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On August 29, 2005, Atlantis Divers was born. The family
team of David W. Hay, David M. Hay and Laura S. Hay joined
together and pooled their love of the ocean and diving into
the shop they named Atlantis Divers.
They wanted to have a shop where everyone – from families with children
to technical and professional divers – could gather together to meet, discuss
diving and make new opportunities to dive. And they wanted to offer the very
best in instruction, dive and snorkel gear, gear servicing and dive travel.
They have started small and have worked to bring the best quality gear, accurate
and honest information, top notch instruction from a professional team, and the
right attitude to try to help new divers learn about the fantastic world of scuba
diving and to continue to offer adventures to seasoned divers.
Photos of the Shop
David
M. Hay
Director
of Dive Operations
 David
M. Hay was born in Freeport, Bahamas and has spent most of his life underwater
in one way or another. Dave’s first dive was with his father in Abaco
in the Bahamas, where the instructor took him down on his very first cave dive.
Dave was immediately hooked and has been obsessed with caves and the underwater
world ever since.
Dave has been diving for over 22 years, 14 of which have been at the professional
level. Dave became a PADI Dive Instructor in Maryland in 1994 and now holds
Instructor ratings with PADI, NAUI, SDI, TDI and ASHI, along with technical
mixed gas certifications through IANTD, as well as becoming a NAUI Course Director
and Instructor Trainer. Dave has worked as both a commercial diver and dive
instructor in the Bahamas and America. Dave's professional services and skills
in Search and Recovery have been recognized by the West Virginia State Police,
assisting with multiple criminal investigations underwater. He is quickly approaching
close to an impressive 5,000 logged dives.
Dave has been diving around the world and has citizenships
in Canada, Great Britain and the Bahamas. His favorite
dives are wreck and cave diving and while
his favorite sites are Little Palm Island (his honeymoon site), Cozumel, Bahamas,
and Saba, he is always looking for a reason to explore a new dive site. In
2002, while working in a dive shop in Maryland, Laurie wandered into the store
looking for a new dive buddy and Dave was happy to oblige by marrying her and
taking her all over the world to explore the underwater realm. Their dive buddy
relationship is perfect – she’s a biologist and is obsessed with
fish, while Dave is the technical resource and is obsessed with planning new
adventures. Their love for the sport has been passed along to their two children,
who seem to be quickly following in their footsteps.
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Laura S. Hay
Staff Biologist and NAUI/PADI Dive Master
 As
a little girl, Laura Schild Hay (a.k.a. Laurie) always dreamed
of swimming with the fish in the ocean. Growing up on the
Jersey shore instilled a love for the sea and all its creatures,
most especially sharks. Despite her passion for marine life,
she majored in Biochemistry and has a doctoral degree in
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
The opportunity to finally learn to scuba dive came in 2000 when she lived
in Northern California and she learned to dive in beautiful Monterey Bay. After
leaving California to take a position as a scientist in Maryland in 2002, she
wandered into a local dive shop asking for opportunities to dive. Here, she
met dive instructor Dave Hay, and has become more involved in diving than she
could have ever imaged! Her original request to Dave to do more diving has
been answered by meeting and marrying her lifetime dive buddy, becoming a Divemaster
and together she and Dave founded Atlantis Divers.
Laurie always knew she was destined to swim with the fish
in the ocean and marine biology has always been one of her
passions, an area she loves to discuss with all the new divers
that come through the doors of the Atlantis Divers. Some
of her favorite dive spots include the Channel Islands of
California, the Bahamas and Cozumel. When Laurie is landlocked,
you can find her and Dave playing with their two children
and Siberian Huskies and they are most likely planning their
next dive trip!
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David W. Hay
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
An old Scottish banker who was transferred to the Bahamas
in 1965. Joined UNEXCO in Freeport as a Charter Member in
1967. Certified in the “good old days” of web
belts and when “BC” stood for “Before Christ”
Most memorable dive was the first time I went “over
the wall” the place of Grand Bahamas where the reef
drops off suddenly into the abyss of Tongue of the Ocean.
It was as if I had floated over the edge of a cliff.
Two other memorable dives. The first was when a buddy and
I were talked into scrapping the bottom of a friend's steel
hulled boat that was too big to bring on shore. The next
day we were bright red and swollen round our mouths and where
our masks, T-shirts, and shorts met arms, legs, etc. Apparently
we were allergic to the anti-fouling paint. I looked like
I had been kissing a porcupine!
The second concerned a remora that decided I was the Great
White Shark of her dreams (at least I hope it was a her).
She would not leave me alone, what is more she decided that
up under my shorts was the place to be.
OK, there is a moral to these two stories; there is a reason
why people no longer dive in T-shirts and shorts. And oh
by the way, we do have a nice line of Henderson Wet suits
guaranteed to take care of even the most amorous remora…………
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Jim Byork
NAUI, SDI/TDI, and ASHI Instructor
and Photography Consultant
 Jim’s
interest in diving dates back to the 1970’s when he
lived in Fort Lauderdale. However, he did not become a certified
diver until 1992. On his very first open-water dive trip,
he met Suzi Swygert, world-renown underwater photographer
and Nikonos poster girl, whom he talked into teaching him
underwater photography. Suzi was more than patient with his
atrocious buoyancy and running out of air on the first dive.
She evaluated his photographic skills in 92’by saying
that about 10% of any given picture was worthy of publication
but the other 90% sucked. They remain close friends and she
waits the day when he brings his first class to Bonaire.
Jim also has taken lessons from Frank Fennell of the Nikonos
School of Photography and spent a week photographing with
Paul Humman.
Jim has dove and photographed in the Florida Keys, Bahamas, Cozumel, Puerto
Rico, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos, Curacao, and Bonaire, Netherlands
Antilles. His favorite place is Bonaire where he has traveled on nine separate
occasions. In 2003, he decided to share his passion for diving and photography
by becoming a NAUI instructor. In 2005, he did a crossover program to become
a SDI & TDI instructor. Jim has been ordained minister for 35 years in
the Lutheran Church and presently Senior Pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church
on Arch Rd.
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Jeff Berchtold
NAUI, SDI/TDI, and ASHI Instructor, Service Tech
and Sales Associate
 Jeff
Berchtold, a native of Pekin, Illinois, began diving in December
1994, where he discovered the great wreck dives off Virginia
Beach. As a thrill seeker, Jeff was immediately attracted
to the world of diving. Within that first year, Jeff completed
over 100 dives and became a Divemaster in December of 1995.
Jeff achieved his SDI Instructor rating in March 2002 and
is now a NAUI and ASHI Instructor. He is also one of the
Atlantis Divers Service Technicians.
While Jeff claims that his favorite place to dive is anywhere
the water is deep enough, the top of his favorite dive list
is Puerto Rico. Diving with manatees in the ocean off the
coast of Puerto Rico is Jeff’s favorite dive memory.
Jeff believes the most important thing in diving is to have
fun and his students can attest to that fact. When he’s
not diving, Jeff can be found working as a Real Estate Investor,
spending time with his wife and two children at their incredible
timeshare in Freeport or acting as a Cub Scout Tiger Den
Leader.
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Zane Frye
NAUI, SDI/TDI, and ASHI Instructor and Shop Manager
 I
began scuba diving with my Open Water Certification in May,
1999, quickly followed with an Advanced certification the
following weekend. To date I’ve logged over 250 dives
at various sites around the United States and Caribbean,
most notably the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the Florida
springs and Key West, as well as Nassau, Freeport, Puerto
Rico and Aruba.
I received my instructor’s certification in September
of 2003 and have taught a wide array of our courses since.
My favorite course is still our Open Water training, teaching
new divers how to dive. I look forward to helping you make
your diving experiences safe and memorable, and hope you’ll
stop by our shop soon to see our great variety of merchandise
and dive trips. Thank you for visiting our website!
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Max Inman
NAUI, SDI/TDI, and ASHI Instructor, Sales Associate
 Max Inman is a native of Richmond who has had
a lot of hobbies. He started diving and shooting in the early
60’s. In the 70’s he became a Flight Instructor.
In the early 80’s Max became a Competition Shooter.
In the early 90’s he dabbled with building Hot Rods
and Harleys. He came full circle and got back into shooting
and diving in 1996 and became a Dive Master in 1997 and SDI/TDI
Instructor in 2001. Max has since become a NAUI and ASHI
Instructor and also enjoys using his rebreather. Max likes
teaching others how to safely enjoy the fun of diving. He
enjoys wreck diving anywhere but has had many enjoyable dives
in the warmer waters of the Caribbean.
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Joe Anderson
NAUI , SDI/TDI and ASHI Instructor and PADI Divemaster
 When
I began diving I fell in love with the sport on the first
dive. My first dive after certification was in Grand Cayman
and I knew I wanted to know as much as I could about the
wonderful world of SCUBA. I kept taking courses and became
a PADI and NAUI Dive Master. I dove in the Eastern and Western
Caribbean, Hawaii, and Wilmington N.C.
In November of 2007
I am diving King Herod’s Palace and sites in the Red
Sea. I had a great time Dive Mastering for the instructors
at Atlantis Divers and enjoyed working with the students.
I would have stopped there except David suggested that I
become an instructor. I considered it for several months
and then decided to give it a try and became a NAUI instructor.
My deciding factor was the respect I had for the instructors
at Atlantis Divers and I wanted to join the Dive Shop family.
I am looking forward to a great time serving people who are
interested in joining the Dive Family at Atlantis Divers.
My real job is being the pastor of Messiah Christian Church
and I have been in the ministry for 31 years.
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Carter Hill
NAUI and ASHI Instructor and PADI Assistant
Instuctor
Carter L. Hill, Sr. was born in Mansfield,
OH, but grew up in Sandston, VA. He began diving in the
local quarry in the 1970s as an adventure. Carter became
a PADI Divemaster in 1990 and earned a PADI Assistant Instructor
rating in 1993. Now you can find him teaching with Atlantis
Divers as a NAUI Instructor. Carter’s favorite dive
site is Nags Head, NC, but loves to dive anywhere in the
ocean. He is the owner of C.L. Hill Properties and also
founded the Chance Youth Foundation in 1997. Chance’s
goals are to let our youth know that they have a safe harbor
to come to and the volunteers work to help provide programs
and activities to deter teens from alcohol and substance
abuse. Carter has also been active with MADD for the past
10 years as well as a member of the South Richmond Rotary.
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Tom Foard
Assistant
Instructor and Service Technician
 A true native Richmonder, Tom Foard has lived
his entire life in Richmond, VA except for the 4 years when
the US Air Force sent him to Minnesota and North Dakota.
Tom always wanted to scuba dive (remember “Sea Hunt?),
but it wasn’t until December 2000 that he finally took
the plunge and learned to dive in the beautiful waters of
Curaçao. His first year of diving, he completed both
his Open Water and Advanced courses, followed by Nitrox (2001),
Rescue (2003) and became a certified SDI Divemaster and Assistant
Instructor in 2006. Tom loves any kind of diving as long
as the water is warm and has good visibility, but Bonaire
tops his list of favorite dive sites. When he’s not
diving in that warm, clear water, you can find Tom hard at
work in the Atlantis Divers Service Department. Now that
Tom is retired from the VA Air National Guard (F-16 Avionics),
Tom enjoys flying, sailing and skiing in addition to scuba
diving.
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Mike Kennedy
Assistant Instructor and Sales Associate
 Mike Kennedy grew up in the mountains of
Colorado and became fascinated with the ‘far away’ ocean
watching Sea Hunt and reading everything he could find on
the subject. Bob Marx became a boyhood hero. His first exposure
to diving came while stationed in San Diego and he was hooked.
Moving to Virginia Beach in 1980 gave him the opportunity
to indulge his passion and he has been diving since. Mike
usually dives out of Moorehead City now, wrecks being his
favorite, and in addition, makes at least one trip to the
Caribbean or Mexico yearly. Last year he visited Curaçao
which quickly became his favorite destination to date. He
has since completed his certification as an SDI Assistant
Instructor. Mike’s daytime job is with Verizon as a
cable maintenance technician and plans to get involved in
the dive industry full-time after retirement in two years.
He can also be found around the History Department at the
University of Richmond as a ‘very’ senior student.
He is thrilled to be associated with the professionalism
and energy Atlantis Divers has brought to the Richmond area
and looks forward to helping others to enjoy his fascination
with diving.
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Ron Rowe
Divemaster
 Ron Rowe was born in Lexington NC, and never
ventured to far away until he joined the Navy in 1984. He
originally started recreational diving while in the Navy
at Gitmo. Ron had always loved the water and was the kid
that Moms have to drag out of the pool, lake etc. After Ron
met his non-diving wife, he took a break and gave up diving
until his oldest son, Gavin, twisted his arm into getting
recertified. In 2000 both Ron and Gavin got certified as
PADI Open Water divers. Today Gavin has his Advanced and
Ron has since achieved Divemaster as well as becoming a DAN
O2 provider. Ron also has an 11 yr old son, Hunter who hopes
to get certified this year. Ron does most of his diving on
the wrecks of Carolina, though he loves the Cavern diving
in Mexico. Ron also likes the Caymans, Bahamas or anywhere
the vis is good! Currently, his favorite dive is the NC shark
tooth dives, but that’s subject to change at anytime.
While he’s not diving, Ron works as a System Analyst
for Philip Morris. And during his free time, he loves to
hunt, fish, camp – well, really any of the outdoor
stuff. Ron also volunteers as a shotgun shooting instructor
for the Virginia 4H clubs.
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Jud Dauray
Divemaster
 Jud was born in Rhode Island, but moved to Virginia via Florida.
He is one of the original Divemasters with Atlantis Divers,
and began diving in 2004. His favorite place is underwater,
and he can usually be found assisting one of his students,
training them in the finer points of scuba diving techniques.
Jud is known as a “ghost” underwater, often
showing his well developed ability of descending in front
of a class to supervise while the instructor is working with
another student. “He just appears from no where” students
often say of him. “I didn’t even realize that
he was there until after he’d fixed my problem and
moved on” said another.
In addition to assisting with classes, Jud also enjoys wreck
diving and spending time with his family. His favorite dive
memory is finally being served dinner on the Florida Springs
trip. His most memorable quote to students is “It’s
not a magic coat” as they work together to master the
BCD and buoyancy. When he’s not in the water, Jud is
also the best auto mechanic in Richmond.
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Shelley Nellis
Dive Crew and Biologist
 I was born in Virginia Beach, which is where my love for
the ocean began and followed me ever since. During childhood
I moved around Virginia a lot, and ended up graduating high
school from Powhatan High in 2004.
I am currently an undergrad student majoring in Biology.
I attended Virginia Tech for a year, and then transferred
to VCU. After I earn my bachelor’s degree from VCU
I plan to attend grad school in Florida with a concentration
in Marine Biology. My love for animals and the ocean led
to this pursuit of an education and career in this field.
After deciding on this major, I realized a diving certification
would be a great asset to my career after school, and this
led me to Atlantis Divers.
I first began diving in 2006 when I completed my Open Water
course here at Atlantis Divers. After getting to know the
dive crew and spending some time at the shop, I began to
intern. During the summer after receiving my Open Water certification
I completed my Advanced Open Water course, Rescue Diver,
Equipment Specialist, and Wreck Diver as well. I already
feel like everyone at this dive shop is family to me, and
I plan to continue to spend my time here working towards
earning each level of certification, setting my goal at Divemaster.
I quickly fell in love with the sport, and hope to use it
the rest of my life for my career and for pleasure.
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Wayne Hackett
Service Technician
 Wayne
Hackett was born in Louisville Ky. Moved to Richmond, VA
in 1958. Joined Va Air Nation Guard in 1970 as a Life Support
Tech Until 2005. December 2000 finally took the plunge and
learned to dive in the beautiful waters of Curaçao.
Open Water (2000), Advanced courses in St Lucia (2002), followed
by Rescue (2003), Nitrox (2007). Retired from the VA Air
National Guard (F-16 Life Support/Parachute Superintendant),
Wayne enjoys sailing, skiing, and fishing, in addition to
scuba diving.
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Cory Wheeler
Service Tech and Dive Crew
 Cory
Wheeler was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma. He has also lived
in Chesterfield,
VA, Parkersburg, WV, Morgantown, WV, and now lives in Powhatan,
VA. He is also well traveled; going
to places such as Germany, France, Luxemburg, Switzerland,
Italy, Guadeloupe, Mexico, and Nassau.
He wants to also visit Spain, Greece, Egypt, Australia, and
New Zealand. He joined the VA National Guard 10 March 2008
and he plans on making his way to being a UH-60 "Blackhawk" pilot.
Cory started diving in June 2006 with his open water and
quickly progressed through Advanced, Equipment Specialty,
Wreck, Rescue, Nitrox, and finally finished his Divemaster
in January 2008. He also works in the shop as a sales associate
and a service tech. When not found in the shop or diving
he works for UPS as an inside service supervisor.
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Maggie Hay
Shop Artist
 Maggie Hay, while officially born in Maryland,
grew up swimming in the warm green water and playing on the
beautiful beaches of the Bahamas and has earned herself the
nicknames of Fish and Waterbaby. Now that she is older, she
enjoys scuba diving with her family – but definitely
prefers the warmer water of the Caribbean or Cozumel! Maggie
is a true animal lover and she can’t wait to see her
first shark in person. Maggie is the official dive shop artist
and you can see some of Maggie’s artwork around the
shop.
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David E. Hay
Dive Assistant
 David
E. Hay, aka Aqua Lad, is the third generation of divers
that share the name of David Hay. David has grown up watching
and waiting impatiently to be old enough to jump into the
water with his father and grandfather on an aquatic adventure.
He has attended so many of his father’s scuba classes
that he can practically teach them himself. He officially
works as the Atlantis Divers Shop Assistant and can be
seen spending his time talking to just about anyone about
scuba diving. He was officially certified in 2006 and his
favorite dive was going through a sunken school bus at
Lake Rawlings in Virginia. He can’t wait to dive
in the Red Sea, to see great white sharks in person and
hopes to be come a famous wreck diver.
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