Underwater Photography
Due to his professional activities, Pierre trained as a dive master Kota Kinabalu (Borneo) in 1994 and became a PADI diving instructor in Tioman (Malaysia) in 1997.
An avid diver and underwater photographer, Pierre Constant has dived the oceans of the world for the last 35 years and never gets tired of it. After years diving in the Galapagos Islands, while leading cruises around the archipelago, Pierre published his second book “Marine Life of the Galapagos – a diver’s guide to the fishes, whales, dolphins and marine invertebrates” (2nd.ed.2007)
He got passionate about exploration diving in Palawan, Philippines (1986-90), where he had a notion to establish a small resort on “Apoliv”, a deserted island. He pursed his dream for 5 years in the remote Admiralty Islands of Papua New Guinea, published a coffee table book of his photographs “Manus, lost world of the Titans”, in 1998 and even got the crazy idea to open a dive centre there for one year (1999-2000). Accidentally, that is how Pierre got hooked to cave diving, when he discovered a tunnel in a limestone cliff on the edge of a crocodile infested salt water lagoon. Wisely, he decided to follow the cave diving courses of the CDAA (Cave Diving Association of Australia), that took place in Mt. Gambier, South Australia, in 2003 and 2007, reaching the Advanced Cave level.
After leaving Papua New Guinea, Pierre relocated his dive operations on Isabela Is. (Galapagos), shipping all equipment, tanks and compressors, on cargo boats from PNG to Australia, Australia to Europe, from Rotterdam to Guayaquil and Guayaquil to Isabela… at last. There he purchased a piece of land, built a house and eventually the few bungalows of “Tres Palmas Eco Lodge”, where he receives occasional clients. The “Scubadragon Dive Center” was opened in 2004. (You can read reviews here: www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_review-d8004177)
A restless character nevertheless, Pierre was more recently thrilled by freshwater cave diving explorations in caves and sinkholes of southern Madagascar (2011-2017), where he discovered 1400 years old bones and jaws of dwarf hippopotamus, as well as skulls and skeletons of extinct dwarf horned crocodiles.
In April 2017, while attending a course in Yucatan, Mexico, Pierre reached the « Full Cave » and « Sidemount » certification levels of TDI (Technical Diving International), allowing him greater penetration capability in speleology and cave diving, in anticipation to his further cave diving explorations in Madagascar. In September 2020, he passed his TDI Stage cave level in Quintana Roo, as well as the TDI DPV cave diver certification, with Protec Dive Centre (Tulum).
Pierre Constant was granted the 2nd prize of Apnea magazine for reporting on the “Giant clams of the South Pacific” (Antibes 1995). An award winning photographer at the “World Festival of Underwater Images” (Antibes, 1997), for a slide show on Borneo. First prize in the underwater photo category, at the ANZANG nature competition (Australia), in 2004. First prize of Plongée magazine, for reporting on the exploration of “Tewi Cave, Manus” at the same World Festival of Underwater Images (Marseilles, 2007). The following year, he gets the 2nd prize in reporting for a story on the tiger sharks of South Africa ((Marseilles, 2008). More recently, a ‘Distinction’ for a photo of the Leafy Sea Dragon with eggs , South Australia (Salon de la Plongée, Paris, January 2019).
Challenging as ever, the excitement lives on, sometimes bordering shores of extremes and sanity. But what can you do about it?... an explorer’s fate it is.
Should you be interested to read my latest diving article, check the link: https://xray-mag.com/Contributors/Pierre-Constant
