Global Deep Elite Dive Team - Sumer Verna
Sumer Verna
Location: India
Occupation: Scuba Instructor and Underwater Photographer
Scuba Diving Since: 1997
Favorite Local Dive: Johnny’s Gorge, Andaman Islands
Favorite Dive Location: Galpagos Islands and Raja Ampat
An Interview with Sumer Verna
Why did you decide to take the giant stride into the oceans?
I went for an open water course in 1997 as a lark with a few friends. From the minute I put my head into the crystal-clear water of the Lakshadweep Islands I was hooked and there has been no turning back.
How has diving changed your life?
Diving shaped the last two and a half decades of my life. I became a diving instructor in the year 2000 and started underwater photography around the same time, and have been at it since then. Today I am glad to be able to make a living as an underwater photographer and cinematographer working on various assignments, including wildlife, fashion, and film shoots. I am also on the board of ReefWatch Marine Conservation, which is India’s first marine conservation NGO, and work closely with them on the various projects we run in mainland India and the Andaman Islands.
What kind of diving do you like to do?
I love diving in warm clear tropical waters and no better place than Raja Ampat for photo opportunities.
Tell us about one of the most amazing experiences you have had underwater?
Without a doubt, it was my first experience in the Galapagos Islands in 2016, where I realized a childhood dream of diving with hundreds - if not thousands - of hammerhead sharks. It was straight out of a National Geographic movie and beyond epic.
Where are some of your favorite places underwater?
Galapagos, Indonesia, Egypt, and closer to home – both the amazing Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
What is your advice to someone considering diving?
Don’t think twice. Just do a course and see what exists beneath the sea. You will thank me later.
What would you tell people about the oceans?
That they are incredibly beautiful, teaming with the most amazing marine life, sea creatures, and mesmerizing coral formations. But the oceans are fragile as well, and we need to do much more to protect her and her magical creatures before we lose it all.
What does diving mean to you?
Diving is a meditation, a place to connect with yourself, a silent weightless magical world.
What’s your favorite thing in your dive bag?
My Scubapro regulator. It’s a classic titanium MK25 first stage and a S600 second stage. She always breathes easy and has never let me down over many years and thousands of dives.
Follow Sumer on Instagram: @luminousdeep
Follow Sumer on Facebook: @luminousdeep
