03/09/2026
Phew! I've been wondering how old Karratha Adventure Sports is. Looks like we FINALLY have an answer.
Dad swapped a Toyota Landcruiser for his mates business in 1979!
Article: Outside interest becomes career
By Ann-Marie McCann
FOR some an outside interest begins to take precedence over their chosen career, resulting in a complete change of direction with long-term consequences.
This was the case with Adam Ambroziak who found that a love of the sea, diving and fishing caused him to radically alter his career path more than 15 years ago, and eventually led to him settling permanently in Karratha.
With an educational background in analytical chemistry, Adam had spent a considerable amount of time in the Northern Territory as a mine chemist working for the now defunct Francis Creek Iron Ore Mine, 16 miles inland from Pine Creek.
Shortly before Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin he left the Northern Territory, returning to Western Australia, where he worked at Eneabba as a supply officer in the mineral sands industry.
After a few years in Eneabba he was offered a job back in the Northern Territory as a radiation control officer at the Jabiru Uranium mine.
“It was a really terrific job opportunity,” Mr Ambroziak said.
“Because I’d spent eight years in the Territory I was seasonally conditioned as to what to expect there, they knew I could settle in and I knew I’d adjust.
“At that time there were only about a dozen qualified people in Australia for that type of work, as they wanted someone to be able to record any radiation levels people would be getting through the cabs, to ensure safety.”
Job
After accepting the job he had four months to kill between the mineral sands job and the start of his Jabiru contract so he stopped over in Karratha to spend some time with his sister.
“We ended up living in a caravan and I decided that I couldn’t just do nothing during that four months, so I looked around for work,” he said.
“There was a job going at Dampier Salt, as a storeman, I went for it but didn’t mention that I was a chemist as they would have felt I was over-qualified.
“After six weeks I was offered a promotion and when they did further checks they found out I had worked as a mine chemist in the Francis Creek iron ore mine. I eventually got appointed to staff.”
He stayed with Dampier Salt for a total of seven years, ending up in charge of the supply system.
“As soon as I got into the diving here I decided that was it, I didn’t want to leave. The Jabiru contract was for a minimum of 24 months and could be renewed after that, but I’d had enough of the bush and by then I was into scuba diving here.
“I can still remember my first contact with diving, it must have been over 25 years ago. I was in Geraldton and wandered into a dive shop and picked up a book: Everything you need to know about Scuba Diving.
“I bought it, and all the necessary gear, and I think I was still reading the book when I walked into the water.
“I can clearly remember the sensation of being able to breath under water, it was sensational. But it was only after I’d done a dive course that I realised how lucky I was to get away without permanent damage, there was no regulation in those days and anyone could buy the gear and go diving straight away as I did. It’s not like that today.”
Venture
His first business venture came about less than 12 months after arriving in Karratha and was the result of a clean swap of his Toyota Landcruiser for a friend’s business in the LIA.
“He was the building officer at Dampier Salt and knew that I was very keen on diving so we made a clean swap of my car for his business.”
Mr Ambroziak remained with Dampier Salt and ran his diving business in the LIA on the side.
“The business soon grew so large I took up the offer to move into the Farmers complex as it was then, and shortly after that left Dampier Salt to focus on the business side of things.
“The move into the Farmers complex trebled our business in the first year so I had to make the decision about what to focus on, and decided on the business.”
His first shop in the Farmers complex was where the Woolworths bottle shop is now located.
“The funny thing is that when I look back on the early days of my business, in the LIA, I was paying $50 per week rent, with an annual turnover of around $150,000. And when I think about it I was probably earning a lot more then, in comparative terms, than I’m earning now.”
Capitalise
“In those days there was no-one in town catering to the diving side of things so I could really capitalise on the market, starting out with fins and snorkels and developing into fishing, wetsuits and other sporting goods.”
Since those early days Adam has continued to expand and now operates the Adventure Sports shop opposite the Karratha swimming pool.
“I consider myself lucky to be able to combine my business interests with what I love doing in my spare time, and certainly the islands off Dampier have some of the best fishing and diving in Australia,” Mr Ambroziak said.
“If the visibility was consistent, like it is this time of year, then we’d certainly have some of the best diving in the world.
“The summer visibility can be from 15 foot through to 60 foot, but over winter time there’s a constant 60 foot plus visibility.
“Our sealife here, as compared to what you can find in Queensland, is far more prolific. It just hasn’t been over-fished as you can find in the more densely populated areas.”
Aim
Mr Ambroziak has very strong views on fishing methods in the Dampier Archipelago.
“We have a lot of people who come up from Perth and their main aim is to fill up their freezers. They seem to judge their holidays on how much fish they take back, and that’s not how it should be done.
“I also think many people, when they first buy a boat, try to weigh up the costs of running their boat on the amount of fish they bring in.
“I think they should approach fishing as a recreation and accept the fact that there’s a price to pay for a good time, and not try and make it up by getting extra fish.
“The thing is, you have to be conservation minded. If not for us then for the next generation.”
He said there are currently talks being undertaken with the Fisheries Department and CALM with the aim of setting aside three locations as a non-take area.
“People would be able to stop there and dive, but not take any of the fish life out. This would be the best way to restock those areas that are easily accessible and that have suffered a noticeable decline in fish stocks as a result of over-fishing and over-diving.”
He added that this would be a good way to monitor what kinds of fish life return to the area after a total stop to fishing.
Photo caption: ADAM Ambroziak in his shop Adventure Sports in Karratha.
