I'm Corinne Bourbeillon and you're on my personal blog, entitled Bubbles Underwater & Beyond. I publish here my underwater photos and videos, my stories of diving trips. My goal: to share my wonder at the splendor of the ocean through my images. But above all to make my readers, whether they are divers or not, aware of the fragility of this other world under the surface, so little known...
Bubbles Underwater & Beyond in a Nutshell
Blog created in: 2006
Author: Corinne Bourbeillon
Topics: scuba diving and travel
Destinations: most likely where the water is warm
Contact: corinne@petitesbullesdailleurs.fr
Why this blog? Who is Corinne Bourbeillon? Here are eight things to know...
1. Who I am in "real life"
I live in Rennes, Brittany, where I'm a journalist...for the daily life Ouest-France...for over 20 years. I am currently based in the digital evening edition digital, one of the newspaper's Internet services. Before that, I also worked for various magazines and publishing houses in Paris. I was also a literary translator (English → French) for about ten years.
When I'm not working, I go underwater to make pictures... Some of my colleagues at the newspaper have nicknamed me "the Coco Palm Leaf" or, more elegantly, "the naiad". It is this double passion for diving and underwater photography that I share here.
Bubbles Underwater & Beyond is my personal blogI'm holding it for fun, independently. What I publish here is therefore usually nothing to do with the newspaper I work for or my "real life" of everyday life. Note that I always look much better in the water than I do at the office...
2. How I became a dive blogger
I started publishing my first blog posts in 2006, as a holiday hobby.to give news to my family and friends, during my travels and my dives at the end of the world. And then the blog has become my logbook over the years. In the meantime, the audience of Bubbles Underwater & Beyond has taken on an incredible magnitude! Without realizing it, I became a "scuba diving and travel blogger"...
This blog is neither my livelihood nor a business. But it is still a kind of "showcase" of my adventures, which has also allowed me to publish articles, reports and underwater photos in various media, books and magazines.
Not a little proud of myself... My photo of Matt free diving in front of mantas has been published in this National Geographic book (2019).
100 Dives of a Lifetime from National Geographic (2019). The cover photo, taken in the cenotes of Mexico, is signed by the great British photographer Alex Mustard.
Not a little proud & #8230; My photo of a freediver facing the mantas of Komodo in Indonesia (above left) has been published in this National Geographic book, entitled 100 Dives of A Lifetime (2019).
3. My experience as a diver (with bubbles and sometimes without)
I have been scuba diving for over twenty years. My very first underwater bubbles date back to a vacation in Thailand in 1999. A revelation! Since then, every time I go back under the surface, it's a renewed, immense, intense happiness!
I have more than 1,000 tank dives to date and my level is that of a PA40 (scuba diver up to 40 meters). I did my "leisure" training a bit at the FFESSM and many at PADI up to the Rescue Diver certification + Deep Diver + Enriched Air Diver. Professionally, I hold a Certificat d'aptitude à l'hyperbarie (CAH) Class 1 mention B (up to 30 meters). I have also learned a little bit about freediving (level AIDA 2).
I'm very cold and I definitely prefer warm seas to Brittany's waters. (but I've recently switched to the dry suit, which gives me new perspectives). My favourite spots? The archipelagos of the Indo-Pacific zone (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines) in the heart of the fabulous Coral Triangle.
4. My passion, the underwater image
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 in Southeast Asia, with a modest digital compact camera.
In 2010, I switched to SLRwith the Canon Eos 7D which I'm taking underwater in a suitable waterproof case. It accompanies me from now on in all my dives! I also talk about it here on my other site:
→ About Corinne Bourbeillon, underwater photographer
5. My goal: to protect the ocean
Through my images and reports, I try to show the beauty and fragility of the underwater world.on which all life on Earth depends: 50 % of the oxygen we breathe comes from the ocean! "We love what has amazed us, we protect what we love ..." This quote attributed to Cousteau sums up what should animate diving tourists.
→ Diving and protecting the ocean
I therefore strive to encourage responsible scuba diving practice.The company is committed to making its operations as environmentally friendly as possible. I have been diving at sea for a long time and I think I am very lucky to have been able to observe so many species underwater, in their natural environment... This may not be the case for the next generations, who may only see coral and live fish in aquariums.
I am already observing, in the space of a few years, on my own modest scale, the impact of overfishing, pollution and global warming. on fish density and coral ecosystems. The impact of tourism, too. Which brings me back to my own contradictions on each of my far-flung journeys. I'm well aware of my excessive carbon footprint when I fly...
6. I like to travel solo
I like my independence and the internet makes it easy. Although I no longer travel in backpack mode as I did when I was 20 years old, I still organize most of my small diving expeditions on my own, without necessarily going through an agency or a tour operator. Usually, a few e-mails are enough to book my accommodation and dive reservations. And then, preparing a trip is already traveling...
Of course, with the Covid-19 pandemic, everything changed... I still don't know how I will organize my next diving trips. I will probably take care of cancellation possibilities and special coronavirus insurance included. Perhaps it will be more prudent to go through an agency or a tour operator before incurring expenses? To be continued...
7. My bubble of freedom and escape
This blog is my bubble of freedom, my bubble of escape! I put online articles on Bubbles Underwater & Beyond on my free time, without constraint, according to my inspiration, my desires, my destinations... I am pleased to tell here my escapades at the end of the world to do scuba diving, live or delayed. To be discussed with those of you who leave me a comment.
As I continue to blog between tripsEven under the Breton drizzle, some people think I'm a full-time globe-trotting diver. I love the idea and I maintain the myth.
8. Photos and copyright
Unless otherwise stated, 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, provided that my name, Corinne Bourbeillon, is on credit, with a link to the source. For any other request for use of photos, please do not hesitate to contact me!
