Heather Batrick (Director)
As Director of Yongala Dive, Heather has seen every dive condition possible at the Yongala. Heather is an MSDTwho has worked in the industry in Australia for the past 11 years, most of it on the East Coast of Australia. Having spent many years working in, around and about the dive site, Heather considers the wreck as close family. Unfortunately she spends more time around the ‘office’ now than on the dive site.
One Favourite experience out of many – a close encounter with a Black Manta Ray, (her favourite species)…… as in way close, close enough to realise a Manta’s wings are not soft at all if you dont move out of the way fast enough !
Brent Chatterton (Operations Manager)
Coming soon……………………………… the pictures not really him, hes not that old !
An integral part of Yongala Dive, Brent can be found in the Tractor, under the Tractor, in the boat, around the boat, Skippering, diving, in the Office and…. the list goes on.
Matt Simos (Dive Instructor)
Would you like to be on Matt’s team – go team sexy !!
Matt, is an original Queenslander, hard to find in the industry – laidback but always up for a laugh. He thinks he is cool and funny……well, he’s certainly loud. Matt is passionate about his scuba diving and will certainly take his time to explain it from A to Z – his students love him for it (well we think its smiles on their faces).
Photo’s and video are one of his passions (underwater stuff that is) and you will often find him behind a camera during his dives, inspired by the magnificent marine life - our divers enjoy his shots. Matt has also got a lot of experience diving the East Coast and also Asia and has quite a number of specialities under his belt……yep, you got it – he is the guy with the big binder full of PADI cards !!
Matt’s most memorable Yongala experience is, wait for it………. along with the picture…….
Paul Tustin (Skipper/Dive Instructor)
Paul is another typical laid back Aussie, nothing gets his feathers ruffled. He’s the calm one who looks like he has all the time in the world but he knows how to get the job done. Paul is our Skipper – the man behind the helm of the boat and the one who gets you out to the wreck and back in one piece…….hopefully !! On the odd occasion he even manages to jump in the water and look after our divers, passing on his wealth of knowledge.
The travel bug got to Paul some years ago (after meeting up with our lovely Elif, note the surname) and he travelled around the world, spending 6 years in the Carribbean as an Underwater Photographer and a Dive Instructor. Now a family man (yes, thats what happens) he brought his young family back to to settle in Australia to enjoy the relaxed aussie life style.
Angus Rowe (Dive Instructor)
A newish Instructor - who goes by the name of Gus or affectionately known by the team as ‘Big Red’. Gus can usually be seen loading the boat, since he can practically reach into it (not a short guy). One of Gus’s jobs is to conduct and guide “newbie” Adventure Divers, something he enjoys immensely and you are always sure to see him with a smile on his face and a joke on his lips.
Gus joined us initially as a divemaster trainee, so we only have ourselves to blame if his skills are not up to scratch ! He went out into the big wide world, took his Instructor Course and couldnt wait to get back to Yongala Dive, in his words ‘the best Dive Shop on the East Coast’.
Will Evenett (Relief Skipper)
Hailing from PNG where he worked for the American Embassy before joining Yongala Dive, Will is our relief Skipper. Always smiling, he is regularly heard singing to himself… “I like big butts and I cannot lie…”
Mostly seen on the boat (he just loves that thing), once he does his entertaining boat briefing ” all right” Will’s expert boat driving gets all our customers out to the dive site with no hassles and with a few laughs along the way.
Nell Murray -Eade (Number cruncher)
One of the voices on the phone and a friendly face in the Office, Nell is true value – bubbly (yes blonde too) and always smiling.
Nell certainly makes working in the Office entertaining with her comments, topics of conversation and laughter, she is an essential tool in the running of the operation. While making sure that the book-keeping is all kept in order she certainly dis-proves the general thought that all number crunchers are boring.
Nell is a scuba diver(obviously) but needs some convincing to get out of the office and get wet. Keep talking about Manta Ray’s and maybe she’ll edge closer to jumping in!
Elif Tustin (Sales/Marketing Administrator)
Elif, an open water diver is our main ‘voice’ on the phone. She hails from France (we dont hold it against her) so you will hear her lovely accent while she handles your queries. If you cant understand her just ask her to put an ‘aussie’ accent on…….she thinks she can do that too !! (it is worth it just for the crack of hearing her say ‘mate’).
Also an essential tool in the running of the operation…… she organises and keep’s everybody in check with their paperwork, liaises with agents, writes our web blogs and much much more (as she will tell you).
Elif”s dream is to get up close to a whale – so come the season she will be trying to escape the office in search of her dream, although she suffers severely from sea sickness so she might just have to stay on the beach and search the horizon !!
