The Great Dive Podcast - podcast cover

The Great Dive Podcast

Grab your logbooks and gather around as James and Brando chat about your favorite subject and theirs, scuba diving. Each episode, these guys will share with each other an interesting and relevant story, tale, adventure or experience from under, in or on the water. It’s just like hanging out with a couple of cool buddies at the dive shop, on the dock or at the pub. Listen, learn and have fun with James Mott and Brandon Schwartz on The Great Dive Podcast. See and experience more at thegreatdivepodcast.com
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Episodes

Episode 422- Valerie Taylor, Jaws, and The Meaning of Life

This week the boys continue their celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Summer blockbuster movie "Jaws"!! While examining the vital role Valerie Taylor played in obtaining the stunning film footage of much of the real shark action used in the making of Jaws, the boys learn of her decision to devote much of her life to helping reverse the "sharkphobia" that was created by the movie itself. This one get's deep and has me wondering if whether the boys have actually "jumped the shark" in this e...

Jun 27, 202542 min

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 421 - Jaws50

Jamesy and Brando celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jaws, the movie. Tune in as the boys talk about sharks, their favorite parts, and differences between the book and the movie.

Jun 20, 202546 min

The Great Dive Podcast-Episode 420- Shark Attack!?

This episode the boys kick off shark quarter with a Lessons For Life tale of a near death shark attack.... well, almost... well... nobody died.... and no one was attacked... but it was nearly fatal! Find out who, what,why, and how in this week's episode of The Great Shark Podcast...er.. I mean The Great Dive Podcast!!

Jun 13, 202555 min

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 419 - Never Too Shallow

Did you know that you can drown in only a teaspoon of water? That’s right. That’s why Brando doesn’t have any teaspoons in his house. Look out people. TGDP is back to their old shenanigans again. We are partying like it’s 1999, because it is this week. Tune in and join us for this little dive that is the total opposite of our Dave Shaw series… or is it?

Jun 06, 202550 min

Episode 416-That's Diving Mate

What do you say when a diving project goes from bad to worse? I'll tell ya what I say... That's Diving mate! Join the boys as they continue to unwind the many little stories that is The Dave Shaw Story.

May 16, 202559 min

The Great Dive Podcast - Dave Shaw 7 That's Diving

This week the boys dive into Dave Shaw’s last dive. Risking your own life to do a world record dive is not as simple as it may seem, and it involves the lives and safety of many others. A team of divers, support divers, safety teams, medical team, a surface team. All of these need to come together, and all of them are at risk. But hey, That’s Diving.

May 09, 20251 hr 10 min

Episode 413-Dave Shaw Part V Synchronicity And The Diver

What do deep cave dives, Mr T, the law, and synchronicity have in common? Find out in this weeks episode as the boys continue their deep dive into the continuing saga of the Dave Shaw Story! Have A Listen!!

Apr 25, 20251 hr 13 min

TGDP - Episode 412 - Dave Shaw IV.5 Quote Unquote

James and Brando discuss a recent listener email regarding Cave Diving Speed Limits that were inspired by Episode 409. As we get deeper into the Dave Shaw story we see how his progress looks a lot like many divers’ journeys. What can we learn from Dave’s story and others? The boys try to answer the philosophical questions around Bushmans’s Hole.

Apr 18, 20251 hr 18 min

Episode 411-Dave Shaw IV Send Nudes

We're talking about Nudibranchs you dirty minded listeners! In recognition of Testicular cancer awareness month, we've joined our sole corporate sponsor, Manscaped, in their efforts to raise awareness of Testicular cancer as well as Nudibranchs. What does this have to do with Dave Shaw's depth record story? Maybe nothing... maybe everything! But you won't find out unless you listen to Part IV of our deep dive into the Dave Shaw story! Have a listen!

Apr 11, 202550 min

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 410 - David Shaw 3 Batman and Robin

Holy Logbooks, Batman! We are into April and still on Cave Month. This week, Dave breaks the Inspiration in over 180 Meters, not feet, of water. We are getting deeper, we are getting new machines, we are getting bent…. But nothing will stop us from the world records we are going to set in Bushman’s Hole.

Apr 04, 202549 min

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 408 - David Shaw 1

Welcome back to TGDP International Cave Month. This week the boys finally get into the subject of this series, David Shaw. In roughly 5 years, Shaw traveled the world earning advanced diving certifications and filling his logbook with almost 300 dives. Soon he will try to hit that number 300 in depth, in meters, in a cave.

Mar 21, 20251 hr 2 min

The Great Dive Podcast - Epsisoe 407 - Deon Dreyer

This week the boys get into a discussion about the hazards of diving. Hazards that should not be there with certification cards, log books, or mentors but somehow we seem to still have tragedies like the one discussed here about Deon Dreyer.

Mar 07, 20251 hr 21 min

Episode 406 - Boesmansgat Dives From Sheck's Journal And Nuno's Book

Join the boys as they continue this deep dive into the world of deep cave diving. This epsiode centers on the dives conducted by Sheck Exley and Nuno Gomes in the Boesmansgat cave in South Africa. Reading through Sheck's personal journey detailing this adventure and his own accounts of the dives down into the 800 and 900 feet range of depth. And then to Nuno's own accounts of the same dives from his book. Have a listen!!

Feb 28, 20251 hr 13 min

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 405 - Ariadne's Thread

To get to the bottom of Bushman’s Hole and find out what happened to David Shaw, we first need to go back in time and learn a little more about this area of South Africa. This area known as the Cradle of Humankind has many caves, and with caves come cave tragedies.

Feb 21, 20251 hr 11 min

Episode 404-A Case Study of Respiratory Failure During Cave Dive

Cave Week 2025 continues with this episode discussing a case study of a cave diving fatality. The incident involves an extremely deep cave dive on a rebreather with respiratory failure! Listen in as the boys discuss the details of what lead to this tragic dive! Have a listen!!

Feb 13, 20251 hr 7 min

Episode 402 - Reservations For One At Table Six Please

The boys are back and taking a break from the Dive Table series to discuss a "Lessons For Life Article". This week the story centers around a technical diving instructor that suffers a DCS incident. Was it avoidable? Listen to the ramblings of Ol' Jamesy and Older Brando as they discuss what happened to Trevor way back in the "almost 1900's"!

Jan 30, 202553 min

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 401 - Dive Tables 7 Bendsopaloza

How confident are you in the decompression model you are using? Is it just assumption and trust? Because the data can be frightening. All dive tables come with a percentage of probable risk of DCS. What can we do to dial in that probability and reduce our risk?

Jan 17, 202558 min

The Great Dive Podcast-Episode 400 - The Changing Landscape of Decompression by Bill Hamilton

This week the boys continue their talk on decompression and the evolution of dive tables and computer generated decompression algorithms based on decompression models. The discussion centers on an article from the late and great Dr Robert William (Bill) Hamilton where he discusses the changes undergone in the world of decompression theory and practice during the technical revolution in diving of the late 80's to 2000's. As we travel deeper into the rabbit hole of decompression Dr Bill Hamilton's...

Jan 10, 202557 min

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 399 - Dive Tables 5 Diving Deeper Into Decompression Science

This week the boys get back to work after a little Christmas break. Picking up where Haldane left off we get into more changes of the traditional dive tables. Hempleman and the Royal Navy start to look more at diffusion than perfusion, bubbles are discovered by doppler and new thinking emerges from Hawaii, new names like Hills, Yont, Spencer begin to evolve the game of decompression even more.

Jan 02, 202559 min

Episode 397 - Dive Tables 4 The Lexicon of Dive Tables

This Christmas don't get relegated to the "kid's table'... join Jamesy and Brando at "The Dive Table"!! We'll laugh and sing Dive Carols and celebrate the most wonderful time of the year as we 'dive into" part 4 of our "in depth" discussion of dive tables!! This week we discuss the beginnings and evolution of the dive tables and decompression science! Have a listen!

Dec 18, 20241 hr 4 min

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 396 - Dive Tables 3 A Hard Look

In the mid-90’s everyone had a personal desktop computer and decompression software was the new tool for dive planning. This week, we discuss Bill Hamilton and George Irvine’s look at decompression software. The path for ascent was evolving, but we were still working with adapting the same old navy tables.

Dec 13, 20241 hr 8 min

The Great Dive Podcast-Episode 395 - Dive Tables 2 (Revenge of The Tables)

Join the boys as they continue their discussion on dive tables (and everything else!)! How important are the numbers? What role does ascent rate play in the development of the different tables?? And what effect does it have on the test results? Is it even addressed in those old days? How hostile are those tables?? Should I just buy the most expensive dive computer? Why can't you do the math? How old are these guys??? What about the tonic water?? Who brought the gin? Where's this all going?? Have...

Dec 05, 20241 hr 1 min

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 394 - Dive Tables 1

These are not your grandpa’s dive tables, anymore. What good are they for? Is it really necessary to know how to calculate dive profiles from a dive table? Listen as Jamesy and Brando talk tables and what the dive tables really symbolize.

Nov 29, 20241 hr 4 min

Episode 393 - Twenty Thousand Fathoms of Sea Shanties

Sit back and enjoy the soothing voice of Ol' "Sea Shanty Mott" as he regales you with tales of the shipping trade on the Great Lakes during a time when they were among the most treacherous waters to traverse!! YES!! WE ARE BACK! The boys from the Great Dive Podcast have returned and with tales of the Gales of November and just in time for... well....the Gales of November... Have a Listen!!

Nov 21, 20241 hr 12 min
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