I completed my PADI Open Water in 2006 on Koh Tao, Thailand — one of the world's great dive training destinations and a place that permanently ruined me for anything less than warm, clear water. A Divemaster qualification followed shortly after, and with it a permanent inability to look at any body of water without wondering what's underneath it.

Returning to the UK was a useful corrective. Plymouth Sound in a drysuit — cold, grey, genuinely humbling — taught me that great diving isn't just about visibility. Exploring HMS Scylla and the James Eagen Layne taught me patience, buoyancy, and a deep respect for what lies beneath regardless of conditions. I'm grateful for every murky British dive. Most of them.

Since then I've logged over 350 dives across eight major regions — the Mediterranean, East Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, the UK, Canada, Mexico, and Asia. I hold a PADI Nitrox specialty certification and plan to complete my Instructor Development Course when two children under four allow. They're working on it.

Neil Mostyn and partner diving underwater — The Dive Brief
— Diving together. The Dive Brief is a two-person operation.

Where I've dived

Regions visited
Mediterranean — Malta & Gozo
East Africa — Tanzania
Indian Ocean — Maldives
Middle East — UAE & Oman
Asia — Thailand
Canada — West Coast
Mexico — Baja Peninsula
United Kingdom — England

How I ended up in the Middle East

Work brought me to the Middle East. Weekends brought me back underwater — assisting at the local dive centre under Jason Sockett, Course Director extraordinaire, and gradually discovering that the region I'd moved to for a career was quietly one of the world's most underrated dive destinations.

The Arabian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Musandam fjords, the Daymaniyat Islands, and the opening Red Sea coastline of Saudi Arabia — there is genuinely extraordinary diving here that the global dive community largely walks past on the way to the Maldives. The Dive Brief exists to change that.

"A lot of people pass through the Middle East on their way to somewhere else. We think that's a mistake worth correcting."

Favourite dives

My favourite sites tell the story of a varied diving life — the Grand Chumphon in Koh Tao for sheer spectacle, where James Dyer first showed me what a great dive guide looks like, the MV Karwela in Gozo for atmosphere — credit to Dino for that one — a Maldivian liveaboard for the kind of two weeks that recalibrates everything, and a winter dive in Canada where descending through ice into water somehow warmer than the air above felt like a small miracle. The bucket list is growing: South Africa for sharks, and the Silfra fissure in Iceland.

Who dives with me

My partner is as passionate about diving as I am — she learned in the UK and we dive regularly together. Between us we're building what we couldn't find when we first arrived in the region: an honest, first-hand guide to Middle East diving written by people who actually live here, dive it every weekend, and genuinely believe it deserves a place on the global dive map.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is behind The Dive Brief?
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The Dive Brief is founded and written by Neil Mostyn, a PADI Divemaster based in Dubai with over 350 logged dives across eight major regions including the Middle East, Mediterranean, East Africa, Indian Ocean, UK, Canada, Mexico and Asia.
What certification does The Dive Brief author hold?
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Neil Mostyn holds a PADI Divemaster certification, completed in 2008 on Koh Tao, Thailand. He also holds a PADI Nitrox specialty certification and plans to complete his Instructor Development Course.
Where has The Dive Brief author dived?
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Neil has logged over 350 dives across eight major regions — Malta and Gozo in the Mediterranean, Zanzibar in East Africa, the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, UAE and Oman in the Middle East, Thailand in Asia, Canada's West Coast, Mexico's Baja Peninsula, and the UK.
Why does The Dive Brief focus on the Middle East?
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Neil moved to Dubai for work and discovered the Middle East is one of the world's most underrated dive destinations. The Musandam fjords, Daymaniyat Islands, Arabian Gulf wrecks, and the opening Red Sea coastline of Saudi Arabia offer world-class diving that the global dive community largely overlooks.
Is The Dive Brief written from first-hand experience?
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Yes — every dive site review on The Dive Brief is based on first-hand dives by Neil Mostyn or his partner, who also dives regularly. No review is published based on third-party accounts or secondary research alone.