I'm Corinne Bourbeillon and you're on my personal blog Bubbles Underwater & Beyond. I publish here my underwater photos and videos, my stories of diving trips. I try to share the wonder that the ocean gives me.
Through my images, I hope to make divers as well as people who never put their head under water aware of the beauty and fragility of marine life, so little known...
Bubbles Underwater & Beyond in a Nutshell
Start of the blog : 2006
Author: Corinne Bourbeillon
Subject: scuba diving and travel
Destinations : most likely where the water is warm
Contact: corinne@petitesbullesdailleurs.fr
1. Who I am in "real life"
I live in Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) in Brittany, where I am a journalist for Ouest-France daily newspaper, for over twenty years now. I am currently on duty at the digital evening edition , one of the newspaper's Internet services. Before that, I also worked for various magazines and publishing houses in Paris. I have also been a literary translator (English → French) for about ten years.
When I'm not working, I go underwater to take pictures... Some of my colleagues at the office have nicknamed me "Coco the Fins" or, more elegantly, "the Naiad". It is this double passion for scuba diving and underwater photography that I share here.
Bubbles Underwater & Beyond is my personal blog, a small patch of the internet that I run for pleasure, in total independence. What I publish here has nothing to do with the media that employs me or my "real life". Note by the way that I always look much better in the water than in the office...
2. How I became a dive blogger
I started publishing my first blog posts in 2006, as a holiday hobbyto give news to my family and friends, during my travels and my dives at the end of the world. And then the blog became my logbook. Since then, the audience of these Bubbles Underwater & Beyond has grown incredibly! Without realizing it, I became a "dive blogger"...
This blog is not a business or my livelihood. But it is still a sort of "showcase" for my underwater adventures, which has also allowed me to publish underwater stories and 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... 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 (with a tank) for more than 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 to 40 meters deep). I did my recreational diving training a little bit with the FFESSM and a lot with PADI up to the Rescue Diver level with the Deep Diver + Enriched Air Diver (Nitrox) specialties. On the professional level I am a holder of a Hyperbaric Capability Certification (French CAH, Class 1 mention B) (up to 30 meters). I have also learned a little bit about freediving (level AIDA 2).
I am a great chiller and prefer warm intertropical seas to cool Breton waters... But in 2020 I got into drysuits, which prompted me to go back and explore the ocean floor near my home. Long live the little bubbles from here!!! 😂 Nevertheless, my favorite spots remain those of the Indo-Pacific archipelagos (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines) in the heart of the fabulous Coral Triangle…
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, as a self-taught, during my trips as a backpacker in Southeast Asia, equipped at the time with a basic digital compact camera.
In 2010, I switched to DSLR, with the Canon Eos 7D which I take underwater in an appropriate waterproof housing. It now accompanies me on all my dives! I also talk about it here on my other website:
→ 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 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 than in an aquarium.
I already see the impact of overfishing, pollution and global warmingThe impact on fish density and coral ecosystems has changed in only a few years. The impact of tourism, too...
More to read → Diving and protecting the ocean
This brings me back to my own contradictions. I am much more aware today of the excessive carbon footprint of my distant air travel. The health crisiswhich is synonymous for me with immobility since March 2020 on the one hand, and the new IPCC report on climate change published in August 2021 on the other hand lead me to a serious reconsideration. In order to keep on blowing bubbles, I started diving in France again. And I will certainly not travel as often as before.
6. I like to travel solo
I love travelling on my own, it's really freedom. Those who have never tried it before don't realize it, but a solo trip is rarely synonymous with loneliness. You never meet as many people as when you are unaccompanied. This is even more true when you practice an activity like diving, which allows you to "socialize" easily around a common passion. I have 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 as I did when I was 20 years old, I still organize most of my small diving expeditions on my own as well, without necessarily going through an agency or a tour operator. Usually, a few exchanges of e-mails are enough to book my accommodation and dive reservations. And then, preparing a trip is already traveling...
7. My bubble of freedom and escape
This blog is my bubble of freedom, my bubble of escape! 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.
As I often continued to blog between tripsEven in the drizzle of Brittany, some people mistook me for a full-time globe-trotting diver. I love the idea. I would dream of being able to travel permanently, quietly, without having to fly back and forth at the beginning and end of the vacations...
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 one image for a mention or a short quote, provided my name, Corinne Bourbeillon, is on credit, with a link to the source. For any other request for use of photos do not hesitate to contact me!
