495 Easton Rd - Route 611 - Horsham PA 19044 - (215) 672-4180
STORE HOURS: Monday - Friday 1:00 - 9:00 · Saturday 10:00 - 6:00
ABOUT US
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Mike Guckin
Tim Macrone
Jeff Guckin
Mike is the owner of Underwater World,
having taken over the business in 1978. Mike started diving in 1965 and became
certified in 1966. As a YMCA Instructor, Mike taught scuba at Penn State in
1968 and in the military from 1969 - 1972. After leaving the military, Mike
became a NAUI instructor as well as retaining his YMCA Instructor certification.
With over 40 years teaching experience, Mike is the senior instructor at
Underwater World and has taught several of the current instructors on the
staff as well as several of the owners of other dive stores in the area.
Mike is a NAUI Course Director and is the President of the Delaware
Valley Scuba Retailers Association. Mike is also an avid pilot with a commercial, multi-engine,
instrument and flight instructor rating. Mike has one son, Jeff, who is also a Divemaster and a pilot,
as well as a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard and is presently serving overseas.
Nancy Fisher
Nancy came to Underwater World in
1989 to work as a bookkeeper and secretary. Today Nancy's job has
evolved into the huge task of keeping all of us in line. As well
as handling all the bookkeeping duties, Nancy now handles the
processing of all c-cards, maintaining the instructor files, setting course
schedules, co-ordinating with our facility partners, handling travel details, and
keeping us from spending too much money. As a sounding board, Nancy gives us the
female prospective on things. (That means that she makes us keep the bathroom
clean.) No, really. As a women and an occassional diver she is a valuable asset to offset
those of us who can sometimes be a little too enthusiastic. With her ever-cheery
disposition, Nancy also keeps the morale up and profanity down.
Nancy is also the Treasurer for our Scuba Club, the Aqua-Nuts.
And her organizational skills have been put to the test organizing
the Fall Festivals that we had run at the Adventure Aquarium, the dive club picnic, and the Aquanuts
annual Holiday party. Nancy has two sons, Ryan & John.
Tim has been diving since 1999. Since his first dive he has
been hooked. If he isn't working at Underwater World, you can find him
at a SCUBA repair seminar, a SCUBA show, or at Dutch Springs diving. Tim has become a real expert and a
great source of information about dive equipment, even equipment that we do not sell. He is an Aqualung Master Technician,
and there aren't very many of them around. His technical knowledge of equipment is unsurpassed by anyone in this region. Tim
has just recently completed his NAUI Instructor Training Course and is now one of our staff instructors.
Tim has led two trips to Guadalupe to dive with the
GREAT WHITE SHARKS.
Tim has assisted Ed during a bunch of Bonaire trips and is a real expert on Bonaire. Now as an istructor, he can run the Advanced Scuba Diver Course during the
trip, leaving Ed free to soak up the sun, like everybody thinks us trip leaders do all week. Tim also has dove in Jamaica, the Bahamas,
North Carolina, and in Playa del Carmen. We hope to see Tim take over my position when I grow up and get a real job, as my
parents always hoped I would. With his diving
experience and sales expertise, he can answer any questions for you and his suggestions
will help you feel more comfortable in the water.
Being the son of Mike, Jeff has been around diving all his life. He has grown up
surrounded by some of the most experienced divers around. He has
been to Bonaire nineteen times, twelve as a diver, but will unfortunately be oversees with the National Guard
during our August
2009 trip. Jeff also was on the 2004 Australia and Papua New Guinea trip where he
got to experience diving with the Minke Whales and sharks. Jeff has chosen to begin the
leadership courses required to become an NAUI instructor and will be teaching
SCUBA courses in the not-too-distant future. Being around the business for so long, Jeff knows how it works and
where he can find the answers to help a customer. He will try his hardest to fulfill
a customer's needs and make diving an enjoyable experience for all who are willing to
take the plunge. Jeff recently graduated from Marywood University in
Scranton. He will be deployed until about January, 2010, so we won't be seeing him in the store for a while.
Jeff also holds a commercial
pilot license as well as an instrument rating and multi-engine rating. He hopes to fly corporate jets as a career
when he returns.
Underwater World Instructors
Jeff Smith
Bob Miracle
Jeff started diving in 1972 when he took one of Mike's Scuba courses at Hatboro YMCA. Jeff later became one of Mike's
assistants and is presently the second
most senior instructor at Underwater World. Jeff has been an instructor for about 30 years. (Between Mike, Jeff
and Bob, they probably have more teaching experience than
the entire staff of any, and possibly all, the other dive stores in the area. Jeff has his own heating and air conditioning
business, (J.A Smith Heating and Air Conditioning) and is probably the most organized instructor I have ever worked with.
Jeff is a NAUI Course Director and was the regional representative for the YMCA Scuba program. Jeff is also a DAN Instructor
and teaches most of our First Aid, CPR, and Oxygen Courses. Jeff is also one of our trip leaders and has done a number of trips
to the Pacific. Jeff has two sons and is married to Ada Staal, who, herself, is a Scuba Instructor.
Bob Burns
Bob is also one of our long-time instructors. Bob learned to dive in 1977 and became an instructor in 1983. Bob
started his "real" career as a profusionist, someone who runs a heart/lung bypass machine. After spending years in the operating room
during heart procedures, Bob moved up the chain to become a clinical consultant dealing with pacemakers and implanted
cardiac defibrillators. In his diving career, Bob became the most technical diver on our staff. He has made over 50
dives on the Andrea Doria, which lies at 245 feet. He has also dove the USS Norness, the German sub, the U-869, and the
wreckage of the
Texas Tower, which was a U.S. Air Force early-warning radar platform out in the Atlantic. His deepest dive is 350 feet, on
tri-mix, of course. Bob has
also been a U.S. Coast Guard approved boat captain since 1987 and still captains some trips on the Dina Dee off new Jersey.
Bob has long
taught our classes at the Abington High School. He has two daughters, Jamie (a diver), and Lauren.
Barb Hayden
Barb was a SCUBA diver for about five years before she became an
instructor. Now she is one of the best there is. Her students always have great
things to say about her as she turns students in to competent divers. Barb also
teaches an excellent Advanced Course which has turned over a hundred basic divers
into well trained Advanced Divers. Throughout the year
Barb almost always has a class at the Ambler YMCA, one of the most popular
classes taught. She was recently re-elected president of the
AQUANUTS DIVE CLUB with 100% of the vote. Barb really found her adventurous side since finding Underwater World.
She is often seen skiing, rollerblading and biking with a number of other Underwater World divers. She is a long-time
Purdential employee who does software testing for their IT Department. Barb has a
son, Jon, who is also a SCUBA diver.
Ed Guckin
Ed, Mike's brother, has been an Instructor for about three years but has been diving since 1974. He teaches the
Klinger Middle School SCUBA Diver Course and the very popular Warrington Swim Club
SCUBA Diver Course in July. Ed was also the first of the Underwater World staff to get Rebreather Certified and is
currently our only Instructor for the Rebreather Course. Ed has lead our
most popular family trip to Bonaire (August) every August for the last three years and is
scheduled to go back this year. He is always accompanied by his wife, Lisa, and his two daughters, Kelsea and Olivia, both
divers. Ed's full-time job is testing underground tanks (e.g. gasoline tanks). Ed can also be found working in the store
on occasion.
What can be said about a person like Bob. Excellent intstructor, great person, and outstanding personality.
Bob has a way about him that makes learning fun for his students. He is always willing to answer questions
and almost always has a "Bob" story to go along with his answer. Bob can make any situation seem good and
will make sure that you have a great time throughout your diving career. He teaches the
Quakertown YMCA SCUBA Diver Course. He also leads a couple of trips a year to the Bahamas and has recently been
exploring Thailand with thoughts of running a trip in mind. Bob is also a pilot with his own airplane and a helicopter, as
well. Bob and his wife Laura have three daughters and a son as well as a couple of grandchildren. Bob was Mike's bicycling
partner for their infamous bike trip from Valley Forge to Orlando in the Fall of 2007.