Cecilia Luconi pausing during a cavern dive at Portofino
About

The sea off Portofino is my classroom

My name is Cecilia Luconi, and the sea off Portofino is my classroom.

I’m an SDI/TDI instructor specialising in sidemount and overhead-environment diving. I chose sidemount not as a trend but as a philosophy: less bulk, more control, greater safety. Every dive I make, every course I teach, starts from that principle.

My certifications

  • SDI/TDI Instructor
  • SDI/TDI Sidemount Instructor
  • Intro to Tech Instructor
  • TDI Normoxic Trimix Diver
  • PSAI Intro to Cave Diver
  • SSI Cavern & Cenote Diving

I work in the Portofino Marine Reserve, one of the richest marine environments in the Mediterranean. Here the submerged cliffs, caverns and siphons offer ideal conditions for anyone wanting to take up sidemount and advanced diving in an extraordinary natural setting.

I don’t teach sidemount from a manual. I practise it every day, in real conditions, in the same environments where I train my students. I believe an instructor must first be an active diver who knows every metre of the seabed they take students to.

My approach is direct: solid technique, high standards, no compromise on safety. But passion too — because without it, there’s no point going down.

Cecilia Luconi diving sidemount over a rocky reef at Portofino
Passage between rocks in an underwater cavern with a sidemount diver

Photo credits

The images on this site are by Marcello Di Francesco, an award-winning underwater photographer, Aqualung Ocean Ambassador and member of the Nauticam Italy Image Team.

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