About Us

Jim Abernethy has been in the diving business in Palm Beach County as a charter boat operator and scuba instructor since 1981. He has an amazing enthusiasm for diving and spreads that enthusiasm to everyone around him. In 1994, Jim purchased his first dive boat and started Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures, Inc. (JASA), One year later he added a second boat and for the next four years he continued to run local dive charters in Palm Beach while also leading dive trips to land based and live-aboard destinations throughout the Caribbean.

In 1999 JASA expanded by adding a third day boat and a 12-passenger live-aboard boat. A dream come true for Jim as he would now be able to spend an equal amount of time in their two favorite dive locations, Palm Beach and the Bahamas.

Our friendly, professional and knowledgeable staff is what sets us apart. With a staff of over twenty dedicated individuals, we look forward to sharing the best of Palm Beach and the Bahamas with you. Whether you're an "old salt", an occasional diver, or brand new to the sport, we're sure you'll enjoy our diving adventures with our trained captains, instructors and dive masters who are there to insure you have a great time.

Jim is proud of the way JASA has grown and look forward to continuing to provide the very best in diving adventures, in a safe, professional, and fun environment.

JASA is committed to the environment and works closely with organizations that have the same goals and objectives. That is to protect our oceans by educating divers and non-divers on how precious and sensitive they and their inhabitants are. Whether it is turtles, sharks, or the general heath of our waters, we believe that all need our help to survive so they can be shared with the next generation of divers.

Our Staff

Jim Abernethy – Owner

When Jim started snorkeling in the bathtub, his parents took him to the ocean, at the ripe old age of 5. He hasn't’t gotten out since. He got certified at the age of 14 and has now been diving in the Palm Beaches and the Bahamas for over 30 years. We’re all certain he grew gills.

A Florida Native, he has been in the dive industry as a captain, scuba instructor and dive boat operator since 1981. The ocean and its creatures are his passion. He dives almost everyday, and each day is like his first. Jim has a vast knowledge of the ocean and it’s inhabitants, especially the ones here, in his own backyard.
His love and overwhelming enthusiasm for the ocean flows over to everyone around.

You’ll never forget a dive with Jim; he will inspire you. He films every dive he does, so he can show others just how beautiful and exciting diving can be. And lets face it; you never know what you might see.
His video footage has been seen on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Animal Planet, CNN and many local Florida stations. He has a passion for sharks, turtles and manatees and works diligently with numerous agencies to protect them.

Jim’s hobbies other than diving is flying in the “Over-Sea’r”, his amazing Flying Inflatable Boat. Yes, it’s a boat that flies. He enjoys spotting mantas, dolphins, sharks, turtles and anything else of interest to our divers. It sure is great having our very own spotter plane!

Nicki Shumway

Nicki has become an integral part of our operations here at JASA. Juggling office duties with Shear Water bookings her professionalism always shines through. Nicki comes to us from Michigan State University (MSU) where she received degrees in both marine biology and environmental biology. Her passion is the ocean and all its lovely creatures, but her favorites are the sea turtles and manatees. She has worked as a manatee researcher for Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. She has also worked as a sea turtle reseacher in both Florida and Costa Rica. Nicki's worldwide wildlife experience stem from the rain forests of Costa Rica to the rich, frigid waters of southeast Alaska.

Brian Cripe

Brian joined us for the summer of 2004 after leading a trip during spring break for his college (MSU) dive club where he assisted in the scuba classes and programs. He had such a great time, we recruited him for the summer. He now works with us full time and has made Florida his second home. He's a great guy, great diver and you will enjoy spending time with him. Brian loves u/w photography and along with Jim, shoots with a Canon digital camera in a Sea & Sea housing. He is also very knowledgeable like most of our staff in the different types of marine life found in our area and the Bahamas and enjoys sharing that knowledge.

Christina ‘Cris’ Williams

Cris started working with us in June of 2007, but had been diving with us long before that when she worked at a local dive shop. She graduated from FAU with a BS in Marine Ecology. She has done internships in Key Largo with the Marine Lab and was part of the FOS research dive team. With her IFAS Master Naturalist certification she is definitely the one to talk to about all the local wildlife both above and below the ocean. You can normally find Cris running the office or as a dive guide on our Palm Beach dive boat. Her bubbly personality is sure to make your experience at JASA very enjoyable. We are very fortunate to have her in our family.

Lazaro Ruda

Once a faithful customer, Laz joined the JASA team. He quit his day job as a web designer to pursue his love of diving. He is now officially a certified dive bum. Laz is extremely talented in underwater photography as well as "Mr. Fix It" when it comes to computers. You will find Laz running around between working on our web-site, guiding on Deep Obsession, or as a crew member on the Shear Water. His love for the ocean is evident by the smile you find on his face whether he is on, in, nearby or writing about the water! We are so lucky to have him a part of our team.

Jim Harris

Jim started diving in the 60's before BCDs. He took a long surface interval and became a PADI professional in 1994 and has been teaching all levels of SCUBA training up to and including Assistant Instructor, as well as several DAN courses. Jim comes to us from Danbury, Connecticut (originally from Hewlett, Long Island) where he was employed full time as a Facilities Engineer and electrician in a computer industry supply company in Brookfield, CT. He was the senior instructor in Pan Aqua Diving's Connecticut store since 1996 (that's because he was the oldest one there). Through his tenure at Pan Aqua Diving, Jim was able to travel around several islands in the Caribbean and also to Fiji, his favorite dive site. Jim still loves to bring the underwater world to new divers and also to train divers in specialties. However, he is not doing any more ice diving classes! "Diving is one of my true passions and it was difficult to pursue my dream in the northern climate. The only option I saw was to go for it and leave it all behind and move to paradise. I am so fortunate to be able to chase my dream and to share it with others." When Jim's not working on the boat you can find him playing ice hockey (in Florida!) somewhere.

Matt Wade

Matt was a regular on our Palm Beach boats long before he joined the JASA family in the summer of 2008. He is an extremely talented individual and his long list of certifications bares truth to this. Before getting involved in the dive industry Matt worked as a food and beverage manager at Breakers hotel. The lure of the beautiful reef just outside his window at work was apparently too much. While working with Deep Six dive shop in Jensen he attained his scuba instructor certification, ran the local dive club and did equipment repairs. He put diving on the back burner a couple of years later to go to fire academy and EMT schools. While he awaits employment as a fire fighter we are fortunate enough to have Matt working with us here at JASA. His kind and helpful demeanour is a welcome addition and a true testament of his professionalism.

Janine Dunick

Janine began diving the reefs of Palm Beach back in 1987. She began working with Jim Abernethy when he was with Seapro and at Three Little Devils dive charters. After a long absence from diving, during which time she had four wonderful children, she has returned to the JASA family once again. Janine was the inspiration for the name of one of our beautiful reefs here in Palm Beach — Janine's Ravine. When she is not busy working in the office she is out fun diving on our boat or out snorkeling with her kids.

Wade Walcher

Wade comes to us from Freeburg, Illinois (near St. Louis, MO.) He has worked for Blackbeard's, Aqua Cat Cruises, and Lost Island Voyages. While serving in the US Navy, Wade cooked on board a submarine. About five years ago, Wade jumped into the dive industry with Blackbeard's, not even knowing how to dive. Soon after, he became certified, and now enjoys the dive industry.

Zach Nolan

Zach is a multi-talented individual which is why he fits in with us so well. Zach has been diving with us for quite some time, first as an instructor with Deep Six Watersports in Vero Beach and now also as dive guide in Palm Beach. Zach is now also captaining our local day boat for us too. He has a great sense of humor, loves to be around people and loves the water.

Grey O'Hara

Captain Grey was with us for quite some time as a captain on both Shear Water and Deep Obsession. His skills, professionalism, and detailed story telling (along with his Frank Sinatra-like singing) are in a league of its own. While he has gone to pursue his love of helping others as a fire fighter he has promised us he would return from time to time to join us on our Shear Water and Palm Beach boats.