Introducing Blue Dive

At the heart of Blue Dive are your friendly hosts, Mark Fraenkel and Jorg Van Santvliet.

Mark Fraenkel (owner / operator)
Master Scuba Diver Trainer PADI 625299
Extended Range qualification with Technical Diving International
Blue Card 854024/1

Mark has worked as a diving instructor in the Egyptian Red Sea and on the Great Barrier Reef and has dived extensively around Australia including Tasmania, the UK and many other parts of the world. 

Red Sea 1999-2008

Mark worked for Ocean College in Sharm el Sheikh and also managed the Bedouin-owned Sharks Bay Diving Village on the Sinai Peninsula and ran several trips to the southern Red Sea towards the border with Sudan.

Mark was the Projects and Marketing Manager, Red Sea Diving College, Egypt. Under his direction the College won the Dive Centre of the Year 2007 and 2008.

In 2007 the College was one of the few dive operations to win the Project Aware Environmental Achievement Award. This award was given in recognition of numerous environmental projects organised by Mark including underwater clean-ups and coral restoration projects.

Mark hails from London and has a Bachelors Degree in Politics and Modern History from Manchester University. He did have a career in the UK civil service as a project manager before he became a diving professional in 1999. He tells us that it was a great move and that “I’m still not sure what I want to be when I grow up”.


Jorg Van Santvliet (owner / operator)
Master Scuba Diver Trainer PADI 966544
Commercial skippers licence, Cairns, Australia.

Jorg’s extensive professional diving career has taken him around Australia a country that has become his home after leaving Belgium with his wife in 2005.

He worked as a dive guide on the famous Yongala wreck off Townsville before becoming the head engineer and diving supervisor/instructor on the excellent dive boat Poseidon in Port Douglas, a position he held for 5 years before he teamed up with Blue Dive.

He has an incredible knowledge of the local reefs which means you’ll get to all the hidden areas that few know of.

In Belgium, Jorg was the technical advisor to Mercedes Benz and has a Higher Degree in Engineering from Antwerp University. 

Attracted by the Barrier Reef he moved to Australia in 2005 and never looked back.