The Dive Shop Crew

A Northeast diver for over 30 years, Scuba Network has been serving divers since the 1990's.  Martha is the Den Mother to hundreds of Long Island Divers. 

Martha has devoted much time to training persons with disabilities through the Handicapped Scuba Association.  She has also worked with veterans projects like Wounded Warriors.

Martha is a NAUI Course Director and SDI Instructor Trainer. and has dove all over the world from Fiji to Curacao,  Canada to Costa Rico and everywhere in between!

Swim and Scuba's former owner and resident PADI Course Director, Steve "Scuba Steve" Scigliano has been diving for over 40 years.   He is also an SDI-TDI instructor and DAN Dive Emergency Specialist.

He brings a wealth of Northeast Dive experience and know-how to the scuba divers and Instructors he trains.   Steve helped set up the beach 8th Dive Site in the Rockaways, sinking the dive cages at the pier.

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If there is anyone to show you how to be a Northeast Diver, its Scuba Steve!

PADI IDC Staff Instructor/SDI Instructor
Bob is a homegrown Long island diver and enjoys all kinds of diving both  in cold and warm water. 
He enjoys taking students out to explore the waters of Long Island and pointing out the varied sea life that exists here.
He is an avid underwater photographer as well, so feel free to ask him about that!

Steven Katz (Papa Smurf) has been diving since 1991 and an instructor since 1998. As a small child he always wanted to learn how to dive and he finally got his chance in Florida and New Jersey.  He took full benefit of diving by going around the world in places like Fiji, Maldives, Indonesia and Galapagos.  He teaches Open Water, as well as Advanced Diver up to Instructor. He also teaches Full Face Mask, Side Mount, Dry Suit and other specialty courses. He is certified to teach Handicap Scuba diving where he has taught blind, paraplegic and other injuries needing a specially taught dive buddy.

He has retired from the Air Force after 28 years and is a member of  Wounded Warriors. You can usually find him at the store on Saturdays. Ask him to tell you about the great and unique adventures that are there for scuba divers.
 

Dan is an IDC Staff Instructor, Technical, Scientific and Public Safety Dive Instructor with PADI, NAUI, and SDI-TDI-ERDI he is also a Red Cross, DAN, and EFR, Instructor Trainer.  Dan works with several local Fire & Rescue teams as their Public Safety Diver Training officer.

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Dan is wreck penetration, full cave and trimix certified and has been diving since 1996.  He has done work as a Scientific Diver, in Maritime Archaeology and with GIRT and teaches scientific and archaeology specialty diving.  He loves local diving and has been as deep as 330 fsw diving the wrecks of the deep Atlantic like the  Andrea Doria and 280 ffw in the beautiful caves of Florida.

The Scuba Network family is very sad to relay that we have lost one of our staff this week, Nicole Simmons.  As one of our longest serving employees, Nicole has been with Scuba Network at various times from 1993-2021, most recently as our store manager.  Nicole was an Open Water Instructor for PADI NAUI, SSI and SDI and has taught hundreds of students around the world.  She spent her free time as a volunteer diver at the New York Aquarium and was an advocate for coral reef conservation and caring for her pet rabbit Bonafice.

After working with Scuba Network in the 1990’s she then travelled the globe, staffing scuba shops in the Pacific and the Caribbean, gaining valuable experiences and bringing her love of diving to people young and old.  A native Australian, she has dove everywhere she could from the Pacific rim to Long Island Sound.  When she returned to New York, she resumed work at Scuba Network Long Island.  Rejoining staff here in 2019, she became the shop manager and Scuba Network has been blessed to have her with us since then.

With more than 10 thousand dives logged, Nicole was always ready to Go Dive, and she will be sorely missed by her friends, colleagues, and students.  Nicole’s family lives in Australia and California, so no local funeral arrangements have been made.  In lieu of flowers we suggest donations be made to dive conservation efforts, which she promoted like Project Aware and the Coral Reef Conservancy. 

The Scuba Network family will be renaming the annual dive in Glen Cove to honor Nicole, as the Nicole Simmons Beach and Shore Cleanup Annual Dive.  We are also planning a memorial service at the February Dive Club Meeting, to remember Nicole.