Dolphin Dive Center

There’s a lot more happening here than earning another scuba certification. 🌊🤿

These are students in UGA’s MARS 4750: Scientific Diving II, and this semester they’ve been working toward their Advanced Open Water certifications — developing the skills, experience, and confidence they’ll need to become safe and capable divers.

And they’ve been putting in the work. 💪

They’ve logged dives and demonstrated proficiency in Deep Diving, Underwater Navigation (natural + compass), Wreck Diving, Low Visibility Diving, and Perfect Buoyancy. But what makes this group especially exciting to us is why they’re doing it.

Many of these students are pursuing careers in marine science, research, and ocean conservation. The skills they’re developing underwater today may someday take them into the field to study marine ecosystems, conduct research, collect data, and help protect the waters and wildlife we all care so deeply about.

They are becoming more than better divers.

They’re becoming the next generation of ocean stewards. 🌎💙

We’re incredibly proud to be part of their training — and very proud of the hard work they’ve put in this semester.

Keep diving. Keep learning. And keep taking care of our oceans. 🐬🤿🌊

Please help us celebrate DDC’s newest dive professional — Sarah is officially a Divemaster! 🎉🤿💙

Becoming a Divemaster takes a whole lot of training, time underwater, skill development, hard work, and commitment. But some of the qualities that make Sarah such a natural fit for this role can’t really be taught.

Sarah remembers what it feels like to be the new diver — excited, a little nervous, trying to remember everything you’ve learned while suddenly realizing you’re supposed to *breathe underwater.* 😅 She has an incredible ability to meet people right where they are, help them feel grounded, and quietly communicate, “You’re okay. I’ve got you. You can do this.”

That kind of empathy and presence is a pretty special thing to bring into the water.

And then there’s the other Sarah…the one who will happily wait until the sun goes down, load herself up with lights, and disappear into the darkness for a GLOW DIVE. ✨🌙🤿 Because apparently regular scuba diving just isn’t magical enough. 😂

Sarah, we are SO proud of everything you’ve accomplished and absolutely thrilled to welcome you into the professional ranks.

Congratulations, Divemaster Sarah! 💙

We can’t wait to see all the divers who will feel a little braver, calmer, and more capable because you were in the water with them.

Welcome to the DDC Pro Team! 🐬🤿

Another great weekend of scuba training at Lake Jocassee! 🤿💙

A BIG congratulations to our newest Open Water Diver, Annie, who completed her training dives and officially earned her certification! 🎉 Welcome to the underwater world — we can’t wait to see where diving takes you next!

We also had a great group of UGA MARS 4750 students in the water, logging dives and working on the skills they need for their Advanced Open Water certifications.

New divers, advancing divers, and lots of time underwater — that sounds like a pretty great weekend to us. 😁🤿

🎉🤿 **FOUR brand-new Open Water Divers!** 🤿🎉

Over the weekend, these four divers completed their Open Water training dives at beautiful Lake Jocassee — and they absolutely crushed it!

They demonstrated the skills they’ve been learning, put their underwater navigation to work, and handled one of the extra challenges that comes with lake diving: **low visibility.** When you can’t see very far in front of you, staying aware, communicating with your buddy, trusting your training, and keeping your cool become even more important.

And that’s exactly what they did. 💪

Watching students take everything they’ve learned in the classroom and pool and put it all together in open water is one of the best parts of what we do.

Please help us congratulate DDC’s **four newest SSI Open Water Divers!** 🎉🌊

You earned this one. Welcome to a whole new world of adventure! 💙🤿

Thank you for taking photos and being a wonderful & supportive Divemaster this weekend!

Hi! Nic here. I was sitting there this morning, enjoying a second cup of coffee and thinking about this past weekend.

I had the absolute pleasure of teaching our September Open Water class—a group of five women working toward their scuba certifications. None of them knew each other when they signed up, but by the end of the weekend, you wouldn’t have known it.
It was one of those dream classes that reminded me exactly why I wanted to become a scuba instructor in the first place.

There is so much joy in giving someone the skills and confidence they need to experience the underwater world and, eventually, explore our oceans. But this weekend, one of my favorite things was watching these women learn alongside one another—encouraging each other, laughing together, celebrating the wins, and figuring it all out as a team.

Do you remember the first time you took a breath underwater?

That first pool session is different for everyone. Some people take to it immediately, and their inner mermaid comes out to play. 🧜‍♀️ Others need a little time to convince their brain that yes, even though humans are very clearly NOT designed for this environment, it really is okay to breathe.

For most of us, it’s a little of both.

And there is SO much to remember. Gear you’ve never used before. Rules you absolutely cannot break. New ways of communicating. And skills you’re suddenly expected to perform that you didn’t even know existed when you woke up that morning. 😂

And then, little by little, things start clicking.

You relax. You breathe. You figure out your buoyancy. You start looking around instead of thinking about every single thing you’re doing.

And somewhere along the way, you realize:

Hey. I can do this.

I’m so incredibly proud of these five strong women and everything they accomplished this weekend. Watching their confidence grow—and watching them cheer each other on along the way—was such a joy.

I can’t wait to get back in the water with them. 🤿💙

Special shoutout to Divemaster extraordinaire, Craig Gum, and to Melissa who was on surface support, for their absolute invaluable help. TYSM!!

🎉 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JEREMY! 🤿🎂

Today we’re celebrating one of the longtime faces of Dolphin Dive Center — our very own Jeremy!

Jeremy has been part of the DDC family for more than 15 years, and if you’ve spent much time in the shop, chances are you’ve spent some of it with him. He’s helped countless new divers find the gear that fits just right, signed plenty of you up for your next underwater adventure, and answered more scuba questions across the sales counter and over the phone than we could ever count. And somewhere along the way, there’s usually a story or two. 😄 Jeremy brings years of knowledge, experience, and plenty of good anecdotes to every conversation — all part of the friendly, slightly quirky, dive-loving culture that makes DDC feel like DDC.

Certified to teach through SSI, PADI, SDI, and DAN (because apparently one alphabet wasn’t enough), Jeremy brings an incredible amount of knowledge and experience to everything he does. He’s thorough, he does things by the book, and — most importantly — he knows how to make learning to dive FUN.

We’re grateful for all the years, dives, classes, laughs, and adventures you’ve brought to DDC, Jeremy.

Help us wish this guy a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 🎉🎈

Here’s to another trip around the sun — preferably with most of it spent underwater. 🤿🌊

Happy Birthday, Jeremy! We love having you on Team DDC! 💙

💙 27 Stories for 27 Years

#27 — It Started With Lobsters

Growing up in South Florida, some of my earliest—and fondest—memories revolve around the ocean.

When I was nine or ten, my family started vacationing in Marathon in the Florida Keys. Within a few years, I think I'd freedived for lobster around just about every piling of the Seven Mile Bridge.

Then one year, on the drive home from vacation, my dad announced:

“Tim, we're going to get scuba certified so we can stay down there longer and get more lobsters.”

I remember asking him, “Dad, isn't scuba diving dangerous?”

His response?

“I'll worry about the danger. You just worry about the lobsters.”

So, in 1973, at 12 years old, I became a certified scuba diver.

And Dad was right.

We got a lot more lobsters.

But something else happened, too.

My love for the ocean grew with every dive.

And as my interest in diving grew, so did the opportunities. I kept learning, kept diving, and eventually became an instructor.

Then, in 1999, Charbon's Dive Center in Athens came up for sale.

I bought it.

I renamed it Dolphin Dive Center. And everything that happened next? Well...We've spent the last 26 stories telling you about it.

So for Story #27, there's really only one thing left for me to say.

Thank you.

Thank you to every student who trusted us to teach you.

Thank you to every customer who walked through our doors.

Thank you to everyone who packed a dive bag and traveled somewhere in the world with us—who chose DDC to be part of your vacation, your adventure, and eventually, your memories.

I don't think anyone could have predicted that a 12-year-old kid who just wanted to stay underwater longer and catch more lobsters would find a sport that would eventually take him around the world and allow him to see things most people only ever see on television.

I certainly couldn't have.

But what a ride it's been.

To everyone who has been part of Dolphin Dive Center's story...

Thank you for 27 years of memories.

— Tim 💙🤿

💙 27 Stories for 27 Years

Throughout August, we're celebrating 27 years of Dolphin Dive Center by sharing the people, places, and moments that have shaped our community.

#26 — The People Behind DDC

There's simply no way a small business stays in business for 27 years without a whole lot of people helping carry it along the way.

We could never name everyone who has contributed something to DDC, but there are a few people who deserve an honorable mention.

Sarah, our very first manager, set the tone for professionalism from the beginning.
Sabrina followed with a great eye for retail.

Joe Webber and JC gave us years of reliable service work.

Jay Kloepfer helped launch DDC into social media and was instrumental in creating the Dive Club.

Scott Noakes helped turn a thousand emails and a big idea into the UGA Scientific Diving program we know today.

Jan Hoffman taught Tim organization—and the life-changing importance of putting things into “baskets.” 😂

Rebekha started our YouTube channel and helped us grow the UGA program.

And thank goodness for Jeremy, because every business needs someone to blame things on. 😂

Brent (Tim's buddy and ours) will always be deeply missed. She and David Baldwin made approximately 9,000 trips to Vortex Spring alongside Tim.

Today, we're incredibly grateful for Van, our longest-standing manager, whose steady hand keeps DDC organized, stable, and moving forward.

And, in Tim's words: “Obviously, my wife Nicole, for her unwavering support.” 💙

Finally, there's the present-day DDC crew—now 13 strong and growing—carrying the story forward.

So many people have come through our doors as employees, instructors, divemasters, friends, and extended DDC family. Each brought something different.

Each left something behind.

Twenty-seven years may belong to Dolphin Dive Center, but it took a whole lot of people to build them.

💙 Now we want to hear from you: Do you have a favorite memory or story about a DDC staff member, past or present? Share it with us below!

💙 27 Stories for 27 Years

Throughout August, we're celebrating 27 years of Dolphin Dive Center by sharing the people, places, and moments that have shaped our community.

#24 — From 8 UGA Students to 75 🤿🐾

Years ago, Tim noticed something that didn't make sense.

Other SEC universities offered scuba diving to their students.

UGA didn't.

So DDC started lobbying to change that.

And by “lobbying,” we mean sending more than 1,000 emails over three years. 😂

Persistence eventually met opportunity when Dr. Scott Noakes—a UGA professor and DDC instructor—suggested approaching the university through Marine Sciences.
And in spring 2013, the very first MARS 4740 Scientific Diving class began with around eight students.

We had no idea what that little class would become.

The program has grown semester after semester. This fall, we're working with 75 students—and this year, UGA announced that students can now pursue Scientific Diving as a minor.

That's something we're incredibly proud to have played a small part in building.

Every semester, DDC instructors get to introduce another group of young scientists to the underwater world. We spend weeks together in the classroom and pool, getting to know them, watching their confidence grow, and finally heading to Vortex Spring for checkout weekend.

And that's when something especially wonderful happens.

Classmates become dive buddies. Friendships form. Everyone cheers for everyone else.

There aren't many college courses where you finish the semester having literally learned to trust the person beside you with your life.

That creates a special kind of camaraderie. 💙

But perhaps our favorite part is knowing where these students may go next.

Marine scientists. Researchers. Scientific divers. Educators. Stewards of our oceans.

Thirteen years ago, there were eight.

Today, there are 75 a year.

And we can't wait to see where they take it from here. 🌊🤿