About Us

Picture of Steve, Director of Ocean Swim Holidays

Steve - Owner and Lead Guide

Steve has always had an affinity for the ocean. That started with childhood family trips to the beach (his parent's often had to forcefully remove him from the ocean kicking and screaming), attempts at surfing in his late teens/early 20s (he was absolutely rubbish at catching waves but didn’t care and loved being out in the water and having banter with friends) and fishing trips with his Father (he would much rather swim with fish these days).

It wasn't until Steve took up Triathlon 15 years ago that he discovered the joys of ocean swimming. Since then ocean swimming has gradually morphed into a passion/obsession which has been fueled by several magical marine wildlife encounters. His favourite so far occurred in 2021 when a pod of Orca decided to swim over and check him out (you can see the video from that encounter below).

Steve loves encouraging others to join in on the fun and it brings him great joy when a person completes their first ocean swim, and they are left buzzing. Steve reckons the exercise induced endorphins, being out in and feeling connected to nature, marine wildlife spotting, meeting new people and having a laugh really does make ocean swimming holidays hard to beat!

Steve’s face to face encounter with Orca at Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. Note that in New Zealand it is prohibited under the Marine Mammals Protection Act to purposely swim with Orca but if you are extremely lucky, they might decide to join you while you are out enjoying the ocean.