How it all started

DiveViz started back in 2012 when I was stationed out here in San Diego.  I lived in Ocean Beach and wanted to do some spearfishing, so after a lot of research, getting a new wetsuit, and figuring out a general idea of where to go, I decided to head up to La Jolla.  After all the excitement and effort of loading up my gear, driving up there, getting dressed out, and getting into the water...I got in and could barely see my hand in front of my face.  I kicked around for a while hoping that eventually it would clear up, but it didn't, so I got out.  This happened a couple times, both in La Jolla and Point Loma, and it didn't take long for me to hang up the fins in exchange for a surfboard.  Or rather....surfboards

As I got into surfing I saw how surf forecasting apps had become completely essential for surfers.  I'm still addicted to it today!  And then I thought...what if there was a forecasting service for divers?  What if we could predict the visibility?

I had a couple months off of work so I decided to experiment.  Every day I would record the buoy data and the weather data, make my prediction of what the visibility would be as a result of that, and then walk down the OB pier and drop a secchi disk in the water to get my actual measurement.  Once I started to get a general idea of the conditions, I built my first website and started posting reports.   

When you can no longer see the secchi disk, you have the measure of visibility.

Eventually I deployed and the ships internet didn't work with the site, and then I got stationed in Virginia, so I dropped the idea.  But I couldn't completely let it go.  It nagged me that I had gotten an idea and only gone so far with it.  I also had found a surprising discovery in the process of building DiveViz, and that was my fascination with entrepreneurship.  I felt completely lit up and alive when I was trying to create a product and partner with other people in the area, and that led me to pursue my MBA once I got out of the Navy.

DiveViz has come a long way from scribbling down wave heights in a composition notebook, but we also have a long way to go.  This project has challenged me on so many levels but I honestly could not be more proud of where it has gotten to, or more excited about where it's going!  If you have ideas or comments about how DiveViz can help people in San Diego get in the water more often, please let us know.  That's what we're here to do!