The Great Dive Podcast

Coming from the land of the ice and snow, Jamesy and Brando plunge into a dark dive that leads to a sad fatality for a father and son dive team. What happens when the reality of your experience mixes with your good intentions of instructing someone when you’re not an instructor?

Summer is finally here, and we have your Scuba Catastrophe Survival Guide ready for your listening pleasure. Panicked Buddy! Getting Lost! Trapped! Your Computer Conks Out!! Alexa, what do I do about this shark bite? We have the answers for you.

This one is pure gold.... sit back and let this week's stream bathe your ears like a warm waterfall of relief. We tackle the always important yet rarely discussed topic of peeing in your wetsuit. Is it disgusting or is it a dire necessity? You decide as we discuss this topic as well as give a heartfelt apology to one of our dear listeners who we may have offended by confusing their name. There is...

After sharing their congratulations from PADI for 20 years of service, the TGDP boys get into a discussion about the dive tables. Are they obsolete? In todays age of dive computers and custom profiles, are the old tables wrong??

Keeping up to date on current affairs, the boys have a talk about the recent deaths at the top of Mt. Everest. There are many similarities to diving and goal-oriented diving in particular. Why do we dive? Is it for the log book or is it a spiritual achievement? Is there a bigger Mt. Everest inside of us?

The boys jump into a long-awaited topic and discuss an article by Gareth Lock, author of the new book Under Pressure. This episode takes a deeper look at decision making and the value of situational awareness, biases and heuristics, and other ways that Gareth helps us think about improving our diving.

If the boys at TGDP had $1 for every time they heard this story, TGDP would be living the sweet life down in the islands and broadcasting from the beach. It's another Lesson For Life as the local diving season kicks off.

This week we wrap up our three part series on how the scuba community nearly became yet another bureaucratic tax driven revenue system controlled by our "lords and masters" at city hall in Los Angeles during the mid 1970's. Thankfully divers united and fought against the tyranny and achieved a small victory for our freedom. We need to continue our vigilance through education and awareness and list...

To quote George Santayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." So listen and learn and keep your freedom! The boys continue their dive into Scuba history as they venture further into the true story of how Scuba was almost a government controlled police state dictatorship... Fill your head with some good stuff!

As divers, we've all been taught that here in the US, Scuba is a "self regulated" sport and the government does not really oversee how we train and dive in the recreational side of our beloved activity. But it wasn't always this way... in fact, it was a close call in 1975 when big government wanted to get their greedy hands in the pockets of divers and save us all from ourselves. Thankfully, a few...

As Earth Day approaches, the boys try something different on TGDP. This week they look at the ecological side of diving; cleaning up the litter and saving our planet. Do they do it with government intervention, while wearing speedos, with the help of Narwhals? You’ll have to tune in to find out. So, take your Xanax and listen to this “Prescription for the Planet.”

The boys respond to a negative comment about TGDP and then they discuss the problems with the buddy system. Join them as they take a look back at nearly 50 years of the dive buddy.

The boys take a look at BSAC's very comprehensive "Safe Diver's Guide" on their website. Have a listen!!

James and Brando continue their dive into a few incidents included in the 2018 British Sub-Aqua Club Diving Incident Report. See what we can learn from the incidents about scuba accidents and how to avoid them or maybe bet yet, see what we can learn about how difficult it is to learn anything from these incidents and how there's more to a safety record than statistics!

James and Brando dive into some information from the 2018 British Sub-Aqua Club Diving Incident Report. We take a break from the nonsense talk and get into the deeper side of the reef. Join us as we talk statistics, diver qualifications, decompression incidents, fatalities, carnival rides like the Matterhorn and more.

There comes a time in every divers life that they'll confront at least one of these 7 types of inconsiderate diver behavior and sometimes civil discourse is just unable to get the message across. Join Ol' Jamesy and even Ol' -der Brando as they throw their "PG" ratings out the proverbial porthole and discuss an article that details how to express disapproval of rude and/or inconsiderate diver's be...

Ok, we've all been there... when your diving is bleeding into all aspects of your life. But when is it "too much"? Listen as James & Brando come to terms with this socially acceptable disease that can take over your life if you're not careful.

Join us as the true sons of the fathers of diving, Jamesy and Brando, explore the wide world of archetypical diving personas. Beware of the Buffoonus- Aquarius. This is not a politically correct show in today's world. But hey, we’re going back to 1961 when Skin Diver was trying to capture the real image of who a diver really was.

Join Ol' James and even Older Brando as they celebrate their 100th episode!! They'll pop the bubbly and share this momentous occasion with their 2 biggest critics...their wifeys!! It's a fun conversation as well as a way for us to say thanks for all the support from our fantastic listeners!

The boys look at another side of underwater tragedy. In 1991, in northern Florida, a cave was being explored. After a successful dive, deep and long, the grim reaper appeared. This is the story of Parker Turners last dive.

Right in the middle of our National Cave Diving Month, the boys find a story about two cave divers who died as the result of many bad decisions. Although tragic, it is a story that all new divers can learn a lot from. Jamesy and Brando bring you these lessons like only they can.

Cave diving is not for everyone. However, all divers can learn a lot from the lessons learned in the overhead environment. Whether you are ready to join the “Clan of the Cave Divers” or just want to improve your sport diving skills, TGDP is here to help understand what to do and what not to do.

This is an early look back into the first days of cave diving. A perspective from today and a particularly close look at one of the very first cave dives, made by candlelight. Join us as we get Gutsy, Ballsy, and little Crazy.

From Siebe to Scuba, the boys discuss the inventions and disasters all along the way. Self-Contained freedom was a dream for our early underwater adventurers. Hundreds of years and hundreds of inventions made their way into the thinking and refinement of the regulators we use today.

TGDP hits the old history books and brings you a historical look at diving, without the help of any research assistants. Lacking any unpaid interns, the boys had to do it themselves. Grab your big tanks, this is going to be a long dive as we descend a couple thousand years.