Thanks for taking the time to check out our website. Our dive shop is committed to High Quality dive training. We realize that anyone can say that, but this is how we prove it!
We train QUALITY divers, not a quantity of divers!
Our goal isn't to try to certify as many people as possible. We want to give you the best training you can receive and make the best divers. While you can find classes that put up to 12 or more students per 1 instructor, our student to instructor ratio is only 4 students to 1 instructor. We believe learning in small groups creates a better learning experience!
More time in the water!
Part of making our students better divers is that we spend more time in the water with them. Many instructors will only do the bare minimum training time to expedite the course. It's similar to a waiter flipping tables at a restaurant. The faster they can get you in and out the more customers they can get. Our mentality is different. We believe that more time you spend in the water, the more comfortable you will become. This leads to a better overall experience and a higher quality course.
We are all full time instructors and dive for fun outside of teaching classes!
Diving isn't just a side-job or a hobby for us, it's our life. All of our instructors teach diving full time. Outside of teaching classes we are constantly diving. Our instructors are required to take at least 2 continuing education courses per year. This ensures we are bringing our customers the most up to date and quality training we can offer. We also dive for fun outside of training. From local diving to expedition dives around the world, you will find us diving for fun as often as possible.
We offer flexible scheduling.
If our normal scheduling for our courses doesn't work for you, no big deal! We offer flexible scheduling with private courses based on your schedule! Because our instructors are full time, we can offer training pretty much anytime. There are additional fees associated with private scheduling because of additional cost we incur. However, we are happy to talk to you about it and see what we can do to meet your needs. Just contact us!
No-pressure gear selling, because training is our priority!
We know how aggravating it is to walk into a store and end up talking to a high-pressure salesperson. That is not us. Our focus is on high quality training. We do sell gear and are happy to help you with selection. We will even let you try gear out before you buy it. We don't stock a giant collection of random trinkets, we only sell products that we use ourself and that fits our training style. We offer our professional opinions and provide consultation at no charge.
We don't try to be the cheapest!
We realize that you maybe be able to find dive courses cheaper than what we offer and we are okay with that. We believe that we are offering a better product that is more valuable. McDonald's is always going to be cheaper than a gourmet restaurant, but there is a giant difference in the quality of the product. If you are new to diving and haven't experienced dive training before, we realize it can be overwhelming and difficult comparing training options. That is why we offer free dive training consultation. Just contact us to set that up!
Training divers is our passion and priority. We want to be a part of helping you succeed in your diving goals. But don't just take our word for it, check out these reviews on Google!
We train QUALITY divers, not a quantity of divers!
Our goal isn't to try to certify as many people as possible. We want to give you the best training you can receive and make the best divers. While you can find classes that put up to 12 or more students per 1 instructor, our student to instructor ratio is only 4 students to 1 instructor. We believe learning in small groups creates a better learning experience!
More time in the water!
Part of making our students better divers is that we spend more time in the water with them. Many instructors will only do the bare minimum training time to expedite the course. It's similar to a waiter flipping tables at a restaurant. The faster they can get you in and out the more customers they can get. Our mentality is different. We believe that more time you spend in the water, the more comfortable you will become. This leads to a better overall experience and a higher quality course.
We are all full time instructors and dive for fun outside of teaching classes!
Diving isn't just a side-job or a hobby for us, it's our life. All of our instructors teach diving full time. Outside of teaching classes we are constantly diving. Our instructors are required to take at least 2 continuing education courses per year. This ensures we are bringing our customers the most up to date and quality training we can offer. We also dive for fun outside of training. From local diving to expedition dives around the world, you will find us diving for fun as often as possible.
We offer flexible scheduling.
If our normal scheduling for our courses doesn't work for you, no big deal! We offer flexible scheduling with private courses based on your schedule! Because our instructors are full time, we can offer training pretty much anytime. There are additional fees associated with private scheduling because of additional cost we incur. However, we are happy to talk to you about it and see what we can do to meet your needs. Just contact us!
No-pressure gear selling, because training is our priority!
We know how aggravating it is to walk into a store and end up talking to a high-pressure salesperson. That is not us. Our focus is on high quality training. We do sell gear and are happy to help you with selection. We will even let you try gear out before you buy it. We don't stock a giant collection of random trinkets, we only sell products that we use ourself and that fits our training style. We offer our professional opinions and provide consultation at no charge.
We don't try to be the cheapest!
We realize that you maybe be able to find dive courses cheaper than what we offer and we are okay with that. We believe that we are offering a better product that is more valuable. McDonald's is always going to be cheaper than a gourmet restaurant, but there is a giant difference in the quality of the product. If you are new to diving and haven't experienced dive training before, we realize it can be overwhelming and difficult comparing training options. That is why we offer free dive training consultation. Just contact us to set that up!
Training divers is our passion and priority. We want to be a part of helping you succeed in your diving goals. But don't just take our word for it, check out these reviews on Google!
Meet the Instructors
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John Baker
John fell in love with diving in high school. During college he worked as a divemaster for several shops and spent a serious amount of time underwater. After graduation, he earned his dive instructor certification. Besides teaching scuba, John's passion is exploration and technical diving. John has dived to 300+ft on some of his adventures, dived the Andrea Doria, the U869, dives rebreathers, and has salvaged everything from airplanes to cars. John has taught over 900 dive courses ranging from open water to technical trimix diving. He is also an instructor trainer, technical diving instructor trainer, and a course director trainer. John can help you achieve your goal of becoming a diver, dive instructor, and even a course director! John is a USCG Master Captain and runs dive charters for spearfishing, wreck, and ledge diving off the South Carolina coast. His favorite place to dive in the world is offshore Charleston, SC. |
Amanda Baker
Amanda got certified not long after dating John in 2007. She later went on to earn her scuba instructor certification. Amanda loves diving and photography. Many of the pictures on this site were taken by her. Amanda is also a technical diver. She enjoys deep dives to places no one has ever been and interacting with the sea turtles! She had been underwater all over the world in beautiful places like Australia, Hawaii and Cozumel. She is the co-owner/manager of the shop. If you call, you will most likely speak with her. That is because she is the one who keeps the shop schedule running smoothly! When Amanda is not working at the shop, she is busy being a mom and chasing around her two boys! |
Casey Fissel
Casey learned to dive in 2016 to help in her career path of becoming an Underwater Archeologist. She immediately fell in love with the underwater world and worked hard for several years to achieve her SDI Instructor certification! She loves killing lionfish and is currently holds the SC record for largest lionfish! You will find Casey teaching new divers, working the dive shop, helping on the dive boat, and on dive trips! |
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Bill Routh
Bill Routh began diving in 1981. Bill has shot underwater footage for several news channels, the Discovery Channel and CNN. Bill has been diving South Carolina’s lakes and rivers for many years and is one of the area’s most knowledgeable diving experts. Bill is the owner of Lake Jocassee Dive Shop in Salem, SC. He has researched and located the Camp Jocassee for girls, the steel bridge, and now the Attakulla Lodge on the bottom of Lake Jocassee. He is a technical diving instructor and teaches advanced trimix courses. Bill is a USCG Master Captain and guides dive trips for Megalodon teeth in the cooper river, offshore South Carolina, and Lake Jocassee and Keowee. |
Drew Dye
Drew begin his diving career after coming home from serving in the US Army. He has a passion for cave diving! He spends all of his free time diving in Florida's beautiful cave systems and exploring new spots. He is a full cave instructor and cave guide. He knows all of the local spots that are off the beaten path and can take you to some beautiful cave systems. If you want to step it up and get into cave diving, we will get you hooked up with Drew. Drew Byrd
Drew begin diving in 2009 and his only regret is not starting sooner! Since then he has been underwater any chance that he gets. He has dived in a wide variety of conditions ranging from the beautiful waters in Cozumel to zero visibility in lakes and rivers. Drew earned his divemaster and instructor certification and now enjoys sharing his passion to divers every chance he gets! Drew can be found running boats for dive trips and assisting students during their courses! |
Avi Ratica
Avi learned to dive in the Red Sea after many years wanting to learn. He is a multi agency instructor but is most proud of being an Instructor Trainer with SDI. He has dived all over the world from Australia to the Canadian Great Lakes and is always looking for new and exciting places to go. He also loves Pugs and singing Karaoke. He is married to the worlds greatest Physician he met while being an Instructor in the Cayman Islands and Father to Ariel. You can find Avi out making new SDI instructors all around the world! |