The people behind the experience.

Ricardo Castillo · Instructor & Founder

Exploration, instruction and storytelling.

Ricardo Castillo has been a diver, instructor and expedition leader for more than 25 years. He spends much of his life exploring, diving and teaching—from foundational scuba programs to cave diving and CCR—and organizes expeditions for people ready to discover oceans and caves around the world. Photography and film allow him to preserve and share the singular moments found along the way.

His work as a diver and photographer has taken him to South Africa, Mozambique, the Mediterranean and Canary Islands, the Maldives, Antarctica, the Arctic, Iceland, Norway, the Great Lakes, Cocos Island, the Galápagos, the Bahamas, Truk Lagoon, Hawaii, Cuba, Tonga, Fiji and Indonesia, as well as on countless journeys along Mexico’s coasts, islands and submerged cave systems.

Ricardo has participated in television documentaries and films about cave exploration, shipwrecks and sharks. He is a recreational and technical diving instructor with more than 7,000 dives; his deepest dive reached approximately 450 feet, and his coldest was completed in water at −1.7°C.

His work has received recognition at film festivals. His photographs have been displayed at institutions including Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, and his images and articles have appeared in specialized diving publications.

Eckehardt Von Damn · Co-Founder

A life shaped by diving, photography and film.

A diver and photographer since 1980, Eckehardt has completed more than 1,000 dives and is trained in recreational, technical, trimix, full cave, CCR and ice diving. His expeditions have taken him throughout South Africa, Mozambique, the Mediterranean and Canary Islands, the Maldives, Antarctica, the Arctic, Iceland, Norway, the Great Lakes, Cocos Island, the Galápagos, the Bahamas, Truk Lagoon, Hawaii, Cuba, Tonga, Fiji and Indonesia, as well as Mexico’s coasts, islands and submerged caves.

Eckehardt has dedicated most of his professional life to the film industry. In 2007, he founded Corazón Films, which has distributed more than 100 Mexican and international films in Mexico, including The Lord of the Rings, Una película de huevos, The Pianist, Matando Cabos, The Twilight Saga, Knowing, The Divergent Series, Now You See Me 1 and 2, Aquí entre nos, The Impossible, the REC series, Last Vegas, Non-Stop and The Little Prince, among many others.

In 2016, CANACINE recognized him for his outstanding career in the film industry.

Verónica Ortiz · Manager

Connecting people through the underwater world.

Verónica Ortiz Coronel is originally from Mexico City and holds a degree in Marketing. Her professional path began in the corporate world, but a desire to discover new places took her first to Toronto and then to Playa del Carmen, where her life changed direction.

What began as a recreational way to admire the ocean became a vocation. Every dive offered a new invitation to wonder: schools moving in harmony, corals with extraordinary textures, fleeting encounters with marine life and the feeling of entering a place where time slows and attention deepens.

Diving taught Verónica to breathe differently, observe carefully and respect nature’s rhythms. In 2024, she became a certified cave diver and entered the silent, ancient world beneath the Yucatán Peninsula, where every formation carries history and every dive offers a lesson in humility, technique and connection.

Today, diving is central to her life and reflects an ongoing commitment to learning, safety and environmental preservation. It is also a bridge that allows her to connect with people from around the world and share experiences that can transform the way they understand the ocean.

Alejandra García · Dive Instructor

Teaching skill, respect and confidence.

Alejandra aims to share her passion, knowledge and respect for the underwater environment while responding to the individual needs, goals and interests of every diver.

Her career as a recreational and technical diving instructor has taken her to countries across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and allowed her to accumulate thousands of dives. After years abroad, she returned to Mexico, drawn by its unique submerged caves.

Her passion for diving began early. From her first dive, she knew it was her calling. After building experience as an open-water instructor, she progressed into technical diving to expand the boundaries of exploration.

For Alejandra, the journey is not only about personal achievement. As an instructor, she is committed to teaching strong fundamentals and instilling a deep respect for the marine environment. Conservation is not a slogan; it is a way of life.

Olinka Cortés · Dive Guide

Marine science with a cave explorer’s perspective.

A biologist by training, a diver by passion and a cave explorer at heart, Olinka holds a degree in Marine Biology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where she developed a deep appreciation for nature, biodiversity and, especially, crustaceans.

Her cave-diving journey began in 2014 when she joined a research group collecting samples in the flooded caves of the Yucatán Peninsula. In 2017, her enthusiasm for diving and teaching led her to become an Open Water Diving Instructor.

Now based in Playa del Carmen, Olinka guides, instructs and accompanies divers through the Caribbean Sea, cenotes and underwater caves. Her mission is to provide a safe and enriching experience while raising awareness of the region’s fragile and extraordinary ecosystems.

Her goal is to connect people with the underwater world in a meaningful and respectful way.