Sacha Williamson- Kaiako Te Tai Tokerau

Sacha comes from a long line of water(wo)men, she grew up on and in the water, and became a commercial diver at 18 years old, for Under The Sea Construction. If she could spend her whole waking life underwater, she would! 

She has found lots of opportunities to spend her life under the sea. She worked with AusAID and UN on aid situations in the Pacific Islands, volunteered for the Marine Education Centre Wellington, worked for the Victorian University Wellington marine laboratory assisting post grad students and worked alongside DOC, NIWA, Victoria University and Te Papa assisting on research expeditions.

Through her mahi she started seeing what was happening under the surface, the destruction, the pollution, and depleting sea life. She felt compelled to look after it, to preserve it, and so she set off to become a Scuba instructor hoping she could share this underwater world and help others love it too, and therefore look after and preserve it. In her spare time she freedived, taking photos, playing and hunting for kaimoana.

She travelled and found freediving courses and eventually fulfilled a dream of becoming a Freedive Instructor too. When she returned to NZ in 2013 with her young family she started the free dive school Free Dive Aotearoa with the same vision of sharing what’s under the sea, plus so much more.

Now with 20 years’ experience and having the next generations of mermaids to consider, (she has 3 girls) she wants to be diving with her children AND grandchildren, sharing with them this world that has captivated her so much.