SANTI, as a company, proudly introduced the groundbreaking SANTI Scholarship program tailored for aspiring divers. In collaboration with our partners, we’ve designed this initiative to discover remarkable individuals, nurture their diving journey, support new generation of divers in their development. No one ever done that before. First edition was designed for people living in Poland. 

1st edition of the Scholarship program took place in June 2023 – May 2024. 2nd edition started in Jun 2025 and will last till May 2026.

Over the course of 12 months along with our partners, SANTI supports 3 individuals in each edition in advancing diving passion. Scholars gained valuable skills and receiveed support from experts in various fields not only in diving but also in life beyond. 

Scholars received a complete set of diving equipment for the program’s duration, including a drysuit, undersuits, regulators, mask, fins, wings and diving computers (and more). Thanks to Avatar Suits, Reel Diving, Halcyon, Shark Gear, DiveVolk, Agrir, and Garmin.  

Upon completion of the year-long scholarship, participants received a custom-made drysuit and undersuit from SANTI. 

Safety is a top priority, and our partner DAN Europe ensured that all participants have proper diving insurance and access to training sessions. These sessions covered safe diving practices, diving medicine, and a visit to the Hyperbaric Medicine Institute, meeting with world knows hyperbaric medicine professors and specialists. Scholars also underwent safety, rescue, and oxygen provider training with Deepspot Poland. 

The program doesn’t stop at gear and safety; it’s all about personal development. Participants are provided with a drysuit diving workshops, followed by buoyendy and trip workships. The final part of the scholarship program is a wreck diving course with the Baltictech team on Baltic wrecks. 

Program includes also basic intro training with Finnish Scientific Diving Academy in the field of scientific diving. In 1st edition scholars visited Reel Diving Head Quarters and had a chance to dive in overhead environment in Tuna Mine in Sweden. They also met with worldwide experienced cave and mine divers. In 2nd edition scholars will visit Gallipolli Underwater Wreck Park in Turkey. 

In 1st edition each participant in the scholarship program had the opportunity to present their journey on the DIVERS24 portal and magazine. Along with the chance to publish their materials, they received full editorial support, a two-year magazine subscription, and the prospect of continued collaboration post-scholarship. In 2nd edition scholars are running a blog. 

Scholars promote safe diving, share their progress and experiences in exploring the underwater world and diving development, inspire others with their passion. During whole year SANTI supports scholars with social media training and promotion.
 

SANTI Scholars in 1st edition: Maja Gadzińska – musical actress from Gdynia, Patrycja Ciesielska underwater archeologist from Warsaw, Piotr Kuświk physic scientist from Luboń. 

SANTI Scholars in 2nd edition: Marta Konieczna – physiotherapist from Cracow, Jerzy Zawieja – engineering graduate from Poznań, Michał – small business owner from Cracow. 

Partners of the 1st SANTI Scholarship program: Avatar Suits, Reel Diving, Halcyon, Garmin, Shark Dive Gear, Baltictech, DAN Europe,  Mermaid Academy from Poland (Akademia Syren), Finnish Scientific Diving Academy, Deepspot Poland, Divers24 Magazine, Deep Dive Dubai, Underwater Research Foundation. 

Partners of the 2nd SANTI Scholarship program: Avatar Suits, Reel Diving, Agir Diving, Garmin, Shark Dive Gear, Baltictech, DAN Europe,  Gallipolli Underwater Wreck Park, Finnish Scientific Diving Academy, Deepspot Poland, Deep Dive Dubai, Underwater Research Foundation, DiveVolk. 

Duration of 1st edition: June 2023 – May 2024 

Duration of the 2nd edition: June 2025 – May 2026

In spring 2023, SANTI organized a unique promotion called “Action ReAction” aimed at collecting old and worn-out drysuits in Poland for environmentally friendly disposal. The company decided to take a pro-environmental step by partially processing the drysuit components and using them to create new beds for dogs from an animal shelter.  

As part of this innovative initiative, customers who brought in their old drysuits had the opportunity to purchase a new, exclusive SANTI Emotion Grey Wolf limited edition drysuit at an attractive promotional price. During 3 months of the promotion SANTI collected more than 100 drysuits.  

SANTI Emotion Grey Wolf Limited edition of the iconic suit had: Rip-stop reinforced material. Was light (weight 3.2 kg), waterproof and durable. Was equipped with Tizip zipper, capacious cargo pockets, neck collar insulation, comfortable Flexsole boots, iconic pockets and durable shoulder straps that you can replace easily by a diver, SANTI Smart Seal system. After registering the suit on Stay Dry Club diver received free inspection of the suit once a year by our service center and additional benefits. 

What happened to the old dry suits? SANTI cut off the zippers, remove the valves, cut off the boots and dispose of them according to waste managmenet principles. These parts were delivered to Waste Management Plant. Old drysuit were cut into small pieces and shreded in a special machine. The shredded drysuit material was used to fill cushions for dog beds. Dog beds were delivered to Shelters for Homeless Animals OTOZ Animals in Dąbrówka, Poland. 

This initiative not only promoted a sustainable lifestyle and environmental consciousness but also rewarded our diving community for their commitment. Thanks to our customers, dealers, and employees, “Action ReAction” has become a unique success, demonstrating that everyone can participate in creating positive changes for our planet. 

Later that year this idea was spread and ran by SANTI distributors around Europe.
 

For many years, SANTI has been collaborating with the Fundacja Naukowe Badania Podwodne (Scientific Underwater Research Foundation), supporting its mission of protecting aquatic environments, promoting ecological education, and advancing scientific research related to underwater ecosystems.

Our partnership includes:

• Equipment and organizational support for scientific diving expeditions, such as the inventory of the Morskie Oko and Hańcza Lake floors.

• Engagement in initiatives that promote ecological awareness and environmental protection from a diver’s perspective.

• Support for the Foundation’s projects and events, as well as partnership in the SANTI Scholarship Program, which helps young divers develop their careers and gain experience in underwater research.

The Foundation has been a partner in both the 1st and 2nd editions of the SANTI Scholarship Program, guiding scholarship holders in their development towards conducting professional underwater studies.

Finnish Scientific Diving Academy (FSDA), based at University of Helsinki Tvärminne Zoological Station, was established in 2021 to facilitate scientific dive training at all levels, both nationally and further afield.

The overall objective of the FSDA is to provide advanced training for marine scientists and to develop into a leading, first-class research and training facility for scientific diving focusing on coastal research and development of new methodologies in the field of manned underwater research. Since the beginning the FSDA has run regular Occupational Scientific Diver programs, the core professional level course, which introduces and develops skills in all the areas of running scientific diving projects, the management of dive teams, emergency plans and diving skills. The result will be individuals trained for participation in research projects with foundations in scientific diving skills, experience with an array of equipment and the ability to plan efficient diving operations. 

Other programs include entry level training for students to develop core diving skills and CCR scientific diver, specific to running scientific operation using rebreathers. As a specialist training centre in cold water activities a new program launched in 2024, the Polar Research Diver, which takes place at the Kilpisjärvi Biological Station in the far North of Finland. The goals of which is to offer analogous training, in a relatively easy to access destination, in running scientific operations under ice and managing surface conditions in below freezing environments.  

All these programs established Weill one added to in the future growth of the Academy as the development moves forward, all with the intention of advancing the opportunities of training and application of divers to advance scientific research. 

Focus in this training though is not only skills but the importance of correct equipment that is needed to carry out work. Participants on the programs are introduced to equipment choices, how it can improve diving and therefore quality of the science, and correct care especially with the cold water nature of the training, meaning exposure protection is a primary consideration. 

 In addition to training the FSDA collaborates in support of study in costal ecology and maritime archeology the Baltic Sea and working with global projects using its expertise in advanced diving management to support international research expeditions. Biological work in the Baltic region commonly work in shallow water within the light penetration zone with much work concentrated on habitat assessments, carbon cycles and climate change induced impacts. This is predominately operating with researchers at the Centre for Costal Ecosystems and Climate Research (CoastClim.org) at the Tvärminne Zoological Station. Deeper research though, involving rebreather teams is partnered with international organization, including Ocean Census where contributions to sample collections for discovery of new marine species requires.  

 Collaborations with Finnish and Estonian Maritime Heritage in maritime archeological work have a much wider depth range with deeper ship wrecks in the Baltic Sea having amazing preservation, and the importance in maritime history requires huge amounts of documentation and research to be carried out, again requiring advanced diver trained. Not all studies of wrecks are for historical reasons though, as many of these sunken ships contain environmentally hazardous materials, fuel and armaments included, that assessments are required before they leak into the surrounding water, which is a growing area of focus and training development for the FSDA globally in collaboration with many organizations. 

Integral to the FSDA and its mission, to advance diving capacities in research, is also feeding back into public outreach and awareness on the subject. As part of these aims the Santi Stypendium scholars were invited to visit Tvärminne and not only dive parts of the more Gulf of Finland and get an insight into the research station, but also participate in a full face mask program using the some of the equipment used by students on the occupational programs. Members of the FSDA team also give regular presentation on the subject to school groups, university students and general diving public in addition to contributing to diving media and articles as well.  

Since it has began the Finnish Scientific Diving Academy has trained over 120 divers on courses, contributed to multiple local and international research projects, published multiple articles on the subject of science underwater and worked towards global standardisation of training structures to advance understanding of the underwater realm. As it the FSDA grows, moving forward, more training programs will be developed to address varying needs by researchers alongside developing more advanced programs in specialist fields all with the goal to develop the next generation of filed scientists using diving. 

Photos by “Pata” Patrick Degerman