Todd Yarbrough, SCUBA Instructor Instructor



Todd Yarbrough teaching an open water
class in the pool



Todd Yarbrough is a PADI Master Instructor and Course Director operating out of the North Florida region.  He has been teaching people to SCUBA dive for over ten years, and is responsible for introducing thousands of people to the water.  In 2012, Todd continued his education in SCUBA by attending a Course Director Training Course in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and earned the ability to teach others to instruct SCUBA.  Since earning this rating, Todd has passionately pursued seeking out others who are interested in sharing the underwater world with others.



Hovering

 Todd's diving started in Nacogdoches, Texas with the divers at Diver's Depot.  Classes were held at Stephen F. Austin State University by Sally and EK Sowell.  After diving with them for three years, he moved down the road to Lufkin, Texas and met
his mentor, Gerald Conner.  Gerald ran a small store and was extremely customer oriented in his business model.  Todd spent countless evenings pouring over materials in the back room of Gerald's store, "The Dive Shop."  At the end of this, Todd became a SCUBA Instructor.

Todd and Patti hanging out in Maui

All of this led Todd to a degree in psychology, permission to teach Scuba, and a need for a job.  This started the longest dry spell of his life.  After a year of teaching school and two years doing construction, Todd moved to Panama City Beach.  This offered the best of both worlds, construction was booming, and the best shore diving site around was right down the road.  Todd built houses, did repairs and dove constantly.  This was where he met Joe Yount, part owner of the Dive Locker.  Joe knew Todd was an instructor, and introduced him to the others at the store.  After about a year of diving and playing around, Todd started teaching.  In the first year, he taught almost 200 people to dive, and began adding classes to the list of things he could teach.  In the years since, Todd has been expanding his knowledge of the underwater world, delving into areas that push and expand his limitations.  His newest hobbies include technical, mixed gas diving spending extended times underwater and pushing his maximum depths.