

By Devina Wijaya. InDEPTH’s Guide to UW TikTok compiled by Grace Winfree. Lead image created by Georgina Brown.
Check out InDepth’s Guide to Tik Tok Underwater |
Wakeup call
“It’s fun to create TikTok content about technical diving because it reminds us to have fun along the way, while prioritizing safety 😉 and also helps get the next generation of divers excited about tech diving.”—@Scuba.Dev

One Breath
“I love introducing a worldwide community to a sport that most people know very little about.”—@amberofthesea
“I think the best videos on Tiktok are the ones that teach you something new or show you something you’ve never seen before.—@amberofthesea
“Creating underwater content is true childhood play. It’s telling my favorite stories in my favorite place.”— @realmermaidbryn

Get Wet
“Our content seeks to ignite a sense of adventure and curiosity about the mysteries that lie beneath the waves, encouraging people to consider trying scuba diving themselves.”—@padi
“I like to provide educational content about scuba diving and the ocean, but still have it be entertaining and include some humour.”—@narkedtom
“I think it’s the perfect trifecta of having a creative outlet to mix my outgoing personality with my love for the underwater world.”— @fullysubmerged

Girls Do It Underwater
“I would like to inspire more women to get into tech/overhead and cold water diving. I’m convinced that diving helps with many aspects of your life.”—@girlthatccr
“I want to reach out and be a role model for women seeking to fulfill their dreams using technical diving as a tool for personal and professional development.”—@centotegirl
“I want to see more diversity in creators and divers highlighted in underwater content! I would love to lift up people of different cultures, the LGBTQIA+ community, more women, etc. I want to see the industry shift from rich old white men to a progressive, fierce community of unique individuals who are ready to fight to save what we love.”— @azul.unlimited

Halcyon Gives You Wings

Practice Makes Perfect
“I enjoy creating the content to share my love for the underwater world, and also create awareness for the environment and animal welfare.”— @hartdiversintl

Never A Good Day To Die U/W
“I have and always will provide a ton of free content to help freedivers and spearos dive deeper, stay longer, and become safer. My ultimate goal is to do more to raise awareness about shallow water blackouts than any other person on the planet. ”—@immersionfd

Sexism

Gone Diving
“Honestly, it’s all about creating visually-interesting stories of my memories. If others like it, that’s cool too. I have no underlying purpose; I’m not looking to monetize.”—@nicalarid
“I have been producing content on Tiktok for over 3 years now and I have been very happy to see the rise of many creators dedicated to water conservation, education, exploration and to see many amazing clips from small creators go viral to help bring awareness to the amazing underwater world.”—@moderndiver
“Diving goes beyond just being underwater, it’s a complete lifestyle and community and Divesoft wants to be a part of it and bring more value to the diving world.”—@divesoft

Plug for a Tek Thing
Special thanks to the creators who joined us on the dive; @Scuba.Dev, @amberofthesea, @realmermaidbryn, @padi, @narkedtom, @mads_ocean, @thedivememe, @girlthatccr, @cenote_girl, @fullysubmerged, @azul.unlimited, @ halcyondivesystems, @hartdiversintl, @immersionfd, @diversalertnetwork, @nicalarid, @moderndiver, @divesoft, @buddydiveresort

Devina Wijaya is a Project Manager at the Seattle Aquarium, a volunteer aquarium diver, and Marketing Projects Manager at Global Underwater Explorers (GUE). She received her M.A. degree in communications from the University of Washington, and completed her Project Manager Professional (PMP) certification in 2022. Devina began diving in 2018, passed GUE Fundamentals, is working on her tech pass, and has plans to complete GUE Tech 1 & Cave 1. She began creating social media content in 2020 and is active on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
Art
We 💙 Nudies
Who can resist the beauty of a Nudi? Not California-based citizen image maker Melissa Foo.

Images and text by Melissa Foo. Lede image: A Three-lined Aeolid, Coryphella trilineata, San Diego, CA USA
🎶 Pre-dive Clicklist: Nudibranch by Dafunkus 🎶

“This sassy-looking nudi, Hypselodoris Melanesica, is my current favorite. I took this picture on a night dive at White Beach in the Solomon Islands. White Beach is the site of a WWII US military equipment dump; this nudibranch was actually perched on wreckage.“



“I dive to take photographs. 😀 Taking underwater photos makes me happy.”

“There are thousands of nudibranch species in every ocean habitat from shallow tidepools to the ocean depths, from tropics to Antarctica, sand flats to shipwrecks. Fun fact, ‘nudibranch’ means ‘naked gills.’ Some species of nudibranchs are butt breathers— their gill plumes are right above their anus. Nudibranchs are hermaphrodites that lay their eggs in beautiful spiral egg ribbons. They also have the most bizarre reproductive habits.“


“My favorite subject? Nudibranchs and caverns. In know that’s cheating but I can’t decide! I am partial to macro and little critters.”


“Nudies are very challenging to shoot!! Many nudibranchs are tiny (the size of a grain of rice) and often perfectly camouflaged so snapping pics of nudies requires going sloooooowly to spot in them in the first place; then good buoyancy control for steady focus, particularly where they’re silty bottoms.”
One wonderful thing about small critters is that they encourage me to slow down and look closely, no matter where I am.”


“I just upgraded to a mirrorless setup after years of using a compact camera and am really enjoying learning more about wide angle composition and ambient light. I’m not a land photographer so learning manual settings has been fun and frustrating.
“Honestly, I take photos for myself – it’s a form of meditation! ”

Five Years from now? I’ll be thrilled to keep diving, taking photos, and having more divers appreciate the joy of small critters.


Melissa Foo is a recreational diver based in San Diego, California who dabbles in underwater photography, and is a closet nudibranch nerd. She started diving in Taiwan many years ago and has lived and dived in many countries around the world. Melissa is a GUE Fundamentals diver and is contemplating further training if it helps her find more sea slugs. In her day job, she’s a program manager at a technology company. She posts her photos at: Instagram.com/melissa_foo_