Stand Out from the Crowd

There are a lot of ways to stand out against the competition these days; and the good news is, it doesn’t mean you have to have the lowest prices. In a business like diving where there’s no shortage of dive retailers, you may often feel yourself stuggling to set yourself apart from others. There are many ways to stand out and we’re giving you some ideas on how to do it.

A Scuba Diver’s Proposal

In the 12 plus years I have been an open water Scuba Instructor, I have met hundreds if not thousands of people from all over the world.  It has always been one of my favorite aspects of teaching.  To me there is only one thing more interesting than meeting new people from new places and learning about their cultures. That one thing is introducing those same people to the underwater world.

It has always been amazing to me that throughout my years of teaching;  no matter what language we speak, or what differences we may have, once people are under water they all seem to change. We get along better and we communicate better; perhaps we were meant to be there in the first place. What I do know is I was meant to be there!

From time to time you meet individuals that stand out in your mind. Just a few years ago I had the pleasure of introducing a lady to the underwater world; since then she has blossomed into one of the best Dive Masters I have ever worked with.  I am proud to call her a friend and more importantly my soul mate. International Training has played such a big part in our lives that I could not think of a better way to propose!

Stephanie Ryals would you do me the honor of following these bubbles with me for the rest of our lives? Will you accept this tattoo of an anchor and the coordinates of where we met as a symbol of our love?

Harry Averill

About Harry

Few dive professionals have a background as diverse and extensive as Harry’s. Among his accomplishments, Harry has:

  • Operated dive retail and resort operations in the eastern Caribbean, Florida, the Midwest, California and Hawaii.
  • Worked at the international headquarters of NAUI, PADI and SDI/TDI/ERDI
  • Created diver training materials for NAUI, PADI, SSI, NOAA, NSS-CDS, NASE, NOAA and, of course, SDI, TDI and ERDI.
  • Served on the Boards of Directors of both NSS-CDS and NACD.
  • Trained over 1,000 dive instructors and an even greater number of divers.
  • Captained or crewed diver charters for over 10,000 divers.
  • Logged over 8,000 dives — more than half of them in underwater caverns and caves.

For the past several years, Harry has worked primarily in video production, putting to work skills developed under the tutelage of master videographer Wes Skiles. He currently serves as a consultant to International Training, holding several SDI/TDI Instructor ratings including Full Cave Instructor Evaluator. He most recently co-authored the SDI/TDI Sidemount Diver manual with Pete Nawrocky.

You can find Harry on the web at www.CaveDiverHarry.com or at Facebook.com/cavediverh/.

Explore Articles by Harry

Tanya Chapman

Mark Powell

7/22/17 – Mission Tech – Haigh Quarry

We are doing the one day event again the very next week, July 22, at Haigh Quarry. This one day ultimate Dive Demo event will be packed with real tech divers, tech instructors, and the best equipment manufacturers in the diving industry. Dive with tech instructors and demo the tech equipment you’ve only seen on Instagram.

12/9/17 Mission Tech – Vortex Spring

After the success of our day events at Dutch Springs and Haigh Quarry we are throwing a bonus event. After numerous inquiries about doing a Mission Tech event in the Southeast, we listened and have chosen Vortex Spring as the location for our bonus event. It’s a unique opportunity to dive the world’s best tech gear with some of the best technical instructors in extremely clear Florida springs.

2/1/18 – DiveShow.ru

Moscow,Russia exhibition of equipment, tourism and training for all “underwater” and “water” people.

01/12/18 – Salon de la plongee a Paris, France

Celebrating 20 years of this exciting adventure, this will be an anniversary that will undoubtedly perpetuate the success of this great odyssey!

New SDI/TDI/ERDI Regional Manager in Germany

SDI TDI ERDI has recently named Jürgen Hitzler as regional manager for SDI TDI ERDI Germany on 1 January, 2017.