Sarah Muttoni, guide

Port-Cros National Park

"Here I feel like I belong, this job combines everything I love!"

These are not two loves... but two hats that Sarah Muttoni, 39, claims with enthusiasm.

In the summer, I'm a guide on the underwater trail at Le Rayol, and in the winter, a guide in the Garden! As part of the educational team of the Domaine du Rayol!

Born in Oyonnax in the Ain, in a family of Italian origin established in the Jura, Sarah confides : "I ran away after the baccalaureate... I went straight to the sea!" Why? " Because Cousteau, Calypso... it was the way to go. I have always been attracted to the marine environment.

She landed at the University of La Garde, in a DEUG in marine biology, followed by a bachelor's degree in Marseille, then a master's degree in Montpellier in "Aquaculture bioresources in Mediterranean and tropical environments".

I was starting out on a research career path, but when I started doing internships at the CNRS, I quickly realized that most of my time was spent in the lab and very little in the field, whereas I wanted to be in the water. Passionate about sharks, I found an internship in an aquarium in Grau-du-Roi, which turned into a permanent job for 10 years. I was anti-captivity, but I discovered that I liked to transmit. Very curious, I spend my time trying to understand, and when I understand I want to share.

At the aquarium, she found this educational aspect that she liked, "but it gradually diminished in my mission and I too was going in circles in the jar". Sarah leaves to do a diving monitor to be able to answer the offers in this profession.

I did an internship in a club, and there again, I was a little disappointed because in scuba diving we don't have the same possibility to interact with the public as in snorkeling... Then I found this funny advertisement of a garden which was looking for a diving instructor... I arrived here, I saw this incredible site... and I'm starting my^3rd year in permanent employment. I finally feel at my place, it combines everything I like: a terrestrial activity, and in the same place, it's original, I work in the water part of the year, in contact with the public. And then, we are all very passionate, we love this place and we have a real desire to progress."

In 2019, it was she who initiated the process of obtaining the Spirit National Park - Port-Cros brand.

I tried very quickly to have a link with the National Park, to see if we could work together, how we could speak with one voice and reach more people. The brand fits exactly with our approach. I'm happy that this partnership has been signed, because we are joining a network of partners linked by common values.