My name is Andreas Modinger. I was born in Hobart, Tasmania, and moved to Victoria, Australia, 11 years ago. I have been diving since the early 2000s, with most of my diving originally being in Tasmania, where I worked my way up from an open water diver to a divemaster. My day job led me to move to Victoria where I completed my IDC to become an instructor and continue to dive regularly. I currently teach as a PADI instructor for Diveline in Frankston, Victoria.
During my time in Tasmania, I originally started diving for crayfish, abalone, and scallops, but very quickly realised this was nowhere near as interesting as exploring and teaching. Over the past three years, I have heavily invested in underwater photography and really enjoy showing the world how amazing other areas of Australia are for scuba diving. I am lucky to be able to dive on the Great Southern Reef in Australia, which is an interconnected underwater system fringing more than 8000km of Australia’s Southern Coast, from Kalbarri in Western Australia to the NSW/Queensland border. Even though it is cold water, the Great Southern Reef has some amazing colours and diversity, and I would highly recommend that if you get the chance you come down to the Southern part of Australia to see this amazing reef.
In recent times, I have created an Instagram account (@andreas_diving), to show people not just how amazing the Great Southern Reef is, but also how important our oceans are. I hope to help others start to appreciate and protect these beautiful marine environments. I have recently been able to teach and get my 14-year-old son into the water with me, and hopefully will soon be able to do the same with my 11-year-old. I really want them to learn about and appreciate the amazing sea life we have here in Australia. Some of my favourite dive sites here in Victoria are Devils Dropoff in Port Phillip Bay and Blairgowrie Pier which happens to be one of the best places for night diving and capturing the many wonderful varieties of nudibranchs we have.
Octopus protecting her eggs,
Rye Pier, Victoria, Australia
Wobbegong,
South West Rocks, New South Wales, Australia
Octopus,
Flinders Pier, VIC, Australia
Blue-throated wrasse,
Great Southern Reef, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia
Devil’s Dropoff,
Great Southern Reef, Victoria, Australia
Grey nurse shark,
South West Rock, New South Wales, Australia
Kaloplocamus ramosus,
Blairgowrie , Victoria, Australia
Under the pier,
Portsea Pier, Victoria, Australia
Short headed seahorse,
Blairgowrie Pier, Victoria, Australia
Weedy seadragon,
Flinders Pier, Victoria, Australia
Find more from Andreas on his Instagram @andreas_diving
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