# Outline of underwater divers

This is a list of underwater divers whose exploits have made them notable. Underwater divers are people who take part in underwater diving activities – Underwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where the practitioner submerges below the surface of the water or other liquid for a period which may range between seconds to order of a day at a time, either exposed to the ambient pressure or isolated by a pressure resistant suit, to interact with the underwater environment for pleasure, competitive sport, or as a means to reach a work site for profit or in the pursuit of knowledge, and may use no equipment at all, or a wide range of equipment which may include breathing apparatus, environmental protective clothing, aids to vision, communication, propulsion, maneuverability, buoyancy and safety equipment, and tools for the task at hand.

## Who is an underwater diver?

This list refers to people who are notable for their underwater diving activities and for whom a biographical article exists in Wikipedia. The following lists may also be relevant:
* Index of underwater divers – Alphabetical listing of articles about underwater divers

## Pioneers of diving

* Victor Berge – Swedish diving pioneer and author (1891–1974)
* Alberto Gianni – Italian underwater diver and inventor (1891–1930)
* James F. Cahill – American scuba diving pioneer (1926–2008)
* Alphonse and Théodore Carmagnolle – Inventors of an early atmospheric diving suit
* Charles Condert – American inventor of a failed underwater breathing apparatus
* Jacques Cousteau – French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author (1910-1997)
* Charles Anthony Deane – Pioneering diving engineer and inventor of a surface supplied diving helmet
* Guglielmo de Lorena – Underwater archaeologist who invented a diving bell
* Auguste Denayrouze – French inventor of a demand air supply regulator for underwater diving
* Philippe Diolé – French author and undersea explorer (1908–1977)
* Frédéric Dumas – French pioneer of scuba diving
* Ted Eldred – Australian inventor of the single hose diving regulator
* Maurice Fernez – French inventor and pioneer in underwater breathing apparatus
* Émile Gagnan – French engineer and co-inventor of the open circuit demand scuba regulator
* Gary Gentile – American author and pioneering technical diver (1946–)
* Bret Gilliam – Pioneering technical diver and author (1951–2023)
* Edmond Halley – English astronomer (1656–1742)
* Hans Hass – Austrian biologist, film-maker, and underwater diving pioneer (1919–2013)
* Stig Insulán – Inventor of an adjustable automatic exhaust valve for variable volume dry suits
* Jim Jarret – Test diver of the first successful atmospheric diving suit
* Yves Le Prieur – French naval officer and inventor of a free-flow scuba system
* John Lethbridge – English wool merchant who invented a diving machine in 1715
* William Hogarth Main – Cave diver and scuba configuration experimentalist
* Tom Mount – Pioneering technical and cave diver (1939–2022)
* Bill Nagle – American wreck diving pioneer (1952–1993) wreck diving
* Phil Nuytten – Canadian deep-ocean explorer, scientist, and inventor of the Newtsuit
* Joseph Salim Peress – Pioneering British diving engineer
* Benoît Rouquayrol – French inventor of an early diving demand regulator
* Dick Rutkowski – American pioneer in hyperbaric and diving medicine and use of mixed breathing gases for diving
* Joe Savoie – Diver and inventor of diving helmets
* Augustus Siebe – British engineer mostly known for his contributions to diving equipment
* Charles Spalding – Scottish confectioner and amateur diving bell designer
* E. Lee Spence – Underwater archaeologist (1947–)′
* Robert Sténuit – Belgian journalist, writer and underwater archeologist (1933–2024)
* Philippe Tailliez – French pioneer of scuba diving and underwater photographer (1905–2002)
* Teseo Tesei – Italian naval officer and pioneering military diver (1909–1941) inventor of human torpedo
* Arne Zetterström – Swedish diver and researcher (1917–1945)

## Underwater explorers

* Craig Challen – Australian veterinary surgeon and technical diver
* Sheck Exley – American cave and deep diving pioneer and record breaker
* Martyn Farr – British cave diver
* Richard Harris – Irish actor and singer (1930–2002)
* Jill Heinerth – Canadian diver, writer and underwater filmmaker
* William Hogarth Main – Cave diver and scuba configuration experimentalist
* Agnes Milowka – Australian cave diver
* Rick Stanton – British cave diver who specialises in rescues
* Bill Stone – American engineer, caver and explorer
* Krzysztof Starnawski – Polish technical and cave diver
* John Volanthen – British volunteer cave diver who specialises in rescues

## Underwater scientists, environmentalists and archaeologists

* Michael Arbuthnot – Underwater archaeologist and film-maker
* Carole Baldwin – Vertebrate Zoology department chair at the National Museum of Natural History
* Robert Ballard – Retired US Navy officer and professor of oceanography
* George Bass – American pioneer of underwater archaeology (1932–2021)
* Mensun Bound – British maritime archaeologist
* Eugenie Clark – American ichthyologist, shark researcher and scientific scuba diver
* James P. Delgado – American maritime archaeologist, explorer and author
* Sylvia Earle – American marine biologist and lecturer
* John Christopher Fine – American marine biologist, wreck diver and author
* George R. Fischer – American underwater archaeologist
* Anders Franzén – Swedish marine technician and amateur naval archaeologist
* Honor Frost – Pioneer in underwater archaeology
* David Gibbins – Underwater archaeologist and novelist
* Graham Jessop – British commercial diver and marine archaeologist
* Robert F. Marx – American author and scuba diver (1936–2019)
* Charles T. Meide – American underwater archaeologist
* Simon Mitchell – New Zealand physician and author on diving medicine
* Mark M. Newell – British/American underwater and terrestrial archaeologist and anthropologist
* John Peter Oleson – Classical archaeologist and historian of ancient technology
* Margaret Rule – British archaeologist who led the Mary Rose project
* Dee Scarr – Environmentalist, marine naturalist, and scuba diver
* Gunter Schöbel – German archaeologist and director of the Pfahlbau Museum Unteruhldingen
* Stephanie Schwabe – German geomicrobiologist, diver and underwater researcher
* E. Lee Spence – Underwater archaeologist
* Robert Sténuit – Belgian journalist, writer and underwater archeologist (1933–2024)
* Peter Throckmorton – American photojournalist and a pioneer underwater archaeologist

## Freedivers

* Deborah Andollo – Cuban free diver and diving instructor
* Peppo Biscarini – Italian and American swimmer, freediver, and actor
* Sara Campbell – British free diver and former world record holder
* Derya Can – Turkish world record holder female free-diver
* Goran Čolak – Croatian free-diver and world record holder
* Carlos Coste – Venezuelan freediver and world record holder
* Robert Croft – American freediver and US Navy diving instructor
* Mandy-Rae Cruickshank – Canadian world champion freediver and record holder
* Yasemin Dalkılıç – Turkish freediver and record holder
* Flavia Eberhard – Brazilian free-diver and presenter of TV series "APNEIA"
* Şahika Ercümen – Turkish dietician and world record holding freediver
* Emma Farrell – British freediving instructor and author
* Francisco Ferreras – Cuban freediver also known as "Pipin"
* Pierre Frolla – Monegasque free-diver and world record holder
* Elisabeth Kristoffersen – Norwegian freediver and president of AIDA Norway
* Loïc Leferme – French freediving record breaker
* Enzo Maiorca – Italian free diver
* Jacques Mayol – French free diver (1927–2001)
* Audrey Mestre – French world record-setting freediver
* Karol Meyer – Brazilian free-diver world record holder and professional cyclist for Avai Cycle Team
* Stéphane Mifsud – French free diver and five time world champion in static apnea
* Alexey Molchanov – Russian world record holder for freediving
* Natalia Molchanova – Russian multiple world record holding freediver (1962–2015)
* Dave Mullins – New Zealand freediver and world record-holder
* Patrick Musimu – Belgian freediver
* Guillaume Néry – French freediver
* Herbert Nitsch – Austrian freediver and world record holder
* Umberto Pelizzari – Italian freediver
* Annelie Pompe – Swedish freediver and mountaineer
* Ocean Ramsey – American freediver and model (born 1987)
* Stig Severinsen – Danish freediver, record holder and author
* Tom Sietas – German freediver and record holder
* Aharon Solomons
* Martin Štěpánek – Czech freediver and record-holder
* Walter Steyn – Australian competitive freediver, freediving judge and freediving instructor
* Tanya Streeter – British-Caymanian-American freediver
* William Trubridge – New Zealand freediver and record holder
* Devrim Cenk Ulusoy – Turkish freediver and world record holder
* Danai Varveri – Greek freediver and record holder
* Alessia Zecchini – Italian freediver (born 1992)

## Scuba divers

* John Bennett (diver) – British technical diver and former record holder lost in commercial diving incident
* Pascal Bernabé – French claimant to scuba diving depth record
* Jim Bowden (diver) – Record breaking technical and cave diver
* Mark Ellyatt – British technical diver and previous depth record holder
* Sheck Exley – American cave and deep diving pioneer and record breaker
* Nuno Gomes – South African diver and holder of scuba depth record
* Simon Mitchell – New Zealand physician and author on diving medicine
* Claudia Serpieri – Italian technical diver and depth record holder
* Dave Shaw – Australian technical diver and former record holder killed in a diving incident
* Krzysztof Starnawski – Polish technical and cave diver

## Underwater filmmakers

* Eduard Admetlla i Lázaro – Catalan scuba diving pioneer and underwater filmmaker
* Samir Alhafith – Australian technical diver, cave explorer and adult underwater filmmaker
* Henri Bource – Dutch-Australian scuba diver, underwater filmmaker, musician and shark attack survivor
* Scott Cassell – American underwater filmmaker
* Jacques Cousteau – French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author (1910-1997)
* Ben Cropp – Australian documentary filmmaker, conservationist and spearfisherman
* Hans Hass – Austrian biologist, film-maker, and underwater diving pioneer
* Jill Heinerth – Canadian diver, writer and underwater filmmaker
* Henry Kaiser (musician) – American guitarist, film director, and scientific diver
* Ron Taylor – Australian diver and shark cinematographer
* Valerie Taylor – Australian underwater photographer
* Stan Waterman – American cinematographer and underwater film producer (1923–2023)
* Andrew Wight – Australian screenwriter and producer (1959–2012)

## Underwater photographers

* Tamara Benitez – Filipina cinematographer
* Georges Beuchat – French inventor, diver and businessman
* Adrian Biddle – English cinematographer (1952–2005)
* Jonathan Bird – American photographer, cinematographer, director and television host
* Eric Cheng – Taiwanese American entrepreneur and professional photographer
* Neville Coleman – Australian naturalist, underwater photographer, writer, publisher and educator
* Jacques Cousteau – French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author (1910-1997)
* John D. Craig – American businessman, writer, soldier, and diver
* Ben Cropp – Australian documentary filmmaker, conservationist and spearfisherman
* Bernard Delemotte – French diver and photographer (1939–2023)
* David Doubilet – Underwater photographer and author
* John Christopher Fine – American marine biologist, wreck diver and author
* Dermot FitzGerald – Irish photographer
* Rodney Fox – Australian diver, film maker and conservationist
* Ric Frazier – American photographer
* Stephen Frink – Underwater photographer and publisher
* Peter Gimbel – American filmmaker and underwater photojournalist (1927–1987)
* Monty Halls – British TV broadcaster, diver and naturalist
* Hans Hass – Austrian biologist, film-maker, and underwater diving pioneer
* Henry Way Kendall – American particle physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics
* Rudie Hermann Kuiter – Dutch-born Australian underwater photographer, taxonomist, and marine biologist
* Joseph B. MacInnis – Canadian physician, author, poet and aquanaut
* Luis Marden – American photographer, explorer, writer, filmmaker, diver, navigator, and linguist
* Agnes Milowka – Australian cave diver
* Bruce Mozert – American photographer
* Noel Monkman – New Zealand born Australian filmmaker specialising in underwater photography
* Steve Parish – British born Australian photographer and publisherPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
* Zale Parry – American scuba diver, photographer and actress (born 1933)
* Pierre Petit – French photographer (1831–1909)
* Leni Riefenstahl – German filmmaker (1902–2003)
* Peter Scoones – Underwater cameraman
* Brian Skerry – American film producer and photojournalist
* Wesley C. Skiles – American cave diver and cinematographer
* E. Lee Spence – Underwater archaeologist
* Philippe Tailliez – French pioneer of scuba diving and underwater photographer
* Ron Taylor – Australian diver and shark cinematographer
* Valerie Taylor – Australian underwater photographer
* Albert Tillman – American educator and underwater diver
* John Veltri – American filmmaker and underwater photographer
* Stan Waterman – American cinematographer and underwater film producer (1923–2023)
* Michele Westmorland – American underwater photographer
* J. Lamar Worzel – American geophysicist and underwater photographer

## Underwater artists

* Jason deCaires Taylor – British sculptor and creator of the world's first underwater sculpture park

## Combat divers, frogmen and saboteurs

* Lionel Crabb – Royal Navy frogman and MI6 diver
* Ian Edward Fraser – Royal Navy Victoria Cross recipient (1920–2008)
* Sydney Knowles – British naval frogman during and after WWII
* John H. Lang – American soldier and sailor (1899–1970)
* Alain Mafart – French military officer convicted for his part in the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
* Teseo Tesei – Italian naval officer and pioneering military diver

## Aquanauts

Aquanaut – Diver who remains at depth underwater for longer than 24 hours
* Astronauts – Commander, pilot, or crew member of a spacecraft
** Joseph M. Acaba – American educator, hydrogeologist, and NASA astronaut
** Clayton Anderson – Retired NASA astronaut and member of the ISS Expedition 15 crew
** Richard R. Arnold – American educator and NASA astronaut
** Serena Auñón-Chancellor – American physician, engineer, and NASA astronaut
** Michael Barratt (astronaut) – American aerospace medicine physician and astronaut born 1959
** Bob Behnken – US Air Force officer, NASA astronaut and former Chief of the Astronaut Office (born 1970)
** Randolph Bresnik – United States Marine Corps officer and a NASA astronaut on three expeditions
** Scott Carpenter – American astronaut and aquanaut (1925–2013)
** Gregory Chamitoff – Canadian born engineer and NASA astronaut (born 1962)
** Catherine Coleman – American astronaut, chemist, engineer and USAF colonel (born 1960)
** Timothy Creamer – NASA flight director, astronaut and US Army officer
** Jeanette Epps – American aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut born 1970
** Andrew J. Feustel – American-Canadian NASA astronaut and geophysicist
** Michael Fincke – American astronaut and USAF colonel (born 1967)
** Satoshi Furukawa – Japanese surgeon and astronaut (born 1964)
** Ronald J. Garan Jr. – American astronaut
** Michael L. Gernhardt – NASA astronaut and manager of Environmental Physiology Laboratory (born 1956)
** Chris Hadfield – Canadian astronaut (born 1959)
** Jeremy Hansen – Canadian astronaut and future lunar explorer (born 1976)
** José M. Hernández – American engineer and former NASA astronaut
** John Herrington – Native American astronaut, aviator and engineer (born 1958)
** Akihiko Hoshide – Japanese astronaut and engineer (born 1968)
** Norishige Kanai – Japanese doctor and astronaut (born 1976)
** Scott Kelly (astronaut) – American engineer and astronaut (born 1964)
** Timothy Kopra – American astronaut
** Michael López-Alegría – Spanish-American astronaut (born 1958)
** Sandra Magnus – American astronaut and engineer (born 1964)
** Thomas Marshburn – American physician and NASA astronaut
** K. Megan McArthur – American oceanographer and NASA astronaut (born 1971)
** Jessica Meir – American astronaut and marine biologist
** Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger – American astronaut
** Andreas Mogensen – Danish engineer and astronaut (born 1976)
** Soichi Noguchi – Japanese astronaut and engineer (born 1965)
** Karen Nyberg – American mechanical engineer and NASA astronaut
** John D. Olivas – American engineer and a former NASA astronaut
** Takuya Onishi – Japanese astronaut, engineer and pilot (born 1975)
** Luca Parmitano – Italian astronaut, pilot and engineer (born 1976)
** Nicholas Patrick – British-American astronaut and engineer (born 1964)
** Tim Peake – British Army Air Corps officer and astronaut (born 1972)
** Thomas Pesquet – French aerospace engineer, pilot, and astronaut (born 1978)
** Marc Reagan – American Station Training Lead in Mission Operations at NASA's Johnson Space Center
** Garrett Reisman – American engineer and former NASA astronaut (born 1968)
** Kathleen Rubins – American microbiologist and NASA astronaut
** David Saint-Jacques – Canadian astronaut (born 1970)
** Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper – American astronaut and Navy captain (born 1963)
** Hervé Stevenin – European aquanaut at the European Astronaut Centre (born 1962)
** Nicole Stott – American engineer and former astronaut (born 1962)
** Daniel M. Tani – American astronaut and engineer (born 1961)
** Robert Thirsk – Canadian engineer, astronaut and physician (born 1953)
** Bill Todd – Project Manager for Exploration Analogs at NASA's Johnson Space Center
** Mark T. Vande Hei – American engineer and NASA astronaut
** Koichi Wakata – Japanese engineer and astronaut (born 1963)
** Rex J. Walheim – American astronaut, engineer and USAF colonel (born 1962)
** Shannon Walker – American scientist and NASA astronaut
** Douglas H. Wheelock – American engineer and astronaut (born 1960)
** Peggy Whitson – American astronaut and biochemistry researcher (born 1960)
** Dafydd Williams – Canadian astronaut, physician and public speaker (born 1954)
** Jeffrey Williams (astronaut) – American astronaut and US Army officer (born 1958)
** Sunita Williams – American astronaut and Navy officer (born 1965)
** Gregory R. Wiseman – American astronaut, engineer, and naval aviator (born 1975)Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
** Kimiya Yui – Japanese pilot and astronaut (born 1970)
* Andrew Abercromby – Biomedical engineer from Scotland working for NASA
* Timothy J. Broderick – Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati
* Berry L. Cannon – American aquanaut who died in a diving incident (1935–1969)
* Justin Brown (aquanaut) – American professional aquanaut and habitat technician
* Steve Chappell – American aerospace engineer
* Robin Cook (American novelist) – American physician and novelist (born 1940)
* Craig B. Cooper – American aquanaut
* Fabien Cousteau – Aquanaut, ocean conservationist, and documentary filmmaker
* Philippe Cousteau – French diver and cinematographer (1940–1979)
* Jonathan Dory – Human Systems Integration Lead at NASA's Johnson Space Center
* Sylvia Earle – American marine biologist and lecturer
* Sheck Exley – American cave and deep diving pioneer and record breaker
* Albert Falco – French scuba diver, chief diver and captain of the Calypso
* Christopher E. Gerty – American aerospace engineer who worked on NASA's Constellation Program
* Paul Hill (flight director) – Former Director of Mission Operations at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
* Mark Hulsbeck – American professional aquanaut
* Emma Hwang – Scientist with Wyle Laboratories and aquanaut on NEEMO 5
* Les Kaufman – American evolutionary ecologist specializing in aquatic ecosystems
* Karen Kohanowich – American aquanaut and ex US Navy diver
* Dominic Landucci – American professional aquanaut and Network Analyst at the NOAA Aquarius Reef Base
* Jon Lindbergh – American underwater diver (1932–2021)
* Joseph B. MacInnis – Canadian physician, author, poet and aquanaut
* Craig McKinley (physician) – Canadian physician and aquanaut
* Simone Melchior – First woman scuba diver and aquanaut (1919–1990)
* Dick Rutkowski – American pioneer in hyperbaric and diving medicine and use of mixed breathing gases for diving
* Tara Ruttley – Associate Chief Scientist for Microgravity Research at NASA Headquarters
* Josef Schmid (flight surgeon) – NASA flight surgeon and Major General in the United States Air Force Reserves
* Robert Sheats – American Master Diver retired from the United States Navy
* Dewey Smith – American aquanaut. Died in diving accident.
* Steve Squyres – Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University
* Robert Sténuit – Belgian journalist, writer and underwater archeologist (1933–2024)
* James Talacek – American professional aquanaut
* Joachim Wendler – German aquanaut (1939–1975)

## Cave divers

* Graham Balcombe – Pioneering British cave diver (1907–2000)
* Jon Lindbergh – Pioneering American cave diver and early aquanaut (1932–2021)
* Jim Bowden – Record breaking technical and cave diver
* Sheck Exley – American cave and deep diving pioneer and record breaker (1949–1994)
* Martyn Farr – British cave diver (1951–)
* Jarrod Jablonski – Pioneer American cave diver, author and previous cave diving record holder (1969–)
* Artur Kozłowski – Polish cave diver (1977–2011) (1977–2011)
* Jack Sheppard – British cave diver (1909–2001)
* Wesley C. Skiles – American cave diver and cinematographer (1958–2010)
* Krzysztof Starnawski – Polish technical and cave diver
* Rick Stanton – British cave diver who specialises in rescues (1961–)
* John Volanthen – British volunteer cave diver who specialises in rescues (1971–)

## Notable for other reasons

(to be allocated)
* Michael C. Barnette – American underwater diver, author and founder of the Association of Underwater Explorers (born 1971)
* Leigh Bishop – Diver known for shipwreck exploration and photography (shipwreck discovery)
* John Chatterton – American wreck diver, co-host for History Channel's Deep Sea Detectives series(shipwreck discovery)
* Jean-Michel Cousteau – French oceanographic explorer
* Billy Deans (diver) – American pioneering wreck and technical diver
* Leonardo D'Imporzano – Italian free-diver and AIDA International Judge
* Deon Dreyer – South African diver (1974–1994)
* Oscar Gugen – Founder of the British Sub-Aqua Club
* Bob Halstead – Underwater photographer, author, journalist and commentator on the recreational diving industry
* Mehgan Heaney-Grier – American free-diver, fashion model, actress, conservationist and television personality
* Paul Hosie – Australian cave diver
* Keith Jessop – British salvage diver and treasure hunter
* Richie Kohler – American technical diver and shipwreck historian
* Steve Lewis (diver) – Technical scuba diver and author
* John Mattera – American wreck diver and author (shipwreck discovery)
* Lesley Rochat – South African underwater photographer, filmmaker and environmental activist
* Willard Franklyn Searle – US Navy ocean engineer and developer of diving and salvage equipment and systems
* Bill Nagle – American wreck diving pioneer
* Aristotelis Zervoudis – Greek professional diver (born 1964)