Lexington, KY

Meet our team

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Allen Dobson

Independent Open Water Diver Instructor
Level 7 Diver

Allen started diving in his 40s. After getting certified, he traveled the Caribbean diving the different islands and loved every minute of it. In 2018 he took the next step and became a Dive Pro. Today he is an Open Water Instructor, Level 7 Diver, trip leader, and an equipment technician. His goal is to help others experience the same love and respect for the water that he has in a safe fun way.

Email: [email protected]

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Beth Robinson

Independent Dive Professional

Beth has been diving since 2014 and loves that it has taken her on adventures all around the world! Her husband is also a dive professional, so they thoroughly enjoy the sport together. She has logged over 200 dives and looks forward to many more with her students.

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Beth VanPelt

Store Director
Independent Open Water Diver Instructor

Beth knew she wanted to be a scuba diver when she was just four years old after seeing the diver down flags at her local lake growing up. As she got older, she didn’t know if it would ever be a possibility, but her life absolutely changed in 2017 when she met the owners of New Horizons Diving.  she took her first breath underwater at the pool she managed and she was absolutely hooked. Since then, she’s completed almost 300 dives, become an Open Water Instructor, and has made life-long bonds with her dive buddies. her favorite type of diving is anything involving sharks, wrecks, or caverns!

Phone: 859.277.1234
Email: [email protected]

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Brad Metzger

Independent Open Water Diver Instructor

Brad was certified as a junior open water diver in 2000 at the age of 15 and was immediately hooked. The more dives he made, the more it became his passion to share the unique experience of the underwater world with others! He became an open water instructor in 2015. He finds joy in seeing the expression on everyone’s face as they experience breathing underwater for the very first time. Brad looks forward to being able to work with even more future divers at Diventures!

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Butch Mellot

Independent Divemaster

Butch has been diving since 2014. He started diving because he was interested in aquatics and adventure. He continued through the recreational levels of certification with an interest and desire to assist others. Butch became a Divemaster to help others and improve their skills.

Phone: 859.621.5160

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Charlie Kinkead

Independent Dive Professional

Inspired by the underwater world of Jacques Cousteau, Charlie was originally certified to dive as a teenager. Following college, he joined the Air Force and had to suspend diving opportunities for a number of years. He was recertified eight years ago with New Horizons Diving. Since in the Air Force he was a classroom and Flightline Instructor, becoming a Dive Pro was a natural transition. He enjoys all types of diving from wreck diving to photography. Working with Diventures coupled with the SSI dive philosophy, he’s found the best way to dive, teach and see the world!

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Chris True

Independent Open Water Diver Instructor

Chris began diving in a Berea College class in Berea, Kentucky, and had the amazing opportunity to complete his open water training dives on a study abroad trip to Utilia, Honduras. Now, he enjoys being an Open Water Instructor and passing along the joy of diving to others. His favorite diving is Caribbean diving, followed by the opposite — cold, dark lake diving. He continues to work for Diventures because it is a good group of like-minded people that are working toward the same goal of teaching others to dive and enjoy the water safely.

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Clare McEachin

Customer Experience Specialist

Clare has worked at New Horizons/Diventures since 1993 and has loved every minute. Diving has opened up a whole new world of adventure for her. Clare believes diving is a wonderful way to make new friends and travel the world. She has been traveling to Little Cayman since the resort first opened in 1995 and it’s still one of her favorite trips.

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Drew Siewert

Independent Advanced Open Water Instructor

Drew took his first breath underwater eight years ago in Puerto Vallarta and was hooked. He has met the most amazing people over the years diving and has seen some crazy things underwater. Drew also found that it is even more exciting to teach new divers and see the excitement in their eyes after an amazing dive. He am a Level 8 diver and looks forward to learning more about diving and the underwater world.

Phone: 859.277.1234

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Ethan Reynolds

Independent Assistant Instructor

Ethan has been diving since 2015. He is a level 6 diver and has been a dive pro for 5 years. As a former swimmer, lifeguard, swim instructor, and pool manager, Ethan has spent plenty of time on the water and is always looking for his next trip!

Phone: 859.277.1234

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Gary Mahoney

Independent Divemaster Instructor

Gary started diving during the Spring of 2007. His first dive trip was to Hawaii and then the Galapagos where he discovered his passion for diving. He was so impressed with diving that he partnered with a colleague to teach a Coral Reef Ecosystems course in Utila, Honduras in January 2009. Gary completed his instructor’s certification in 2010. He enjoys working with beginning divers and underwater photography students. Diventures Lexington helps him keep up to date with the latest and greatest in diving. He also finds that being a member of such a diverse group provides exposure and resources to all things diving.

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Jason Robinson

Independent Open Water Instructor

My first job at age 17 was at my local swimming pool, and I’ve enjoyed working around water ever since! I became a diver in 2008 and worked my way to becoming a professional in 2015. Scuba is such an important part of my life. I even proposed to my now wife at the dive shop, where she is also a dive professional.

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Jim Leehmuis

Independent Assistant Instructor

After Jim became certified, he was absolutely hooked! Since he has a natural itch to teach people about things he enjoys doing, becoming an Assistant Instructor was a natural progression. He thinks it’s always fun to watch people take those first “baby steps” into diving and be reminded of how awesome it felt when he first started. If Jim had to decide his favorite type of diving, it would be multi-gas tec diving in the Florida Keys, ocean reef photography, or cold water drysuit diving. He is happy to be a part of a close-knit team of trusted and experienced divers that always push for safety, quality and fun with students. He looks forward to an even more expanded team with which to share experiences and ideas in the future.

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Josh Rice

Independent Open Water Diver Instructor

Josh has been diving since 2016 after taking the New Horizons Scuba class at the University of Kentucky. He loves drift diving, but his favorite dive site is Shark Alley in Fiji, Japan. After his instructor got him hooked on diving, he wanted to become that person for other future divers. Josh became a Divemaster in 2019 and completed his Instructor certification in June of 2022. He is now happy to be employed at Diventures where he can work with the rest of the staff and instructors as well as continue to grow his own diving experience.

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Kerry Chambers

Independent Assistant Instructor

Kerry discovered diving when his buddy thought it would be fun to take a class. That was in 1992, and he has been diving ever since. It’s the most relaxing activity he’s ever done. He enjoys being an Assistant Instructor because of the privilege of helping others discover the joys of diving and helping new divers grow. His favorite type of diving is cave diving because nothing else is as relaxing and requires that level of concentration at the same time. Because of this, he is able to see many things that most people don’t.

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Lola Bauer

Customer Experience Specialist

Bio coming soon!

Email: [email protected]

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Lou Hirsch

Independent Advanced Open Water Instructor

Growing up in Arizona, Lou did not get a lot of chances to dive. But when he was 14 years old he became certified at scout camp in the Florida Keys. After that, he earned more recreational certifications each year during vacations until he turned 18 and became a professional. As a professional, Lou worked as a scuba instructor in Florida and California for several years. Eventually, he earned a 50-ton Masters (Captains ) license and managed a scuba diving charter in San Diego. Lou is an SSI level 9 diver and has instructed hundreds of students since 2005 on all aspects of diving. He loves inspiring confidence and teaching students self-reliance. He enjoys confined pool classes for new divers just as much as advanced open-water training for seasoned adventurers.

Phone: 859.277.1234

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Mitch Winchester

Customer Experience Specialist
Independent Dive Professional in Training

Mitch has been diving for 3 years after he stumbled into the world of diving because of a birthday gift from his friends. His favorite type of diving is anything involving shipwrecks and sharks! Mitch is thrilled to now be working towards his goal of being a Dive Pro and helping other people discover their scuba potential in the dive shop.

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Nathan Parcell

Independent Open Water Diver Instructor

Nathan began his diving journey in 2012 through a scuba course at the University of Kentucky. After a bit of a hiatus, he renewed his passion for diving in 2018 through a Scuba Skills Update class with New Horizons. He began his professional journey about a year later and is now an Open Water Instructor.  His favorite type of diving is anything dark and spooky, especially the bottom of lakes and quarries. He also hopes to become a cave diver and show his students how amazing the underwater world can be.

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Raegan Francis

Customer Experience Lead
Open Water Diver

In the Spring of 2021, Raegan was living in Eastern Kentucky doing an internship at the Challenger Learning Center when she met the owners of New Horizons Diving. They traveled from Lexington to give the group of interns the opportunity to do a Try Scuba experience followed by an Open Water Diver class. The second she took her first breath underwater, her life was changed forever. She became absolutely hooked on the experience. While attending the class, she connected with the dive shop staff and accepted an opportunity to join the team as a Customer Experience Specialist. Since then, she has been a huge part of the Diventures family and plans to expand her knowledge of scuba through her diving journey!

Email: [email protected]

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Sally Nolan

Independent Assistant Instructor

Sally began her dive journey when a friend asked her to learn to dive with her, and she said ‘why not!'” She had always been fascinated with fish! Now, years later, she is an Assistant Instructor with Diventures and loves helping divers learn new skills. Sally loves seeing the “I’ve got it!” lightbulb. Her favorite type of diving is “muck” diving where she can find the little creatures. She works for Diventures to continue to see diver development and promote her local dive shop!

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Steven Jones

Independent Divemaster

I received my open water certification in 2001 and my Divemaster certification in 2007. I enjoy helping student divers, as well as certified divers, attain skills towards their scuba goals. I initially achieved my certification to dive the reservoirs in Berea, KY with my work as a water plant operator where I helped install a platform in one of the Berea college reservoirs. I’ve enjoyed diving in Florida, the coast of Panama City, Cancun, Cenotes, Bonaire, and Hawaii. I especially enjoyed the Manta Ray night dive off the big island of Hawaii.

Phone: 859.277.1234

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Will Andersen

Independent Instructor Trainer

Will has been interested in scuba diving since his early teens, but he didn’t have an opportunity to dive until later in life. He was initially certified in 2008 and knew going in that he was interested in technical and cave diving. He also really enjoyed teaching so becoming a dive pro was always in the cards. If Will is not in one of Kentucky’s lakes or abandoned quarries, you can usually find him in one of North Florida’s caves or the deep wrecks in the Florida Keys. His favorite dive sites are the historical wrecks of Chuuk Lagoon in Micronesia. As an instructor trainer, he now enjoys sharing his passion for the sport with aspiring dive pros!

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