Banana Sail Sydney began as a weekend adventure sailing company, taking people out on our bright yellow sail boat (just like a Banana!) for swimming and scuba diving trips. At the time, Martin was the principal technical diver at another commercial diving company. During COVID-19, clients began contacting him directly for boat maintenance, leading us to transition into the commercial dive operation we are today.

Martin is a highly experienced and qualified SSI Dive Instructor, Commercial scuba diver, and boat captain. Originally from Galapagos Islands, Ecuador - Martin has more than 25+ years of extensive marine experience including:

• Cruise Director and Dive Manager of chartered live-aboard cruises in the Indonesian archipelago

• Spearheading underwater conservation efforts in Ecuador, Indonesia, and West Papua New Guinea with renowned Conservation International

• Leading Recreational Dive expeditions and Commercial Fishing Operations across the Galapagos Archipelago.

• Commercial maritime maintenence and repairs, and general underwater services in across Sydney Harbour since 2015.

• Repaing, Restoring and Refurbishing several personal vessels by hand: a rather time-consuming lifelong hobby of his. He currently owns two recreational vessels (motorcruiser and yacht) himself on the Parramatta River so knows first-hand how current Sydney Waterway conditions are affecting the boats.

Martin has been featured in publications by National Geographic, and Lonely Planet Travel Guide, and has been working as a recreational and commercial diver here in Sydney Harbour for the last 10+ years. Martin takes immense pride in his work and ever since his humble beginnings, has always aimed to provide affordable and personable service to his customers. Martin is also fluent in Spanish, Bahasa Indonesian, and English.

Emily is Martin’s (better) other half, and is the operational heart of Banana Sail Sydney. An accomplished business women herself with more than 15 years’ working experience across finance, global payments, and hospitality/tourism industries, plus holding postgraduate degrees in Business, IT, and Project Management from the University of Sydney and UTS, she keeps everything running smoothly behind the scenes. She’s also a PADI-certified Rescue Scuba Diver, an avid fisherwoman, and has spent her life on Sydney’s waterways—earning her boat licence at just 14. Oh, and she’s fluent in Spanish too.

Both Martin and Emily co-owned and ran a dive agency in the Galapagos Islands, before settling down and calling Sydney home in 2015. More recently, they welcomed the birth of their daughter Isabela in 2023!