Diving into the Deep

Kia ora, Julian can you tell us who you are and where you’re from?

I’m Julian. I grew up in Whitianga and attended school there, and now I am a diver and skipper.
Tell us about younger Julian’s life and how it influenced your journey into the world of diving.

From a very young age, I was keen on the water. My father was a diver and a fisherman, so I followed his lead. I wasn’t much of an academic kid, so it was sports for me, and I took a big liking to competitive swimming. I achieved quite a lot until the other kids started growing taller than me, which gave them a lengthy natural advantage. So, I began to focus on the races that you could win by stamina. Because I trained so much, I would always do well in long-distance swims.

All I wanted to do was be out on the water. I’ve got very clear memories of sitting in the classroom just looking at the trees, trying to judge how much wind was there and whether I could go windsurfing, surfing or diving.

It was through diving that I was lucky enough to become good friends with two other divers whose fathers were commercial divers and fishermen, so at 15, I left school and ended up working for them.

This was the start of my career in commercial diving, but most of my spare time was spent spearfishing and surfing. My good mate, Dwane, got me into both the competitive spearfishing scene and spearfishing recreationally. Spearfishing kept me fit and confident in the water.

As a young kid, I would never have expected spearfishing or doing any sport that I enjoyed could lead to a career. I don’t remember getting taught that if you do something fun and get really good at it, you can make a decent career out of it, at least aside from rugby, soccer, etc, the big sports. It shows how sometimes you can turn weird hobbies into jobs or careers as long as you go 100% at it.

Has your pathway been quite clear-cut, step-by-step, or more diverse?

Absolutely not clear-cut for me, although there is a clear pathway for commercial diving. My path has taken me all over the show. When I was 24, I started questioning where I was going. I’d been commercially freediving for pāua and kina and doing a few random jobs up until that age, but then I started to want to have a go at making some money, so I went to train in SSBA Level 3 underwater construction, which is basically learning to work as a diver on oil rigs.

Back then, it was more of a who you know and right time, right place deal. Some people would get a job off the cuff, and then you’d hear about people applying for work for six months and still get nothing. I remember I had a friend in Australia whom I had asked to help me write a CV, and he told me to put in my spearfishing history; why? He said, ‘You’re a champion spear fisherman; it shows that you strive to be the best at what you do, and you’re driven”.

This was the first time it became clear to me that having a good ranking in the competitive spearfishing world could help me score dive jobs! And it certainly did. Many supervisors and company owners were keen spearos, so a few people over in Aussie who had similar interests helped lead me to job opportunities. Like I said, I never expected that spearfishing and being good at it would be what led me to work as a commercial diver. So, I was able to be more creative with my pathway and carve my direction in that way.

I landed a job in Fremantle Shipping Harbour, and my first day was hydraulic jackhammer work, breaking concrete piles underwater. After six months of construction diving, I was getting itchy feet and being offered jobs, abalone diving, working for the Tuna Cowboys, pearl diving, etc, which I’d seen on TV, so I was keen to get amongst that kind of work.

This work I liked, always moving, always hunting and working with seafood. I got to see a huge amount of different terrain in some of the wildest parts of the Australian coast. There were many times I wished my friends back home could be looking through my eyes.

With that kind of dive work, you get the biggest highs and the biggest lows! You’ll see and get into situations that will blow your mind, but you’ll also get the other side of the coin and expose yourself to the dangers of the sea.

There have been some awesome times, just seeing the ocean in all its moods, working alongside great men and women, and swimming with whales, Orca, dolphins, sharks, and fish. It’s a completely different world under there; every area is different, and I have been lucky to see so much of it.

There have also been some tough times, like any job. Once you are underwater, you need to stay calm and keep a clear, level head. I experienced moments in the water that, when I look back on them, seem like a movie, but I got through them and remained in the industry.

What are some, what are some of the barriers or difficulties getting into commercial driving, and what advice do you have for new divers?

Only yourself. It pays to have no ties, so you’re free to go with a clear mind the day you get that phone call. If you want to work in the commercial diving industry, remember success hinges largely on your own choices. You don’t necessarily have to be the best diver, but you do need to get on with people. So you want to be a good friend to your team. Be good to people. When things are hard, be the one to lift people up. In the face of adversity, stay positive, and if you see somebody who’s cold, go and make them a Milo or something. Those who fail in our industry don’t necessarily fail because they’re bad divers. They fail because nobody wants to be stuck on a boat with them for a week.

With all that experience under your belt, what’s next for you?
Now, when I think about those jobs, I often wish I was doing them. But, being 37 I don’t know if I’d be as fit anymore, plus I have started my own family, so priorities have changed.

I do, however, get invited to make cups of tea on some pretty cool adventures for the ‘South Seas Spearo’ TV show.



Today’s goal is to work on our charter tour boat business, which is about to launch based in Whitianga off the Coromandel Peninsula, which heads out to Ahu Ahu / ‘The Great Mercury Islands’. This is an amazing part of the NZ coastline. With all of the things I’ve been lucky enough to experience, it seems the right time now to be able to pass that knowledge on to the next generation.

Our focus will be creating oceanic experiences for families and groups, as well as providing freediving & spearfishing workshops where we can teach and pass on safety, skills, and knowledge to new divers whilst gathering some seafood for our awesome onboard chef to cook up for the duration of the trip. Sharing your catch among friends out on the water is hard to beat.