Ambassador trips

Magnus Lundgren quote: “A fundamental goal is that the trip should be fun for all participants”. Inspiration and information should spice up the experiences with animals and nature that lie ahead. Some want practical diving tips, while others want “hands on” camera coaching. Everyone is welcome, from photo nerds and saltwater divers to sunbathing fellow travelers. The groups are always a mixed audience and of course there is no requirement to be interested in photography to join in.”

At Magnus Travels, you have 30 years of experience leading diving trips all over the world with you on the trip. The trip gets an extra spice and with Magnus on site there are opportunities to get more out of your trip. He helps travelers take better photos or video clips, and meets them at their own level of ambition. So you have your own Photo Pro with you, and can ask as much as you want.

Magnus has worked as a professional photographer for decades, and his images are published all over the world. Some works have even graced double pages in National Geographic. Today, he is a driving force behind the two major nature photography projects Wild Wonders of Europe and Wild Wonders of China.

The list of international awards is long and Magnus's most recent books "Papua - among birds of paradise and devil's coats" and "Ett vildare liv" were both named Panda Book of the Year by WWF. He received the award from the hand of King Carl XVI Gustaf. He is most proud of his repeated awards in the prestigious competitions "European Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Magnus has represented Sweden in three WCs and won a silver medal in Mauritius, and he has been a jury member during two world championships. Magnus is a proud member of Naturfotograferna/N.

Already during my formative years I was very interested in animal and plant life in water. At the age of six, I got my first aquarium, which grew more and more over the years. Sport fishing was another way to get in touch with life down there below the surface. At the age of twelve, I joined Skövde Sportdykarklubb to see how the animals lived in their natural environment. Since then, my interest in diving and life under the surface has only grown over the years. My career choice has therefore always been completely obvious, already during middle school I wanted to become a marine biologist.

During my time studying biology at the University of Gothenburg, I took several study breaks in order to devote myself full-time to diving. There were diving instructor jobs here and there, both in Sweden and in tropical waters. When the study period was over, I stayed for a period at the then Tjärnö marine biological laboratory to teach university courses about Sweden's marine fauna. After a few years of wandering around at various research stations and diving centers, I got stuck in Lysekil. This is where I got my dream job; permanent position to teach marine biology and diving. In addition to my regular job at Gullmarsgymnasiet, I am a frequently hired lecturer, course leader, diving trip organizer and article writer.

I am extremely curious about the wildlife below and can never get enough of being down there, but I am also passionate about sharing my experiences of the underwater world with others. My view is that it is very important to spread knowledge about life below the surface. Personally, I believe that it is the only way to preserve these unique habitats. I have been one of Scandinavia's absolute best underwater photographers for many years and am a Nordic and multiple Swedish champion in underwater photography. On repeated occasions I have also represented Sweden in the WC context.

Since 2006, I have been elected as a member of the association Naturfotograferna. I am probably best known for my animal pictures from Nordic waters. Many years of active photography in our home waters have led to the fact that today I have Sweden's largest image archive of Nordic marine animals. After a lot of travel and several years of work abroad, I also have a large image archive of aquatic organisms from other parts of the world. If you want to see examples of my photos or find out more about my business, please visit my website at underwater pictures.se.

I love the sea and that is one of the reasons why I dive. My love has shaped me into one of the best freedivers in the world. I share that love of the sea by teaching others about the feeling of freedom that freediving brings - The freedom to be one with the sea without all the bulky equipment.

But I don't mind breathing underwater at all. I actually have a long experience in diving as a PADI divemaster with about 500 logged dives in oceans around the world. I have worked with both scuba and freediving in countries such as Thailand, Egypt and Sweden. During the summer, my time is spent in Lysekil, where I teach freediving in the Gullmarsfjord.

My photography career started when I wanted to show my friends who were above the surface, what fantastically beautiful landscapes are hidden in the underwater world. This has recently evolved into mostly freediving photos, all of which are taken in one breath.

It's really a challenge to be a freediving photographer because you only have a small moment to capture the perfect image and also manage to get the right settings.

I contribute articles to FOTO magazine, I have won several photo competitions and have also participated as a judge.

I have a great love for the creatures of the sea. I have taken several marine biology courses to get to know them better and I hope that divers around the world, like me, do their best to preserve our beautiful oceans and their inhabitants.

Li Karlsén is an instructor and trained trainer for freediving instructors. Founder of both Freedive Nordic in Sweden and Seaweed Freediving Club in Mauritius. She has extensive experience in freediving and snorkeling and trains at all levels from beginners to freediving instructors.

Li is a world record holder in something as unique as ice freediving. She is also a Swedish and Nordic champion, and former captain of the Swedish national freediving team.
She has a background as an officer in the Swedish Armed Forces, which means that she brings with her a sense of security and presence that permeates everything she does. This applies both below the surface and in life above. Li Karlsén is also co-founder of the health company BKM Health, where she focuses on women's health for performance and recovery.

Patrik Jonson started diving adventures and group trips in 1999. On his adventure trips there is usually a mix of divers with different backgrounds but everyone usually has the same burning interest in wildlife and especially wildlife under the surface. Patrik became a diving instructor in 1991 and owned and operated Visbydykcenter until 2000. He started underwater photography in 1992 and has continued to practice with his camera since then. Patrik is today an award-winning underwater photographer and has had/has exhibitions around Sweden. He also has a gallery in Stockholm, where he also holds courses in underwater photography during the summer months. He also has a permanent exhibition in Torrevieja since 2020. More info about You can find scuba art photos here.

On trips with Patrik, he will tell/show diving techniques, equipment, how we work with our cameras, lighting, image processing, look at pictures, talk about fish and of course complete a lot of fantastic dives together.

Countries that Patrik has visited are Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Maldives, Dominican Republic, South Africa, Palau, Barbados, Philippines and Indonesia.

Klas is a highly experienced diver and traveler with a lifelong interest in animals, plants and ecosystems. As a marine biologist, he combines his passion for biology with work on marine species and research projects, both above and below the surface.

He has traveled to many places in the world and participated in various studies and projects. Klas is particularly passionate about nudibranchs (nudibranchs) and cartilaginous fish – sharks, rays and sea mice. He is involved in a research team that works with DNA analyses and documentation of different genera and species of nudibranchs.

Klas is also a skilled and creative photographer, a member of Naturfotograferna and multiple award-winning in the Swedish National Championships as well as a participant in both Nordic and international underwater photography championships.

Since 2009, he has worked as a tour guide on diving trips, where he is happy to share his knowledge. During the trips, you can get help and inspiration in underwater photography, species identification and biological understanding - often through shorter, informal lectures.

Klas has dived in most of the world's tropical oceans, but now focuses primarily on diving with sharks and nudibranchs. He even has a nudibranch species named after him – a recognition of his commitment to the field.

If you travel with Klas, you not only get a knowledgeable guide, but also an inspiring travel companion who is happy to share his expertise and passion for life below the surface.

It must be said from the beginning about Hans Örnhagen, I am not a great sport diver with thousands of dives, despite a CMAS certificate that is now 40 years old. On the other hand, I have devoted my entire adult life to diving medicine, diving medical research and education on the subject.

It started in Lund in 1967 when I was offered an amanuens position in physiology after writing a student thesis on what was already hot at the time – liquid breathing. I had the opportunity to use liquid breathing as a tool to study the effects of very high pressures, and after my dissertation in 1977 it was relevant to follow up some of Zetterström's experiments with hydrogen gas from the 1940s in Sweden. The reason was that COMEX in France began to take an interest in possible anti-HPNS properties of hydrogen. The preparatory experiments were completed in Lund in 1980 and I was offered the opportunity to come to the navy's newly opened research facility MDC in Berga through a position as a laboratory at the Defense Research Institute.

At MDC, our research group not only conducted hydroxe experiments. Among other things, we tested nitrox, pressure equalization capabilities, submarine rescue procedures and built a simulator to test rebreathers in a realistic way in laboratories. With the move to Stockholm, I started working with the SSDF and from 1981 I have been a federal doctor. When my research supervisor Claes Lundgren moved to the USA in 1977, I had to "inherit" his teaching commitment regarding diving doctors at the navy and since then I have contributed my knowledge to this education every year.

From 1999 I also ran a two-week course in diving medicine for doctors according to the EDTC curriculum in the Maldives where I also did my last dives. To summarize what I think is important for a doctor who deals with diving medicine to know, I have written a few books, the latest of which, Diving Medicine and Hyperbaric Physiology, was published by Studentlitteratur förlag, Lund, 2011.

As a retiree, I spend more and more time on diving history and the Dive Tank House on Djurgården, but I still do consulting work in diving medicine and I still think it's fun to teach.

Bent Christensen is an experienced diver and traveler with a lifelong and very great interest in animals, plants and ecosystems. Very interested in biology, and combines the interest with being a lecturer in ecology at Umeå University. Bent teaches and does research in a. about tropical ecology, and specifically about symbiosis on coral reefs. Bent is very interested in spreading knowledge about biology in general, and more specifically about the many very strange animals and plants that can be found in the tropics. A special interest is different types of symbioses, where the coral reefs have many excellent examples of how different species, for better or for worse, live together. He started diving in the early 90's and has visited many countries over the years privately, through work and through his mission as a tour guide. Bent is also an experienced nature photographer, who has illustrated many different publications, and has written and illustrated a book on the ecology of coral reefs. Right now he is working on a textbook in ecology. In recent years, Bent has appeared as an expert in more than 100 different television programs, focusing on animals, ecology and biology.

Of course, it is great fun to see a manta ray, a whale shark or any other of the sea's great inhabitants. However, Bent thinks that smaller species, such as the cleaner fish that clean parasites from the manta rays, the pilot fish that swim before the whale shark and are protected by the proximity of the giant, or any other of the many small species with an exciting story behind their existence are even more interesting. It also means that Bent never has a dull dive, as there are always little things to study even on dives where the giants decide to be conspicuous by their absence.

Bent has been diving since 1999 and has worked as a tour guide on diving trips since 2005. Through his great interest in biology, benefit has been able to be combined with fun. Bent has dived in most of the world's warm waters, but currently focuses mostly on Indonesia and the Philippines. On trips with Bent, there will be the opportunity to get help and tips with your photography, to get help in sorting out what you saw during the dive, and to get more coherent information about different aspects in different ways, often shorter and informal lectures of coral reef ecology.

If you want to know more about Bent Christensen and read a bit about his various projects, you can look here: > https://bentmedia.me/