Mario Scianna was born in 1946 in Brindisi - a seaside town on the Adriatic in the south of Italy, and it was here that Mario's love for the sea was also born. He began diving at the age of 12 and professional scuba diving at the age of 21, being one of the sport's early pioneers. In 1997, Mario was awarded the highest recognition for diving worldwide - the PRO 5000 Award . In 1985, Mario was contracted by Franco Rosso International of Turin to open a high level professional dive school in Kenya.

Having established the successful Diving the Crab school on Diani Beach on Kenya's idyllic Southern coast, in 1992 Mario turned his hand to boat building - initially to build dive boats. His first boat - Blue Wave - was handcrafted from Mahogany in an open air beach workshop and over the last 13 years, boats of all shapes and sizes have been launched from the same site.

Mario has gained a reputation worldwide for his immaculate woodwork and passionate attention to detail, and was recently commissioned by Flavio Briatore - the Formula One magnate - to build Kallifa - a luxury, twin turbo pleasure boat with a 25 passenger capacity.

Mario's passion and creativity working with wood soon tempted him to take on new projects, and in 1999 Mario was approached to renovate Leopard Beach Resort on Diani Beach. His first project, Mario's Bar - a cocktail bar carved from Mahogany - has become one of the South Coast's most famous night spots.

In 2005, Mario and his carpentry team at handmade boats set out to design and build a boutique hotel - the first of its kind in Kenya. The Sands at Nomad features Mario's characteristic polished mahogany trademark and is without doubt the Coast's most luxurious hotel.

Mario is undoubtedly a gifted craftsman and a passionate architect and his long serving team of artisans at handmade boats have helped him make the impossible possible.