Kenny was invited in-studio to interview the host of Scuba Radio, Greg “The Divemaster” Holt. Founded in 1997, Scuba Radio is the oldest (and only) nationally syndicated terrestrial radio show for scuba divers (that’s like OG radio on the dial!) His interpretation of why people go scuba diving gives some serious food for thought. We discuss motivations for going scuba diving, why people tune into his show, golf vs scuba, some issues facing the dive industry, and even the late Jimmy Buffett. This...
Oct 20, 2023•23 min•Ep. 75
In my continuing showcase series of the Buddy App, we talk about Social Media and the integration of the “Sharebuilder” feature. While the app’s ability to integrate with social media accounts might seem like a meager topic on the surface - social is now the bloodline of Scuba Diving interest, and is indispensable for attracting new divers. We discuss the importance of social (for all its flaws) in diving, due to its visual nature. Alexis and her Buddy team did not overlook this critical element...
Oct 11, 2023•18 min•Ep. 74
After reading a highly compelling blog by Independent Scuba Instructor Taylor Schott, I had to have her as a Guest on the show. We’ve seen this argument before, but not so eloquently explained. In fact, her blog was so well-written that I tracked her down and actually convinced her to come talk to me about it. The pros and cons are laid out in an unbiased, friendly way, and nobody is being “put down” or lambasted for having a different opinion than Taylor. That vibe (and temperament) is somethin...
Oct 04, 2023•20 min•Season 3Ep. 18
The Sweetwater crew ran into Crosskix VP Mike Beverly, and decided this was worth the interview. His company makes a washable, high-end shoe that works in water AND in your dive fins. It keeps debris out, can be hosed down, and drains in an almost entertaining way. These are THE shoes used by major cruise lines like Norwegian and Carnival, waterpark and resort staff, and even Universal Studios. Mike let us ransack his booth, took the time to walk us through the details, and might have even bough...
Sep 21, 2023•8 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Autumn Blum started Stream2Sea in 2015, in rural Florida. Her factory opened in 2019, just before the pandemic. She almost lost her business due to the sudden halt of orders from cruise lines and recreation, but found a creative way to save her business, and grew it even bigger (the full story is toward the end of the interview, so make sure to stick around for the epic solution! HINT: Orange peels) Stream2Sea is now the gold standard of eco-minded (and healthy) sunblock and skin products in sto...
Sep 16, 2023•24 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Yasmin talks about artistic inspiration for everyone’s favorite underwater art! Fin Pin Shop is officially the center of the universe at every trade show (Shark Con and DEMA to name a few) and of course they’re in popular dive shops and ocean-themed gift shops from sea to shining sea! This isn’t just a scuba diver wonderland of art and trinkets, Fin Pin is made and supported by Marine Biologists (like Yasmin and Jaclyn), conservationists and artists. They have a massive online and social media p...
Sep 04, 2023•8 min•Season 3Ep. 15
RJ is the fiancé to owner and creator of Spacefish Army (Morgan Oughton). However, RJ was there from the beginning, behind-the-scenes, offering support, labor, and rolling with the wild turns of life. From a secret relationship on a live aboard charter (for NINE months!), to launching a clothing line, and now helping with trade shows, RJ explains how they both work so well together, stay happy, and continue to grow everyone’s favorite outerwear brand. – Make sure to watch (or listen to) the Inte...
Sep 02, 2023•6 min•Season 3Ep. 14
In this showcase series we talk about the most innovative integration into a dive app ever created - the Discover Feed. This is truly a hub, newsfeed, and showcase for scuba divers to get a pulse on the community, dive industry, and most importantly, what their buddies are doing. I just keep getting more excited about this app every time a new update drop. If you’d like to contribute, submit your own story, or maybe even write for Buddy, go directly to their website, or click here: https://divew...
Aug 29, 2023•16 min•Season 3Ep. 13
***To donate directly to the MAUI FIRES FUNDRAISER, please visit this page: https://ilimanator.com/maui/ *** Founder of @deepseamagazine Jeff Scott has launched so many locally-focused brands that I had trouble keeping up. In fact, I really wanted to know HOW he found time for them all, and do it so seamlessly. That was one of many questions I had the honor of asking him throughout the interview, but the main focus was on the new DeepSea Magazine channel. DeepSea channel has featured everyone fr...
Aug 27, 2023•19 min•Season 3Ep. 12
The Fin Pin Shop is officially the center of the universe for fun grabs at every trade show (Shark Con and DEMA to name a few) and of course they’re in popular dive shops and ocean-themed gift shops from sea to shining sea! This isn’t just a scuba diver wonderland of art and trinkets, Fin Pin is made and supported by Marine Biologists, conservationists and artists. They have a massive online and social media presence, donate to a MULTITUDE of wildlife and aquarium charities, plus use smart and s...
Aug 10, 2023•12 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Scuba Diving ALAS has a company supporting the entire sport, including both recreational, professional and social media enthusiasts. Like many other outdoor sports and recreational activities, the Dive with buddy team is catching scuba diving up. This interview takes place with the mastermind behind the Buddy App, Alexis Jabbour. With the 2023 launch happening as we speak, Buddy is quickly making waves throughout the industry as a disruptive platform. It’s changing the landscape for scuba divers...
Aug 07, 2023•12 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Morgan Oughton makes the jump from her New York City design job to working on a Live Aboard charter… all while launching the legendary Spacefish Army outerwear line. Her designs and products can now be found around the globe in retail dive centers and watersports venues, as well anywhere that ships online. She goes deep into life on a liveaboard charter, and how that lifestyle works (and how it sometimes doesn’t). More surprising, she finds her life partner AND manages to launch Spacefish Army, ...
Jul 29, 2023•22 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Red Sullivan owns a scuba gear service company and commercial dive salvage operation called Bluewater Diving, based in Daytona Beach, FL. While working on gear or teaching technical diving courses such as Rebreather, Cavern & Cave Diving, Red listens each day on his massive radio tower for the call. Calls come in requesting help with sunken boats, a need to sink a boat to form an artificial reef, or even airplanes and cars that find themselves on the bottom of a local pond or waterway. Red s...
Jul 22, 2023•11 min•Season 3Ep. 8
In this showcase series of the best scuba diving app on the market today, we discuss how divers can setup a profile, and (finally) get tipped! This interview takes place on the beaches of Oahu, Hawaii, with Guest Alexis Jabbour. She’s the mastermind behind the Buddy App, now over 2.5 years in the making! With the Summer 2023 launch happening as we speak, Buddy is making waves throughout the industry as a disruptive platform that’s quickly changing the landscape for divers, freedivers, and snorke...
Jul 19, 2023•8 min•Season 3Ep. 7
In this showcase series of the best scuba diving app on the market today, we discuss adding buddies in the Buddy App. This interview takes place on the beaches of Oahu, Hawaii, with Guest Alexis Jabbour. She’s the mastermind behind the Buddy App, now over 2.5 years in the making! With the Summer 2023 launch happening as we speak, Buddy is making waves throughout the industry as a disruptive platform that’s quickly changing the landscape for divers, freedivers, and snorkelers. In fact, I have a f...
Jul 12, 2023•7 min•Season 3Ep. 6
I had to go all the way to Hawaii to find the best scuba diving app on the market today! I walked the cities and beaches interviewing the founder of the all-new Buddy Dive Log App. In this interview we discussed the Dive Log interface and what makes it so special. This particular interview takes place on the beaches of Oahu, just North of Electric Beach, with Guest Alexis Jabbour. She’s the mastermind behind the Buddy App, now over 2.5 years in the making! With the Summer 2023 launch happening a...
Jul 05, 2023•13 min•Season 3Ep. 5
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...
Jul 04, 2023•7 min•Season 3Ep. 4
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 saili...
Jun 21, 2023•15 min•Season 3Ep. 3
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 oth...
Jun 07, 2023•28 min•Season 3Ep. 2
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 othe...
Jun 02, 2023•25 min•Season 3Ep. 1
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 ...
May 19, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 27
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. Diving needed to break free of the same-old "bland and boring", and Morgan literally made that happen. Not only did she inject life into scuba d...
May 10, 2023•7 min•Season 2Ep. 26
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 ha...
Apr 26, 2023•14 min•Season 2Ep. 25
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: ht...
Apr 16, 2023•15 min•Season 2Ep. 24
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 direc...
Apr 02, 2023•9 min•Season 2Ep. 23
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 i...
Mar 29, 2023•25 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Camilo Saraiva, MD, MBA, tells us what kind of different accidents, incidents, and all-around diving questions they get everyday at DAN (Divers Alert Network). He explains what it’s like to work for them, and what ONE THING he wishes he could tell every new diver or every diver getting back in. The different ways DAN will help your own doctor with diving contraindications for getting clearance to dive is also mind blowing. Odds are, you’ll want to add them to your phone’s favorites right away. F...
Mar 15, 2023•9 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Cristina Zenato explains how shark tourism is helping protect sharks in places like the Bahamas and elsewhere. She talks about the benefit and value the sharks bring to the local communities, as well as some of the objections to shark feeding. Cristina directly analyzes the practice of lionfish feeding, and other types of shark feeding for shark tourism. This is a must for anyone who questions the practice of shark diving with food in the water, with an extremely insightful anecdote laden with r...
Feb 26, 2023•9 min•Season 2Ep. 20
An icon of positivity, Cristina Zenato gets charmingly candid with her anecdotes for aquariums, sharks, conservation, and life in general. From mapping underwater cave systems to removing hooks from sharks’ mouths, Cristina is a champion of conservation and motivation. She also discusses her stance on whether aquariums are good or bad, while diving into the issue of animals in captivity. She talks about her famous sharks, how she gets to know them, and keys to understanding shark behavior. Stay ...
Feb 26, 2023•16 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Whether you believe the swim tests should be stringent, are a waste of precious bottom time, can scare an otherwise good diver out of the rest of the class, or are a crucial evaluation point to move forward, you’ll love this chat between two experience instructors. Michael Kest and Kenny Dyal talk about the swim test requirements for Open Water Scuba Certification, and debate the relevance it has in training new scuba divers. The ISO 24801-2 Open Water Scuba Diver standards and how they apply to...
Feb 20, 2023•7 min•Season 2Ep. 18
