Most dive professionals already spend more time underwater than almost anyone who follows them online. They guide fun dives, teach courses, shoot for clients, and come back up with stories their followers only hear about later. Thomas Liu, known online as "The Magician," wanted to close that gap. In July 2026, Liu took a series of everyday reef dives in Dumaguete, Philippines, and streamed them live to a Chinese audience on Douyin using DIVEVOLK SeaLink.
The result was not a studio production. It was an instructor doing what they normally do on a dive: looking for animals, explaining what they found, and talking about light, color, and conditions. The difference was that viewers were along for the whole dive, typing questions into the chat while Liu answered from the reef.
An Instructor Who Already Works Underwater
Liu's account name translates as "The Magician Traveling the World" (Moalboal edition), and it runs on Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and WeChat Channels, with Instagram at @thomasliu1203. The credentials behind the channel are professional ones. Liu is a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT), an AIDA freediving instructor, and a sidemount instructor with TDI. Liu is also a contracted photographer with Visual China Group and a contributor to Tuchong, and is based in Moalboal, Philippines.
That background matters for a livestream. An instructor already knows how to manage buoyancy, keep track of a buddy, and explain the underwater world in plain language. What a stream adds is an audience in real time, and that changes what an ordinary working dive can become.
How the Setup Works
SeaLink solves the problem that normally ends a phone's connection at the surface: radio signals do not travel far through water. The system pairs an underwater unit with a floating surface transmitter, linked by a tether. The phone, sealed in an underwater phone housing, joins the transmitter's Wi-Fi and streams over a mobile network as it would on land. DIVEVOLK rates SeaLink's live signal transmission depth at 30 meters. Scuba Diver Magazine's hands-on SeaLink review walks through the tether, the float, and the setup in detail.
The tether is something a streaming diver has to manage. In one segment, Liu paused to tell viewers they should wait a moment while the line was reeled in, because too much of it was trailing behind after moving into a new area of the reef. It is a small moment, but it shows the kind of housekeeping that comes with diving on a connected rig.
Liu also wore a full-face mask, which made it possible to talk throughout the dive. When a viewer asked whether talking underwater was tiring, Liu answered that it was not, and noted that the mask made the voice sound a little muffled compared with normal speech. DIVEVOLK's SeaLink and Ocean Reef audio dive kits pair the transmitter with full-face masks for exactly this kind of narrated dive. Several viewers commented that they could hear Liu clearly.
Showing Real Conditions, Not Highlight Reels
Edited dive videos tend to show a site on its best day. A live stream shows the day it is. On one dive, Liu told viewers it was the first day after a typhoon, that the reef and visibility had already recovered well, and that on a normal day it would look even better. For a diver deciding whether to book a trip, or a prospective student wondering what training dives look like, that kind of honest, in-the-moment report is hard to get from a highlight reel.
Viewers responded to what they saw. Comments on screen remarked that the coral looked well protected and asked where in the Philippines the dive was taking place. One viewer noted the signal was good that day; at another point, a viewer said the picture was stuttering a little, and Liu acknowledged that the signal in that part of the reef might not be as strong. That give-and-take is part of what makes a live dive feel real.
A Photographer's Lesson in Light and Color
As a working photographer, Liu used the stream to teach. On one dive, Liu showed the same anemone-covered reef three ways: in its natural color, with a color filter, and with a fill light. The point was to let viewers compare how much color each method brings back. Liu's verdict was that, apart from brightness, the filter had already restored much of the overall color. One viewer asked whether there was really color that deep; another said the filter looked good.
Later in the same stream, Liu took the filter off to show the difference again, and summed it up for viewers: underwater, a filter or lighting really matters, because photography is the art of using light. For anyone who wants to try the same comparison, DIVEVOLK's guide to underwater color correction filters explains why red disappears with depth, and the lenses and filters and dive lights collections cover both approaches.
Finding Animals With the Audience
Livestreaming also turns the search for marine life into something the audience shares. On one dive, Liu spotted a large cuttlefish, estimated it at more than 20 centimeters, and switched on a light so viewers could see its color and texture more clearly.
On a separate session, Liu narrated depth as the dive went on, at one point telling viewers they were at 13 meters and heading to around 10 meters, where turtles were more common. When a green sea turtle appeared resting on the reef, Liu turned it into a quick identification lesson: look at the scales on the forehead between the eyes. A green turtle has two, while a hawksbill has four. When the turtle began moving off and headed up to breathe, Liu told viewers they would not chase it.
That last moment is worth noting. Good streaming behavior is good diving behavior. Viewers want to see animals, but an instructor on camera also models how to watch them: keep a respectful distance, let the animal choose where it goes, and never touch or follow it for a better shot. PADI's notes on Peak Performance Buoyancy and Divers Alert Network's article on dive skills for underwater photographers both make the same point: control in the water comes first, and the camera comes second.
What SeaLink Means for a Diver-Streamer
For an individual dive professional, the value of streaming goes beyond a single broadcast.
- Everyday dives become content. Liu did not need a special event or a film crew. The dives were ordinary working dives, streamed as they happened.
- The audience gets to know the instructor. In the chat, several viewers addressed Liu simply as "coach." That kind of familiarity is hard to build with edited clips alone.
- Prospective students see real conditions. Viewers saw the reef as it was that day, including the day after a typhoon, and heard an instructor explain what they were looking at.
- The community grows during the dive. During one stream, Liu thanked a viewer for joining the channel's fan club and encouraged viewers to share the stream with friends who dive.
Streaming does not replace teaching standards or dive planning. Liu still dived with a buddy, managed the tether, and at one point told viewers that, since the chat had gone quiet, it was time to focus on searching the reef rather than talking. Knowing when to put the audience second is part of streaming responsibly.
Bringing Your Own Dives Online
Thomas Liu's Dumaguete streams show what SeaLink can mean for one person with a phone, a housing, and a following: a way to bring people along on the dives they already do. Instructors who want to use live video in their courses can also look at how SeaLink has supported live underwater coaching in a mermaid class.
Explore the SeaLink transmitter collection to see the full system, or contact DIVEVOLK to talk through a livestreaming setup for your own dives, classes, or dive center.
