About me

Why I dive

From early on, water kept drawing me in. Be it a lake, river or the ocean - I felt at home, whenever I was near, on, in or under the water. It covers a part of our world and I always wanted to explore what lies beneath the surface.

When I was 8 years old, I saw a documentary of the underwater world of the Maldives and it left a lasting impression on me. I wanted to become an underwater explorer, I wanted to see this world with my own eyes and enjoy being immersed for more than a single breath.

I finally became a certified diver in 2019 in the Seychelles and quickly became enarmored. Sure, for many it’s the beautiful colors of coral reefs, the schools of pretty fish surrounding them that draws them underwater - and I absolutely adore these dives, too. But for me, it’s the unknown world below, the weightlessness and the feeling of visiting an alien place.

That’s why I didn’t want to limit my diving to faraway places on vacation, but wanted to explore the lakes, rivers and underwater places in Switzerland, Europe and the world. I try to get into the water at least once a week and I enjoy sharing this passion with others as a dive guide and instructor.

Martin Splitt underwater selfie with the Divesoft Liberty CCR in Attersee
Selfie of Martin Splitt diving the Liberty CCR in Attersee, Austria

Why I became an underwater photographer

Whenever I tell people I dive in the cold, dark waters in Switzerland, Europe and elsewhere, most people can’t believe it. They think “there is nothing to see” or “it’s murky and grey”. It could not be farther from the truth - even in Switzerland we have colors and wildlife, if not as vibrant as a tropical reef, but surely worth exploring.

I wanted to share these moments with others and what better way then to tell stories from the deep in pictures?

My gear

For those interested, here is what I use for my photography as well as my diving.

My photo gear

For the more challenging conditions, I’m using a Sony camera setup:

For dives requiring lightweight setups, I use a variety of actioncams:

I usually use Wurkkos DL07 lights for the actioncams.

My dive gear

I usually dive sidemount or CCR, but often travel with backmount gear.

Backmount

XDeep Zen assembled with Apeks MTX-RC regulators, covered with ice on deck of the MV Ortelius on the Antarctic Ocean
My XDeep Zen with Apeks MTX-RC aboard the MV Ortelius in the Antarctic ocean

Sidemount

CCR

Salamandre Oxygen Rebreather after a dive
My Salamandre Oxygen CCR after a dive

Shared gear

A bunch of my gear is independent of configuration, like

Beyond photo and video

Besides photography and cinematography I also share the passion of diving with others by being a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer in Zürich. Together with Jan Kirchhof, I’m hosting the Dekozeit Podcast (in German).