The PADI® organization has announced its new PADI AmbassaDiver team members for 2020. The PADI AmbassaDiver program helps amplify the stories of divers who inspire others to love and care for our ocean planet. These individuals elevate diving in their communities and across the planet, encouraging more people to pursue their passions or follow their dreams to seek adventure and save the ocean. They exemplify what it means to be a PADI Torchbearer, committed to exploring and protecting the ocean.

PADI welcomes the following individuals and groups into the PADI AmbassaDiverprogram:

Nayantara (Tara) Jain
Having first tried diving at the age of 16 in the Maldives, Tara became a PADI Divemaster in 2010 and an instructor in 2011. With experience diving in Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, California, Galapagos and many other exciting places, her favorite diving destination remains the unexplored reefs of India, where she lives and works. Her passion for marine conservation drove her to earn a Master’s degree in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California, USA. She now heads Reef Watch Marine Conservation – one of India’s only not-for-profit organizations dedicated to protecting our ocean and coastal communities.

Alex Rendell
Alex is the co-founder of Environmental Education Centre in Thailand, which educates children about environmental issues with a main focus on the ocean and scuba diving. Alex is a film star in his native Thailand and utilizes his fame to bring awareness to younger audiences about the importance of conservation.

Megan Hassa
A travel influencer, Megan can usually be found “up in the mountains or at the bottom of the sea.” Megan has a mission to help unite adventurers and lovers of the ocean. She shares her love for diving with her thousands of followers, to educate and develop a voice for environmental conservation.

Baki Zainal
Baki is the Reef Check ambassador for Malaysia and Singapore as well as a TV personality in Asia. Baki hosts many travel shows that involve islands and diving. A passionate champion for marine conservation, he is continuously spreading awareness about the importance of marine conservation to the youth and mass audiences.

Bo Mancao
Bo is a multi-award-winning underwater photographer and marine cinematographer. He has represented the Philippines on numerous international photo shoots and his images are used to promote diving by the Philippines Department of Tourism. He has filmed award-winning documentaries concerning our oceans, international lifestyle programs and short films focusing on conservation.

Khalid Alrazooqi
Working closely with the government in UAE to help promote the region as a diving tourism destination, Khalid has traveled to many countries in the world to dive and explore the sea and learn best practices to help the environment. Khalid has received many awards for his work including from His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai. Khalid is a member of DXB Diving, a group dedicated to removing fishing nets that have been left by area fishermen.

Claude Evangelista
Claude finds captivating stories beneath the ocean, and through the art of filmmaking explores ways to communicate those stories to people who are curious about the ocean. Through his films, Claude hopes to inspire others to explore the underwater world through diving.

Melodie Trevino
Based on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, Melodie has been in the water most of her life. A former Olympic diver and technical cave explorer with an MBA in sustainable development, Melodie is focused on sustainable operation in Mexico. She is an ambassador for brands like Oceanic, Hollis and Huish Outdoors, and enjoys sharing her adventures so she can reach out to others who might find the journey of scuba diving as limitless as she does.

Weldon Wade
TedEx speaker, Director at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and founder, leader and driving force of Guardians of the Reef, Weldon has received many recognitions and awards from his peers and organizations including the opportunity to serve on boards of local NGOs, government boards and as a brand ambassador for international organizations.

Frank Mollel
Representing the Massai, one of the East Africa’s land-locked traditional tribes, Frank became the first Maasai diver in the region. Teaming up with DivePoint in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Frank is giving back to the community through Protecting the Ocean, a youth program that trains new divers and helps create a generation of conservationists and ocean lovers.

Annie Crawley's Scuba Diving Team
Led by underwater photographer, filmmaker, inspirational speaker and PADI MSDT Annie Crawley, this team of more than 50 active kids of all ages and backgrounds is stoked on diving in America’s Pacific Northwest and pay forward that enthusiasm to protect the future of the ocean. With the support of their local dive center, Underwater Sports, the kids, ranging in ages from 10 to late teens, dive year-round – not just in their backyard in Seattle, Washington, USA, but all over the world. Their passion for the underwater world shines through with a range of interests and dreams.

Learn more about the PADI AmbassaDiver team here. Follow PADI on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up to date on their ongoing projects, dive adventures and conservation efforts throughout the year.

About PADI

PADI® (Professional Association of Diving Instructors®) is the world’s largest diver training organization with a global network of more than 6,750 dive centers and resorts and 137,000 professional members worldwide. Issuing more than 1 million certifications each year, PADIenables people around the world to seek adventure and save the ocean through underwater education, life-changing experiences and travel. For over 50 years, PADI is undeniably The Way the World Learns to Dive®, maintaining its high standards for dive training, safety and customer service, monitored for worldwide consistency and quality. With a longstanding commitment to environmental conservation, PADI is leading the way for millions of people to actively explore, steward and protect the ocean through its course offerings and partnerships with like-minded, mission-driven organizations. PADI embodies a global commitment to ocean health with its mission to create a billion torchbearers to explore and protect the ocean over the next 50 years. Seek Adventure. Save the Ocean.