The Great Dive Podcast

Does (at least) part of the issue with Scuba education and practice lie in the culture of Scuba diving? Some aspects of our Scuba culture (Sculture) seem to promote quantity over quality. Whether it is certifications or depth, the emphasis seems to be on high numbers vs. high quality of the diver doing the dive. Agencies incentivize high numbers of certifications by awarding "Elite Instructor" sta...

James and Brando start talking about a recent weekend teaching the UTD Essentials class to a couple of scuba professionals. This class is hard, but not because of the difficult skills or impossible expectations. It’s hard because it requires humility and intention, rather than learning and doing random skills underwater. Check it out.

The boys wrap up International Cave Diving Month with some final words. What can the recreational diving community learn from the Cave Diving community? Have a listen!

What possibly could be the downside of focusing education on quantity vs focusing on the quality of the education? This week the boys explore the idea of a quantity vs. quality approach to educating the scuba world. Have a listen!

This week the boys sit down and talk about Jamesy’s recent visit to Florida for the NSS-CDS International Cave Diving Conference. So, I guess it is officially Cave Month. Ol’ Jamesy’s presentation was a philosophical look at the difference between cave diving and the rest of the scuba education.

The boys give their final thoughts on the Maldives Cave Diving Incident.

This week the boys take a week off from the Maldivian Death Cave, to bring you a special interview from this year’s Thunder Bay International Film Festival. Summer is heating up and Jamesy and Brando are busy living the scuba life. Enjoy these interviews with Andrew a Great Lakes boat captain and Kate from NOAA talking about the festival and why the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is so grea...

This week Jamesy and Brando join the discussion about what happened to the 5 Italian divers inside the Death Cave of the Maldives. But, we don’t want to continue speculating as much as we are trying to move this conversation along. This story is about more than just those 5 divers.

A recap of the past few months episodes and best of all.... NO QUACKING or HONKING! yes, you read that correctly.... there are no censoring beeps, quacks, honks or even Brando yapping about Manscaping. Just good old fashioned scuba diving talk! have a listen!

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 458 - Good Divers Bad Decisions by Brando & James

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 457 - DeadlyAOW2 by Brando & James

Only one kind of panic is worse than bee panic, and that's underwater panic! This week the boys discuss a readers letter regarding a recent incident where panic played a role in the dive but the reason for the panic was unknown. How does this effect the way we, as divers, address the very real possibility of panic underwater. Have a listen!

This week the boys discuss an email from a bloke out in Jolly Ol' England that tells the tale of what can happen when taking unfamiliar and novice diver on even what most divers would consider a "simple" dive. Would you spot the red flags in time to prevent an issue? Have a listen!!

The Great Dive Podcast - Episode 454 Deadly AOW Dive by Brando & James

The Great Dive Podcast - A Force For Good by Brando & James

This week the boys dive back into the tragic topic of Dylan Harrison, and the death of a young girl on her open water certification dives.

This week the boys continue the discussion on scuba diving related incidents with the topic of Dylan Harrison. Dylan was a 12 year old girl who became separated from her instructor and class and later found deceased in the quarry where she was being trained. What can we learn from Dylan's tragedy and can we change the system so that it's less likely to occur again? Have a listen!!

This week the boys dive into the long awaited Linnea Mills tragedy. It's a topic you listeners have been asking about for awhile. This story is made up of a lot of the issues we talk about on TGDP every week, and here we see all the holes of the swiss cheese line up on this cold water, drysuit, dawn, deep dive at truly the worst possible time for them to line up.

Finally!! We are back to normal day to day operations. Aaaaannd, we are back to tackle a highly requested topic as we begin an (as of now) innumerable part series to discuss both the Dylan Harrison and the Linnea Mills incidents. Swiss cheese, Jenga, and Bigfoot are just a small sample of the parts of the river that this topic leads us down.... Have a listen!

Warning! This episode is for TGDP True Fans ONLY! This week the boys have an unfiltered conversation about life in general, current affairs, diving, and other relevant topics. Don't go all, "FinsOnFeet" on us and start leaving bad reviews because we took the time to answer some questions, update our audience, and went off script for one episode. To our True Fan listener that's still reading this.....

Stop, Collaborate, and Listen... TGDP is back with a brand new Ice Dive. This Juicy tale will get you ready for another cold water disaster. Could this have been prevented?

A quick update from the boys following a busy few weeks and right before a few more busy weeks.

This week Jamesy and Brando sit down and talk with Stephanie Gandulla from NOAA's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Kevin Sheard from Warfighter Scuba about the upcoming Thunder Bay International Film Festival.

The boys continue their dive in to underwater photography with a discussion centered around the third leg of the photography triangle, shutter speed. Also, the listener should be warned that there may be humor of all types in this podcast. From high brow, intellectual, down to the juvenile, "Beavis and Butthead" humor. But this warning is not for the average diver/listener simply because we know t...

The boys sit down and wrap up the 2025 year for TGDP.