Kenny and Mike break down a highly contentious subject within the dive training community: Should students be taught all the required scuba skills only AFTER gaining the ability to hover in a neutrally buoyant position?

Many supporters have been quoted saying they’ll “die on this hill”. But since this is NOT the widely accepted industry standard, at least for the WRSTC or most major training agencies (like PADI, NAUI, SDI, SSI and others)... should it be the norm, or is it simply overkill? Is it realistic in every single scenario with every single student, and is it even practical for group classes within a typical budget of an Open Water certification course? There is no doubt an issue with poor neutral buoyancy training, as most working divemasters and instructors will vehemently profess, but is this the solution or is there another angle?

This topic can be seen stirring pretty strong opinions in any given scuba forum or comment thread, so we decided to discuss it point blank.

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Regular Guest Michael Kest is a jury trial attorney for civil litigation, and an experienced scuba instructor. He’s worked many dive shops, charter boats, and has taught independently in locations ranging from Florida to Hawaii. Mike has also been a Divemaster for Epcot’s Dive Quest program at Disney for over 15 years, leading tens of thousands of Guests in the Seas aquarium on a weekly basis. He played football for FSU, he’s a father of three, a husband, a coach, and regularly dives in South Florida for fun on his spare time. 

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Find Kenny Dyal on the Buddy App for iOS

Find Kenny Dyal on the Buddy App for Android

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Kenny Dyal is the host of The Scuba Diving Podcast:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kenny_dyal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwater_scuba

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realkennydyal

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kennydyal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealKennyDyal

www.sweetwaterscuba.com

John Garza leads shark excursions, captains a luxury catamaran, teaches and takes stunning underwater photography of sharks, whales, you name it… all in the name of learning mutual respect, conservation, and how to have fun doing it. He does not, however, wear a cape.

John is a busy, hard-working professional based in South Florida and the Caribbean. He runs an alternative-style charter for those seeking a different kind of experience, where luxury meets authenticity and learning.

Formerly sailing the Purely Blue Charters, John and his partner-in-crime Hannah Patten (along with the rest of the crew) sail the all-new My Hülya catamaran, launching soon (at the time of this publishing). In fact, Hannah even has her own sustainable swimsuit line that often overlaps the very same lifestyle, where they can regularly be seen working together on related projects.

Follow John Garza’s incredible underwater photography:

https://www.instagram.com/johngarzaphoto/

Follow their My Hülya Catamaran page as it gets ready for launch!:

https://www.instagram.com/my.hulya/

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Kenny Dyal is the host of The Scuba Diving Podcast:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kenny_dyal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwater_scuba

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realkennydyal

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kennydyal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealKennyDyal

www.sweetwaterscuba.com

Red Sullivan owns a scuba gear servicing company, which also conducts commercial dive salvage operations It's called Bluewater Diving and is based in Daytona Beach, FL.

While working on gear, Red listens on his massive radio tower for calls from sunken boats, airplanes and cars that found themselves on the bottom of a local pond or waterway. Red spends the bulk of his time at the work bench, servicing scuba regulators and equipment from all over the world. He services gear for dive shops and other facilities, and has been for over 30 years. In that time, he's seen some wild stuff.

Not only does he talk about the freaky things he's found in divers' regulators, but also how to take care of gear, what matters the most when buying, and whether or not you should really spend money on regulators.

This interview also contains the infamous "puke" story from those with acid reflux that "vurp" into their regulators, the lizard egg story, spiders in regulators, and of course his pet peeves. 

It's finally here and I hope you enjoy this interview!

Red is the owner of Bluewater Diving in Daytona Beach, FL

https://www.bluewaterdiving.com

[email protected]

+1 (386) 299-8671

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Kenny Dyal is the host of The Scuba Diving Podcast:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kenny_dyal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwater_scuba

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realkennydyal

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kennydyal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealKennyDyal

www.sweetwaterscuba.com

Alexis Jabbour is the mastermind behind the Buddy App, now 2.5 years in the making! With the June 2023 launch happening as we speak, Buddy is perhaps the most important step forward the dive industry will see in a generation.

Creating a platform that FINALLY gets divers from all walks of life into a single place is injecting a new level of fun, but importantly… CONNECTION!

It helps industry leaders make more money, makes it easier to market themselves, and helps everyday divers connect with other divers easier than anything that’s ever been made.

This helps any scuba instructor, dive shop, charter or facility using ANY agency ( PADI, NAUI, SSI, SDI, BSAC, CMAS, etc). It allows Divemasters and Instructors to “Verify” dives, making it easier than ever to keep people up to date, legit, and more actively engaged with the community.

Further, it allows you to connect your money accounts for tipping and bookings, verifies your certifications or professional memberships, lets you share your gear, and of course has all the other fun dive log stuff (literally everything) including a photo filter for underwater adjustments. It has the ability to “friend” and chat with other divers directly on the platform, and helps you find divers in a specific area that match your skill level.

It’s clean, works smoothly, easy to use, and looks to be the most comprehensive diver app YET. It got me excited enough to continue interviewing and discussing this incredible new tool. 

Not to worry, it’s setup for Freedivers, Snorkelers, for those that aren’t certified yet, and on the horizon: The Mermaid community!

BONUS: There’s a program to help you make more money by getting people to sign up! Become a “Buddy Pro” and start growing your following NOW: 

Professional Divers, Operators, Facilities, Resorts, or Dive Shops: Get Buddy for Business

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Download Buddy App for iOS

Download Buddy App for Android

https://www.tiktok.com/@divewithbuddy

https://www.instagram.com/divewithbuddy/

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Kenny Dyal is the host of The Scuba Diving Podcast:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kenny_dyal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwater_scuba

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realkennydyal

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kennydyal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealKennyDyal

www.sweetwaterscuba.com

Undervaluing the enormous amount of time, experience, equipment, prep, and patience it takes to teach scuba courses is killing the dive industry, and the customers and recreational divers out there get hit the hardest.

Mike and Kenny get to the very core of the dive industry’s lack of growth, when compared with similar industries. Further, this same root cause is why so few people keep diving after they get scuba certified. 

This cycle creates burnout on the Instructors and Divemasters, and sets up students to fail at their ultimate original goal: Confidence to be a scuba diver (aka the lifestyle). While many may still "catch the bug" in a basic discounted course, most either have to find additional training/guidance or simply never go diving again. This is mainly due to rushed courses, and lack of personal attention.

The “2 year burnout cycle" of the scuba instructor is caused by not charging what they’re worth, getting overworked with too many students, dive shops not not having the time to form lasting bonds, and ultimately not nurturing divers into this incredible world. 

Increased value increases value… for EVERYONE. 

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Michael Kest is a jury trial attorney with his own practice. He’s an active dive instructor with experience that ranges from working dive boats in South Florida and Hawaii, water safety at Sea World and Disney's Dive Quest, working for dive shops and teaching classes all over the world. He coaches kids sports on his spare time, and is a father of three.

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Kenny Dyal is the host of The Scuba Diving Podcast:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kenny_dyal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwater_scuba

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kennydyal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealKennyDyal

www.sweetwaterscuba.com

Morgan Oughton quit her job in NYC, and became a Divemaster and Instructor for the Aggressor Fleet, one of the busiest & most famous diving liveaboard charters in the world. "Mo" fell in love with diving, and during journey found a way to fuse her passion of diving, outer space, artwork and design into something useful for all of us: Spacefish Army.

Website: https://spacefisharmy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spacefisharmy/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spacefisharmy

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@spacefisharmy

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Kenny Dyal is the host of The Scuba Diving Podcast:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kenny_dyal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwater_scuba

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kennydyal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealKennyDyal

www.sweetwaterscuba.com

Melissa drops by and asks Kenny questions about handling kids in the scuba certification class. Where does the line of supervision begin and end between parents and instructors? How do you take a scuba class WITH your kids? It’s all there. Plus, Kenny explains the parallels between kids and spouses taking scuba lessons together. With summer around the corner, this is the timeliest podcast in the world  for all you parents out there!

Melissa Lea Hughes has been featured on television shows, and has hundreds of thousands of followers for mom and family inspired content. She’s a social media coach, a published author of “She Can Laugh”, a Podcast host, and above all, posts DAILY tools for moms, parents, and ways to cope with life, children, and staying happy.

Website: https://www.melissaleahughes.com/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@melissaleahughes

Book- She Can Laugh: https://a.co/d/0CxAniQ

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Kenny Dyal is the host of The Scuba Diving Podcast:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kenny_dyal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwater_scuba

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kennydyal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealKennyDyal

www.sweetwaterscuba.com

Mark Gibello talks with Kenny Dyal about creating a scuba equipment business over 20 years ago, and why he absolutely loves it. His energy and enthusiasm only seem to grow with time, which are on full display throughout this full-throttle interview. Come behind-the-scenes at XS Scuba, going from inception to being in nearly every dive shop, aquarium, charter and facility today. Mark also lets us in on the future of his company, his secret to success, and why he never wants to retire.

Website: https://www.xsscuba.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xsscuba/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@xsscuba

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Kenny Dyal is the host of The Scuba Diving Podcast:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kenny_dyal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwater_scuba

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kennydyal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealKennyDyal

www.sweetwaterscuba.com

Alexis Jabbour speaks with Kenny about the brand new “Buddy App” rolling out for scuba divers and freedivers. 

This is FINALLY an app that works for all agencies (PADI, NAUI, SSI, SDI, BSAC, CMAS, etc), but also allows you to connect your money accounts for tipping and bookings, verifies your certifications or professional memberships, let’s you share your gear, and of course has all the other fun dive log stuff (literally everything). 

It has the ability to friend and chat with other divers directly on the platform as well. It’s clean, works smoothly, easy to use, and looks to be the most promising diver app yet. It was enough to prompt an impromptu interview after someone flagged down Kenny to show him the app right on the tradeshow floor.

BONUS: It also has a business interface for diving professionals, rolling out around the time of this episode publishing.

*This actual interview took place at DEMA, in November 2022. Since then, Kenny has been in regular contact with Alexis on the development of the Buddy App, and is an avid user. 

Download Buddy App for iOS

Download Buddy App for Android

Professional Divers, Operators, Facilities, Resorts, or Dive Shops: Get Buddy for Business

https://www.tiktok.com/@divewithbuddy

https://www.instagram.com/divewithbuddy/

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Kenny Dyal is the host of The Scuba Diving Podcast:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kenny_dyal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwater_scuba

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kennydyal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealKennyDyal

www.sweetwaterscuba.com

Rayna O’Nan is a world-renown shark diving guide, scuba instructor and Marine Biologist.  She explains why she loves taking people diving with some of her favorite sharks. In fact, Rayna was instrumental in creating one of the first “celebrity sharks” that divers can see up close in the wild: “Snooty” the Lemon Shark!

We also dive right into the hotly-debated topic of using bait to attract sharks, the effects it may have on behavior modification, and why this is actually saving sharks. 

We cover it all: How to do the dive, what conditions are required, why she loves it, and of course… is it safe for divers?

This is one of the most content-packed interviews ever done in one spot. We had just got off the boat and spent the day on two distinct shark dives led by Rayna: Lemon sharks AND full-grown BULL sharks! We loved every minute of it, and all of these videos were taken directly from that trip (minus the Publix footage, of course!)

NOTE: Our second dive (shown in much of this video) was STRICTLY BULL SHARKS, for a total of 6 full-grown females. After being given proper instruction and precautions, they were absolutely fantastic to dive with!

Ocean Rays Photography website: https://oceanraysphotography.com/

Book a shark dive (or snorkel excursion) with Rayna on Calypso Charters: https://calypsodivecharters.com/

Rayna’s TikTok (heavily featuring Snooty the Lemon Shark

https://www.tiktok.com/@oceanraysphotography?lang=en

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/oceanraysphotography/

Snooty the Lemon Shark instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/snooty_the_lemon_shark/

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Kenny Dyal is the host of The Scuba Diving Podcast:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kenny_dyal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetwater_scuba

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kennydyal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealKennyDyal

www.sweetwaterscuba.com