Ramón Bravo – Mexican Diving Legend

Around the same time as my father, Jacques Cousteau, was donning his newly co-invented SCUBA gear and traveling the seas aboard Calypso with his team, there was also a famous Mexican diver, photographer and filmmaker by the name of Ramón Bravo who was exploring the undersea world – bringing the beauty of the ocean world to Mexico, the Americas, and Europe through his numerous underwater films, photography, and books. He is known as the most beloved diver of Mexico.

The life and accomplishments of Ramón Bravo will be honored at this year’s third annual ScubaFest in Cozumel, Mexico taking place from December 9-14, 2014. There will be a memorial ceremony where I have the honor and privilege of unveiling the underwater sculpture honoring the memory of Ramón Bravo in the Underwater Museum of the Buzo de Oro (“The Golden Diver”).

Ramón Bravo was first known as a famous Mexican swimmer and competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics. However, he soon became involved with diving and underwater photography – gaining him fame in both America and Europe. Bravo developed a fascination for sharks and devoted a large portion of his life to filming and studying sharks. He is widely known for the discovery, study, and photography of "sleeping sharks" near Isla Mujeres in the Caribbean in the 1970s. Tiger sharks were seen there to be “sleeping” on the ocean floor.

As close friends, Bravo served as Jacques Cousteau’s dive guide in the cave of sleeping sharks and reefs surrounding Isla Mujeres. Following this, Bravo was featured in one of Cousteau’s films: the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau (1966-1976): The Sleeping Sharks of Yucatan (1974). Shortly after Bravo’s death in 1989, the President of Mexico, President Zedillo, honored me with the opportunity to place a plaque in the Cave of the Sleeping Sharks at Isla Mujeres in Bravo’s memory, which reads, “Ramón Bravo Prieto, Protector of the Sea and Ocean, Forever Sleep Beside Their Sharks in this Cave. Isla Mujeres 02/28/98.” Now, we have the opportunity to once again remember and honor the life and memory of Ramón Bravo at this year’s ScubaFest.

The annual ScubaFest event brings together divers from around the world to celebrate the diving community, pay tribute to the men and women who have protected our oceans, and spread awareness about ocean conservation and protection. Both my father, Jacques Cousteau, and Ramón Bravo were not only pioneers in diving and exploration by bringing the ocean world to them through films and photography, but also true conservationists by communicating the value and importance of protecting the ocean and all it’s enchanting creatures.

This year’s ScubaFest event will also include an opportunity to dive the new ScubaFest Route of Jean-Michel Cousteau. The journey takes divers through a route of nine dive sites around Cozumel that includes visits to the breathtaking coral reefs around Cozumel and to the underwater sculpture of Jacques Cousteau that was placed underwater during a memorial ceremony at the 2013 ScubaFest event.

IIn the next couple days of diving in Cozumel, my team and I hope to connect new and old divers alike to the beauty of our ocean home – and inspire each and every one of us to support and advocate for conservation efforts around the world. Learn more about the 3rd Annual ScubaFest event in Cozumel, Mexico.

Adios!