Cristina started diving in 1994, making the Bahamas her home and diving her life. She is a PADI Course Director, NSS-CDS Full Cave Diving Instructor and a TDI mixed gas instructor, and she specializes in the Shark Handling course. She is known for inducing a relaxed state in sharks through her gentle touch. Some say the sharks seek her touch. Her knowledge about sharks comes from 20 years working with a local population of Caribbean Reef Sharks and traveling the world to share the ocean with over a dozen different species of sharks.

 She has been honored with the title of Shark Ambassador by Wild Aid and Shark Savers and has been an active educator in key locations such Singapore and China.

Still a very active diver and instructor on all levels, she explores and maps cave systems, providing vital information for their protection. She is the first woman to have connected a land cave with an ocean blue hole. Cristina believes there is great power in education and volunteers her time to host foreign students and teach local Bahamian school children to dive as part of sharing her vision. She is a member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame, the Explorers Club, the Ocean Artists Society and a Platinum Pro 5000 recipient.