The Dive Shop Crew
Meet the Scuba Network staff—Northeast divers, instructors, and mentors you’ll be training with.
Martha Katz — Course Director, Instructor Trainer
A Northeast diver for over 30 years, and the heart of Scuba Network, Martha has been helping train scuba divers since the 1990’s. She’s the “Den Mother” to hundreds of Long Island divers here and across the Eastern US.
Martha has devoted significant time to training persons with disabilities through the Handicapped Scuba Association, and she has also worked with veterans projects like Wounded Warriors.
She is a PADI Instructor, a NAUI Course Director, and an SDI Instructor Trainer—and has dove all over the world, from Fiji to Curaçao, Canada to Costa Rica, and everywhere in between.
Steve “Scuba Steve” Scigliano — Course Director, Instructor Trainer
Swim and Scuba’s former owner and resident PADI Course Director, Steve has been diving for over 40 years. He is also an SDI-TDI instructor and a DAN Dive Emergency Specialist.
Steve brings a wealth of Northeast dive experience and know-how to the scuba divers and instructors he trains. He helped set up the Beach 8th dive site in the Rockaways, sinking the dive cages at the pier.
If there is anyone to show you how to be a Northeast diver, it’s Scuba Steve.
Robert “Bob” Hecht — IDC Staff Instructor
PADI IDC Staff Instructor / SDI Instructor, Bob is a homegrown Long Island diver who enjoys all kinds of diving—both cold water and warm water.
He loves taking students out to explore the waters of Long Island and pointing out the varied sea life that exists here. He’s also an avid underwater photographer, so feel free to ask him about that.
Steven Katz (“Papa Smurf”) — Instructor Trainer
Steven 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 advantage of diving by traveling the world to places like Fiji, the Maldives, Indonesia, and the Galapagos. He teaches Open Water through Instructor, plus specialty courses including Full Face Mask, Side Mount, Dry Suit, and more.
Steven is certified to teach Handicap Scuba diving and has taught blind, paraplegic, and other divers with injuries—working with specially trained dive buddies as needed.
He 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 about the great and unique adventures that are out there for scuba divers.
Chet Pietrzak — Instructor
Chet is a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and DAN DEMP Instructor. He teaches Public Safety Diving as well as Rescue.
Chet served in the US Marine Corps and as a Medic, and he is currently also an NYS EMT.
Jonathan Watkins — Instructor
Jonathan has been diving on Long Island since 1985. He enjoys diving locally and around the world.
He is currently a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, an SDI instructor, and an HSA Handicapped Scuba Instructor.
Oscar Ortiz — Instructor
Bio coming soon!
Bill — Instructor
Bill started diving in 2007 at 57 and became an instructor in 2019. With over 420 dives—all with Martha Katz—Bill has dove all over the world, including the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Maldives, the Galapagos Islands, Fiji, Chuuk (f/k/a Truk), and Indonesia.
Bill loves that there are no cell phones, iPads, or BlackBerrys on a dive. When you experience the joy of diving and seeing new marine life, whatever you may have seen on television or in the movies does not compare to seeing it in real life. And when you come back from a dive trip, your friends and coworkers will be both jealous and envious because you went diving in a location they could only dream of going—and/or never heard of.
Jeannine — Instructor
Jeannine is a PADI Open Water Master Scuba Diver Trainer and a NAUI Instructor Trainer. She’s a local dive enthusiast.
Gardner — Instructor
Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, Gardner served in the U.S. Marine Corps and shortly after moved to New York, becoming a Corrections Officer and retiring after twenty years.
On a trip to the Bahamas, he was introduced to scuba diving: “Don’t let the regulator fall out your mouth and squeeze your nose if your ears start hurting”—that was his first dive. In 2009, his instructor, Matt Meyer of Scuba Network, took them to Beach 9th Street in Far Rockaway, NY. His instructor journey began in 2016, and he’s very happy with it.
(If You Get Tired, Learn to Rest Not to Quit.)
Additional Team Members
- William Rifkin
- James Darienzo — Instructor
- Louis Buda IV — Instructor
- Michael Somer — Sales Staff
- Martin Straw — Instructor
- Lucey Snyder — Assistant Instructor
Questions about classes or training?
Call (516) 997-4864.