I'm Corinne Bourbeillon, journalist, scuba diver and underwater photographer. This is my personal blog, where I share my underwater adventures.
Petites Bulles d'Ailleurs in a nutshell
Blog created in: 2006
Author: Corinne Bourbeillon
Topics: diving, underwater photography and travel
Contact: corinne@petitesbullesdailleurs.fr
1. Who I am in "real life"
I live in Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) in Brittany, where I am a staff journalist for Ouest-France. Before that, I also worked for various magazines and publishing houses in Paris. I have also been literary translator (English → French).
When I'm not at work, I take pictures underwater... As a result, some of my colleagues have nicknamed me "The Palm Coco" or, more elegantly, "The Naiad". It's this dual passion for diving and underwater photography that I share here.
This blog is my personal siteThis is a small piece of web that I cultivate for pleasure, independently, in my spare time. What I publish here in no way reflects my "real life" on a daily basis. One thing's for sure: I always look better in the water than I do in the office...
2. How I became a dive blogger
I started publishing my first blog posts in 2006, at first a simple vacation hobby to keep my family and friends up to date on my diving and underwater photography trips. Over the years, this website has become a kind of logbook for me, and its audience has grown beyond the private circle to an incredible extent!
I keep this blog out of passion, I don't make a living with it. In spite of this, it has become a kind of "showcase" for my underwater adventures, and I am regularly asked by the media, books and magazines, to write reports and take underwater photos.
Not a little proud... My photo of a snorkeler in front of the mantas of Komodo in Indonesia (above left) has been published in this National Geographic book, entitled 100 Dives of A Lifetime (2019).
Above: in 4 columns on the front page in Ouest-FranceOn June 8, 2022, World Ocean Day, one of my images was taken in Raja Ampat. The opportunity to evoke in an article the work of the association The Sea People.
3. My diving experience
I have been scuba diving (with a tank) for more than twenty years. I made my very first bubbles underwater during holidays in Thailand... A revelation. Now, every time I go back under the surface, I feel the same immense and intense happiness!
To date, I've logged over 1,200 scuba dives and my level is that of a PA40 (autonomous diver to a depth of 40 meters). I did my "recreational diving" training a bit with the FFESSM and a lot with PADI to the level Rescue Diver with the Deep + Enriched Air (Nitrox) + Self-Reliant Diver specialties. I also hold a Certificat d'aptitude à l'hyperbarie (CAH) Class 1 mention B (up to 30 metres) and took up freediving for a while (level AIDA 2).
I prefer warm intertropical seas to the cool waters of Brittany... But in 2020 (thank you Covid), I started wearing a drysuit, which enabled me to return to explore Brittany's waters close to home without fear of the cold. Quite a change of scenery from the Indo-Pacific archipelagos (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines), in the heart of the Coral Triangle, where I had the chance to dive often.
4. My passion, underwater photography
The beauty of the aquatic world never ceases to amaze me and underwater photography has become my great passion. I started in 2005, self-taught, during my travels with backpack in Southeast Asia, equipped at the time with a modest digital compact camera.
In 2010, I switched to DSLR, with the Canon Eos 7D that I took underwater in a suitable waterproof housing. It then accompanied me on all my dives!
In 2023, I switched to a hybrid camera, Canon Eos R7. I also had to find a watertight housing for this new "toy", an indispensable companion on my underwater adventures.
I also talk about my passion for underwater images on my other site:
→ About Corinne Bourbeillon, underwater photographer
5. Protecting the ocean
I strive to encourage as responsible a practice of scuba diving as possible. I have been diving regularly for a long time, and I tell myself that I am lucky to have been able to observe so many species in their natural environment... This may not be the case for the next generations, who may only see coral and live fish in an aquarium.
I am already seeing the impact of overfishing, pollution and climate change, in just a few years, on fish density and coral ecosystems. And, of course, the impact of tourism too...
More to read → Diving and protecting the ocean
This brings me back to my own contradictions. I'm much more aware than I used to be of the disastrous carbon footprint of my air travel. Since Covid, which has put a big stop to foreign travel, I question myself... I stopped traveling for three years in a row and started diving again in France (mostly in dry suits). But in August 2023, I set off again for a very long-distance trip (four months) in the Pacific. At the same time, I published a mini-guide recounting 24 diving experiences in Brittany and Pays-de-la-Loireto inspire others to rediscover the wonders of our local sites.
6. Travelling solo
When I travel, I love to go alone, it's really freedom. Those who have never tried it may not realize it, but solo travel is rarely synonymous with solitude. You never meet as many people as when you're unaccompanied. This is even truer when you practice an activity like scuba diving, which makes it easy to "socialize" around a shared passion. I've already talked about it at length in this post → Travelling solo.
I like my independence and the internet makes it easy. Although I no longer travel in "backpack" mode like I did when I was 20, I still organize most of my small diving expeditions on my own, without necessarily going through an agency or tour operator. Usually, a few e-mails are enough to book my accommodation and dives. And then, preparing a trip is already traveling...
7. A bubble of freedom and getaway
This blog is my bubble of freedom, my bubble of getaway! I feed it on my free time, without constraint, according to my inspiration, my desires, my destinations... I enjoy telling here my escapades for scuba diving, live or recorded. To discuss with those of you who leave me a comment. But I can go long periods without publishing anything too, and the site continues to live its life!
As I often published articles between two trips, even under the Britton drizzle, some people mistook me for a full-time globe-trotting diver. I confess, I would have loved to travel permanently. But quietly, with a long stay in some places, without flying back and forth at the beginning and at the end of the vacations and without a huge carbon footprint...
8. Photos and copyrights
Unless otherwise indicated, I am the author of the photos published on Bubbles Underwater & Beyond. These images are not free of rights and it is forbidden to use them without my consent.
I generally authorize the use of an image for a mention or a short quote, providing that my name, Corinne Bourbeillon, appears as a credit, with a link to the source. For any other request of use of photos, do not hesitate to contact me!
