Christine Albanese

Christine’s travel journey began in 2005 when, at 20 years old, she embarked on a 3-month backpacking tour of Europe, visiting 9 countries and more than 20 cities. The travel bug bit her, and she has dreamed of far-away and exotic places ever since. Upon her return, she began working in hospitality, eager to explore the travel world and its possibilities.

In 2010, Christine met her life partner. Excited to share her love of travel with him, she gave him carte blanche to pick anywhere in the world for a 1-month trip. His obsession with finding the best Pad Thai led them to Thailand in 2011, where they both completed their Open Water Diver course (and ate a LOT of Pad Thai). Neither knew how much they would love diving—or how much their lives would change forever.

Diving quickly became an obsession, and after several dive vacations, they returned to Thailand in 2013 to pursue their Divemaster certifications. What was supposed to be a 6-month sabbatical turned into a long-term lifestyle, and they simply did not return home.

Before moving abroad, Christine had studied digital imaging, film animation, and professional photography. Looking for a creative outlet, she taught herself underwater photography, which quickly became a second obsession. She made a living managing a dive centre, guiding divers, and selling her photography. Along the way, she won several underwater photography contests and even had her 15 minutes of fame in a National Geographic article featuring her dynamic photograph of a whale shark.

Christine never planned to become a dive instructor, but after some encouragement, she completed her Instructor Development Course. She quickly discovered how much she loved teaching and became a full-time instructor, while underwater photography returned to being a passion rather than a profession.

After 3.5 years in Thailand, Christine and her partner moved to the Marsa Alam region of Egypt, discovering the incredible biodiversity of the Red Sea. Several months later, they landed their dream job managing a dive centre at a resort in Fiji. It was here that Christine met Cheryl and John while they were on a FAM trip to the Fiji Islands.

Aside from diving Fiji’s gorgeous soft and hard coral reefs, Christine guided the famous shark dives and was lucky enough to experience them hundreds of times. She has her fair share of stories—and loves to tell them!

Two years later, they moved to the Solomon Islands to manage a dive centre on the island of Munda. Unfortunately, the experience was cut short after a few months by the pandemic, and they were lucky enough to return home just hours before borders worldwide closed. They spent the next 2 years in Canada, biding their time until the tourism industry stabilized.

In 2022, they returned to Fiji to manage a dive centre for the same resort, before moving to Indonesia a year later to manage a dive centre at a 5-star resort in Bunaken National Park.

After nearly 10 years abroad, Christine and her partner decided it was finally time to hang up their professional fins and return to Canada for good. But she couldn’t bring herself to let go of industry completely, so she reached out to Cheryl to see if she was looking for another team member.

Having been on the receiving end of so many Deep Blue Adventures dive groups and individual customers, Christine is excited to now be on the other side—building tours, guiding divers toward their next adventures, and continuing to pursue her love of diving and travel.