PADI Master Instructor Monte Lee Thornton, offers PADI Scuba Diving courses, and is a Travel and Underwater Photographer/Video Photographer and an international Web Designer/Programmer. now lives and is working in the Cayman Islands.

Over the past 25 years of Scuba diving Monte Thornton has published photos in textbooks, magazines, newspapers and Internet publications. His photography expertise spans from underwater to Middle East archaeological compositions. He has shot underwater video of Cayman Islands includes scuba diving sights of marine life. In Belize he has recorded remote islands' wildlife, marine life and the rainforest to promote adventure travel.

In 1996 he worked as a technician/camera operator for 14 special effect cameras underwater at the aquatic center for the Atlanta Olympic Broadcasting. In 1998 he upd daily news online for a CBS affiliate in Houston and maintained online broadcast imagery for daily news.

Other assignments have been photojournalism for special events like the Westheimer Festival and maintaining the web content and design.

He is currently maintaining 120 corporate web sites of content, graphics and is a photographer of companies' inventory. Monte Thornton is a marine naturalist who started out photographing Humpback whales and feeding sharks.

Currently he teaches 27 different PADI certification courses and leads group tours to Belize, Roatan, Red Sea, Bali, Australia and Cayman Islands. He has taken 16 environmental research photography trips to Cayman. The RSL in Cayman is his deepest dive - 880 ft to the wreck of the Kirk Pride.

Monte Thornton undertakes all types of diving projects including under water broadcast work, archaeology, and multimedia development.

One of his specialties is to introduce divers to the diving wonders and to explore uncharted remote reefs. He provides adventure in visits to remote reefs, mangroves, rain forest, ancient ruins, exploring and photographing remote areas.

ExploreUnderWater.com is available for photo/video assignments to gather imagery of locations around the world. Above and below the waters for assignments of camera operator for film and safety diver.

Please contact us via email at: MLThornton@ExploreUnderWater.com Or .

We offer twenty-six different scuba courses starting with entry level openwater certification, we offer group tours to Cayman Island, Belize, Honduras, Red Sea, and Australia. All this in addition to offering scuba equipment sales.

As I reflect over the founders, leaders, dreamers and heroes of the under water world, I discover that the influences of some are simple and others are very complicated.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau a partner in the creation of self-contained breathing underwater realized a vision and desire of sharing the adventure under the sea. With the creation of his television series, he shared his insight of his discoveries and changed the perspective that we see and protect the world. Rod Sterling's voice gave visions from other television series like the Twilight Zone narrated the adventure shows. Each person that had seen one of the series either consciously or unconsciously reflected from the narrator's voice of a certain program from the Twilight Zone.

Whether it was intentional or not, the mood of exploring around the world instilled adventures to seek out the beauty of the ocean. Jacques-Yves Cousteau is the Picasso to the diving community that shines a light and leads us from raping the land, to preserving the Sea for many generations to come. He also influenced us to seek the exploration on a personnel experience level. Many seeking careers as marine biologist or seeking     Employment paths that would place us in tropical reef locations where as a hobby we could set out on our own personnel adventure.

The influences and impact by the producers of the film industry and television programming caused changes in our visions of adventure with scuba. The power of the dollar has ruled which has affected the influence of stepping into the ocean realm. With such movies and show like Sea Hunt, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jaws, Abyss, Water World, Sphere and many more. The vision of fear causes many potential explorers to sit back, watch from a comfortable couch and never experience the adventure of Living.

So where does the influences of adventure and exploring the undersea go from here. The heroes and leaders of the SCUBA Industry are passing the Hat to the next generation. Are they empowered with the challenge to teach us a lifetime of seeking the under water kingdom, or are they feeding us daily to reflect on the past.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day,

Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

In May of 1998, I went on a land tour of Egypt and spent five days scuba diving the Red Sea from Sharma El Sheik. Much to my amazement, the Saqqara tombs that are about 4600 years old are covered with murals of fish and fishing techniques. Some of the fish I recognized as fresh water and others as reef fish. The boats depicted, ranged from simple reed vessels to elaborate sailing ships with teams of oarsmen. The details of the murals show appreciation of the beauty of the fish and skills of workmanship of building ocean-going vessels.





At times in the tour, I felt like I was Harrison Ford using deductive logic as a character of an Indiana Jones show. My Guide would talk about how the granite was carved out of mountains of granite 100 miles away. Once completed they floated the sculptured monument down the Nile River where they placed them in certain temples. The vision that with all the monuments found, there has to be some cargo or vessels that were lost and with such weight settled deep into the sand. What treasures awaits our discovery under the Niles water. Some resent discoveries underwater at Alexandria, Egypt are believed to be that of Ceolopata's Ship and Bathing Temple.





With the onset of the turn of the century, who are our communicators of Vision where the masses of people act upon the adventure of exploring the Under Water World. What will be the impact of Steven Speilberg's next movie thriller where scuba and marine life are the focus. The Movie "Sphere" is a prime example of how producers and backers look at the water world for use of adding suspense of the moment driving your thoughts into fear. Where are the Jacques-Yves Cousteau and National Geographic programming, has the thrill of Shark Week and Bay Watch become the norm of the advertisers to draw clients to their products.

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It has been my vision of this web site to communicate knowledge of exploring underwater to stimulate adventure beyond a simple two-tank dive for a three-day vacation on a once a year trip.





On Novemeber 22, 2002 at the Grand Ole House on Grand Cayman Irene Scott Thornton a decendent of the Cayman Brac Scott family exchanged vows at sunset with a backdrop of large waves crashing on the iron shore.



Monte's 10 year old daughter on her last training dive, looking into the 42 foot sailing yacht in the Blue Lagoon, Huntsville, Texas.







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