Membership blog

Roy Cozart loves sailing.  He loves SCUBA diving, too.  Roy holds Advanced and Deep Diving certifications and has 103 dives.  He came across the USA Dive Club while on the Internet.  

Roy's most memorable dive was on the wreck of the M/V Castor, a popular hangout for goliath groupers.  When asked what his dream dive would be, he responded, "The next one."  A Caribbean Sea adventure is first on his bucket list.

Chris Burden, firefighter/paramedic for 20 years, RN for over 30 years, and a certified Divemaster since 1998, discovered the USA Dive Club while doing a web search for local dive clubs.  Included in his 200+ dives is St. Croix, Virgin Islands.  Here is where he had his most memorable dive: The Wall Shore Dive, Cane Bay.  Chris saw eagle rays, sea turtles, and moray eels.  In the future, he hopes his travels will include a liveaboard on the Great Barrier Reef.

Diving and traveling are only part of Chris’ interests.  He enjoys free diving, kayaking, sailing, triathlons, archery, and hiking.  Chris and Margaret, his wife of over 22 years, have three daughters and a female dog.  He joined the USA Dive Club to meet like-minded people and would like to start diving much more.

Please give Roy and Chris warm USA welcomes when you see them on a dive, at a meeting, or any other USA event.  

Have a happy and safe Halloween...and beware of ghosts, goblins, and haunted pumpkins.

As always, we invite you to browse through our extensive Photo Gallery to take a look at our social and diving activities.

For me, Labor Day brings back memories of the beginning of the school year.  But Labor Day is much more than that.  It's an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers, and you may even get the day off.  Whatever your plans, we wish you a very happy and safe day.

For divers, September brings back the goliath groupers.  These huge fish have love on their minds.  Actually, they congregate in August and will continue this behavior until October.  At times they gather in large groups of 100 or more to spawn - it's called the goliath grouper aggregation.  It's a great reason to join the USA Dive Club.  We have a trip each year to try and catch the groupers getting down to business.

We have very active overseas and local diving programs and, although this year's overseas diving is over, Nils Jacobsen, VP of Overseas Diving, is hard at work on the 2024 and 2025 seasons.  Ryan Goheen, VP of Local Diving, will keep his program going strong through October.  Ryan, along with USA's year-round divers, will continue diving together through the winter months.

Just to keep things interesting, from time to time we'll come up with a non-diving event.  Guests are welcome to attend all of our functions.

What are you waiting for?  It's simple to join us.  From our Home page just click "JOIN US" and follow the easy-to-understand instructions.  Even better, visit us at one of our meetings.  We meet on the first Thursday of every month at the Aloft Hotel, Delray Beach.  We'd enjoy meeting you. 

As always, we invite you to browse through our extensive Photo Gallery to take a look at our social and diving activities.

More than half the year is behind us, and our overseas diving trips have been completed.  We broke records with our trips to Indonesia, Little Cayman and Bonaire this year, and reports of beautiful diving, great food and warm cameraderie came pouring in.  The photographers have been keeping me busy with their wonderful photos that are now in USA's photo gallery.  Take a peek!  All overseas photos are posted with the exception of Bonaire, our most recent trip.  Bonaire photos are still coming in. 

Local diving is in full swing, and what better way to beat this record heat wave than to make a dive into the beautiful waters of South Florida with your USA dive buddies?

Keep spreading the good word about the USA Dive Club.  There are divers all around us looking for buddies.  

As always, we invite you to browse through our extensive Photo Gallery to take a look at our social and diving activities.

There is no General Membership meeting in July due to the close proximity of the 4th of July holiday.  We hope you, your friends and family enjoy a safe and happy holiday, and look forward to seeing you at our August meeting when we will have another great presentation.

Michael Mullins has been diving since he was 16 years old.  Certified as an Open Water Rescue Diver in 1990, he has made hundreds of dives.

While participating in Coralpalooza Dive Day and Festival 2023, Michael met USA member Ryan Goheen and was invited to join the USA Dive Club. 

Michael's most memorable dive was 30 years ago in St. Lucia when corals blanketed the walls.  His dream dive would be on the Great Barrier Reef.  Trips to Bonaire, Bay Islands, BVI Liveaboard, Galapagos Islands, Fiji and Indonesia are also dive destinations he hopes to visit one day.  When not diving you can find Michael riding his motorcycle, fishing, woodworking and traveling.  

The USA Dive Club welcomes Michael and looks forward to seeing him soon on a local dive or other USA event. 

Our membership is continuing to grow, and our local and overseas diving is in full swing.  Don't forget to pass the good word about the USA Dive Club when making new friends on dive boats, overseas trips and any other places you meet people.

As always, we invite you to browse through our extensive Photo Gallery to take a look at our social and diving activities.

George Cathcart is a returning USA Dive Club member.  Originally, he heard about us from long-time USA Hall of Fame member, Marie York.  George holds Rescue Diver, NITROX and Solo Diver certifications.  He has accumulated more than 1,000 dives by traveling around the world with camera in hand.  George enjoys topside and underwater photography.  His main interest in diving is using his camera to capture creatures and landscapes below the surface.

His most memorable dive was with whale sharks in the Galapagos, and he would like to witness the sardine run in the Indian Ocean in the near future.  

Wanda Frazier was invited to join the USA Dive Club by George Cathcart. They are a couple and frequent dive buddies.  Wanda is certified as a Rescue and NITROX diver with over 300 dives.  

Wanda's most memorable dive was her first open water dive experience.  Her dream dive would be on Mars and when not diving, Wanda enjoys poetry, music and opera.

Melissa Hanono was certified for the first time before 2015 and made about 20 dives.  She is currently taking advanced classes from SDI and has made an additional two dives.  Melissa heard about us from Divebuddy.com.  Bavaro Beach in the Dominican Republic ranks high on her list of memorable dives, and she hopes to explore the Great Barrier Reef someday.

Other interests include Star Wars, and geeky things like movies and comic books.  She is a cat-loving newlywed teacher from Brooklyn and wants to dive as much as possible.

The USA Dive Club welcomes George, Wanda and Melissa and hope they enjoy their time with our scuba diving family.

As always, we invite you to browse through our extensive Photo Gallery to take a look at our social and diving activities.

Cassandra Weith has lived in Florida for decades.  Being a long-time Florida resident, she couldn't help but hear about the USA Dive Club.  Cassandra has been SCUBA certified since 2001 and holds Open Water, Rescue Diver and NITROX certifications.  

She has 435 dives with her most memorable dive on the Wall of Cuda out of Palm Beach.  Other favorite dives are with REEF dives and Ned and Anna DeLoche.

Cassandra's favoite type of diving is with a great dive buddy, anywhere with clear water and lots of marine life.   She's a party girl and looks forward to joining us in all social activities with SCUBA-loving buddies.

Matthew Williams went "Bowling for Turtles" with Force-E not long ago and met USA Dive Club member, Ellen Reinhart.  Ellen and Matthew starting talking about diving, and Ellen invited Matthew to a USA General Membership meeting.  He visited us and filled out his application the next day.

Certified in Syracuse, NY in 2004, Matthew is a Divemaster with over 3,000 dives.  His most memorable dive was his final checkout dive because it was this dive on which he became a SCUBA diver.  Sightseeing, drifting, wreck and fish/wildlife diving are among his favorite underwater activities, and his favorite dive site is the Keystone wreck in the St. Lawrence River in Albany, NY.  Matthew hopes to dive on a German U-boat someday, and a trip to Roatan is another destination on his list.  

When not diving Matthew enjoys kayaking, camping, hiking and photography.  He has never made a dive in salt water and looks forward to doing some serious local diving with us.

The USA Dive Club extends Cassandra and Matthew a warm welcome. 

As always, we invite you to browse through our extensive Photo Gallery to take a look at our social and diving activities.

Fabian Lago was certified in South Florida in November 2022 and, because he became certified within a year of his USA membership application, will receive a "First Year Free" membership in the USA Dive Club.  Fabian found our Club while browsing the Internet.  He holds both a PADI Open Water certification as well as Enriched Air and has accumulated 17 dives.

His most memorable dive was on French Reef in the Keys because this is the dive on which he saw his first shark.  He hopes to dive the Spiegel Grove in the near future.

Fabian is new to diving, is a quick learner, and is looking forward to meeting more people with whom he can enjoy the sport.  When not diving, he works as an IT consultant and enjoys technoloy and all sports. 

The USA Dive Club welcomes Fabian and hopes to see him on a local dive or social event in the near future.

  As always, we invite you to browse through our extensive Photo Gallery to take a look at our social and diving activities.

Mike Wiener discovered the USA Dive Club while surfing the Internet.  He was certified as an Open Water diver in Pennsylvania back in 2005 and, more recently, has certifications in Advanced Open Water and NITROX.  His favorite dive site is the Spiegel Grove in the Florida Keys.

Mike has 60 dives, with his most memorable dive taking place in Cabo, Mexico.  He would enjoy diving in warm waters with lots of life including tons of lobster and pelagic fish.  A pelagic dive in the Bahamas is something he hopes to add to his log book.  Besides spearfishing and lobstering, as a licensed boat captain, you'll find Mike on the water enjoying boating and fishing.

Janice Garvey was invited to join the Club by long-time member, Jerry Linker.  Janice was certified less than a year ago and, as a newly-certified diver, will be able to take advantage of USA's "First Year Free" membership.  

Janice will be traveling with the Club on an overseas dive to Little Cayman Beach Resort in May of this year and will have a wonderful opportunity to get some great dives under her weight belt.  Her dream dive would involve seeing a whale.

When not diving, Janice enjoys cooking, golf, gardening and knitting.

The USA Dive Club extends a warm welcome to Mike and Janice and looks forward to seeing them in the near future. 

As always, we invite you to browse through our extensive Photo Gallery to take a look at our social and diving activities.

Danielle Marchante went diving on the Loggerhead boat on a Saturday morning, and less than a week later she was a member of the USA Dive Club.  While on the Loggerhead, Danielle met USA Dive Club member, Laura.  During conversation, Laura told Danielle about our Club and the rest is history. Danielle holds an Advanced Open Water/NITROX certification and has made lots of dives...too many to count.  Her most memorable dive was in the Galapagos when two whale sharks paid her a visit during her safety stop.  A trip to Thailand is high on her list of dream dive locations and, when not diving, she spends time with family, friends and her doggies.  

David Beckhouse and Rachel Dunn are a married couple and joined the Club together.  David was previously a Club member.  He is an Open Water/NITROX diver with 110 logged dives, and would like to visit the Great Barrier Reef.  His favorite dive was in Cozumel and, when not spending time in the water, he enjoys cycling.  

Rachel is recently certified with 12 open water dives.  David and Rachel are joining USA Dive Club member Nancy Styles and other family members on a USA Dive Club multi-generational overseas dive to Bonaire.

Hector Piza and granddaughter Holly Piza are two more family members re-joining the Club to travel with Nancy Styles on the overseas dive trip to Bonaire.  

Hector Piza is an Advanced Open Water/NITROX diver with over 300 dives.  His fondest memory of diving was on a night dive in Nassau and he hopes to explore the underwater world in the Galapagos Islands.  He thinks a trip to CoCo View Resort in Roatan, Honduras, would be a great trip for the Club to plan in the future.

Holly Piza was certified in 2002 as Advanced Open Water/NITROX.  Diving with a manta ray in Bali is something she will never forget.  Her dream dive would be in clear water with lots of diversity.  Living in Colorado, Holly is happy spending time on the slopes and practicing yoga.

As always, we invite you to browse through our extensive Photo Gallery to take a look at our social and diving activities.

Along with a brand new year, we have a brand new meeting place for our monthly General Membership meetings.  On January 5, 2023, join us at the Aloft Hotel Delray Beach.

This beautiful new venue is located at 202 SE 5th Avenue in Delray Beach.  Meet up at 6:00 pm, before the meeting, and socialize with friends during Happy Hour for dinner, snacks and drinks in the stylish hotel bar and restaurant.  Hope to see you there.

At the end of December, the USA Membership Directory will be published.  Please look for your name and make sure the contact information is correct.  If anything needs to be changed, just let me know and I'll make sure it is updated.

Also, January brings with it USA's annual membership renewal season.  Don't miss out on the action.  If you haven't done so already, please renew in order to maintain good standing in your favorite club. 

As always, we invite you to browse through our extensive Photo Gallery to take a look at our social and diving activities.