About Us
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All staff at DiversOnly.com are members, and together we have over a hundred years of diving experience. While we all have different things to contribute to the site, it is our passion for the sport that unites us and we are absolutely dedicated to making sure our members get the most out of their experiences. We are all friends, too, and we look forward to meeting all of our members and making them part of our diving family. Please feel free to contact any of us with any questions, suggestions or ideas you may have. We are here for you! |
Charlie Goehle
Charlie is the leader of our merry band of divers. Along with his father, Paul, he started DiversOnly.com from scratch when the two weren’t busy running their air conditioning business. Like Keri, he is a bona fide Florida Cracker, and grew up on the water – fishing at age two from his grandfather’s boat. He got interested in diving after looking at his father’s underwater slides when he was a child.
After receiving his underwater certification in 2001, he has gone on to become a certified Dive Master, and he plans on taking his technical classes this summer 2009 that will take him all the way to Trimix and cave. He’s been to quite a few Caribbean islands, but his passion is diving wrecks and exploring the springs in North Florida with his son, who is also in the process of getting cave certified. His dream trip would take him to Bikini Atoll.
Charlie dives using OMS, Dive Rite, Apex, Aqua Lung and Mares. He always uses a back plate and harness system whether he’s diving with duals or a single tank, he feels it is the most streamlined and comfortable way to dive. You’ll never see him breathing anything but Nitrox that is until he takes his Trimix classes.
When he’s not pursuing his favorite past time under the sea, Charlie likes to sing country music – once winning a karaoke contest to go sing at the Motown café in Orlando. He is involved with Community Theater, too, starring as Daddy Warbucks in Annie, the Lion in The Wizard of OZ and Zack in A Chorus Line. He’s worked some pretty interesting jobs in his life, once as a repo man and once as a bail bondsman. Oh, and his favorite food? You guessed it – sushi!
Charlie loves to talk with other divers about their experiences, and members will find Charlie helping out with everyone’s jobs to make sure it all gets done and everything is the way our members want it to be.
Paul Goehle
Paul is Charlie’s dad and co-founder of DiversOnly.com. A graduate of the now defunct Alva High School, Paul moved to Lehigh Acres from Buffalo, New York when he was 11 years old. In 1972, when he was a senior at Alva High, his senior class planned a trip to the Bahamas. Paul and his friends wanted to scuba dive when they were there, so he got certified from the original owner of Underwater Explorers – Ed Korzep. In those days, diving was still in its infancy, and Paul remembers diving with a ‘horse collar’ instead of a BC and feeling very high tech because his back plate was shaped to fit his back – as opposed to most back pieces which were simply hunks of plastic. Almost immediately after becoming certified, Paul bought himself a boat to dive off of and has spent the last 35 years diving the Florida Keys and the Bahamas.
Paul is open-water and Nitox certified, and will shortly complete his advanced. He dives with a Dacor hub, Ocean Tech wetsuit and a ‘gauge reader’ mask. While he loves the waters of the Florida Keys, his dream trip is to dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Paul will be taking care of the office and the day to day operations at DiversOnly.com. Having been part of this site since its inception, he is looking forward to seeing it continually evolve as our members contribute to it. When not working or diving, he spends his topside time playing golf or fishing, and he’d be happy to offer fishing tips to our members that want them!
Rich Gornick
Rich is in charge of marketing for DiversOnly.com. He will be visiting the restaurants, resorts, dive shops, charters and night life and anywhere divers like to go to find out if we can get those places to advertise on the website so the whole membership will be able to take advantage of all the great places to visit. Of course these places give DiversOnly.com member discounts on their trips!
Rich hails from NW Indiana, near Chicago, and came to Lee County in 2005 after vacationing for several years in Bradenton and Ft. Myers. Working at the steel mills, he was tired of the dreary weather where he lived so, when his father moved here, he found a sales position and relocated to his new home in the sun - where he intends to stay until he retires.
After meeting Charlie, Rich was turned onto the best thing about living in Florida – diving! Now he is hooked, and says we should all encourage a friend to join the sport. He is open water certified and is going to class for his Nitrox and Deep Water certifications now. He loves diving in the Keys but he’s looking forward to getting wet in the Caribbean – diving the reefs and walls of Grand Cayman and Cozumel.
Rich loves the water, reefs, fish and wrecks. He can’t wait to dive with our members, and promises to make sure we have the right places on line so the fun never stops!
Chris Kovaz
Chris is the photographer for DiversOnly.com. Born in Gainesville, Florida, Chris moved to Fort Myers at the age of nine and began diving when he was twelve. Influenced by seeing videos that his father took on diving trips, Chris became interested in underwater photography at a young age, too. His portfolio is extensive and includes shots of teeny nudibranches up to great white sharks!
He holds certifications in rescue diving, nitrox, wreck diving and underwater photography. He shoots with a Canon 1DS Mark II with a Sea Cam housing, using Ikelite 150 and ion z240 strobes. He has been all over the world in pursuit of his passion – to places like the Florida Keys, Fort Lauderdale, Honduras, Bonaire, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Bahamas, Grand Turks, Cayman Islands, Galapagos, Fiji, and Belize. His work has been published in Bonita Living and Florida Sportsman magazines.
Chris dives with all ScubaPro gear. He also has a custom mask fitted with prescription lenses.
He says that his favorite thing to shoot is macro photography – anyone seeing a pigmy seahorse will earn themselves a drink at his expense! If anyone is interested in his photos or courses, be sure to shoot him an email. He is excited about joining our team and can’t wait to get to know everyone.
