Dr. Richard Harris
Cave Explorer and Underwater Photographer,
Richard Harris (aka “Harry”) is delighted to be Australia’s first Dive rite Ambassador. He started diving in his early teens (30 years ago) in the temperate waters of South Australia. Very quickly he put aside his spear gun for a camera and has rarely dived without one since. As an open-water instructor at university, and during his early forays into cave diving in the 80’s, his passion for diving and the ocean has never wavered.Harry’s interest in diving has overlapped his medical career with a strong interest in diving and hyperbaric medicine. This complements his main work as an anesthesiologist. Two years living and working in the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu was a personal highlight, and gave him his first opportunity for original cave exploration in the islands’ many untouched sites.Since then he has continued to pursue a combination of deep cave and wreck diving using mixed gas rebreathers and as always, his goal is to bring back stills or video of places that others have never seen. His images and stories have appeared in many of the popular diving magazines, books, journals and newsletters. He is a lively and enthusiastic speaker and an advocate of tech diving safety. Diving has been a part of his life as long as he can remember and he feels he is learning and adapting to new techniques constantly. But for Harry, the exploration and imaging of virgin cave will always be the ultimate thrill.