Our Team

Sam Darling

Retail & Marketing Manager

Sam just celebrated her 1-year anniversary at the dive center as the Retail & Marketing Manager! An avid outdoors and water woman, she’s been SCUBA diving since she was 18 and has an extensive professional background that makes her a general Jack-of-All-Trades. She’s a travel concierge to the core, knows her gear, is an environmental and ocean conservation educator and advocate, and is this team’s multi-tasking guru, so she holds down the fort for the Captains and Crew on the boats at the dive center. Sam is everyone’s Mama Bear and she will probably be the main person welcoming you to the dive center and taking your reservations!

• Favorite Dive Site in the USVI: Currently Eagle Shoal off St. John (but Carval Rock off St. Thomas is a close second)
• Favorite Underwater Wildlife Spotting in the USVI: Eagle Rays (but a shoal of Caribbean Squid is a close second)
• Favorite Beach in the USVI: Salt Pond Beach on St. John
• Fun Fact 1: Sam also has a background in the culinary and beverage world and is going for her Level 2 Cicerone, so feel free to beer nerd it out with her in the dive shop when you visit.
• Fun Fact 2: Sam is a certified Wilderness First Responder, kayak guide, and backcountry hiking/backpacking guide and her latest summit was Mount Kilimanjaro.

Scott Darling

Dive Operations Manager, Dive Instructor, and Captain

You won’t have to look hard to find Scott. He is a wearer of many hats both in the shop and on the boats. As Lead Dive Instructor, Dive Master, Captain, Equipment Specialist, Service Technician, and all-around Mr. Fix-It, there is a great chance you will see him in two places at once! He brings to the shop a long history of gear repair and facilities maintenance, teaching experience, and a love for diving stretching back to the inland quarries of Texas in 2009. While Scott definitely loves looking at fish, he also really enjoys the dive world of lift bags, compasses, plotting grids, and underwater salvage.

• Favorite Dive Site in the USVI: Scott loves to explore NEW sites!
• Favorite Underwater Wildlife Spotting in the USVI: Seahorses! Also, hoping to see dolphins.
• Favorite Beach in the USVI: Abi Beach – you have to work to get there, but it has that amazing post-apocalyptic vibe.
• Fun Fact 1: Growing up in the deserts of the American Southwest, Scott may not have spent much time on boats until coming to St. Thomas. That didn’t stop him from buying his own sailboat, a Catalina 310 named Zorra Marina, and teaching himself to sail. He now has a Captain’s License and loves being on the water whenever possible!
• Fun Fact 2: Do you have a regulator that is not breathing right? Certified to service a wide range of brands, Scott has loved taking and reassembling things for as long as he can remember. Seriously, since he was a child, he has disassembled and reassembled every single mechanical pencil he has ever owned.

Andrew Bloem

Marine Manager, Dive Leader, and Captain

Andrew has been a team member at Red Hook Dive Center since the summer of 2021, where he’s been serving as the shop’s primary Captain aboard Fools Gold, our 40’ powerboat. He started working on dive boats for BSA’s Florida Sea Base in the Florida Keys before moving to Fort Lauderdale, where he continued working for multiple dive shops throughout South Floridaover the next few years.

Since his start at RHDC, his role has grown from Captain to Marine Manager as he oversees our growing fleet of boats, beginning with Fools Gold and our newest addition, Bonus Time.

During his days off, he loves spending time with his wife, Laura, attending Sunday Church services, freediving in Brewers Bay, relaxing on the beach, or hiking trails in the USVI with his puppy, Skipper.

• Favorite Dive Site in the USVI: Pelican Cay north of St. Thomas
• Favorite Underwater Wildlife Spotting in the USVI: Dolphin Encounter at Congo Cay!
• Favorite Beach in the USVI: Santa Maria Bay
• Fun Fact 1: Andrew’s formal education background includes sports medicine and physical education. He can talk about all things college football!
• Fun Fact 2: Andrew is a freelance writer on the side with many published blog posts and articles about traveling to the USVI!

Steph Seebruck

Dive Instructor

Steph has been with the dive shop since May 2023.  She has been diving since 2018 and knew from her first breath underwater that she wanted to pursue a career in SCUBA diving.  She is now a PADI MSDT and couldn’t be happier.  When not underwater, you’ll see Steph working in the retail shop or servicing all your SCUBAPRO gear.

She moved to St. Thomas in September 2022 to escape the frigid cold of Stevens Point, Wisconsin.  Before her diving career, Steph earned her BA in Psychology and Philosophy and worked for many years as a social worker helping low-income disabled adults.  In her free time, she enjoys spending time at the beach, free diving, SCUBA diving, gardening, cooking, crocheting, reading, and spending time with her two kitties.

• Favorite Dive Site in STT: Mingo Pass
• Favorite Fish in STT: Indigo Hamlet
• Favorite Beach on STT: It’s a secret 😉
• Fun fact 1: Steph enjoys traveling and has been all over the world including South East Asia, Africa, Europe, Central America, the Caribbean, and North America.  Ask her about her favorite international dive spots!
• Fun fact 2: Steph loves the Green Bay Packers and is a cheesehead through and through. She also has quite a few fantasy football wins under her belt!

Bryan Leary

Dive Instructor

Bryan has lived full-time on St. Thomas as a SCUBA instructor since 2021. Prior to becoming a SCUBA instructor, Bryan was a Sous Chef at several high-end establishments from South Africa to Canada. His love of adventure and the outdoors, specifically in marine environments, led him to become a PADI SCUBA Instructor and share with the world his love of teaching. Since joining the Red Hook Dive Center Team back in May, Bryan has helped grow our team with a strong focus on teaching/course development and expanding programs available to divers on the island. Bryan began SCUBA diving in 2017 getting his SSI Open Water Certification in Nosy Be, Madagascar while traveling across Southern Africa. Bryan is currently a PADI Master SCUBA Diver Trainer and Emergency First Response Instructor.

• Favorite Dive Site: WIT Shoal for wreck diving and Eagle Shoal for reef diving!
• Favorite Underwater Wildlife Spotting USVI: Nudibranch (Only 3 times to date!) or Pederson Cleaner Shrimp
• Favorite Beach: Neltjeberg Beach on St. Thomas
• Fun Fact #1: Bryan is a USCG Volunteer Search and Rescue Diver in the USVI.
• Fun Fact #2: Bryan’s favorite course to teach is the PADI Wreck Diver Specialty Course.

Gabe Rowell

Dive Instructor

Gabe has been working as a dive instructor since 2020, with over 2000 dives working in the Florida Keys, Bahamas, St. Maarten/Saba, and now St. Thomas. He firmly believes that the ocean is a diverse place that inspires awe, educates, excites, and humbles all at once. His love for the ocean stems from a childhood growing up in the coastal state of Oregon and visiting his mother’s homeland of Puerto Rico often.  Aside from his underwater escapades, Gabe has worked as a backcountry backpacking guide, ice climbing guide, and English teacher. With a passion to educate, Gabe is the guy to talk about all the underwater critters you may find! He loves to hear what you may have seen and will certainly show you the best that St. Thomas has to offer.

• Favorite Dive Site in the USVI: Can you have a favorite?
• Favorite Underwater Wildlife Spotting in the USVI: Caribbean Reef Shark or Queen Triggerfish
• Favorite Beach in the USVI: Wherever the sun is shining and I can find some shade, I’m not picky!
• Fun Fact 1: Gabe is fluent in Spanish and conversational in Mandarin Chinese.
• Fun Fact 2: Gabe has traveled to over 40 countries and lived in 11! He has even trained as a Safari Field Guide in South Africa.

Steve Dobovsky

Captain

Steve joins us from the Land of 10,000 Lakes! He sold everything he owned and bought a 40’ sailboat in the Dominican Republic and has been loving the island life for 4 years now. He started diving when he got certified at 17 and hasn’t stopped exploring. He even decided to get into the profession as a dive boat captain 2 years ago (and also is a Divemaster).

• Favorite Dive Site in the USVI: Arches and Tunnels
• Favorite Beach in the USVI: Waterlemon on St. John. You either have to swim in or go on a short hike. No beach bars or restaurants!
• Fun Fact 1: Steve is a fraternal twin and his brother’s name is Scott- so he responds to that name too!