If you have taken a course with us at any point over the past 6 years…
You have undoubtedly spoken to Tyler.
Tyler B. is the Education Director at DXDIVERS, managing the course scheduling with students, instructors, and Lady Go Diver.
This is no small feat as Tyler reaches out to various people to coordinate schedules and ensure every student has a great experience.
Courses are the way we share our love of diving with the world, and Tyler is a big part of that.
When Tyler isn’t wearing one of his many hats, including being a father, you can probably find him diving for fun on the Lady Go Diver…
Keep reading to learn more about Tyler!
Getting into Scuba
Originally from Pennsylvania, Tyler got into diving like many people do…
By receiving the PADI Open Water course as a gift after completing his Bachelor’s degree from FAU.
There, he earned a Bachelor’s of business management and leadership - skills that would bode him well in the years to come.
Although Tyler got to Florida in 2011…
It wasn’t until 2015 that Tyler discovered Dixie Divers (DXDIVERS).
And how he found out about Dixie Divers is pure serendipity.
Get this…
At a previous job, a customer had given him a collapsible polespear for hunting lionfish.
He told Tyler to “buy a ZooKeeper” in order to harvest said lionfish safely…
So Tyler hopped on Amazon and purchased a ZooKeeper.
At this point, Tyler was already captivated with scuba and had a dive planned for later in the week, but the ZooKeeper wasn’t going to arrive on time…
He decided to look the seller up on Amazon.
Turns out the seller was located in Deerfield Beach and being that Tyler was located in Coconut Creek at the time, he called and asked if he could pick it up himself.
He came in to retrieve his ZooKeeper and in the process ended up signing up for his PADI Advanced Open Water…
That seller was Dixie Divers…
The rest is history.
Lionfish ZooKeeper
It’s pretty incredible that the activity of hunting for lionfish and protecting our reefs became the exact reason Tyler found Dixie Divers.
It’s even more incredible that Tyler is now working for the company that helped make the introduction.
Aside from being the Education Director at DXDIVERS, Tyler is also a managing partner at Lionfish ZooKeeper.
Pretty full circle if you ask us.
At ZooKeeper, Tyler utilizes his many years of leadership skills, love for the ocean, and his affinity for diving safety to spread the word about ZooKeeper.
If you didn’t know, Lionfish ZooKeeper is a company that designs and manufactures patented lionfish containment units to store your harvested lionfish on your dive.
Made and designed right here in the United States!
The company also makes the best polespear for hunting lionfish as well as accessories…
And even thermal heat packs for mitigating sting pain.
ZooKeeper’s commitment to the ocean is just one of the many reasons Tyler fits so perfectly with ZK’s mission.
As stated on ZooKeeper’s website:
“The entire ZooKeeper team also has a passion for debris cleanup and the overall protection of our underwater environment.”
Keep up the great work ZooKeeper!
Continuing education
Throughout his time with DXDIVERS, Tyler has been around for some of the most pivotal moments.
Namely, when he lent his expertise and leadership to help organize not one, but two, Guinness World Record scuba diving events in 2018 and 2019.
The Guinness World Record Dixie Divers holds until this day. Read about it here.
As mentioned above, Tyler came to Dixie Divers with his Open Water under his belt…
What Tyler didn’t know at the time is that eventually he would be one level away from the highest professional rank in scuba, Course Director.
Tyler holds the coveted title of PADI Master Instructor.
Master Instructors are recognized as elite scuba diving educators, according to PADI.
Their dedication to the sport and reaching such a level stamps them as dive industry leaders.
In order to become a Master Instructor you must…
Be a PADI IDC Staff instructor for at least two years…
- Issued 150 PADI certifications at various levels
- Participated in three PADI Seminars
- Issued 10 Emergency First Response course completion cards
- Used the complete PADI System of diver education, including all appropriate PADI training materials, when conducting PADI programs
- Demonstrated support of the PADI organization and have no verified Quality Management violations within the past six months
It’s evident that Tyler has put in the hard work, years of effort, and grit required to reach the top ranks of professional scuba diving.
If being a leader in the scuba industry is your dream, Tyler B. is living it.
Team Appreciation
Tyler’s passion for scuba seems to bleed into everything he does.
While completing his Master's in Business Administration at Nova Southeastern University, Tyler was part of the NSU Academic Dive Program.
There, he really honed in on his love for diving safety and risk management, that combined with his love for the ocean…
Well, we’ve got ourselves a quality Education Director and scuba leader.
Tyler is an example we should all strive to follow at the intersection of passion, play, and profession.
And did you know he also speaks Spanish?!
His Portuguese is pretty good too.
A pretty diverse set of skills if you ask us - and we’re lucky to have him part of the team!
Catch Tyler on the Lady Go Diver or out with a class teaching the Invasive Lionfish Tracker course, spreading the word about protecting our reefs from these voracious little devils.
Let us know if you’ve taken a class with Tyler in the comments below!
1 comment
Jaan and Nat
Tyler took us through 5 specialities and through to our master scuba diver level.
We have always appreciated his classes and gotten a lot out of them. Patient and thorough, a great teacher! More than just our instructor he has become a friend. Kudos to all the staff at Dxdivers that take such good care of us. Everyone from equipment service, the fill station, the store and the crew on the lady go diver. You guys rock!!