Career Change

How I Went from Diving with Sharks to Debugging Code

⏱️ 4 min read
Career Transition Tech Marine Conservation
Illustration showing the transition from scuba diving to coding
Nobody can say you're doing it wrong if they don't know what you're doing

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Life has a funny way of leading you to places you never expected — like swapping saltwater for server rooms, from starting your work day with the crack of dawn to ending your night with the same sun salutation from a dark room or trading in your wetsuit for a hoodie and a relentless supply of coffee.

"If you told me a few years ago that I'd go from wrestling dive tanks to wrestling with Kubernetes clusters, I'd have laughed (and then probably asked you if Kubernetes was some kind of exotic sea creature)."

The Deep Dive into Scuba and Conservation

My transition from diving to coding
From ocean depths to code depths - A career transformation

My journey started underwater — literally. Working in the scuba industry and marine conservation meant days of guiding dives, tagging turtles, and giving "Save the Reef" speeches to tourists who mostly just wanted to see a shark and live to tell the tale. It was adventurous, fulfilling, and let's be honest — who wouldn't want the ocean as their office?

However, as much as I loved the sea, the job had its limits. The industry can be physically demanding (dive tanks aren't light), seasonal, and as glamorous as it sounds, eating rice and beans on a beach hut salary wears thin after a while. Plus, corals and whale sharks don't offer health insurance.

From Ocean Currents to Cloud Storage

At some point, I found myself staring into the horizon thinking, "What now?" I had skills — leadership, project management, and the ability to stay calm under pressure (like when an octopus stole my GoPro). What I didn't have? A clue about what I wanted to do next.

Why Tech?

  • Stable career growth opportunities
  • Remote work flexibility
  • Continuous learning environment
  • Problem-solving challenges

Learning to Swim (Again) — In the Tech Pool

The transition wasn't exactly smooth sailing. Coding languages don't care if you once navigated ocean currents — Python doesn't even swim. I started small — online courses, bootcamps, and countless YouTube tutorials that made me feel both inspired and wildly underqualified.

"If you can memorize dozens of dive sites, marine species, and safety protocols, you can learn to code. Debugging an app is surprisingly similar to troubleshooting dive gear, except when things break, no one drowns."

What Carries Over from the Ocean to the Cloud

Problem-solving

Whether you're untangling fishing nets or untangling JavaScript, the brain work is the same.

Adaptability

The ocean is unpredictable, and so is software. One day you're planning a reef survey, the next you're rewriting half your app because AWS updated.

Patience

Marine conservation is a long game, and so is tech. Progress can be slow, but small wins matter.

Communication

If you can explain scuba safety to a novice, you can explain cloud architecture to clients.

Finding Your Flow (and Getting Paid for It)

Breaking into tech can feel daunting, but the good news is that the tech industry loves career changers. There's something refreshing about people who didn't follow the traditional path — especially if your LinkedIn profile includes "Certified Dive Instructor" next to "Cloud Engineer."

I won't lie — I miss the ocean. But now I get to solve puzzles, build things, and occasionally remind my tech colleagues that sharks aren't actually dangerous (unlike deploying on a Friday).

So if you're considering a leap from sea to server, take the plunge. You might just discover that the deep blue and the digital world have more in common than you think.