Scuba Diver

About Scuba Diver

Scuba Diver is the monthly magazine at the heart of one of the world’s largest independent diving media groups. Launched in 2017 by the team behind the long-running Sport Diver EMEA, it filled the gap left when that title closed after 28 years — and it has since grown into a global brand with regional editions in the UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand, and Germany, a fast-growing website in Divernet.com, and a portfolio of dive shows on three continents. Published by Rork Media, it is written for divers, by divers, and — unusually in the dive press — is independent of any dive training organisation.

The magazine’s online home is Divernet.com, one of the world’s longest-established diving websites, which Rork Media acquired in 2021 and into which the magazine’s own site was merged in 2025. Covering dive travel, kit and technique with lavish underwater photography, Scuba Diver aims to unite the industry rather than divide it. Below is a detailed profile of the magazine: its founding, its people, its content, its regional editions and the events business it has built. Visit the official website at divernet.com.

History and Founding

Scuba Diver was launched in 2017 by the core team behind the recently defunct Sport Diver EMEA. Sport Diver had been published in Europe for 28 years as the regional edition of the PADI organisation’s magazine, but contractual changes in the United States brought it to an end — leaving, in the words of editor-in-chief and magazine co-founder Mark Evans, “a gaping hole in the marketplace.” Evans and his colleagues seized the opportunity: just weeks after Sport Diver’s closure, they founded Rork Media and launched Scuba Diver as a lavishly illustrated, 100-page monthly, available in perfect-bound print and in multiple digital formats, supported by an interactive website and social media channels.

For regular readers of Sport Diver EMEA, the content was welcomingly familiar: travel features, UK dive reports, comprehensive equipment reviews, expert columnists, hints and advice sections and international dive news. But there was one decisive break from the past: Scuba Diver was totally independent, affiliated with no training agency — a freedom its founders used to try to unite the industry rather than serve a single organisation’s interests.

Mark Evans and the Founding Team

Mark Evans, the magazine’s co-founder and editorial director, is one of the best-known figures in British diving journalism. He had been the editor of PADI’s Sport Diver UK magazine until its closure in January 2017, and he has been in the diving industry for 27 years — diving himself since the age of ten. Alongside him, Ross Arnold co-founded Rork Media and serves as its publishing director; the pair’s partnership has driven the group’s expansion from a single magazine into a global media and events business. Rork Media Limited is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 10564639), with its registered office at 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London.

Editorial Character: Travel, Kit and Technique

Scuba Diver’s editorial mix is built around three pillars: dive travel, equipment and technique. Each issue carries comprehensive travel reports on destinations near and far, informative hints and advice on training and techniques, Q&As with explorers, underwater photographers and celebrities, in-depth and avowedly unbiased gear reviews, technical diving articles, and news and views from the worldwide dive industry. Dedicated sections cover freediving — produced in partnership with DeeperBlue.com — technical diving and underwater photography every single month.

The magazine’s independence shapes its journalism: because it answers to no training agency, its equipment tests can be genuinely impartial, and its training coverage can draw on all of the industry’s bodies rather than just one. The photography, much of it commissioned from leading underwater shooters, is central to the magazine’s identity — the launch issues were sold on the promise of lavish illustration, and the title has kept that promise.

Independent of the Training Agencies

One of Scuba Diver’s founding principles was to work with every part of the diving industry. The magazine includes monthly content from all of the main training agencies — PADI, BSAC, SSI, RAID, SAA, TDI/SDI, IANTD and GUE — a breadth of coverage that agency-owned titles cannot match. It was, Evans said at launch, an attempt to “unite the industry”: a single, neutral platform where divers of every certification could find content relevant to them. That positioning has become one of the brand’s defining strengths.

Regional Editions: A Global Brand

From its UK base, the Scuba Diver brand has expanded into bespoke regional editions. Scuba Diver North America began life as Scuba Diver Destinations, launched at the DEMA Show in 2019; after the pandemic disrupted its early years, it was rebranded and relaunched under the Scuba Diver name to bring it into line with its sister titles, and is now distributed in print through dive centres across the United States and Canada as well as by direct subscription and in digital format. The North American team is spearheaded by industry veteran and award-winning underwater photographer Walt Stearns.

There are further editions for Australia and New Zealand and for Germany — the subscription terms list UK, North America, Australia & NZ and Deutschland editions — each with bespoke regional content in print and digital. All of the Scuba Diver titles are independent and not affiliated with any dive training organisation.

Divernet: From Diver Magazine’s Website to the Brand’s Home

Divernet.com — described as one of the world’s longest-established diving websites, packed with information on diving destinations, equipment, techniques and daily news updates — began life as the online presence of the UK’s Diver magazine. Rork Media acquired the site in 2021, and for several years ran it alongside the magazine’s own ScubaDiverMag.com, with the two sites serving the same niche audience. In 2025 the company decided to merge the two platforms: ScubaDiverMag.com was phased out, its content moved to Divernet.com, and the final site merger took place on 5–6 October 2025. Divernet is now the single home for all things diving within the group, including Scuba Diver magazine and its associated brands — a consolidation the company said would let it focus its resources on making Divernet the go-to platform for divers worldwide.

The GO Diving Show

Recognising the need for modern, consumer-focused dive events, Evans and his team launched the GO Diving Show in the UK. After three successful years — including a brief hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic — the UK show attracted more than 10,000 attendees. The format was then exported: the inaugural GO Diving Show ANZ took place in Sydney, Australia, free to enter with free parking, extending the brand’s live footprint to a second continent.

The Scuba Show Acquisition

In 2025 Rork Media made its biggest move yet, acquiring the rights and assets of California Diving News and the Scuba Show in Long Beach, California — the latter widely regarded as the largest consumer dive event in the United States and a fixture of the American dive industry calendar for 38 years. As part of the acquisition, California Diving News was realigned to match Rork Media’s other publications while continuing to serve the California diving community, and Scuba Diver North America tapped into its distribution network and subscriber base. Mark Young — who founded Dive Training and Dive Centre Business magazines 34 years ago and had spent a decade growing the Scuba Show — joined the Rork Media team. Combined, the group’s three events now attract more than 25,000 divers and feature over 500 exhibitors worldwide.

Subscriptions and the Scuba Diver Club

Scuba Diver is sold by print subscription in each of its regional editions, with every print subscription including Scuba Diver Club membership. Members can read new Scuba Diver features on Divernet a month before they become free to everyone, browse the site without third-party advertising, and take advantage of members’ offers. Every digital edition of the magazine is free for everyone to read — membership buys early access rather than exclusive access, in keeping with the brand’s inclusive philosophy.

People

Beyond Evans and Arnold, the group’s key figures include Walt Stearns, the veteran underwater photographer who spearheads Scuba Diver North America, and Mark Young, who joined with the Scuba Show acquisition. The magazine’s regular contributors span explorers, photographers, instructors and gear testers — and its pages have featured Q&As with some of the biggest names in diving and underwater imaging.

Where to Read

Scuba Diver magazine is available in print by subscription and in free digital editions, all accessible through Divernet.com, which also carries daily diving news, destination guides, gear tests and technique articles. With a monthly print magazine, four regional editions, a major website and dive shows in the UK, Australia and the United States, the brand that began in 2017 as a lifeboat for Sport Diver readers has become the most ambitious independent diving media operation in the world. Visit divernet.com for subscriptions, digital editions and the latest diving news.