I had a dream: I wanted to become an underwater scuba ranger with sharks as friends, I would roam the oceans, work underwater to protect all the creatures and reef from the abuse of humans. A series of choices brought me to the Bahamas to learn how to scuba dive in 1994.
I never left, made the Bahamas my home and scuba diving my life.
I discovered I had a combined passion for sharks, oceans and caves. Working with sharks daily made me realize how misunderstood they were and made me decide to become their advocate.
In 1996 I discovered cave diving; later I became one of the leading explorers in the Bahamas and I currently use my work in the caves to promote their conservation together with the areas around and above them, including mangroves, pine tree forests and ecosystems.
My passion and work is teaching both above and below the water. I continue to learn and grow so I can always have something new to share and inspire others with. My students come from all over the world to learn about sharks, caves, professional diving life and conservation.
I dedicate of lot of my time and work to support the Bahamas National Trust, Our World Underwater Scholarship Society and a local training program to introduce young Bahamians to the world and profession of diving and marine science. I love to travel the unconventional way to different places, away from the oceans and away from diving.
I am in deeply in love with the desert, the mountains and anything wild and isolated; I head there any little chance I have. I live with three giant rescue dogs of the misunderstood kind, shelves full of books, no TV and one foot underwater and one ready to travel somewhere.
Cristina is a PADI Course Director and Ambassadiver, NSS-CDS advanced cave diving instructor and TDI technical instructor. As an active cave explorer in the Bahamas she surveys caves and promotes their conservation. She is also the first woman to have connected an inland fresh water cave to an ocean blue hole in The Bahamas.
Cristina is a member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame, The Explorers Club, The Ocean Artists Society and a recipient of the Platinum pro 5000.
A firm believer in the power of education Cristina spends her time training and teaching below and above the water. She is an active supporter of the Bahamas National Trust and the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society.
Visit Cristina's website at www.CristinaZenato.com
"With every breath we live, with every breath we move forward and allow the body and mind to work together to provide with the necessary clear view of our actions and thoughts.
Yoga entered my life as a healing process after a bad decompression hit back in 1996 and an even harder chamber treatment that left my body unable to process the necessary oxygen. A former student of mine saw my ashen skin and introduced me to the practice of yoga. A practice that never left me.
Through the years I searched for different teachers and different disciplines and the accumulation of practice and experience has left me with an abundant resource that I use to nurture, clear and sometimes heal my body.
My work is at times very demanding, it is hard on the body, the muscles, the mind. It is a work that requires concentration and yet availability to interact with people at a high energy level. Yoga is my refocusing place, my strengthening and healing place. It has taught me about exhaling as the key to all concentration issues.
Once you know how to exhale properly, the body knows how to inhale and the rest comes naturally. Always when in high demanding situations I stand still, relax and exhale and let the body and mind take care of the rest" Cristina Zenato
Cristina's Favorite Jewelry: