Meet Dick. Dick considers himself an advanced diver with over 100 dives. Dick takes a 2 year hiatus from diving. Dick jumps back in the water on a deep advanced level dive thinking, "what could go wrong?" Dick dies. Dick should have listened to The Great Dive Podcast. Don't be a Dick and instead have a listen as the boys discuss another avoidable tragedy on this episode of The Great Dive Podcast!
Jamesy and Brando get back to the fan favorite of looking at tragic disasters. After a few weeks of looking at the state of education, the boys discuss an accident and the breakdown of mindset, or should we say the lack thereof.
After a couple weeks of looking at the original US Scuba Training Program based out of Scripps, your buddies Jamesy and Brando take an updated look at what it means to be a great scuba instructor. The pursuit of excellence in education can sometimes be difficult, costly, and time consuming. The balance between getting the student “done” and making certain they are ready to be certified can sometimes get blurry. In Simon Pridmore’s book “Scuba Professional” he gives us 13 things to consider when ...
Get your fix of the history of Scuba Diving in today with this part 2 of The First US Scuba Training Program at The Scripps Institute of Oceanography. The boys continue their discussion of the development of the first training program for Scuba in the US. Lots of rudiments for everyone in this one!
The boys sit down to discuss the very first established scuba training program in the United States. Based out of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Jamesy and Brando dive into Andy Rechnitzer and Connie Limbaugh’s original training program. This original class was developed out of necessity because nothing existed yet and much of that program is still in effect today.
In honor of International Women's day, the boys celebrate one of the greats in diving, Dottie Frazier! Have a listen as they talk about her upbringing, who she was, what she's contributed to diving and to the world.
The boys sit down and recap their recent trip up to Lake Charlevoix, Michigan to do an ice dive on the shipwreck Keuka. Along the way they start up a 1970’s style quiz show to prove who is the real genius of The Great Dive Podcast.
Ice Ice baby!! It's that time of year gang and the boys are heading out to dive the ice covered waters of Northern Michigan. This week we'll discuss some of the ins and outs of ice diving and why folks do it. Join us for a fun little chat about what's involved with an ice dive and why people love it!
Jamesy and Brando are back for the final week of the 2021 National Cave Diving Month, celebrated world-wide. This week, the boys dive into the world famous Peacock Springs, now the Wes Skiles State Park, to look at the early days of American cave diving. With the help of Sheck Exley, this system with over 30,000 feet of passages and rooms have been mapped and are all nearly 100% always underwater. Join us for a few exciting tales from Peacock.
Due to some unforeseen family emergencies, we are re-releasing our favorite cave diving episode. We will be back next week to finish Cave Diving Month. Our apologies.
Join the boys as they continue to celebrate Worldwide Cave Diving Month!! This week we get schooled from 2020's Pandemic Madness Champion, world class diver, and one of our favorite people, Larry Green. We'll examine and discuss an article from Larry that will enlighten and enrich your diving experience! Have a listen!
This week we jump into Brando’s Hot Tub Cave Diving Time Machine for a look back at underwater education. The pivotal change in the mid-1970’s. Was cave diving the way to ecstasy or certain agony? Tune in to find out.
Its National Cave Diving Month, once again on TGDP. Your buddies, Jamesy and Brando, start it off talking about Flattening The Curve. No, not that curve, the other one. The fatality curve. Join them as they discuss how things have changed over the decades to make diving and in particular cave diving a safer sport for all of us to enjoy.
Sacrebleu!! It's Friday again and time for another episode of The Great Dive Podcast!! Don your béret and grab a baguette Mes chères for we are venturing into French territory! Join the boys as they discuss more lessons for life!
Jamesy and Brando dive into 2021 with high hopes and a deep understanding of where 2020 left us. With the help of a positively buoyant article from Dive New Wire, they reflect on what 2020 meant to us divers and where we can go in 2021. Be the fin.
The boys sit down and recap the crazy year that was 2020. Life before the pandemic, the coming of Covid-19 and what it did to the year and how TGDP grew along the way. Here are a few of our favorite memories from Mad Dog 2020.
Saint Brando and Krampus James sit down and discuss the Do’s and Don’ts of scuba diving to see who gets put on Saint Brando’s naughty list.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, a priest and a rabbi and two podcasters walk into a bar… True story! So there I was… Jamesy and Brando sit back and have a few laughs as they start to wrap up 2020. Join them as they tell a few of the best scuba diving jokes you’ve ever heard.
This week the boys take a quiz to find out exactly what level diver they are.... follow along and see where you rank... Expert? Novice? Take a quiz and find out. Don't worry... it's not a test. It's a quiz so it's short and sweet! Have a Listen!
This week the boys have a talk about deep sea commercial diving. Brando get nostalgic about hard hats, DDCs and the Grem-Bird. While talking about a new movie on Netflix, they also discuss a book sent to them, Salvamar- A Tale of Salvage and Deep Diving, by Dominic Miller. Join them in this exciting episode about being trapped at the bottom of the North Sea. Here is a link to the book. Get your copy and tell Dominic you heard about it on TGDP. https://www.amazon.com/Salvamar-Tale-Salvage-Deep-Di...
Hey everybody, it’s Black Friday and you know what that means. It’s time to get that special scuba diver in your life some holiday presents. Not sure what to get for your loved one, well TGDP is here to help you spread some holiday cheer. Join us as we go through this new Holiday Gift Guide from the gang over at DeeperBlue.com
This week the boys get back to the business of diving. We love to get listener email and we love it even more if we can turn it into an episode where we can all take something valuable from the lessons contained therein. This episode is exactly that... we'll take some listener e-mail and talk about the important aspects of learning to dive well and learning how to build trust with your dive partner. Have a listen!
It’s Friday the 13th and the winds are howling, because the November Witch is stealin’. Join the boys as they take another looks at the source of so much of Great Lakes shipwreck diving, the gales of November. When the late Caribbean tropical storms travel north and collide with Arctic storms moving south, they can create a whole new level of hurricane on our inland seas. Dive into the deadly Great Lakes.
Ever thought about going pro? The boys continue their discussion about going the instructor route with your diving. What to expect and what should be expected out of a real "pro"! Have a listen!
Do you believe in ghosts? Well it is Halloween time and this week Jamesy tells Brando a horrifying tale. Ghosts, ghouls and candy bars. Underwater serpents, cities and Smarties. Join your TGDP buddies for the story of the time Jamesy nearly gave up his flippers and said he will never dive again.
After two weeks of looking at arguments about the necessity of a diving certification, the boys take a closer look at what it means to actually “Go Pro.” Becoming a diving professional takes a lot of work and dedication, especially if you are going to do it for a long time. If you really have an interest in diving education, here are a few things you will need to consider.
In Part 2 of Is Certification Really Necessary, James and Brando try to work their way to the bottom of this controversial thread. Like many discussion boards, this one is full of twists and turns and dances around the root question. What is the definition of a diver? Have we evolved? Where are we going? Will these comments and questions get you as fired up as they did Brando? What will we find in the bottom of Pandora’s dive bag?
While mourning the loss of Rock Guitar Legend Eddie Van Halen, the boys came across a discussion about the validity and necessity of dive certifications. If the certification is the identification of skill mastery, why is there still an obvious lack of ability on the dive sites? This post started a large thread and many interesting points, Jamesy and Brando take a look at both sides of this very long discussion.
This week Jamesy and Brando try to lighten up the current political tension in the country with an old scuba magazine quiz. What kind of lover are you based off of your BCD choice? Which Kardashian would make your best dive buddy? You know, the good juicy magazine quizzes you see at the grocery check-out line. Also, the boys hint at dropping their names in for the upcoming presidential election.
This week the boys examine an article that addresses the increasing dependence on technology in the SCUBA community. Ol' Jamesy and Brando discuss the double edged sword of technology. Often, it can greatly help us do much more and do it faster and more efficiently but it also makes us reliant on it and lends to our complacency. From the individual to the agency, technology has had a huge impact on the way we dive as well as the way we live... but if it's going to remove all risk and do all the ...
