Captain, NAUI Instructor Trainer and Avid Spear fisherman. TJ founded “Off The Wall Adventures and Outfitters” 25 years ago in South Lakeland. Since then he has created a company that boasts 2 retail stores that specialize in Scuba Diving, while encompassing several other hobbies. He also runs the charter business in St. Petersburg, hosting spearfishing and fishing charters. He loves taking people out on the boat and sharing his love of diving with everyone.
Captain and Avid Spear fisherman. Shawn has been with Off The Wall Adventures since 2019. He is a skilled diver with years of experience and knowledge. You can find him at the Brandon location or out running the charter boat in St. Pete.
Captain, Avid Spear fisherman and NAUI Instructor. Jeff joined the adventure in March of 2020 after retiring from a 33 year law enforcement career. He has extensive experience in search and recovery diving, with 25 years on the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Underwater Search and Recovery Team. Jeff has been diving for 33 years, and has held his instructor rating for 15 years. In his semi-retirement position, he added his Captain’s license to his resume.
Captain, NAUI Instructor Trainer. Garrett started working with Off The Wall for a summer job in 2010 as a paintball ref. Lo and behold, he fell in love with diving and all other aspects of the shop as well. He’s currently a Naui Instructor Trainer, First Aid Instructor, and USCG Licensed Captain. He enjoys pretty much anything outside. Hiking, sailing, rafting, mountain biking, and golf are some of the current hobbies. He’s always looking to find more and jump in on the next adventure. His favorite color is the color of the ocean in the Bahamas on an August afternoon reflecting up from the sandy bottom. If you want to see that, you’ll have to go with him to the Bahamas on one of our trips 🙂
NAUI Instructor and Lobster Hunter. Cassi started her scuba journey in 2019 and became instantly addicted. She joined the OTWA family in June of 2020 and loves organizing events, trips (local and international), socials and sales that give divers and non-divers an opportunity for excitement. Cassi loves decompression wreck diving and teaching people about the wonders of the ocean. Contact her for all your travel wants and needs.
NAUI Instructor
Dr. Douglas Ebersole, MD is an interventional cardiologist at the Watson Clinic LLP in Lakeland, Florida and is the Director of the Structural Heart Program at Lakeland Regional Health, an 850-bed tertiary referral hospital in Lakeland. He has been diving since 1974 and is an avid recreational diver, technical diver, rebreather diver, and cave diver. He is also a recreational, technical, and rebreather instructor for several training agencies, is a cardiology consultant to Divers Alert Network, RAID medical advisor, and is the Florida Sales agent for KISS Rebreathers.
Heather is a new member to the Adventure team and hopes to learn and grow with the company. She enjoys camping, paddle boarding, the beach and anything related to water and the outdoors. Heather manages the office and business side of OTWA as well as maintains inventory and helps in sales.
Chris joined the OTWA family while in high school, until he joined the Army for 7 years and then returned to us when he returned home.
Nikki has been an AAUS certified diver for 8 years and is currently a Dive Instructor in training here at OTWA. She enjoys green diving, salvaging marine plastics, promoting conservation of marine environment through education and outreach. Fun fact: Nikki’s favorite fish is a spotted trunkfish.
Mark is a retired Naval Officer and has been a Scout leader for over twenty years. In 2016 he chartered a Sea Scout Ship through St. Stephens’s Episcopal Church to enable older youth (14+) to have a safe place for high adventure activities. The youth of the ship elected to focus on Scuba Diving and the ship teamed up with OTWA to help make this happen. This is when Mark joined OTWA to provide a youth program that focus on training youth to plan and dive safely. Mark’s been diving since 1990 and has logged over a thousand dives all around the world.
In the Navy, Mark was a Aviation Search & Rescue (SAR) Swimmer before receiving his Commission and becoming a Naval Cryptologist Officer. He served a total of 25 years before retiring in 2012.
Skills include:
Dive Master
Equipment
Youth Programs
Sea Scouts