DIVING TALKS Talks Tek

From InDEPTH. Photos courtesy of Diving Talks.

Since its launch in 2021, the annual international Diving Talks show—based in Lisbon, Portugal—has engaged the global sports diving community in a widening series of conversations on diving, safety, conservation, underwater photography, and filmmaking. Following the shows, the conversations are then posted on YouTube. In fact, the Diving Talks YouTube channel has received hundreds of thousands of views over the last year!

But this year, for its Fourth Edition, the hyperbaric equivalent of famous TED Talks has decidedly gone tech—15 of its 23 speakers are tech and cave explorers, including a number of individuals who have pushed the underwater envelope of self-contained diving in both distance and depth. What’s more, half of these explorers are women! 

I love it when You Talk Tek To Me?!? Absolutely!

“In terms of aspiration, we want Diving Talks to be a show that attracts people and also that motivates them to go further, to go deeper into diving,” Diving Talks founder Arlindo Serrao explained. “If you challenge people to do that, they will dive more, they will train more, and they will become better divers. So, if you say we’re going tech this year, we’re going tech because of this objective.”

In addition to presenters’ individual talks, Serrao is planning to host two panel sessions—he calls them ‘debates’—facilitated by Mr. Human Diver himself, Gareth Lock, and InDEPTH chief Michael Menduno. Details on the panels will be announced in the near future.

One of the secrets behind Diving Talks’s success is the robust networking that goes on at the show among attendees, presenters, and exhibitors. This year’s attendees will have an opportunity to rub shoulders and chat with some of the who’s who of tech diving, like pioneering explorers Jill Heinerth and Jarrod Jablonski, three of the deepest cave divers on this water planet—Xavier Méniscus, Frederic Swierczynski and Nuno Gomes, and more; picture and film makers, safety experts, conservationists—the list goes on. 

There’s more. Though most tekkies are aware of Diving Talks, only a few outside of central Europe realize that Portugal encompasses three main karst areas with more than 2,000 caves. These include Alviela Springs, the deepest cave found in Portugal, which has been measured to a depth of 215 m/705 ft, along with numerous caves that have not been explored! 

Think of it as an opportunity to check out some of Portugal’s bodacious karst first hand before or after the Talks. You’ll arguably be better for the exposure. See you there!

DIVE DEEPER

InDEPTH: Diving Talks 2024: Celebrating Women Pioneers in Diving (2024)

InDEPTH: The Diving Talks is back – a show for diving enthusiasts, professionals and industry experts. (2023)

InDEPTH: What Are Diving Talks? (2022)

Diving Talks: Is There Still a Need for the Term, “Technical Diving?” – Michael Menduno (2023)