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Brad Snyder
 Brad has often said “I wish I started diving when I was a teenager”, but like many others who took up diving later in life, he is making up for lost time. Despite the fact that his open water checkout dives were in 42-degree water with nothing but sand in every direction, he was hooked from that first moment. The sense of weightlessness and peaceful quiet set the stage for the exhilaration and discovery that was to follow.
The first couple of years as an open water diver, Brad spent his time in cold Canadian waters. Since those days, it’s been a continual journey of discovery, both of himself and of diving.
Now, on his way to becoming a Staff Instructor, Brad still feels the same thrill watching a new diver take their first breath underwater in the pool. Equally exciting is watching the excitement build for someone diving on their first shipwreck in Tobermory, running a new drift dive in the Niagara River or taking their first underwater photo of some cool creature in the South Pacific.
Brad is now sharing that passion with his kids. Josh (15) is working on his rescue diver certification and has several specialties. Blake (9) enjoys the Bubblemaker activities and can't wait for his 10th birthday so he can take the class. Tivonya, still only 5, likes the look of the ladies gear (pink is good), loves colouring underwater creatures and says sharks are her favourite thing to look at in daddy's videos.
His favourite local dive sites include the Tiller, the Arabia in Tobermory, the Daryaw in Brockville and the Americana on the US side out of Rockport. The volcanic island of Saba in the Dutch Caribbean is one of his favourite warm water dive experiences. With 1200 inhabitants, this island boasts the shortest international runway in the world, the exhilaration starts with your landing and continues with your cab ride up the winding road (there is only one!). Saba boasts some of the best diving (and restaurants) in the Caribbean, so remains a favourite!
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Tammy Snyder
 Tammy is the “behind-the-scenes” presence of Float N’ Flag and her contributions have contributed to the ongoing growth of the business. Tammy began to dive in 2007, encouraged by the viewing of her husband Brad’s videos upon his return from various dive trips.
Tammy immersed herself in the underwater world, gaining experience through diving and expertise through taking courses on an ongoing basis. This culminated in her becoming a PADI instructor in 2010.
Tammy enjoys working with new divers, both in the pool, during confined water sessions, and at Gulliver’s Lake, during check-out dives.
With each dive trip, Tammy is gaining valuable experience in dive travel. To date, her favourite dive sites can be found in the waters around Saba, especially Diamond Rock.
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Joshua Snyder
 Josh comes from a family of divers and water enthusiasts (Brad's "mini-me"). Working towards his Master Scuba Diver rating, and eventually DiveMaster, Josh is enjoying the journey and doing lots of diving. Favourite spots include Curacao and Saba, but his sights are set on something in the Pacific in the coming years as well as the colder wreck ridden waters of Tobermory. While not underwater, Josh enjoys wakeboarding and outdoor wilderness camping.
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Dave Nixon
 David’s first love and passion has been in the martial arts, a field in which he has been involved for 26 years. Holding 4th degree black belt in karate, Davis has taught both karate and kickboxing for the past 16 years, 9 of which were at his own school, Martial Arts Plus. A past team Canada member, David has coached and competed around the world.
David added diving to his athletic repertoire in 2007, progressing to the level of Rescue diver. Plans are in the works to achieve his Divemaster certification. An avowed cold water enthusiast, David particularly enjoys Tobermory, especially diving the Niagara II.
David joined the Float N’ Flag team in 2008 in a part-time capacity and is now the full-time store manager. His background in teaching martial arts has provided him with invaluable experience in working with customers, especially new divers.
Having run several successful businesses in the past, David’s expertise and experience in marketing and retail are having an immediate positive impact on Float N’ Flag.
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Roy Moore
 Roy can be considered to be one of the original faces of the new Float N’ Flag, having started a part-time position shortly after the new store opened in May, 2008.
Roy spent 33 years as an educator with the Halton District School Board, primarily at Aldershot High School as the Head of Arts & Athletics, followed by 2 years as co-convenor for Halton high school sports. It was through a Grade 12 Recreation & Leisure Phys-Ed course that he was exposed to scuba diving through a Discover Scuba Diving program offered as a course activity for the students. After several years, he was encouraged to become a certified open water diver in June of 2000 and so began the development of a retirement hobby and passion and part-time position at Float n’ Flag.
As a recreational diver, Roy is a Master Scuba diver with 20 Caribbean trips and a 3-week trip to Micronesia under his belt, logging over 400 dives. His favourite dive destination to date has been Palau in Micronesia.
At the tender age of 62, Roy became a PADI Divemaster, completing the course just prior to his 63rd birthday last fall. He feels that this professional accreditation, which, when coupled with his dive experience as a recreational diver, will allow him to better serve our clientele, especially new divers.
In summary, Roy’s passion as a diver and employee of Float n’ Flag is two-fold; working with new divers and diving in the warm, blue waters of the Caribbean. A very special thanks go out to his wife, Liz, and 3 sons who all support his passion for diving and regularly endure hundreds of pictures after each dive trip.
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John Swanson
 John’s nickname is JAWS and is very appropriate given his background and standing in the dive community; he is definitely at the top of the “food chain” when it comes to diving.
John’s career in diving began in 1984 when he became a certified open water diver. 1990 saw John become a PADI Open Water Instructor and in 1994, John became a PADI Course Director.
John’s favourite dive destination is Bloody Bay Wall in Little Cayman. His most exhilarating dive was experienced at Taputa Pas in Tahiti. When diving recreationally, John’s enjoys underwater photography.
John fulfills a myriad of roles at Float n’ Flag, the most important being Director of Training. John is always available to assist with any or all classes and can also be found on the floor where his background and expertise are invaluable when working on the sales floor. Behind the scenes, John manages the documentation of all training programs and the production of any required certification. Finally, when called upon, John also assists with equipment repair, handling and storage.
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Michael Matthie
 Michael comes to Float 'n' Flag with over a decade's dive experience. In 2000 Michael changed from a skydiver to a scuba diver, finding it easier to climb back into a boat than an airplane.
Michael is a Saturday addition to the shop. With experience concentrated on drift or current diving, the Niagara River and Chippewa Creek are familiar and favourite dive destinations for one of the shop's newest staff. Michael enjoys seeing the smile on a new diver's face when they "see how cool diving is."
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Amanda Sway
 Amanda moved from the world of lifeguarding to scuba diving in 2001. Her love for the underwater environment grew from the moment of her first open water dives at Gulliver’s lake.
After progressing through the PADI program to Rescue Diver, Amanda decided that she preferred to teach scuba diver over swimming. She completed her Divemaster program at Playa del Carmen, Mexico and returned to the same dive center in order to become a PADI instructor. With a background in several specialties, her educational goal is to become a Master Scuba Diver Trainer.
Most of her local diving tales place at Gulliver’s Lake, Innerkip and Windmill Point. Her interest in photography draws her to her favourite Caribbean destinations, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, Mexico, with their abundance of sun, sand and scuba.
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Andrew Orr
 Andrew certified as a diver in 1995 in the frosty waters of Lake Superior in Sault Ste Marie, taking the course as a resume builder, which at the time he felt would assist in becoming a firefighter. Once Andrew started diving he was hooked and soon began moving through the courses in order to become a Divemaster. He began doing search and rescue diving up in the Sault, which resulted in experiencing some very interesting situations, conditions and locations.
His future plan is to complete the IDC training program and become an instructor for the shop. It’s true what they say though, a bad day of diving is better than a good day of work. Andrew is very happy just getting out and getting into the water.
His favourite diving has been in Curacao. The great visibility permitted the viewing of all types of sea life. The shore reef of the resort allowed him to snorkel over a wreck during the day and dive it at night.
Earlier this summer, Andrew began working at Float n’ Flag, filling tanks, cleaning gear, getting students ready for open water courses and helping on the retail side. It has proven to be very enjoyable and a great learning experience.
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Sharon Fenton
Sharon is a late bloomer when it comes to diving, but is making up for lost time. Sharon became hooked on diving upon experiencing the brilliant colors of reefs and reef fish during her first open water class. In addition, the sighting of 3 white tip reef sharks and a Manta ray proved to be a very cool experience.
Sharon never thought that she would enjoy diving in Ontario but discovered that she loved the challenges of the climate and local environments. Since Sharon dives every week throughout the year locally she can be found at the shop a couple of times a week getting air fills. Sharon’s favourite local spot is Tobermory because of the cool clear water and well preserved ship wrecks. Her favourite Caribbean destination is Bonaire because it is an island surrounded by spectacular reefs and devoted to scuba diving.
Sharon is a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer Instructor and enjoys teaching many of the specialties, including Deep and Wreck Diving. Her favourite course to teach is Rescue Diver because she enjoys observing the graduates gain confidence in taking care of themselves and others. Sharon also enjoys helping new divers develop a comfort level in the water and assisting at the Wednesday fun dives at Gulliver's.
Sharon is married, with 4 children and 1 grand daughter. She is looking forward to the time when her granddaughter is old enough to be introduced to her passion, diving.
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Felicia Kostecky
When Felicia was a little girl she saw a special on TV featuring Jacques Cousteau, on the Calypso, diving into the Belize Blue Hole. At that moment, Felicia decided that diving was something she wanted to experience when she grew up. She dreamed about diving for years and eventually became a diver. With her first breath taken underwater in a pool, Felicia’s passion for diving was born.
Felicia finds diving fascinating, exciting and especially fun. Every free moment she has is spent underwater or in the classroom, both as a student and an Instructor, with each experience teaching her something new about the world of diving.
Felicia is a PADI IDC Staff Instructor, a HSA Handicapped Scuba Instructor and an Emergency First Response Instructor. She is certified to instruct many specialties, to numerous to list, and is currently working on her Master Instructor rating.
Felicia’s favourite dive sites include basically anywhere underwater, but does admit to a love drift diving.
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Jared (Jerry) Gateman
Jared accomplished his diving goal to become a PADI Instructor in September 2008. Since then he has taught several courses and specialties for Float N’ Flag dive center.
His favourite Ontario diving spots are found in the Brockville area due to its warmer waters in July through September plus the variety of wrecks and drift dives to be experienced in that section of the St. Lawrence River.
Jared’s true passion for diving takes him down south and he smiles at being called a warm water diver. The southern dive sights visited include the Florida Keys, Nassau, Cuba, San Andres Island, Roatan and Aruba.
Married with two grown children who both enjoy diving, Jared is a self employed Chartered Accountant who, when not diving, enjoys road trips on his Harley, working out at the gym and completing little construction projects around his home in Burlington.
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Angus Warner
It was a 1993 Christmas Holiday in the Grand Cayman Islands that started Angus’ PADI SCUBA journey. Four days after his arrival in Cayman he completed his Open Water Diver Certification and his PADI experience began. At this defining moment, his affection for aquarium life expanded to the up-close experience of viewing brilliant colours, live creatures and warm waters of the underwater world.
Angus’ journey to become a PADI instructor and Master Scuba Diver Trainer has been a pleasant experience and one he fondly speaks of on a regular basis. As a PADI instructor, he given the opportunity to introduce Open Water student-participants to a leisure sport activity that delivers an outstanding adrenaline rush combined with the calming effect of gliding effortlessly in an unfamiliar environment.
Angus is not a huge fan of diving in cold water, and his local diving is limited to the shore of Gulliver’s Lake and some shore diving in British Columbia. His international diving experience is much more extensive, including Bermuda, Bonaire, Cozumel, Grand Cayman Islands, Great Barrier Reef and St. Martin to name a few.
Angus is an avid proponent of preserving our reefs, often heard saying “Take only pictures. Leave only bubbles.”
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Paul Finch
Paul has been a PADI professional since 2003 and is currently an IDC Staff instructor at Float N’ Flag. He holds numerous instructor specialty certifications, including cavern diver, and enjoys teaching divers at all levels from Open Water to Instructor Candidates. Paul really enjoys the energy and excitement of new divers, those enhancing their range and capability through continuing education, and those moving to professional level certification.
Paul holds PADI Master Scuba Diver certification and is also Full Cave Certified through NSS-CDS. There is not much diving Paul does not enjoy, and he is active throughout the season both at home and abroad. Locally, a few favourite dives include the Forest City and Arabia at Tobermory, and the Rothesay and Daryaw at Brockville (two very different dives). Further afield, Paul enjoys diving the Caves and Keys in Florida, Utila (CJ’s Drop off and Pinacles) and Belize (Pillar Coral Canyons and the Elbow). Dives beckoning include cave and open water diving in Tasmania and somewhere (anywhere) in the South Pacific J.
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Trevor Kutcy
Trevor began his dive career while on a holiday to Cuba back in 2002. He was immediately enthralled with the opportunity to explore an underwater environment that most people only dream about.
Trevor progressed through the PADI ranks to become an instructor in June, 2010. He feels that his dive education has just begun and is a life-long process as long as he dives. His love and passion for diving translates into a desire to work with new divers and to share his experiences with more certified divers to assist them in becoming more knowledgeable.
With a strong attraction to wreck diving, his favourite dive sites are, locally, the Arabia in Tobermory and, abroad, the RMS Rhone, Tortola. His wreck diving dreams include a trip to the south Pacific, possibly Truk Lagoon, in order to explore the remnants of the Japanese fleet sunk in WWII.
The peaceful tranquility of diving which enables one to focus on the dive of the moment allows Trevor to dream about one day living on an island with its slower pace, being able to teach diving and to lead divers on underwater adventures.
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Mark Cline
Mark has been a scuba diver since 1979 and has hundreds of dives under his belt. With dive experiences across the Caribbean, Mexico, south east Asia, Hawaii and Canada, Mark has been able to experience some of the most enjoyable and interesting dives available. As a long term Float N’ Flag client, Mark decided to re-certify as a PADI open water diver in 1999 and continued his PADI training over the following years, reaching Instructor status in 2007. Mark continues to thrive on the excitement of diving, the enjoyment of helping others as they embark on and continue their diving education, but mostly, he enjoys the pure FUN of diving.
Mark is a PADI Open Water Scuba Diving Instructor, with certifications to instruct various speciality courses and is an Emergency First Response Instructor. He is currently working on his Master Scuba Diver rating and plans to continue his educational journey to becoming a IDC Staff Instructor.
Mark’s favourite dives include the Niihau dive in Kauai Hawaii and the Manta Ray dive in Kona Hawaii, the amazing waters of Sipadan in Malaysia, diving in the Cenotes (fresh water caves) in Cancun, Mexico and of course diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Mark’s first preference is warm water diving, but generally enjoys diving anywhere and anytime. Another favourite dive spot is the Aldershot training pool, it’s nice and warm and always full of fun, excitement and new experiences.
Mark lives in Burlington and is married with three grown children who all enjoy diving, and is a self-employed IT Consultant who, when not diving, enjoys playing squash and, like Jerry, also enjoys road trips on his Harley.
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Mike Tokarchuk
Mike is known in the Float n’ Flag community as “Mr. Buoyancy” for his work in the Peak Performance specialty course.
Mike began his diving career back in November, 1992 on a very cold and snowy open water weekend. He progressed through the PADI levels to become an Assistant Instructor in April, 1996. As previously mentioned Mike is a Peak Performance instructor as well as an Emergency First Responder instructor and also has many specialty certifications.
Recreationally, Mike enjoys Northern Ontario historical diving, Great lakes wreck diving, quarry diving and East Coast wreck/scallop diving. Mike’s additional claim to fame in the diving community is that of an underwater pumpkin carving artist of great expertise.
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Chris Bridgman
Chris was inspired to dive due to living on Georgian Bay. Once certified, he enjoyed exploring the thousands of island found throughout Southern Ont. His desire to continue his dive education lead him to Float n’ Flag where he became an Open Water Instructor in 2010.
Chris has been fascinated about underwater landscape. During his undergraduate fourth year, he focused on shore design projects and the integration of scuba diving into provincial and national parks. His Honours thesis dealt with “underwater design”. Chris is very passionate about conservation and the protection of our water systems both in Canada and around the world. He enjoys educating others on global issues that impact our lakes, oceans and eco-systems in negative ways.
When not diving in Canada, Chris enjoys travelling and diving various underwater landscapes including such sites as the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The lure of Georgian Bay is still very strong and Chris often finds himself exploring the dark waters of the bay and the many lakes in the area.
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Brad Bamford
Brad has been diving for the past 10 years, having originally received his Open Water and Advanced certifications through NAUI while he was living on the East Coast. Since moving to Ontario, he has continued his diver education by completing several of the PADI specialty programs. Currently, Brad is in the process of becoming a Divemaster.
He enjoys the opportunities to dive the many wrecks of the Great Lakes; however, Brad is particularly passionate about diving with the large pelagics, having recently returned from a shark diving trip to the Bahamas.
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Ross Dowrie
Ross’ interest in diving was sparked when he saw aerial shots of the wrecks found in the clear waters of Tobermory. Wishing to have the opportunity to explore these wrecks more closely, Ross enrolled in the Open Water Dive program offered at Float n’ Flag. A passion for wreck diving was born and as you can probably guess, Ross’ favourite dive site is Tobermory, where the depth of the wreck is not an issue, whether it lay in10 feet of water or 110.
Ross continued his dive education and is currently a certified Divemaster. Ross enjoys working with new divers and wishes to pass on to them the same positive experiences that he enjoyed from the instructors at Float n’ Flag. With always a smile on his face and a positive outlook, Ross is a most welcome addition to any dive and to any class.
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Andrew Richardson
Andrew began his diving career while vacationing in Hawaii in 2005. He credits his interest in diving to watching Jacques Cousteau on television. He completed his Instructor course in 2011 and thoroughly enjoys assisting with various courses. Leading a dive trip in 2009 to Tobermory for Open Water Divers is the highlight of his professional career to date, and he's back this year again. Andrew primarily dives in local waters and enjoys year round diving. Andrew holds specialty diver certifications in deep, night, and enriched air and is an experienced dry suit diver. Andrew always looks for ways to encourage new divers to enter the sport. Andrew is also a Leader with Scouts Canada and has been working to help bring scuba to Scouts Canada for several years. He particularly enjoys teaching youth divers.
Andrew is married and has three children. His wife Gennine, and his elder two children William and Nicole, are all avid divers. His youngest Miranda has a few years to wait but is looking forward to trying snorkelling. When Andrew is not busy with his family, diving, or Scouting, he works for BMO Financial Group in Toronto.
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