Tony Buxton

The author’s fascinating adventures in the early 50’s portray an adventurous lifestyle that most of us dream about, but would be impossible today. Born in Colombo (Sri Lanka) in 1931. He spent his early childhood in England and returned to Ceylon after the war to work the family business founded by his grandfather. Not the typical colonial type, who was expected to segregate himself from the “natives” and join their exclusive clubs. Tony went against the rules and preferred the company of the Ceylonese. This resulted in him making many friends, including well-known politicians. He developed a passion for underwater exploring at a time when the sport was in its infancy and before the event of SCUBA. He gave up his job and a promising career and survived by spear fishing, catching lobsters, aquarium fish and hunting game in the jungles. He set himself up as an underwater guide attracting the wealthy and famous to this new sport. Charging nothing for his services, they repaid him by inviting him to their homes in Europe where he experienced a lavish lifestyle that he hardly knew existed. During these trips, he married three of his four wives; two Scandinavian supermodels and an Italian actress, no doubt intrigued by his glamorous exploits. But none of them could fit into his adventurous lifestyle in Ceylon for long. The powerful Minister of Tourism, a keen diver, himself commissioned him to promote underwater tourism. They became close friends, and he was involved in political intrigues. Even with almost no money, he lived very happily bartering fish, lobsters and game for food and drink. Fluctuating between simple and lavish lifestyles. He was the first person to dive in the nearby Maldive Islands and southern India, where he created a sensation. This is an intriguing read about the not-so-distant past in a unique South-east Asian country – Ceylon- before it slid into political turmoil, isolationism, civil war…and is just now emerging as a stable member of the modernising Asian community of nations.

A charmed life in Ceylon

A Charmed Life in Ceylon

Paul Chapman

Paul G Chapman

Paul Temple

This new and substantially revised edition of Britain's Economic Performance provides a unique assessment of the current state of the supply-side of the economy. Written by a team of highly experienced, policy oriented applied economists, this volume will be a valuable source of reference, analysis and guidance for students and policy-makers.

Britain's Economic Performance

Freediving in the early 1950s Setting himself up as a diving guide in Sri Lanka in the early 1950s, his services were in high demand by wealthy celebrities seeking new interests, especially spearfishing. Many invited him to their homes, leading to a lifestyle and fame that he hardly knew existed. Later both Hans Hass and Jacques Cousteau offered him employment. The diversity of his free diving experiences is fascinating. As the first person to dive in The Maldives, Thailand and Southern India, he became a diving legend. In 1965 he set out to sail around the world on a Chinese junk filmed by award-winning underwater photographer Ben Kropp and diving on virgin reefs with famed explorer Jacques Dumas. Finally, he became a highly successful commercial diver in Singapore. The different kinds of diving work he performed were astounding, including an underwater ship cleaning venture with Exxon, resulting in a fortune he never anticipated. Buying a leading hotel in Pattaya, Thailand he set up the first significant PADI diving outfit in the country. Branching out into many other businesses, he led a flamboyant lifestyle, counting Kings, Presidents and well-known film stars among his friends. Amazingly, he hardly ever used SCUBA for his work, but diving almost entirely without it achieved a lifestyle all but impossible today. Anyone interested in freediving should read this book.

Tony Buxton

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