A little bit about us
 Rob in the Jackson Blue basin  Jen in the Peacock I basin
Rob & Jen Neto
Why us?
Because we're divers first, instructors second. Yes, we are instructors and mentors, but that comes second to our diving. We've seen too many instructors who get over involved in teaching and they end up never diving without students. That's not us! We have made a pact with ourselves that we will never do more training dives in a month than our own dives. We have also promised ourselves to always do at least twice as many of our own dives as we do training dives. This plan will insure we never get burned out on providing the best quality dive instruction we can.
Our diving history
We began diving in 2003 and quickly fell in love with the sport. It became apparent after that first breath off a regulator in the pool that this was going to be a passion. We bought all of our gear before we even headed to the Sea of Cortez for our checkout dives! After returning from our checkout dive weekend, we knew we couldn't wait for another trip to Mexico to dive again. We started diving the lakes of Arizona and ended up logging over 100 dives our first year as divers. Our passion for diving had taken us over so much that we decided we wanted to help pass it along to others. In 2004 we became Divemasters, but it wasn't quite enough for us, so the following year we began our Instructor Development Course.
We became Open Water Scuba Instructors through the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) in September 2005 with over 200 dives each. Since then we have been actively teaching throughout Arizona, Florida, Mexico, New Jersey, and Southern California. We were both able to earn our PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer rating less than a year after becoming independent instructors (a feat in itself) and teach several specialty courses.
We moved from Tucson, Arizona to where we currently live just outside of Marianna, Florida to be closer to our main passion in diving - cave diving. You may be able to find us diving in one of the many fresh water springs of the Florida panhandle several times a week. We also travel to Morrison Springs, Vortex Spring, Panama City Beach, and other nearby areas on a regular basis to dive and train. We average over 150 dives each year. Most of our dives last over an hour.
Rob Neto teaches through several different agencies, including International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD), Technical Diving International (TDI), National Speleological Society Cave Diving Section (NSS-CDS), Professional Scuba Association (PSAI), Scuba Diving International (SDI), Diving Science and Technology (DSAT), and Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI). He is also currently preparing to do a crossover to the National Association for Cave Diving (NACD). He teaches several overhead and technical courses. See our course listings for more information on the courses.
Jen Neto teaches through Technical Diving International (TDI), Scuba Diving International (SDI), and Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI). She is currently in the process of becoming a cave and technical instructor. ***
Both Rob and Jen are recipients of the Abe Davis Safe Cave Diving Award.
Our other training and experience includes:
NACD and NSS-CDS Cave Diving training and certifications
TDI Trimix, Advanced Nitrox, Decompression Procedures, and Cylinder Inspection training and certifications
Certified regulator technicians.
Several specialty instructor ratings.
American Red Cross Emergency Responder, CPR, First Aid, Administering Emergency Oxygen and Emergency First Response Instructors
Rob is also the Education Outreach Committee Chair for the Cave Diving Section of the National Speleological Society (NSS-CDS) and has served on the NSS-CDS Board of Directors Nomination Committee and has received an Outstanding Volunteer Award for his efforts with the NSS-CDS.
Rob is a trained recovery diver through the NSS-CDS and the International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery (IUCRR) organization.
Our teaching philosophy
 Teaching air sharing
We believe that scuba diving training should be more than just learning what to do in case something goes wrong. While that is a very important part of the training and we make sure when you complete your training you are competent to do that, we also make sure you do all this mid-water, not on the bottom on your knees! This goes for every course we teach, from Open Water through our Technical and Cave courses. We teach you how to scuba dive, not just how to survive under water. You won't always be diving in an area where you can go to your knees when an issue arises. You need to be able to deal with any issues mid-water. And that's how we teach you.
You will not earn a certification card from us unless we believe you can safely conduct a dive without professional supervision. Our goal is to produce divers that are comfortable heading out to a dive site, planning and executing a dive, and enjoying themselves without a dive operation holding their hands the entire time. If that's what you're looking for, then contact us!
Where we have been...
 Rob & Jenn after a dive in San Diego
Let's go diving!
Well, get out the scuba diving gear and dust it off. Check out some of these dive sites. There's a calendar on the web site and we'll be posting monthly local dive outings as the weather turns warmer. These are just relaxing days where we get to meet, talk, and do some diving. No time schedule, no stress. Meet us at one of our monthly dive outs and dive with us! Feel free to e-mail us if you have any questions before you go on a trip. If you'd like some company or even a guide - ask. If we're free we'll meet you at the water. And please e-mail us afterward to tell us what you thought. We'd love to include your comments on the site.
 Mr. Kitty (we found him while diving...on land of course...)
*** We just wanted to provide you, our potential students, with a little additional information about the process of becoming a cave diving and technical diving instructor. It can be an easy process or not so easy process. We have both chosen to take the not so easy process of earning our cave diving and technical diving instructor ratings. Rob interned with over 1/2 dozen cave and technical diving instructors and attended an instructor institute and IEC to earn his ratings. He devoted more than 30 days over a year and a half to attend the internships and institutes. He also did and does the dives. When he received his instructor cards, they were definitely earned. Jen has started on that same path and already devoted several days to internships.
Many other cave diving and technical diving instructors go through similar processes, but some do not. There are instructors that have received their cave and technical diver cards and within a few weeks also received a cave diving and/or technical diving instructor rating. There are divers who have some experience, but received their instructor ratings simply because of who they know. Whether you choose us or not, we want you to know what to look for. Make sure the instructor you choose not only does the dives, but has also learned how to teach these courses and keep you, as a student, safe. You deserve that much.
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