GUE Instructor resumé

Professional

• Owner & Manager, Scubalife Dive Center, 2017-present
• Scuba Instructor, 2002-present

Education

• BA in Acting, Agia Varvara School of Drama, 2013
• BTEC HND Business & Management, University of Sunderland, UK, 2001-2003

Diving Qualifications

• GUE Recreational 1/Fundamentals Instructor
• SSI Hypoxic Trimix Instructor
• SSI Trimix Blender Instructor
• CMAS** Open Water Instructor
• GUE CCR 2 Diver
• GUE Technical 2 Diver
• CMAS Scientific Diver

Diving Experience

• 5000+ Dives
• 500+ Mixed gas dives
• 500+ Decompression dives
• 500+ Wreck dives

Community Involvement

• Representative of GUE Greece
• Ghost Diving Greece, Coordinator, 2021-2023
• Project Manager, Project Baseline: Saronic Gulf
• Diver, 100 Years of Kea's Shipwrecks Centennal Event, Kea Island, Sep 2016
• Exploration Diver, Cyclades Dive Project, Serifos & Milos Island, May 2016
• Exploration Diver, Lemnos Dive Project, Sep 2015
• Exploration Diver, HMT Marquette Project, Thermaikos Gulf, Oct 2008
• Exploration Diver, DIR In Effect Project - Beirut, Lebanon, Oct 2004
• SKAI Broadcast television interviews

Special interests

• Wreck Exploration
• Marine Conservation Initiatives in the Aegean Sea

Publications

• "A Unique Liveaboard Opportunity for GUE Divers in Greece", Quest, Vol.14, No.2

Additional languages

• Greek, English

Additional Info

Nikos Vardakas is a dedicated diver, explorer and educator. He started diving in 1999 and has been actively teaching since 2002 for numerous diving organizations. He is currently an active Hypoxic Trimix instructor with SSI and a Fundamentals instructor for GUE.
In 2002, on a quest to improve his skills and know-how, he came across the DIR (Doing It Right) philosophy, developed by GUE, adopting the principles that helped him develop a strong diving practice which continues to this day.
He is also the GUE representative in Greece and, in 2009, was the first Greek to be certified as a GUE instructor. He hopes to pass on his knowledge to the Greek diving community.
In 2018 he founded Scubalife Dive Centre with a vision to offer divers the opportunity to expand their diving frontiers and promote Greece as one of the best diving destinations in the Mediterranean.
Besides training, Nikos is also involved in numerous shipwreck exploration projects in Greece.
In 2021 he became coordinator for the Ghost Diving Greece chapter and is dedicated to helping them on their global mission to remove lost fishing gear from the sea.