James Muir

James studied Geography at the University of Southampton, before completing a Masters Degree in Biodiversity and Conservation. He has always had a passion for marine conservation and SCUBA diving, since doing his first dive at aged 18.

James first worked with Opwall as a divemaster in Greece in 2014 straight after graduating, and then Indonesia in 2015, before going on to help with the set-up and management of the Lake Malawi site in 2016 – 2018. He later went onto work in Mexico as a coral reef ecology lecturer and in Croatia as a dive instructor and the dive operations manager.

James joined Opwall full time in 2023, working within our Marine Operations team, and has now done 10 seasons with Opwall! In 2026 James visited our Mexico marine in Akumal and our Croatia marine sites in Krk and Silba. His day to day work includes working with our marine partners to organise our expeditions, leading our marine staffing, and most importantly making sure our diving operations are as safe as possible!

Outside of Opwall, James has been working as a dive professional for 12 years, teaching diving and leading research programs across the world. His work includes managing sea turtle conservation projects in Malaysia, studying the cichlid fish of Lake Malawi, researching whales and dolphins in Tenerife and working on coral restoration projects in Oman and the Maldives. He is also a keen underwater photographer and is a brand ambassador for Cressi.