October 2025 – October 2026
A weekend at Lake Phoenix in Virginia with Tim and Megan completing their IDC and Josh completing his MSDT Prep! Tim and Megan went on to absolutely crush their Instructor Examination (IE) and are now out there teaching and inspiring the next generation of divers! So proud of all three and everything they’ve accomplished!
When I look back at Year Three of Seaira Dives, the places are certainly unforgettable. Thailand. Florida. Lembeh. Fiji. Hawaiʻi. Becoming a PADI Course Director. Moving across the Pacific. Those are the milestones people see, and they were all incredible in their own way.
When I think about this past year, though, those aren't actually the first things that come to mind.
Instead, I remember the conversations on dive boats between dives, sharing snacks (cinnamon rolls) on the surface interval, helping each other gear up, and sitting around after dinner replaying every shark, turtle, nudibranch, and fish we had seen that day. I remember celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, certifications and milestone dives, watching people conquer fears, and seeing strangers become lifelong dive buddies.
Year Three was certainly a year of growth for Seaira Dives, but more than anything, it was a year of building a community. Looking back, that's what I'm most proud of.
When I started Seaira Dives three years ago, my goal was simple. I wanted to create an inclusive dive community where everyone felt welcome, regardless of their experience or background. A place where people could become more confident divers, explore incredible destinations, and discover the same love for the ocean that inspired me to become an instructor.
Three years later, Seaira Dives has grown into something far greater than I ever imagined. What started with a desire to make diving more welcoming has become a community of people who genuinely support one another, celebrate every accomplishment, encourage each other through challenges, and build friendships that extend far beyond the water.
Every trip has started to feel a little more like a reunion, with new faces quickly becoming part of the group. That's exactly the kind of dive community I hoped to create.
Karina flew all the way to Hawaiʻi Island to complete her PADI Divemaster course with me! Little did she know, a sneaky manta ray was following right behind her during one of our night dives! 😂 Such a fun surprise and an unforgettable moment on her journey to becoming a dive professional!
DEMA and Florida Diving
My first DEMA Show certainly did not disappoint! I traveled to Orlando with my scuba buddy Becky for one of the biggest events in the diving industry, bringing together dive professionals, manufacturers, educators, travel operators, and ocean advocates from around the world.
Walking the show floor for the first time was an experience in itself. Between exploring new equipment, attending educational seminars, meeting people whose work I've followed for years, and connecting with fellow dive professionals, there was no shortage of inspiration.
DEMA also gave me an opportunity to step outside my usual routine and see what others are doing across the industry. Some conversations sparked ideas for future Seaira Dives expeditions, while others offered new perspectives on diver education, equipment, and creating better experiences for the people I teach and travel with.
One of my favorite things about being a dive professional is that learning never stops. No matter how many certifications I've earned or divers I've trained, there's always something new to discover, a different perspective to consider, or a better way to approach something. My first DEMA was a wonderful reminder of that.
Of course, a trip to Florida wouldn't have been complete without getting underwater.
I finally had the opportunity to dive Devil's Den, a prehistoric freshwater spring that feels almost otherworldly. Sunlight pours through an opening in the cavern ceiling, illuminating the clear water below and creating beautiful beams of light. After years of predominantly ocean diving, exploring such a unique freshwater environment was a completely different experience.
Becky and I gearing up to dive Devil’s Den, a prehistoric underground spring in Florida!
Another highlight was crossing swimming with manatees in Homosassa off my bucket list. Sharing the water with these gentle giants was one of the most peaceful wildlife encounters I've experienced. Their slow, unhurried movements and curious personalities made the experience especially memorable.
Becky and I had the incredible opportunity to snorkel with manatees in Florida’s Homosassa River! 💙 Sharing the water with these gentle giants was such a special experience and one I’ll never forget.
📸 Photo courtesy of Becky!
Looking back, Florida offered a wonderful combination of professional development and the simple joy of diving. DEMA reminded me how much opportunity there is to continue learning and contributing to the industry, while Devil's Den and the manatees reminded me why I fell in love with the underwater world in the first place.
Both experiences left me with new ideas, wonderful memories, and plenty of inspiration to bring home to Seaira Dives.
Take Me to Thailand
The Take Me to Thailand crew! 🇹🇭🤿 Almost everyone made it into the photo, except Anita and James, who were off learning how to become PADI Open Water Divers! 💙 Such an incredible group of people to share this adventure with!
We closed out 2025 and welcomed 2026 with fifteen travelers on our Take Me to Thailand adventure in Koh Tao! Between the incredible diving, amazing food, and a New Year's Eve party in the jungle, we packed a lot into nine days.
The diving was fantastic, with warm water, beautiful reefs, colorful marine life, and plenty of little critters to keep us entertained. The biggest highlights, though, were two whale shark encounters! For most of our group, these were their very first whale sharks, which made the sightings even more exciting. Seeing everyone return to the boat absolutely buzzing, comparing photos and talking about what they'd just experienced, was one of my favorite memories from the trip.
We also celebrated three new certifications! Two travelers earned their Advanced Open Water certifications, and another became an Open Water Diver. Even better, our newly certified diver enjoyed the experience so much that he inspired his wife to learn to dive. She joined us six months later on our Fiji expedition and earned her Open Water certification there!
Of course, we spent plenty of time enjoying Koh Tao above the surface. We took a Thai cooking class, explored restaurants all over the island, and ate some absolutely incredible local food. Thailand is one of my favorite places to eat, so trying different dishes and sharing meals with the group was a highlight in itself.
For New Year's Eve, we headed into the jungle for a party to ring in 2026. Not a bad way to celebrate after several days of diving, eating our way around Koh Tao, and exploring the island!
Thailand gave us a wonderful mix of diving, local experiences, and time together. Between the two whale sharks, new certifications, cooking class, jungle party, and all the little adventures in between, our first Seaira Dives trip of 2026 was certainly one to remember!
Becoming a PADI Course Director
Team Purple, Team Oceans Se7en! 💜🤿 My incredible Course Director Training Course (CDTC) crew in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia! What an experience to share such a huge milestone with this group of dive professionals. Forever proud to be part of Oceans Se7en!
One of the biggest milestones of Year Three, and really of my entire diving career, was becoming a PADI Course Director.
For those outside the dive industry, it can be difficult to explain just how significant that is. Course Director is the highest professional rating in PADI’s recreational scuba training system. PADI has reported that Course Directors make up less than 1% of its worldwide membership. Within that already very small group, only about 15% are women.
I had worked toward this goal for years, and becoming a Course Director was so much more than earning another rating. The path to get there required progressing through the professional ranks, gaining extensive teaching and instructor development experience, becoming a Master Instructor and EFR Instructor Trainer, and building a record of involvement in the dive industry. Even after meeting the requirements, candidates still have to go through a competitive application and selection process for the Course Director Training Course.
In March 2026, I traveled to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, for the Course Director Training Course. Sitting in that room knowing how few dive professionals ever reach that point, and how few women are represented at this level, made the experience even more meaningful.
The sunsets in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, will absolutely knock your socks off! 🌅😍 Some of the most spectacular sunsets I’ve ever seen!
Course Directors are responsible for training the next generation of PADI Instructors. Instead of simply teaching people how to dive, I now have the privilege of teaching people how to teach diving. That comes with an incredible amount of responsibility. The instructors I train will go on to teach hundreds, and potentially thousands, of divers throughout their own careers.
That ripple effect is probably the part that means the most to me.
Every instructor who invested their time in me throughout my own journey helped shape the diver, educator, and business owner I am today. Becoming a Course Director means I now have the opportunity to do that for someone else. I get to mentor future instructors, help them discover their own teaching style, build their confidence, and support them as they take one of the biggest steps in their diving careers.
That opportunity became real almost immediately when I had the privilege of running my first Instructor Development Course as a Course Director. Watching Tim and Megan grow throughout the IDC was incredibly rewarding. They worked hard, supported one another through every workshop and presentation, and when it came time for the Instructor Examination, they absolutely crushed it. Watching them earn their PADI Instructor ratings remains one of the proudest moments of my career.
Year Three also gave me the opportunity to mentor divers at several different stages of their professional journeys. Matt completed his IDC Staff Instructor course, taking another step toward becoming a mentor himself. Megan and Josh completed their MSDT Prep, expanding their experience and confidence as instructors while learning to teach additional specialties. Karina traveled all the way to Fiji and then Hawaiʻi to complete her Divemaster training with me, dedicating countless hours above and below the surface to developing the leadership, professionalism, and dive skills that define a great dive professional.
Watching each of them grow reminded me that every professional journey looks a little different. Some were taking their first steps into leadership. Others were learning how to teach, expanding their experience as instructors, or beginning to mentor other professionals.
Becoming a Course Director was never about reaching the top of a ladder for me. The title matters, and I am incredibly proud of what it took to earn it, but what matters even more is what I get to do with it.
I can teach one diver and help change the way that person experiences the ocean. Now I can train an instructor who may go on to introduce hundreds of people to it.
Getting to play even a small part in that is something I will never take for granted.
My First Instructor Development Course
My very first IDC as a PADI Course Director! 🤿💙 Two IDC candidates, one IDC Staff Instructor candidate, and one MSDT Prep candidate. Quite the crew for my first go at running the show! 😂 Huge thanks to my amazing guinea pig squad for trusting me with such an important part of your professional diving journeys. Couldn't have asked for a better group to share this milestone with!
After returning home from the PADI Course Director Training Course, there wasn't much time to catch my breath before jumping into one of the most exciting moments of the year: running my very first Instructor Development Course.
I had spent years working toward becoming a Course Director, and I was ready. This was the moment all of that teaching, mentoring, training, and preparation had been building toward. For the first time, I was the one leading an entire IDC from start to finish, and I couldn't wait to get started.
Tim and Megan were my first instructor candidates, and Matt joined us to complete his IDC Staff Instructor course. That made this first IDC even more special. While I was teaching Tim and Megan how to become instructors, I was also helping Matt take the next step in his own professional journey and learn how to mentor and help develop future instructors.
Tim and Megan threw themselves into every workshop, presentation, confined water session, and classroom discussion. They showed up every day ready to learn, willing to push themselves outside their comfort zones, and committed to becoming the best instructors they could be. Matt was right there alongside them, learning the other side of instructor development and gaining experience evaluating, mentoring, and supporting instructor candidates.
Watching all three of them grow throughout the course was exactly why I wanted to become a Course Director in the first place.
Then came the Instructor Examination.
Tim and Megan both absolutely crushed their IE. Watching both of my very first instructor candidates successfully complete the examination and earn their PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor ratings was one of the proudest moments of my professional career. They had put in the work throughout the entire IDC, and seeing that work come together at the IE was incredibly rewarding.
I couldn't be prouder of them. They walked into the IE prepared, confident, and ready to show what they had learned. Knowing they'll go on to introduce hundreds, and hopefully thousands, of people to the underwater world is an incredible feeling, and I know they're going to make a lasting impact on the dive community.
Watching Matt earn his IDC Staff Instructor rating was just as meaningful. IDC Staff Instructors play an important role in helping train and mentor instructor candidates, so seeing him take that next step felt like another piece of the bigger picture coming together. My first IDC wasn't just about training new instructors. I was also helping develop someone who can now help mentor the instructors who come next.
The IDC was only part of an exciting spring for Seaira Dives. Megan and Josh also completed their MSDT Prep, expanding their teaching experience and adding new specialties to their instructor toolkits. Karina's professional journey continued as well, traveling to both Fiji and Hawaiʻi to complete her Divemaster training with me. Watching her confidence, leadership, and dive skills develop throughout the year was incredibly rewarding, and I know she's just getting started.
Looking back, those moments reminded me that becoming a Course Director was never about earning another certification myself. It was about helping other people achieve goals they once thought were out of reach. From developing Divemasters, to helping instructors expand their skills, to training brand new instructors and mentoring the people who will help train the instructors who come next, I finally got to experience the full circle of professional development.
Every new professional who joins our industry has the opportunity to inspire countless future divers. Knowing I get to play a small part in those journeys is one of the greatest privileges of my career.
Lembeh: Becoming a Student Again
Becky and I proudly rocking the custom rash guards we made for our Lembeh trip! 💙🤿 The Nudi Patrol was officially on duty, ready to hunt for the tiniest, weirdest, and most colorful nudibranchs we could find! 😂
One of the things I hope I never lose is the desire to keep learning.
This year I traveled to Lembeh Strait in Indonesia to join an Inside Scuba macro photography workshop with Byron Conroy and Andy Deitsch. Lembeh has long been known as one of the best muck diving destinations in the world, and every dive felt like a treasure hunt. We found flamboyant cuttlefish, rhinopias, coconut octopus, frogfish, ghost pipefish, nudibranchs, and so many bizarre little creatures that somehow call black volcanic sand home.
As incredible as the marine life was, the biggest takeaway wasn't a photograph.
This trip was the reminder that there is always another skill to learn.
Photography can be an intimidating hobby. There is always a new technique to master, another piece of equipment to figure out, or another creative challenge waiting underwater. Spending the week learning alongside Byron, Andy, and the entire Inside Scuba community reminded me that becoming a better photographer isn't about collecting expensive gear or chasing the perfect image. It's about slowing down, observing the reef more carefully, and never being afraid to ask questions.
That experience has already shaped the way I teach. Whether I'm helping someone choose their first underwater camera, offering photography tips on a group trip, or simply encouraging divers to slow down and really look at the reef, I find myself sharing lessons I learned during that week.
Lembeh wasn't just about photography. It was a reminder that no matter where we are in our journey, we should always make time to become students again.
A Big Change: Moving to Hawaiʻi
A beautiful pair of harlequin shrimp spotted right here in Hawaiʻi!These tiny, intricately patterned shrimp are one of my favorite underwater finds. Such a treat to see two together!
The biggest personal change of Year Three was moving to the Big Island of Hawaiʻi.
Although it had been a dream for many years, packing up my life in Maryland and starting over in the middle of the Pacific still felt surreal. It was exciting, a little intimidating, and without question one of the biggest leaps I've ever taken.
Looking back now, I can't imagine Year Three ending any other way.
Living in Hawaiʻi has completely changed my relationship with the ocean. Instead of planning months in advance for dive trips, the ocean is now part of my everyday life. I can jump in the water after work, explore new dive sites on weekends, and continue learning about the incredible marine life that calls these islands home.
The move has also opened exciting new opportunities for Seaira Dives. Living in a place with year-round diving means I can teach more courses, spend more time mentoring dive professionals, create more educational content, and help visitors experience one of my favorite places on Earth. From blackwater dives and manta rays to lava tubes and reef sharks, the Big Island has already become an incredible classroom.
Trading quarries for lava coastlines has certainly been an amazing change of scenery, but more importantly, Hawaiʻi has challenged me to keep growing as a diver, educator, photographer, and business owner.
Sometimes taking the biggest leap leads to the greatest adventure, and moving to Hawaiʻi has been exactly that.
I truly can't wait to see what this next chapter brings.
Fantastic Fiji
The fantastic Fiji crew! 🇫🇯💙 Just missing our five Aussies, who were off on an adventure of their own! What an incredible group of people to explore Fiji’s beautiful reefs with. So many laughs, unforgettable dives, and wonderful memories made together!
If Thailand was filled with excitement and nonstop adventure, Fiji felt like an invitation to slow down and simply enjoy every moment.
From the first day, it was easy to understand why Fiji is known as the Soft Coral Capital of the World. Every dive seemed brighter than the last. Walls covered in colorful soft corals stretched into the blue, schools of fish moved effortlessly across the reefs, and every time we descended it felt like swimming into a postcard.
Some dives will stay with me forever.
Drifting along the famous Great White Wall surrounded by vibrant white soft corals was every bit as spectacular as I'd imagined. Exploring Rainbow Reef reminded us why it consistently ranks among the best dive sites in the world. Then there were the macro dives, where slowing down rewarded us with pygmy seahorses, nudibranchs, frogfish, mantis shrimp, ribbon eels, ghost pipefish, and so many tiny creatures that are easy to miss if you don't know where to look.
As incredible as the diving was, what made Fiji truly special was everything happening around the dives.
We celebrated birthdays, milestone dives, welcomed new Open Water and Advanced Open Water divers, completed Fish Identification specialties, and watched divers become noticeably more confident throughout the week. One of my favorite parts of teaching Fish ID is watching people change the way they dive. Suddenly the reef transforms from "a lot of fish" into individual species with fascinating behaviors and personalities. By the end of the week, everyone was spotting things they would have swum right past on the first day.
Outside the water, we experienced Fijian culture together through a beautiful village night complete with traditional food, music, dancing, and a kava ceremony. We celebrated birthdays, handed out our now-famous "Trippies" awards, laughed through theme nights, and spent every evening gathered around dinner sharing stories from the day's adventures.
The rhythm of the week became wonderfully simple.
Dive.
Eat.
Laugh.
Repeat.
Some of my favorite memories from Fiji weren't underwater at all. They were the conversations after dinner that somehow lasted for hours, everyone crowding around a laptop to look through photos from the day's dives, and hearing people already talking about where we should travel together next.
Those are the moments that remind me why I love leading group travel.
Fiji reminded me that these adventures aren't only about seeing incredible marine life. They're about slowing down, disconnecting from the pace of everyday life, and reconnecting with nature and with each other. By the end of the week, it didn't feel like saying goodbye to a travel group. It felt like saying goodbye to friends.
Looking Back on Year Three
Three years ago, I started Seaira Dives because I wanted to create a different kind of dive community. One where people felt welcome regardless of their experience, where training was personal, and where a shared love of the ocean could bring people together.
Looking back on Year Three, I'm incredibly proud of what we've accomplished.
We've welcomed new Open Water divers, celebrated Divemasters taking their first steps into the professional world, and watched new instructors begin their own teaching careers. We've explored chilly quarries in Halloween costumes, swam alongside whale sharks in Thailand, admired Fiji's incredible soft corals, ventured into Florida's freshwater caverns, and spent hours searching for the tiniest, strangest creatures in Lembeh.
What a year!
Some of my favorite memories, though, have very little to do with where we were diving.
They're the dinners that turned into hours of conversation. The laughter over something ridiculous that happened on the boat. The excitement when someone finally spotted the critter they'd been searching for all week. The birthdays, milestone dives, new certifications, and friendships that continued long after everyone returned home.
I love seeing familiar faces return for another adventure, often bringing friends or family along. I love watching someone who was nervous on their first dive become the person encouraging a newer diver. I love seeing people who met on a Seaira Dives trip make plans to dive together again.
That's the community I wanted to create three years ago, and seeing it come together has been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey.
To everyone who joined me underwater, traveled halfway around the world, trusted me with their training, read a blog, shared a post, recommended Seaira Dives to a friend, or supported this little business in any way, thank you.
Running a small business takes an incredible amount of work, and every person who chooses to be part of Seaira Dives makes that work worthwhile. I don't take your trust, your time, or your support for granted.
Three years in, we've explored some extraordinary places, celebrated accomplishments big and small, and made friendships all over the world.
I started Seaira Dives to bring people together through diving. Three years later, you're the reason I get to keep doing what I love.
Here's to Year Four, and to all the adventures we haven't had yet!
Looking Ahead to Year Four
If Year Three was our biggest year yet, Year Four is already giving it some serious competition!
We're kicking things off in November with the Galápagos Islands, a destination that's been on my bucket list for years! Our sold-out expedition aboard the Galápagos Aggressor III will take us to some of the most exciting dive sites in the world, with the possibility of encountering schooling hammerheads, whale sharks, sea lions, and marine iguanas. I've been planning this adventure for so long that I can hardly believe it's almost here!
In April, we're heading to Palau for a week of incredible drift diving, sharks, manta rays, and some of the most famous dive sites in the Pacific. Blue Corner, German Channel, Blue Holes... my camera and I are ready!
July brings our sold-out Women's Dive Day expedition to Komodo, which I'm co-hosting with my friend and fellow PADI Course Director, Jillian Blakkan-Strasser. We'll spend a week aboard the Komodo Aggressor exploring colorful reefs, diving with manta rays, searching for unusual macro life, and visiting the famous Komodo dragons. We've also planned some fantastic specialty training opportunities. A boat full of adventurous women exploring Indonesia together? Yes, please!
Of course, the international adventures are only part of what's happening with Seaira Dives. Since moving to Hawaiʻi Island, I've been expanding my training opportunities here in Kona, and I already have divers flying to the Big Island specifically to take courses with me! From continuing education to professional-level training, I'm excited to welcome more students and share some of my favorite local dive sites. Plus, getting to teach in Hawaiʻi year-round is a pretty fantastic perk of the job.
Looking a little further ahead, we've already got Raja Ampat, Antarctica, and the Solomon Islands on the calendar. Raja Ampat's incredible biodiversity, an expedition to Antarctica (yes, we're really going to Antarctica!), and the spectacular reefs of the Solomon Islands are all waiting for us.
Seeing travelers return for their second, third, and even fourth Seaira Dives adventures, while new faces continue to join us, has been one of the most exciting parts of growing this business. Between the upcoming expeditions and the divers traveling to Hawaiʻi for training, there's plenty to keep me busy. My calendar might be a little ridiculous, but I wouldn't have it any other way!
Three years down, a whole lot of ocean left to explore. Here's to Year Four!
I have a feeling the best adventures are still ahead, and I can't wait to share them with all of you.
Dive safe, explore passionately, and remember…
