News
Diving with…. Luke Inman, Cortez Expeditions
In this ongoing series, we speak to the people who run dive centres, resorts and liveaboards from around the world about their businesses and the diving they have to offer…
What is your name?
Luke Inman
What is the name of your business?
Cortez Expeditions
What is your role within the business?
Owner/Operator & PADI Course Director, Trimix IT
How long has the business operated for?
8 Years
How long have you dived for, and what qualification are you?
Diving since 1993, Professional Diver since 1996, Instructor Trainer since 2001.
PADI Course Director
PADI Tec Trimix Instructor Trainer
Divers Alert Network (DAN) IT
TDI · IANTD · RAID Technical Instructor
HSE Commercial Diver Part III
What is your favorite type of diving?
All Diving! Love teaching Open Water all the way through to Divemaster and Instructor course, but my absolute favourite is diving with Sea Lions in La Paz. Like jumping into a bath tub with Labrador puppies.
If you could tell people one thing about your business (or maybe more!) to make them want to visit you what would it be?
We have an exclusive adventure boutique, we offer Scuba training from basic open water through to technical diving. We are the only 5 Star PADI IDC Dive Center in La Paz and teach PADI courses to instructor level.
We offer DAN & TDI courses, support for film crews, scientists and CCR divers.
We are renowned for our expeditions, photo & video workshops. We keep our boat to a maximum of 4 or 6 divers ensuring your experience and interactions are intimate and breath taking.
We have Fourth Element & Apeks equipment in our rental fleet and we include computers.
We pride ourselves is being a sustainability leader. Ensuring no single use plastic is used on our boat and our dive practices have no negative effect on the environment. Read about us on Trip Advisor. Cortez Expeditions are the experts on The Sea of Cortez. With over 20 years of experience living and working in La Paz, Cortez Expeditions are not just the exclusive boutique dive centre, they are the chosen expedition leaders and logistic experts for institutions like The BBC Natural History Unit, Netflix, Disney, National Geographic Society & Television.
In 2018 we provided production support for Netflix “Our Planet”. In 2019 and 2020 Cortez Expeditions completed the safety and logistics for The BBC’s upcoming Planet Earth 3 Series and National Geographic America Series.
What is your favorite dive in your location and why?
Los Islotes the sea lion colony. This is the main reason many scuba divers visit La Paz. We are proud at Cortez Expeditions to be able to say we “wrote the book on Los Islotes”. Our owner and course director Luke Inman published the award winning book “Los Islotes – The Jewel of Espritu Santo”.
Los Islotes is the jewel of the protected area and marine reserve. There are very few locations in the world so close to a big city that allow for wild animal interactions like Los Islotes.
What types of diving are available in your location?
We teach everything from open water to instructor and tec diving with hypoxic trimix. There is something for everyone, but we are most famous for the big stuff…large pelagics that hang out at sea mounts and in open ocean like the mobulas.
What do you find most rewarding about your current role?
Being a mentor and teacher, I enjoy training all people, giving back to the ocean and to the community. My goal as a teacher is to have students eclipse my achievements. I want students to be better than me.
What is your favorite underwater creature?
Can I give you a top five? Sea Lion, Orca, Octopus, Giant Manta, Sea Otter.
Are there any exciting changes / developments coming up in the near future?
We are in the process of becoming a Career Development Center for PADI and will be offering nitrox in all our dives and courses.
As a center what is the biggest problem you face at the moment?
Like any tourism business the effect of COVID has reduced us down to 10-20% capacity.
Is your center involved in any environmental work?
We don’t like the expression “Eco-Tourism”, too many business use the term and in reality they are simply not eco orientated. We strive to be constantly sustainable in our practices. It is always evolving.
Since our inception 8 years ago, donating our time and resources has become an important part of our strategy to be active in our community. We constantly endeavour to ensure we are improving and ensuring our practices are sustainable.
We decided the best way to enrich our community was to give back doing what we do best. We do diver training very well. We are currently the number one listed PADI dive centre on Trip Advisor, we complete more recreational, technical and professional certification than any other dive centre in La Paz.
Every October we open our Scholarship Program. The program is open to local undergraduate and post graduates in La Paz that need scuba training to complete their Tourism or Scientific Studies.
The application process will be from 1st October to 31 January 2021. With awards being given in First Quarter of 2021.
There are Six Scholarships available for 2021.
The scholarships are as follows:
- PADI Open Water through to PADI Rescue
- Technical Diver Training
- Divemaster Training
We will choose two candidates for each Scholarship (Male and Female)
Applicants must meet the prerequisites to enrol on the respective courses. The other prerequisites are:
- Be a legal resident of Mexico (Mexican or with legal immigration status)
- Be 18 years old
- Currently studying at UABCS, CICIMAR, CIBNOR
- Prove Scuba Diving is essential to their studies – Tourism, Marine Research
- Be in the final part of studies.
How do you see the SCUBA / Freediving / snorkeling industry overall? What changes would you make?
Where do I start….? LOL that is a big question!
I see the industry is making some good choices in becoming more sustainable, but it is slow.
The industry needs to start being more business-like and pay its staff a living wage.
We strive and ensure all our staff are paid a good wage to make diving a sensible and good option to other careers.
We need to see more women in diving. Women make better divers than men for a number of reasons.
I would like to see every dive agency ensure every student receives a course quality questionnaire. Once the student has completed the quality questionnaire the certification is issued, not before.
Diving is not a volume business, it is service and training based. For some reason many business owners price structure is based on volume. We need to base pricing on our time and effort.
What would you say to our visitors to promote the diving you have to offer?
We have small groups and Sea lions…….
Where can our visitors find out more about your business?
As National Safe Boating Week approaches, Save the Manatee® Club is urging boaters, and anyone that enjoys Florida’s waterways, to respect and protect the defenseless manatees that inhabit our shared waterways. From May 18 to 24, leading up to Memorial Day Weekend, the campaign aims to raise awareness about recreational boating safety and the importance of safeguarding imperiled manatees during the summer boating season. This week also emphasizes the importance of encouraging boaters to enroll in a boating safety course.
Manatees are semi-migratory marine mammals that are commonly found in shallow estuaries, bays, rivers, canals, and coastal areas throughout Florida and neighboring states. With some manatees venturing as far west as Texas and as far north as Massachusetts, collisions between these gentle giants and watercraft have become distressingly frequent. Boat propellers and high-speed collisions pose significant threats to manatees, often resulting in severe injuries or even death.
Save the Manatee Club is calling on all water enthusiasts to follow essential manatee safety tips to ensure the well-being of the imperiled manatee:
- Obey Speed Zone Signs: Familiarize yourself with and adhere to posted speed limits to prevent collisions with manatees.
- Reduce Glare with Polarized Sunglasses: Wear polarized sunglasses to enhance visibility and spot manatees below the water’s surface.
- Recognize Manatee Signs: Learn to identify signs of manatees in the area, such as swirls or flat spots on the water caused by their movements.
- Respect Manatee Sanctuaries: Keep a safe distance from posted manatee sanctuaries and avoid pursuing or harassing these marine mammals, as it is illegal and can disrupt their natural behaviors.
- Report Distressed Manatees: In Florida, promptly report distressed, injured, tagged, or orphaned manatees to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922). Outside of Florida, report sightings to the appropriate state agency or rescue organization. A list of agencies to contact is available at savethemanatee.org/report.
- Protect Seagrass Beds: Avoid boating over seagrass beds and shallow areas where manatees may be feeding. Stick to deep water channels while remaining vigilant, as manatees also utilize these channels during their travels.
- Dispose of Fishing Line Responsibly: Anglers should properly dispose of or recycle used fishing line to prevent entanglement hazards for manatees.
“Each year, National Safe Boating Week provides an excellent reminder for all of us to be aware that we share our waterways with vulnerable manatees,” emphasized Patrick Rose, Aquatic Biologist and Executive Director of Save the Manatee Club. “With the recent Unusual Mortality Event on Florida’s East Coast claiming an alarming number of manatees’ lives, it is more crucial than ever to prevent preventable deaths caused by watercraft collisions. By following manatee-safe boating guidelines, such as obeying speed zones and remaining vigilant for manatees, everyone on the water can contribute to the protection of these gentle giants.”
Save the Manatee Club offers a range of free materials to help safeguard manatees and raise awareness about manatee-safe boating practices. Shoreline property owners and park or marina managers can order aluminum dock signs to alert others about the presence of manatees in their areas. Boaters and paddlers can request packets containing a safety tips card, a waterproof boat banner, and a decal to display on their vessels, providing the number to report manatees in distress. To view and request these materials, visit savethemanatee.org/resources. Save the Manatee Club will also be hosting a live webinar for National Safe Boating Week on Tuesday, May 21st at 6pm EST. To register, visit savethemanatee.org/register.
Shells of the World: A Natural History by M.G. Harasewych
Shells of the world is a guide to the world of marine, shelled molluscs. And what a varied and interesting world it is. Some of my favourite things to find on a dive are detailed in this book, including disco clams (or Electric File Clams as they are correctly names), the cephalopods, giant clams and sea hares. There are also many on my wish list, top of which is the Nautilus.
Each chapter provides a detailed description of the species, along with beautiful images. You can dive deeper and discover where they live, both with global distribution and the habitat they prefer. Learn about their diet, reproduction and diversity.
Having dipped in and out of this lovely book over the past few weeks, it has inspired me to learn more about this group of animals that we see on most divers, wherever we are in the world. Some of the shells are incredibly intricate and beautiful. I have always agreed with never collecting, or touching, marine life. The description of a certain set of cone shells should be a warning to those that are happy to pick up marine life! One of the cone shells has a local name called the cigarette snail. Why? Because once the venom is in your system from this animal, you only have time to smoke one cigarette before the affects of the venom are fatal!
What the publisher says:
Mollusks are invertebrate animals with a remarkable natural history and a rich fossil record, and their shells are prized for their breathtaking variety and exquisite beauty. Shells of the World provides a wide-ranging look at the incredible diversity of marine mollusks. An informative introduction outlines the lineages covered, followed by a directory section, split into classes, that profiles a broad selection of different taxa to give a sense of their sheer numbers and variety.
- Features hundreds of beautiful color photos, depicting both the live animals and their shells
- Discusses mollusk evolution, anatomy, life cycles, behavior, and ecology
- Describes unique characteristics, distribution, habitat, and size
- Provides valuable insights into the conservation of the world’s marine mollusks
- Ideal for malacologists and shell collectors everywhere
About the Author:
M. G. Harasewych is research zoologist emeritus and former curator in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he is the author (with Fabio Moretzsohn) of The Book of Shells: A Life-Size Guide to Identifying and Classifying Six Hundred Seashells.
Book Details
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Hardcover
Price: £25
ISBN: 9780691248271
Published: 9th April, 2024
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