Our instructors
Mark Pergrem
Mark has been scuba diving for more than 35 years and teaching diving for more than 25 years. In that time he has certified all levels of divers including divemasters and instructors. He holds instructor certifications through NAUI, PADI, IANTD, DAN, the NSS-CDS, SDI, TDI and PSA. As a NAUI Course Director, he can conduct Instructor Training Courses and Instructor Trainer Workshops which produce scuba instructors and instructor trainers, respectively. Although involved in most every aspect of diving, Mark's particular areas of interest include cave and cavern diving, wreck diving, working with college SCUBA courses, and the physics of underwater environments.
Richard Blackburn
Richard was hooked on diving when he became a certified open water diver in 2001. As an avid dry-land caver, it was only a matter of time until he ventured into Cavern and Cave Diving. He also enjoys local diving, warm water reefs and wrecks and his certifications include NAUI, NSS-CDS, NACD, TDI, IANTD, DAN, SSI, PSI & PADI. He is a NAUI, IANTD, PSA and DAN instructor and enjoys teaching Open Water through Normoxic Trimix, including Cavern, through Technical Cave. Additionally, he is on the CDS board of directors and served on the board of the Southeastern Cave Conservancy for 10 years. Richard practices his strong belief that people should never stop learning, striving to learn new skills and ways to teach them to his students.