About

Diveteacher, LLC is wholly owned and operated by Patrick McCrary. I am a PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) certified Master Scuba Diver Trainer. I also teach first aid, CPR and related lifesaving as a DAN (Divers Alert Network) and PADI Emergency First Response Instructor. I volunteer as a diver and first aid instructor at the Georgia Aquarium.

I first started scuba diving in 1974, when I was 16 years old, growing up in East Tennessee with those great summer trips to the beach. I was mesmerized by the burgeoning scuba culture that existed at the time, replete with Lloyd Bridges (“Sea Hunt”), Flipper, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and, Jacques Cousteau. Diving had such an impact on me that I strove initially to become a marine biologist. I succeeded in getting a Bachelor’s degree in Biology, with a minor in Chemistry, from Vanderbilt University in 1980, with emphasis in Marine Biology and Ecology. I did course work at the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina and the Dauphin Island Marine Lab on Dauphin Island, Alabama; fantastic adventures.

However, as my undergraduate career came to an end, so did the available job market for people with generaly biology degrees who were not particularly interested in going to medical school. I pursued my other passion: Law. I received my J.D. Degree, also from Vanderbilt University, in 1983. I love practicing law. Law also feeds and supports my other obsession: Scuba diving.

"What do you call a dozen lawyers at the bottom of the sea?" [...a good start? Noooo!] "Very happy."

A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to take my diving career to a new level, and become dive leader. The longer you dive, the more you come to realize how truly transformative scuba diving can be for anyone who tries it. For me, it is not merely a hobby or a past-time. I have seen it change lives, as it changed mine. The undersea world really opens your eyes to a better awareness of yourself as part of the global organism that is our planet. It lets you to test yourself in ways that you don’t imagine on land. You learn discipline, self-reliance, and awareness of and responsibility for others diving with you and around you. Along the way, you have a darned good time, see beautiful things, go to some awe-inspiring places, and you meet some really great folks. I decided that I wanted to “give back” to diving and help others experience what has given me such joy. I decided to become a diving instructor.

I was fortunate to be accepted into the dive leadership program at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Georgia Tech has an incredible scuba instructional program. Its graduates always receive accolades as superior divers, and superlative dive leaders, wherever they go. With Georgia Tech’s help, I am now proud to say that I am a PADI open water scuba instructor. I am certified and insured to teach Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue, Divemaster, and Nitrox programs, and certain other diving specialties, in addition to Emergency First Response and DAN first aid, and CPR/AED courses.

My first commitment is to Georgia Tech Scuba. If my students can "fit" within the scheduling and budget of the GT system, I want them to train there. We have a great group of instructors, divemasters and divemaster trainees, plus use of some incredible facilities. But, I also offer private and group scuba diving lessons and open water excursions for those whose schedules and preferences don't match those of GT.

I presently live in Atlanta, Georgia with my spouse, Lee, of 24 years, who is a certified Rescue Diver and my best dive buddy. We maintain a second home in the mountains of East Tennessee.

Please come let me introduce you to an incredible new world. Please come share our passion.

- Patrick McCrary