professionals seeking to grow within their chosen profession, as in Fiji it is a true professional career line.

The perfect place

Over the years I’ve come to appreciate the personal value of the development I’ve gained. This has made me truly understand and appreciate the value of what I do as a dive instructor, in that I introduce others to the beauty of our underwater natural environment, and the self-development people go through when becoming a certified Open Water Diver.

My biggest source of inner warmth comes from the development of fellow Fijians through their own journey to become certified dive professionals and provide excellent service to the thousands of international divers that come to explore Fiji's amazing reefs and marine life.

Every day I smile when the dive boat returns to the marina and I hear our divers telling Andrew how fantastic the dive team is, how they are the best they have ever dived with and how lucky Andrew is to have such a wonderful team – and I also see his smile of pride at these comments as well.

It is my turn to pass on the opportunities to others to grow Fiji’s home-based number of dive professionals, and show our unique Fijian friendliness towards our visitors.

All our company dive leaders are instructors, which is super valuable as we see a number of divers with minimal experience and some who haven’t dived for a number of years. We also see diving enthusiasts who bring their children and teens to share the amazing dive experience together as the kids undergo their first ever scuba dive experiences. 

What to see

Our twenty plus dive sites located around the Mamanuca Islands group are the natural home to a large variety of marine life, and on most dives we will see a few whitetip reef sharks, sometime blacktips, always we get to see turtles and of course an abundance of beautiful marine life.

We love seeing divers appreciate the level of variety of amazing creatures they see when compared to their home dive sites and others they have visited around the world. While we don’t have manta rays and whales that make our area home, we do get visits from both the mantas and humpback whales when they are migrating. At times we also have resting whales rolling around on the surface beside the dive boat during surface interval time, and can spot relaxing mantas taking a migration break inside the barrier reef before setting off once more to their chosen destination. It’s amazing to witness for sure.

Andrew's story

I first met Sharon in 2010, and soon discovered she is a focused, intelligent and committed dive instructor with a huge amount of experience. Sharon was already a Scuba Schools International (SSI) senior instructor and dive site manager, and she always put her work responsibilities well before herself, and thoroughly enjoyed the roles she was undertaking.

Sharon started working with us in 2013, as she liked the organisation’s culture of local people’s development and attitude towards preservation of our beautiful marine environment. She is a well-respected, calm, outstanding dive instructor who loves her job, and I firmly believe the success of our beloved dive business is equally due to input from both Sharon and myself. She’s a significant player in Fiji’s wonderful tourism dive industry.

Sharon being Fijian has greatly assisted in the local dive professional industry’s growth, and this largely comes down to her natural ability to communicate with these dive pros in a way that ensures they fully understand what is being taught, is expected and how to accomplish the necessary tasks to gain higher levels of certification. The local dive pros regularly turn to Sharon for advice of how to progress their careers, and these people are very grateful for Sharon’s input.

Are we proud of our Superwoman? Oh heck yes!

For more information on Sharon and diving opportunities at Whitetip Marine Adventures, visit whitetipmarineadventures.com