About me

My name is Anthousa Papadopoulou, I am the owner of the Kalamata Dive Center and I am a PADI Master Scuba Instructor with many specialties including Cavern and Disabled Divers instructor and a Tec40 instructor. I am a CCR40 diver, TecDeep and Full Cave diver. I was born in Athens to a greek father and a swiss-german mom and was raised in a multilingual, bicultural household with two younger siblings. I’ve lived half of my life in Greece and the other half in Switzerland. I’ve studied, had a career, travelled the world and when I had my children, I became a full time housewife by choice. I used to run marathons and I practice yoga since decades. My first dive was in 1992 and I knew immediately, it is my world. I would skin dive a lot as a child, but apnea was not enough for me. I wished to stay longer under water, so I got certified as a PADI Open Water diver in 1998, bought my own equipment and dived a lot. I have a son who lives in Zurich and a daughter who died in 2014. Having had to cope with two cancer kids (my stepdaughter survived) my happy marriage ended. I found comfort in the sea. I realized the therapeutic effect of scuba diving and decided I want to share it with others. So I went on with my education and after becoming a PADI instructor, I opened the Kalamata Dive Center in Kalamata in 2016. I kept my groups very small and ended up having only private dives, because it is important for me to focus on every detail of my dive buddy’s experience. It is appalling how many certified divers are a danger to themselves and to others as they have not been taught or they don't remember basics. I made it my mission to correct that and I also found a comprehensive technique to teach buoyancy secrets that very few divers have heard of.

I continue my education as a diver and dream to own a Rebreather one day. What I learn, I apply to give even to the very advanced recreational diver good tips on how to improve his style and thus get more out of every dive. Yet, I don’t forget what it feels like to take your first breath underwater. My priority is to adhere to safety standards and I am a strict, demanding teacher. For the hesitating I have developed a method to help them trust the water and their equipment. Diving with me is fun but not just that. I aspire to give every buddy something on the way that will make his next dives safer and more enjoyable.