Erin Westgate | SDI Divemaster
Erin is a local cave diver and psychology professor at the University of Florida. Originally from Texas, she learned to dive during her graduate studies at Virginia a decade ago. When not out diving, she spends her time wrestling two rambunctious golden retrievers and watering her sprawling houseplant collection. Erin loves showing folks around and especially supporting women and new cave/tech divers in the hobby!
Erin is a certified SDI Divemaster, as well as an experienced recreational (10+ years, 1000+ dives) and technical cave diver (TDI Full Cave, Cave DPV, Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures, NSSCDS Abe Davis Award). She is based in Gainesville, Florida.
Our Approach
We believe that safe diving is fun diving. Beyond technical skills or equipment knowledge, we believe the most important ingredient to safe diving is our own minds - choosing to respect our own limits (and those of others), recognizing the unique challenges of springs and overhead/cavern environments, and leaving our ego at the door so we that we can share/listen to feedback that helps us grow as better divers.
Safety First
Building a safe culture in diving means owning our limits, respecting others’ - and being open about our mistakes. Any diver can end a dive at any time for any reason.
In our dives, we will never ask you to exceed the limits of your training or experience. In return, we ask that you respect local rules and norms (e.g., depth, rule of thirds, not carrying lights in certain overhead environments unless cavern/cave certified, etc.)
Rule of Fun
Diving is meant to be fun! We are open to divers from different backgrounds and training traditions/equipment configurations. If you are new to caverns or freshwater diving, we will work with you on weighting or other equipment questions.
We believe diving is more fun when we know something about where we’re diving. All dives include a brief cultural and geological history of the site, and we welcome questions about the area.