PT Hirschfield chats with the NZ-based obstetrician who’s passionate about ice, wrecks and critters and has dived on all seven continents.
Meet Judy Ormandy: Doctor, Explorer and Accidental Diver
Based in Wellington, New Zealand, with her Burmese cats Nitrox and Deco, Kiwi obstetrician and gynaecologist Judy Ormandy has dived on all seven continents, having logged over 1,500 dives.
Given the pace and demands of her career, Judy sees diving as ‘the ultimate zen’, a form of mindfulness. At a push, she can be at the water and diving 30 minutes after leaving work.
Diving at Home: New Zealand’s Remarkable Underwater Diversity
‘I live in close vicinity of Taputeranga Marine Reserve, which was established in 2008. As a result, the blue cod, crayfish and paaua populations have regenerated, and marine life in general has flourished.’ Judy first dived there in 2015. Across Aotearoa New Zealand, Judy’s dived from Northland to the south of Rakiura Stewart Island: ‘We’re lucky to have such easy access to the sea, with spectacular scenery both above and below water. NZ is unique in the huge variation of diving that’s available.’
‘In Northland we have the Poor Knights Islands, probably the jewel in our dive site crown. There’s also the Canterbury and Rainbow Warrior wrecks in the Bay of Islands. Moving south, you’ve got Whakaari White Island. I dived there the day before Whakaari (translated: ‘the dramatic volcano’) erupted.’
Judy aims to dive once or twice a week. While work commitments sometimes impinge, an abundance of shore options in Wellington allows her to dive regularly. She confesses: ‘In many respects, I was a bit of an ‘accidental diver’. While I’d grown up around the sea – sailing, snorkelling and swimming – I’d never considered scuba.’
Judy’s decision (after some injuries) to swap her previous passion of back country tramping and climbing for a hobby that involved ‘less heavy lifting’ proved counter-intuitive: ‘I’d been thinking images of tropical beaches and not much equipment…’
From Medical Elective to First Shipwreck Dive
Judy ‘took the plunge’ during her medical elective in Vanuatu in 2001: ‘As a final year medical student, we could spend three months on placement anywhere in the world. I very randomly went to Santo, Vanuatu. On arrival, I discovered that the ‘thing to do’ there was to learn to dive on the SS President Coolidge shipwreck.’
A propensity for seasickness could easily have kiboshed her plans: ‘If I hadn’t had such great conditions when learning to dive, I’m not sure I would have continued.’
“I did an ice diving course in Siberia. The outside temperatures got down to -40 degrees C, but the water was a ‘warm’ 4 degrees C”
‘Shore diving in warm water with great visibility, plus the excitement of a huge shipwreck, ensured I completed my open water course.’ After that, Judy only did around 50 dives over the next decade and a half. Then in 2015, she ‘randomly’ booked a liveaboard trip to Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines: ‘I finally visited my GP about managing seasickness. The answer is that drugs are good!’
The liveaboard was life-changing for Judy: ‘I learned a new way to travel, with accommodation, food, activities and great people all in one.’ While nowadays Judy is Advanced Wreck and Trimix certified, she had no early aspirations to go beyond single tank and wetsuit diving or recreational limits: ‘Initially I’d thought more than one cylinder was far too much hassle.’
‘Drysuit diving in cold water seemed like hard work. And having to wait around on decompression stops seemed an opportunity to get cold and bored’. (Cue tech diving, ice diving and pets named Nitrox and Deco…)
Falling for Wrecks and Technical Diving
Judy has since returned to her dive roots, developing an affinity for wrecks: ‘There’s nothing like gliding through a wreck to bring history to life.’ She enjoys tech diving NZ’s SS Mikhail Lermontov shipwreck, an intact ocean liner with relatively easy access, in only 40m of water. She’s fascinated by ‘the inexplicable navigational decision that led to the sinking of the Mikhail Lermontov, the horror of Bikini Atoll being used for nuclear testing, and the World War II history of Chuuk and the Solomon Islands’.
Bemusing her colleagues by applying for work leave several years in advance, allowing her to book trips with time to train for them, Judy manages three or four overseas dive vacations each year. Her list of underwater highlights to date is enviable. Like many well-travelled divers, Galapagos (visited in 2016) sits near the top of Judy’s most memorable destinations: ‘Darwin’s Arch, when it was still an Arch, provides high-voltage dives with schools of hammerheads and Galapagos sharks. The sight of a bus-sized whale shark steaming toward me remains etched in my memory.’
Ice Diving and the Allure of Extreme Cold Water
Judy’s cold water fascination started after reading about Silfra in Iceland: ‘This was the catalyst for my drysuit diving. In 2018, I found a trip offering dives around Iceland, then a cruise to Greenland for some polar diving.’
This was followed by underwater adventures in Lake Baikal, Siberia in 2019 and Antarctica in 2024: ‘I did an ice diving course in Siberia. The outside temperatures got down to -40 degrees C, but the water was a ‘warm’ 4 degrees C.’
‘Being hauled out through a hole, the water on my drysuit would freeze and I’d stick to the ice. I’d need a thermos of warm water poured over me to get off the ice. It was crazy looking up through the ice to see people standing above.’
Judy reflects: ‘Ice is fun for the sheer uniqueness and insanity of it. The formations, patterns and tessellations in the ice are incredible; the light patterns are impressive.’
‘The variety of critters living in these environments wasn’t something I’d anticipated. From sponges under the ice of Lake Baikal, polar gigantism with huge sea spiders and anemones in Antarctica, to the tiny ‘sea angels’ (aka Clione) in the Canadian Arctic.’
In 2024, closer to home, Judy witnessed jewel anemones spawning on the HMNZS Canterbury wreck, in Deep Water Cove in the Bay of Islands: ‘The anemones spawn once a year, which lasts for 30 minutes. I saw the spawning on my third attempt.’
‘Plump pink anemones spawn their orange eggs, the boys releasing their sperm in response. The obstetrician in me was most impressed.’ Less adventurous but delightfully opportunistic, Judy’s quick fly-in, fly-out trips for work make it possible for her to occasionally tuck a few sneaky dives into her hectic schedule.
‘Recently I snuck down to Australia’s Mornington Peninsula for the Friday before a weekend of work in Melbourne. Many of the locals at the workshop with me had no idea there was such amazing diving in Victoria -until I showed off my photos!’
Sharing the Underwater World Beyond the Dive
Judy’s keen to share the underwater world through image making and has won several photo competitions, admitting: ‘I often share underwater photos with work colleagues.’
‘I’d argue that a pregnant seahorse is kind of relevant for obstetricians! And underwater photos add some colour and interest to my student teaching presentations.’
Quality time spent exploring the furthest reaches of the underwater world, then sharing the highlights with those who may never experience them first-hand? What better way to foster work-life balance!
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Judy Ormandy?
Judy Ormandy is a New Zealand-based obstetrician and gynaecologist who has logged over 1,500 dives across all seven continents.
What type of diving does Judy Ormandy specialise in?
She enjoys wreck diving, cold-water and ice diving, technical and trimix diving, and marine life photography.
Where does Judy Ormandy usually dive in New Zealand?
She regularly dives around Wellington, including Taputeranga Marine Reserve, and travels nationwide from Northland to Stewart Island.
What inspired Judy Ormandy to start ice diving?
Her interest began after reading about Silfra in Iceland, leading her to drysuit training and polar diving expeditions.
How does Judy balance a medical career with frequent diving?
She plans her leave well in advance, dives locally when possible, and uses short work trips to fit in opportunistic dives.
This article was originally published in Scuba Diver Magazine
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