ABOUT US Meet the Blue Water Divers Team

David started diving in 1972 with the lure of an Undiscovered World by the early images of Jacques Cousteau.  After many years of local NJ diving, he discovered a colorful world in warm water destinations and began a lifelong quest to travel to the world' most fascinating dive destinations.  In 1994, Dave discovered a passion for cave diving and has pursued this since then.

Today he is the co-owner and president of Blue Water Divers, and has over 30 years as a dive professional, including 23 years of diver retail experience after building BWD from the ground up.  Dave started as a YMCA instructor and advance his career with PADI.  Currently a PADI Master Scuba Instructor with many instructor level certifications, his favorite class to teach out of all of them is still the entry level Open Water course because he loves to see peoples’ excitement the first time they go underwater and are hooked.

He works and teaches at Blue Water Divers alongside his wife Lorraine, who has been diving with David since 1977. They have 2 sons (Matthew and Marc) who of course are avid divers and love to travel just as much. A family vacation is almost always to a diving destination.

David has a degree in Business and Information Technologies and worked as a Systems Analysts and a Systems Consultant prior to starting Blue Water Divers.

His early influences were of course Jacques Cousteau, images from David Doubilet in National Geographic, reruns of Sea Hunt, Skin Diver Magazine and even Flipper.

Professional Certifications:

• Master Instructor
• IDC Instructor
• Professional Scuba Inspector (PSI) Instructor
• Enriched Air Instructor
• Wreck Instructor
• Blender Instructor
• Emergency First Response Instructor
• Deep Diver Instructor
• Underwater Photographer Instructor
• Marine ID Instructor

Lorraine became a certified scuba diver in 1977, and decided to join the professional ranks soon after. She became a Teaching Assistant, Assistant Instructor and finally gained her Instructor Certification with the YMCA in 1982, then crossed over to PADI as a Master Scuba Diver Trainer.

While she manages the day-to-day events at Blue Water Divers as co-owner and vice-president, and enjoys interacting with new students, certified divers and travel clients; her true love is diving… and traveling to do so.  This makes her other “job”, that of Travel Consultant and Tour Escort, that much better.

She has traveled and dived extensively throughout the Caribbean and Mexico, as well as the Pacific, Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti, and Micronesia. In 2005, she found the diving she had always imagined in Indonesia… the clarity of the water, the breathtaking colors of the soft corals and the marine creatures and critters that abound in these waters are truly amazing. The people and the culture are an added bonus.  Lorraine also teaches Digital Underwater Photography during many of our trips–guaranteeing you some awesome underwater photos!

Whether you are planning a dive trip on your own, or are interested in joining one of our group trips, Lorraine is always more than happy to assist you.

Helena is our Red Cross Lifeguard, CPR/AED, & Emergency Oxygen instructor for BWD Swim School.  She is also certified in lifeguard management and trained as a lifeguard. 

Helena is from Durban, South Africa. A swim instructor since 2009, Helena worked as a lifeguard, counselor & waterfront director at Camp Michikamau in Bear Mountain.

Helena has her Open water, Advanced open water, Rescue diver certifications as well as Tec Rec Gas blending certification. Other certications include; Enriched air Diver, Equiptment specialist, Drysuit Diver, Professional Scuba Inspector, Master Scuba Diver.

Helena is the Manager and Swim Coordinator at our shop. Please call the shop and ask for Helena if you have any questions.

Tom walked in off the street and asked how he could become an instructor. No certs yet, he knew he wanted to be a part of the underwater world. He quickly got certified, then got his Advanced Open Water course, EFR, Rescue, Wreck, Equipment Specialist, and SSI Solo Diver. After much hard work and plenty of Jersey diving he became a certified Divemaster in 2018.

Ask for Tom if you are looking for a Refresher or a Try Scuba. 

Andy started diving in the ’80s. Since then, he has been a regular visitor of the Atlantic shipwrecks right off our local shores. In 1990 he was certified in the use of Enriched Air and traveled to Florida and Mexico to be trained as a Cave Diver.

Since 1993, Andy has been a dive leader and has accumulated instructor ratings for PADI, NASDS, DAN and TDI. Andy is also an Instructor Trainer for NAUI. As a Master Scuba Diver Trainer, Andy conducts courses from snorkeling and basic scuba certifications, to specialty topics such as Oxygen Administration, Enriched Air, as well as Deep, Boat, Cavern, Night,Drysuit and Multi-Level diving.

Previously, she was a scuba diving instructor and underwater photographer in Bonaire, Grand Cayman and the Red Sea, Egypt.

Designed and managed underwater photo and video center, created brochures, computer inventory program, taught photography and video courses, photographed private groups, rented equipment to guests and conducted weekly slide shows.

Her start was in Bermuda where she started to snorkel at 6 and dive at the age of 9 years old.  Her first job was Divemaster at Blue Water Divers in Somerset, Bermuda in High School. 

She has traveled extensively throughout Asia, Egypt, Europe, North and Central America.  Fifteen years of darkroom and photography experience.  Published photos and written articles for several magazines including DAN, Scuba and Skin Diver Magazine.

Tom started diving in 2011 when he obtained the PADI Scuba Diver certification while on a cruise in St. Maarten and later went on to become an Open Water diver in 2013. Since then, he has been spending as much time in the water as possible and taking courses to become the best diver he can. He became an Assistant Instructor with Blue Water Divers in 2019 and did the NAUI Instructor crossover in 2021 to help certify military veterans (he is a combat veteran himself). Tom also holds certification as an ERD 2 Technician (with Ice Diving Ops, FFM and Drysuit) and works as a Search and Recovery diver with his local fire department. If you’re ever looking for Tom, he can always be found either working with students in the pool, on training dive weekends or doing wreck dives here in NJ.

Jose grew up near the water on the southern shores of Dominican Republic spending his childhood snorkeling and fishing in the Caribbean waters.  After a long time of wanting to go deeper, he became scuba certified in 2003 after which he counts the days to go back to his childhood playground off Bayahíbe.  He did his rescue certification with BWD, and went on to become a dive master.  For Jose any day in the water is a good day; whether it be sharing the first time breathing underwater with new divers, exploring wrecks with old buddies or just swimming around familiar reefs in crystal clear waters, he is always looking forward to the next moment underwater.

Sandy received her first scuba certification in 2001 and never looked back. While working through the instructor levels, she wondered how she could connect her background in Sports Medicine and Therapy with her scuba instructor career. It was then she was introduced to handicapped scuba. As an Instructor for the Handicapped Instructor Program, she went on to train many of our Wounded Warriors as well as other handicapped groups.

In addition to being a PADI Master Instructor and Handicapped Scuba Instructor, Sandy also teaches the DAN Courses for Blue Water Divers.

In her spare time, Sandy is a volunteer EMT for Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps and an officer for the Hoboken Community Emergency Response Team.

Keith has been Open Water certified since 1969. After diving a Closed-Circuit Rebreather, he’s never looked back!  He has alos helped Advanced Diver Magazine in some of their expedition dives to look for Mayan ruins.

Certified to teach up to TDI Trimix for open circuit as well as many PADI specialties.  He is an instructor for Semi-Closed Rebreather and Silent Diving Closed Circuit Rebreathers as well as our techincal instructor.

Somewhat of an expert in local shore diving, James recently made the move from Divemaster to Instructor and is loving every minute.

Even though he has a “real job” as well, he can often be found helping out around the store doing anything that seems to need a little attention.

He is certified in ice-diving and is our in-house service technician for full-face masks.

Diving since 2003, “Big Beautiful Bill” went on many BWD Travel trips before becoming a Master Scuba Diver Trainer for Blue Water Divers.

Mike not only is a scuba instructor for Blue Water Divers but is also a swim instructor and lifeguard.

Michael certified in 1995 and has been a PADI instructor with us since 1998.  He had a brief stint in the Miami but returned back to the Blue Water Divers family!  He is an IDC Staff Instructor since 2018, is a Master Scuba Diver Trainer, TDI Trimix instructor & TDI Cave diver.

Bailey is a very valued employee here at BWD. She began working for Blue Water Divers in 2017, after she had taken their provided Scuba course at Ramapo College. She went on to get certified in Open Water, Advanced, Rescue, Equipment Speciality, and Blending. She recently achieved her Divemaster Certification as of November 2020. 

James became a diver with BWD in 2001 and was instantly hooked. Since becoming certified he has rose to the ranks if Divemaster and Trimix diver with over 1000 dives and is currently working towards instructor rating. He was also a long-time regulator tech for BWD as well as a former crew member of the gypsy blood and John jack charter boats. As an avid Nj Wreck Diver he's always up to talking about the local diving. 

John has been our Divemaster since 1996 and is an  avid Northeast wreck diver.  He is also one of our Divemaster guides for our chartered wreck dives with the Gypsy Blood and the John Jack as well as a crew member for the Gypsy Blood.

A Divemaster with us since 2007, Larry enjoys NJ wreck diving and triathlons.  You can often see him out at Dutch Springs on one of our training dive weekends.

Mike started diving in 2008, receiving his PADI Open Water certification while in Curaçao. Diving quickly became his passion, and Mike has traveled to many destinations over the years in search of great diving. Mike also enjoys dive training, earning new certifications or helping others. Mike wandered into the shop one day in search of a Drysuit specialty course and has been with us ever since, having earned his Divemaster certification with BWD in 2023. Mike is frequently at the shop helping with in-water training, where he is able to share his passion and knowledge with divers looking to learn more about the sport. Whether wreck diving off the NJ coast or in warm tropical waters, Mike is at home underwater.

Jack started his underwater journey at the age of 11 where he became certified in open water. Through the years he has traveled all around the world with family diving in places like St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Maarten, and the Cenotes. At the age of 16, he began a sailing trip in the Caribbean where he completed Advanced Open Water, Rescue certifications, and Emergency First Responder certifications. As of recently, Jack has been training to become a divemaster at Blue Water Divers and is set to finish by Summer 23'. He strides towards being an instructor one day. 

Rich was a very loyal customer of ours before we persuaded him to become a divemaster with us. Our oldest receipt for Rich dates back to 1980. He assists with any of our courses but particularly enjoys volunteering at Sealife Aquarium for us.

· Executive Vice President and the Head of Marine Underwriting, NA for Munich Re America based in New York. Leads the reinsurance team responsible for Marine in the US and Canada.

· Member of the Policy Forum for International Union of Marine Insurers (IUMI) and the former Chairman of the IUMI Cargo Committee.

· Officer of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU) and member Board of Directors.

· Vice Chairman of the National Cargo Bureau (NCB), member of Executive Committee.

· Member of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) serving on their Vessel Classification Committee.

· BS (Nautical Science and Marine Transportation) United States Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, NY.

· MS (Transportation Management) State University of New York Maritime College.

· Lieutenant for the United States Navy Reserve (1988 – 1999).

· USCG Third Mate License, Unlimited Tonnage (formerly held)

· PADI Divemaster

· Married to Jane McKeon Dalton with 4 children and live in Glen Rock, NJ.

Taylor started as one of our Lifeguards and have slowly worked her way up to store staff. Her certs include; Lifeguarding, Advanced open water, Drysuit, Rescue diver and EFR.

She completed her Divemaster program and helps us with certification courses.

Susanne learned to dive in Florida in the late ’90s in New Smyrna Beach. She has traveled and gone diving in many countries around the world and enjoyed many different types of diving from drift diving, wreck diving and wall diving. Her most memorable dive was her first shark dive on September 11, 2002 and this started her love of sharks and advocating to ban shark fining.

Susanne turned pro in 2006 and joined the professional staff at Blue Water Divers in the spring of the following year. Susanne is self-employed and owns a medical publishing and association management firm in Ridgewood, NJ. When she is not traveling on business, Susanne enjoys teaching with Dave Riscinti, Blue Water Divers’ owner at Ramapo College in Mahwah, NJ and visiting summer camps to introduce the kids to the wonderful world of “breathing underwater”.

Lifeguard and Swim instructor

Aaron started at BWD as a lifeguard in 2015. He continued on to become a swim instructor a year later and has been doing it ever since. Aaron has an extensive background working with kids, working in summer camps his entire adult life, and also working as a school teacher during the day.

Swim instructor and Lifeguard