Monty Halls

Monty Halls is an ex-Royal Marines Officer who worked for Nelson Mandela during the peace process in the early nineties. He left the Marines to pursue a career in expeditions, travel journalism and biology, achieving a First Class Honours Degree and becoming qualified as a marine biologist.

His degree was funded by running expeditions, the most notable of which was leading a multi-national team to the discovery of a sunken city off the Indian coast in 2002. During this period he also led four expeditions to Southern Africa, three to Malawi to explore the ecosystem of the lake and investigate poaching activity on the Nyika Plateau, and one to South Africa to dive looking for evidence of prehistoric settlements in cave systems off the Cape. For his work he was awarded the Bish Medal for services to exploration by the Scientific Exploration Society.

In 2003 Halls formed his own expedition company, completing four circumnavigations of the globe over the next four years, seeking out the greatest encounters in the ocean. This brought him to the attention of television producers, being head-hunted as a competitor in the flagship Channel 4 show "Superhumans," a test of elite performers, competing in a series of challenges devised by the QinetiQ testing centre. Halls won this competition, and was in demand to present further series for Channel 4, National Geographic, the History Channel, Channel 5, and the BBC.

He is best known for his three BBC2 series "Great Escapes," where he lived on the west coast of Scotland and Ireland with his dog Reuben. He also presented the multi-award winning series "Great Barrier Reef." In 2014 he has completed filming on the ground-breaking expedition series "Lost Worlds" for the Discovery Channel. Halls has written several books, and is a regular contributor to magazines and newspapers, many of them communicating his enthusiasm for the natural world. He is also an Ambassador for various conservation groups and was awarded an honorary Doctorate by Plymouth University.

Over the last decade Halls’ real passion has become leadership and team building, drawing on his vast experience. As a speaker and corporate trainer, his work is both national and international, running courses from his base in south Devon and working with various organizations throughout the UK.