Meet the staff - Our team has over 20 years of PADI professional experience.

Captain Bob,  PADI  Assistant Instructor AIN-24507   Diver since 1975, PADI Dive Master since 1985, PADI Asst. Instructor since 12/2005.  U.S. Coast Guard Captain since 1985.  Captain Bob holds a 100 Ton U.S. Coast Guard Captain’s license and has been a PADI Dive Master since 1985.  He obtained his PADI Asst. Instructor certificate in March 2006.  Captain Bob is a member of the Maritime Consortium. Captain Bob spent his corporate career in marketing, strategic planning, and sales for several large corporations.  During his time in Corporate America he consulted BellSouth Corporation as  Strategic Planner, Human Resources Technologies, Inc. as Strategic Marketing Manager, and spent the past 5 years as General Affairs Manager for Hitachi High Technologies Inc.  “Captain Bob” started his chartering business in 1984 and set out on an adventure of a lifetime.  Before heading up his chartering company he needed to accomplish a few things, like building a dive boat and getting his Dive Master certificate.  To accomplish this he needed to spend 6 grueling months under the control of PADI Course Director, Gregg Johnson.  During this time, he designed and had a 40’ custom dive boat built in Maine which he named Brain Storm I.  The boat was trucked across land and launched in Ft. Lauderdale.  In December ’84 he was ready to depart Florida for the Caribbean or at least thought he was…..  For the maiden voyage he needed to hire an experienced Captain to navigate and teach him the art of ocean travel.  This entailed the hiring of one “Captain Foo”. Captain Bob’s boating experience spans over 20 years providing only the best in dinner cruises, sunset sailing, and term charters.  His passions include diving and sailing. Captain Bob participated in Antigua Race Week 1994 winning 2nd place, and has owned or managed chartering businesses in the Caribbean for more than 10 years.  His blue water experience includes crossing the Atlantic from South Africa… that's another story.  He has logged over 30,000 blue water miles and 2,500 dives even reaching depths of 150’.  Captain Bob’s yearning to return to his passion is now being shared with the love of his life, Katherine.  He has now completed his PADI Assistant Instructor Certificate and has found another boat that will do for both sailing and diving charters.  Windsong Sunset Sailing Charters has undergone a re-fit to improve her look and creature comforts.  She is 57' in length and has joined Utopia Scuba Diving as another part of their business direction through BobKat Adventures LLC.   News Flash: Katherine and I have just purchased a 1978 Formosa (Windsong).  Windsong is 57' in length and will join Utopia Scuba in another part of our business direction through BobKat Adventures. Windsong was in Miami so we had to get it to Texas.  After 30 days of adding lots of new equipment (GPS, radar, auto-pilot, stove and more) we set sail from Florida to Texas - a 9 day passage across the Gulf of Mexico some 950 miles in open Ocean.  My son Brandon is a professional photographer and joined us for the trip.  Photo's available soon. Windsong Charters The concept of Utopia Scuba Diving is easy to understand... Our team of professionals will mystify you with our skills and experience – becoming your personal trainer in the art of diving, sailing and travel.  You will become a member of an elite group of well qualified divers as you travel with us to destinations like Truk Lagoon, the Red Sea and of course the Caribbean a place dear to my heart.  I could go on and on but I think you get the picture… Please feel free to contact one of us for more information on how you can learn to dive, sail and travel in Five Star comfort knowing that you’re being taken care in the manner fit for a royal family.  Special Credentials: Enriched Air Diver, Wreak Diver, Deep Diver, Boat Diver, Emergency First Responder

 

Gregg Johnson,  PADI  Course Director CD-20175 Diver since 1967, PADI instructor since 1984, PADI Course Director since 1993. Certified to instruct in over 40 specialties.  Specialties taught: AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Specialty, Boat, CARE FOR CHILDREN WITH AED, Deep, Drift, Enriched Air Diver, Equipment Specialist, Fish Identification, IDCS, Multilevel Diver, Night Diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Project Aware, Research, Search & Recovery, Underwater Hunter, Underwater Naturalist, Underwater Photographer, Underwater Videographer, Wreck Special Credentials: Course Director, IDCS, EFRI (Emergency First Response Instructor), EFRT (Emergency First Response Trainer), MFA Instructor, MFA Trainer  Distinctive Specialties: ADVANCED U/W COMMUNICATIONS, ADVANCED U/W NAVIGATION,  ADVANCED UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY, ARTIFACT RECOVERY, CHAMBER ORIENTATION, COLD WATER DIVER, COMPUTER ASSISTED DIVER, CORAL REEF ECOLOGY, DRY SUIT DIVER, DRY SUIT TECHNIQUES, HIGH ALTITUDE DIVER, HISTORY OF DIVING, LIMITED VISIBILITY DIVER, OXYGEN FIRST AID, RIG DIVER, UNDERWATER MODELING Non-PADI Specialties:  Non-teaching certifications: Certified technician for DACOR, US Divers, Seaquest and APEKS equipment.

 

Doug O'Neal,  PADI  Instructor MI/IDC-81981 Diver since 1990, PADI OWSI since 1997. Emergency First Response Instructor (EFRI). Specialties taught: AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Specialty, Boat, Deep, Drift, Enriched Air Diver, Equipment Specialist, Multilevel Diver, Night Diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Project Aware, Search & Recovery, Underwater Naturalist, Underwater Navigator, Underwater Photographer, Underwater Videographer, and Wreck. Special Credentials: EFRI (Emergency First Response Instructor), IDCS (Instructor Development Course Staff), MFA (Medic First Aid) Instructor Distinctive Specialties: First Aid for Hazardous Marine Life.   Non-PADI Specialties:  Non-teaching certifications: Cavern Diver certified by the National Speleological Society-Cave Diving Section. Certified technician for DACOR, US Divers, Seaquest and APEKS equipment.

 

Morgan Lyons,  PADI  Instructor MSDT/IDC-52953 Diver since 1987, DiveMaster since 1991, Instructor since 2002, IDC Staff Instructor, Emergency First Response Instructor (EFRI).  Specialties Taught: AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Specialty, Boat, Deep, Drift, Enriched Air Diver, Equipment Specialist, Multilevel Diver, Night Diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Project Aware, Underwater Naturalist, Underwater Photographer, Underwater Videographer, and Wreck. Special Credentials: EFRI (Emergency First Response Instructor), IDCS (Instructor Development Course Staff) PADI Distinctive Specialties:   Non-PADI Specialties: DAN Oxygen Instructor. Non-teaching certifications: Cavern Diver certified by the National Speleological Society-Cave Diving Section. Certified technician for DACOR, US Divers equipment.

 

Ron Piper, PADI Master Instructor IDCS 49211 Diver since 1958, PADI instructor since 1989   Specialties taught; enriched air, night, boat, drift, equipment specialist, wreck, peak performance buoyancy, project aware, search/recovery, u/w photography ,u/w videography, multilevel, u/w naturalist, fish id, u/w navigation, u/w hunter    distinctive specialties: oxygen first aid, computer assisted diver, dry suit diver, first aid for hazardous marine life   Special credentials: EFRI (emergency first response Instructor, IDCS (instructor development staff)   Non-PADI specialties: DAN 0xygen Instructor, DAN aquatic oxygen instructor certified technician for dacor/us divers equipment.

 

Toni Piper, PADI Assistant Instructor AIN 96184  Diver since 1994, PADI AI since 1996 Specialties: peak performance buoyancy, u/w photography Special credentials: EFRI (emergency first response instructor) Certified technician; Sea Quest equipment.

 

Jef Barton, PADI Instructor MSDT - 95043   Diver since 1966, Dive Master (14-May-1996) PADI OWSI (28-Mar-1999). Emergency First Response Instructor (EFRI). Specialties taught: Underwater Navigator, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Project Aware, AWARE Coral Reef Conservation Specialty, Boat, Enriched Air Diver, Multilevel Diver, Wreck, Deep, Drift, Underwater Naturalist, and Night Diver. Special Credentials: EFRI (Emergency First Response Instructor), IDCS (Instructor Development Course Staff), MFA (Medic First Aid) Instructor Distinctive Specialties: Computer Assisted Diver. Non-PADI Specialties: Non-teaching certifications:

 

Jeff Davis, PADI Master Instructor MSDT-184295   Diver since 1999, PADI Instructor 2005 Specialties taught: AWARE Coral Reef Conservation, Boat Diver, Deep Diver, Diver Propulsion Vehicle, Drift Diver, Enriched Air/Nitrox, Equipment Specialist, Fish ID, Night Diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Project Aware, Search & Recovery, Underwater Photographer.  Special Credentials: Master Scuba Diver Trainer, Emergency First Responder Instructor

 

Victor Stamp, PADI Master Instructor MSDT-47146   Diver since 1987, PADI Instructor 1991 Specialties taught: Aware Coral Conservation Specialty, Boat Diver, Deep Diver, Enrich Air Diver, Equipment Specialist, Multilevel Diver, Night Diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy.  Special Credentials: MFA Instructor, IDCS, Emergency First Responder Instructor

 

Pat Corl, PADI Dive Master DM-171565   Diver since 1997, PADI Dive Master 2000 Taking my IDC this Winter with Gregg Johnson to prepare for an IE early 2006. Current specialties: Oxygen First Aid, Enriched Air Nitrox, Equipment Specialist, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Night Diver, Deep Diver, Drift Diver, Boat Diver, Multilevel Diver, Underwater Navigation, Dry Suite Diver. High Pressure Cylinder Handler and Fill Station Operation Program.