Our Philosophy

All of us at Island Scuba and our partners we work with are all divers and have a very simple principle when it comes to how we run our dive centers – we would like it to be the sort of place where we would want to dive, if we were on vacation. What matters to us:  experienced dive guides who know the sites, instructors who are committed to creating good divers, a focus on safety, a commitment to ensuring that each diver has the best possible time and remembering that diving is meant to be fun for everyone!

The Island Scuba Story

In the beginning, there was just sea.   Nishan Perera was a Colombo-based diver who, along with his former partner Naren Gunasekera, wanted to spend more time exploring these waters.   However, challenged by the lack of professional dive centers in Colombo they finally decided to take matters into their own hands and started their own diving club.  And thus, on the beaches of Mt Lavinia, Island Scuba was born.

During the course of their diving and exploring, Nishan and Naren discovered many of the fantastic wrecks off the coast of Colombo.    Their commitment to quality diving, and the prevalence of post-dive tamarind martinis at their old beachside base, meant that Island Scuba soon grew into a small but highly-regarded dive center with a devoted group of customers who knew the secret that was Colombo diving.

And now, big plans are afoot.   Island Scuba has expanded to operations in Trincomalee and also partnered with DIVEIndia, India’s largest dive operator with operations across the country, to help increase the scale of operations and bring in several exciting new offerings.

But our goal remains the same:  to provide high-quality, professional diving services with a fun, relaxed vibe.    And all of us here at Island Scuba would love to share the amazing diving of Colombo with you!

IS Team Photo

Jeremy Blake – AKA Jez(Not Jay Z)

Managing Overlord/ Does Everything

PADI Master Instructor

You have probably communicated with Jez on email or will hopefully soon enough.   Not to sound too needy, but you ARE sending us an email, right?   (You don’t call, you don’t write…).     You will see him running around the dive center, sorting out everything to ensure our divers have a great time.    And if you are REALLY lucky, you may even see him in the water – we do recommend buying a lottery ticket on that day, as he is as reluctant to dive these days as he is to spend a winter in his native country UK. An experienced PADI Master instructor, Jez worked in UK, Belize, Thailand, Oman, Philippians, Indonesia and the Andaman Islands before moving to Sri Lanka. The rest of the staff don’t always understand him (or believe him when he says he speaks a form of English), but he is loved by everyone nonetheless.

Brice – AKA Lenin

PADI Open Water Instructor

Instructor/ IT / Equipment Service and Repairs.

French national, Brice has worked in Australia, Thailand and other locations in Sri Lanka as a dive professional before  starting work with Island Scuba and realizing why he should of started working with us much sooner!!

A very committed instructor that will certainly get you hooked to diving and show you a few secrets. He’s also a underwater Videographer and a professional life guard as well as a PADI Instructor for more than five years.

Jeihan – AKA The Grand Daddy

PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer

Freelance Instructor

Jeihan has been hanging around  since the creation of Island Scuba and is as much part of Island Scuba as anyone of us, hence why I like to call him the Grandaddy not because of his age but for the fact that he’s been helping us for so long.

He a great instructor to have and especially to many of our local students, as well as our younger divers. He’s great with kids and those that do not at first find diving so easy, also a national swimming coach which come in very handy at times. Very patient, never rushes and alway ready to help us out when we need him. He’s part of the fixture and fittings around here. The local staff love him being around, a mentor to many of them!!

Jonathan Smith – AKA The Clayman

PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor

Freelance Instructor

Ex GB representative in Quadrathlon. Jonathan is from the Welsh valleys and is one of our newest additions to the Island Scuba family. Commonly called ‘jon The Clayman’ he’s very artistic and creates designs in Pottery. Jon is a qualified adult education teacher and martial arts instructor.

Jon stepped into scuba diving  a bit later than most of us, but he’s living proof that its never to late to become a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor.

Ollie – AKA The West Side

Divemaster

Ollie is a long-time Colombo-based Divemaster, who is (a) not French and (b) has a LOT of experience diving on the wrecks of Colombo.   Prior to this, he worked on a liveaboard in Australia funny enough with Brice, before returning back home. Full of energy and always ready to have a good time, it is hard to keep him away from the sea. In fact, he loves the sea so much he decided to once spend more than 24 hours in the water drifting along the Colombo coastline (not with us, we should clarify!).

Logistical Staff

Boat Crew and Rescue support.

As always we should never forget our logistical staff because without them preparing our boats and loading equipment as well as driving the boats, none of us would be able to go diving.

A mixed bunch of religions and home towns they all work very well together and certainly help in a big way to make us the perfect team to feel safe and enjoy every minute experiencing diving with us here at Island Scuba.

A big thanks goes out to Vindu, Nilanga, Natheer and last but not forgotten, how can we, he’s larger than life “Kutty”