Meet Quico Abadal (UW Photography Instructor & Co-founder)

Quico is a passionate underwater photographer from Barcelona, Spain. He grew up in the Catalan coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Unlike most underwater photographers, he did not fall in love with the ocean right away. On the contrary, he actually spent all his childhood fearing it. During the summer holidays of 2016 he completed his Open Water in Thailand and that made him realise the underwater world had a lot to offer him. He then continued with his diving education and began to get hooked.

Right after university he travelled to Thailand to become a professional in the diving industry. During his dive master in training, he completely fell for underwater photography. He quickly acquired the necessary techniques to create outstanding images. His passion turned into a healthy obsession. He then moved back to Barcelona to grow as a professional, dedicating his time to commercial photography at a well known studio. Eventually his adventure continued, moving to Palau pacific islands and Thailand again.

Besides loving to capture marine life through his lens, Quico realised he also really enjoys shooting free divers. Becoming a freedive instructor at Apnea Total with Monica Ganame, gave him the knowledge to teach his models how to dive safely and gracefully. His freedive work is based on fine art photography, creating conceptual imagery that attempts to evoke plenty of emotions. He has been awarded by the UPY contest the title of “Up and Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2022”, with his image “Supernova in Paradise” and published in several magazines. Quico is passionate about teaching underwater photography and creating underwater photographers with a strong diving base who can produce high quality and creative imagery.

Check his work at www.quicoabadal.com