Darrell Seale started teaching in 1999, as an instructor and divemaster at Miami Valley School of Diving, a PADI 5-Star center, after working as a divemaster at Sea-Topia Pro-Divers. He has taught as an independent instructor ever since, alongside a U.S. Air Force and aerospace career.
His ratings cover the full recreational ladder. He can certify a brand-new diver in Open Water, take them through Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver and Master Scuba Diver, and train them as a Divemaster, the first professional level. Along the way he has certified more than 300 students and logged more than 2,500 dives of his own.
Two areas set his teaching apart: adaptive diving, for divers with disabilities, and technical diving, including trimix, decompression, cave and closed-circuit rebreather training.
Adaptive diving
Adaptive diving opens scuba to divers with physical disabilities. Darrell holds the PADI Adaptive Techniques, PADI and SDI Disabled Dive Assistant and Disabled Surface Assistant, and SDI Scubility instructor ratings, and has taught adaptive diving through veteran-focused nonprofits.
- Patriot DiversCo-founder, vice president and instructor, 2013–2018
- Divers 4 HeroesInstructor, 2010–2013
- LifeWatersAffiliate instructor, 2019–present
Specialty instructor ratings
From altitude and ice to wreck, night and underwater video. Each links to its official course description on Darrell Seale’s full credentials page.
- Adaptive Techniques
- Altitude
- Boat
- Cavern
- Coral Reef Conservation (AWARE)
- Coral Health (CoralWatch)
- Deep
- Delayed Surface Marker Buoy
- Digital Underwater Photography (Levels 1 and 2)
- Disabled Dive Assistant (PADI, SDI)
- Disabled Surface Assistant (PADI, SDI)
- Dive Against Debris
- Diver Propulsion Vehicle
- Drift
- Dry Suit
- Enriched Air (Nitrox)
- Equipment Specialist
- Fish Identification
- Full Face Mask
- Underwater Hunter
- Ice
- Invasive Lionfish Tracker
- Multilevel
- Underwater Naturalist
- Underwater Navigator
- Night
- Peak Performance Buoyancy
- Underwater Photographer
- Scubility (SDI)
- Sea Turtle Awareness
- Search and Recovery
- Self-Reliant Diver (PADI) / Solo Diver (SDI)
- Semi-Closed Rebreather
- Shark Conservation (AWARE)
- Whale Shark Awareness
- Wreck
- Underwater Videographer
Technical diving
- CaveNSS-CDS
- GasesAdvanced Nitrox (TDI); Trimix (PADI, TDI and IANTD)
- DecompressionDecompression Procedures (TDI); Tec Deep (PADI)
- RebreathersClosed Circuit Rebreather (TDI)
Ratings and history
His own PADI professional ratings: Assistant Instructor, Open Water Scuba Instructor and Master Scuba Diver Trainer. These are ratings he holds, not courses he teaches.
- 2019 – presentAffiliate instructor, LifeWaters (501(c)(3) nonprofit)
- 2013 – 2018Co-founder, vice president and instructor, Patriot Divers (501(c)(3) nonprofit)
- 2010 – 2013Instructor, Divers 4 Heroes (501(c)(3) nonprofit)
- 2000 – presentIndependent instructor
- 1999 – 2000Instructor and Divemaster, Miami Valley School of Diving (PADI 5-Star)
- 1998 – 1999Divemaster, Sea-Topia Pro-Divers (PADI 5-Star)