C.J. Pierce SCUBA

From a flooded rock quarry near Nashville to deep Caribbean shipwrecks and Florida springs, C.J. Pierce builds complete, confident divers through intensive small-group instruction that puts buoyancy and trim before every other skill.

C.J. Pierce is an independent SCUBA instructor operating out of the Nashville, Tennessee area, offering personalized training in settings ranging from local Middle TN quarries and lakes to saltwater and Florida freshwater spring environments. Classes are deliberately small — no more than 4 students at a time for Open Water — and structured around one-on-one, family (up to 5 people), and small-group formats, giving each student a level of individual attention uncommon in large dive shop programs. The flagship SDI Open Water Scuba Diver course runs 5–6 days and certifies students to a maximum depth of 60 feet, with a highly recommended optional sixth day of ocean or Florida springs diving for final skill evaluation. C.J.'s methodology places buoyancy, trim, and propulsion ahead of all other skill work, reflecting a philosophy that stable, neutrally buoyant divers master required skills far more readily and safely. For experienced divers seeking to push beyond recreational limits, C.J. offers technical diving courses through both TDI and IANTD in Nashville, Florida, and the Caribbean. The core technical curriculum combines Advanced Nitrox, Decompression Procedures, and Helitrox — allowing students to dive to depths of 150 feet with decompression and optional helium blends — drawn from C.J.'s own experience diving deep shipwrecks and underwater caves and training with instructors across every major technical and cave diving agency.