Captain Bill Cole was having a blast on Hammerhead Reef, 60 feet deep off Fort Lauderdale. Clutching his new iPhone underwater camera housing, the owner of Sea Experience, one of the most popular dive operations in South Florida, was drifting along the coral wall shooting photos of the reefs regular residents. A four-foot-long green moray eel slithered out of its cave and all but posed for him, grinning tooth-fully at the lens. Schools of reef fish held still for their shot. Spiny lobsters crawled out into the open and waggled their antennae. Today the neighborhood was full of obliging subjects.

Swimming alongside I was having a blast watching his reef show unfold, glad to accompany him on this busman’s holiday. It was obvious that after more than 40 years as a scuba diving professional, and now a Guy Harvey Outpost Pro guide– Bill Cole still loves his job.

“I just like the weightless, peaceful feeling about being underwater,” he said later. “So relaxing and enjoyable.”

Cole became captivated by the sport during his honeymoon to the Cayman Islands in the 1970s. He and his new bride watched a landing craft picking up scuba divers on the beach, decided they had to try it, and loved it. With its vibrant sea life and warm crystal clear waters, they spent the rest of their Grand Cayman honeymoon underwater. That Guy Harvey calls Grand Cayman his home came as no suprise.

On return to Atlanta where Cole was working on an agricultural engineering degree at University of Georgia thanks to a football scholarship, he enrolled in a physical education class that offered scuba training. By the time he graduated, he was a certified scuba instructor and with his wife, headed to South Florida to pursue his newfound passion. He co-founded Pro Dive International and operated out of Bahia Mar Resort on Fort Lauderdale Beach, building it into a major scuba training and instructor certification operation. In 2002, Cole launched its successor, Sea Experience, also at Bahia Mar, and today it continues as a full-service dive headquarters that offers training, certification and job placement at every level from open-water diver to instructor to resort operator.

Sea Experience is also a retail and repair shop and off Ft. Lauderdale Beach, runs daily scuba trips aboard a 45-foot catamaran as well as snorkel excursions aboard a 40-footer.

Cole, a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed charter captain, enjoys running the scuba trips. Sea Experience is approved by the state of Florida to train military veterans, and several of those trainees are now employed at the shop. The shop is also an active supporter of SUDS (Servicemembers Undertaking Disabled Scuba)–a non-profit that trains wounded veterans to dive.

Cole never tires of his time running scuba trips. “I love it on the dive boat when you have divers from different places and on the way back, they’re talking and sharing experiences,” he said.

And though he never worked as an agricultural engineer, his degree comes in handy all these years later, he adds casually.

“Having an engineering background is useful”, he notes. “After all, it’s a boat, so something always needs your attention. It certainly comes in handy that I majored in being a jack of all trades.”

Questions for Capt. Bill Cole

Q: What is your favorite type of scuba diving?

A: Mid-reef, 40 to 60-foot drift diving with a camera.

Q: What is your favorite place to eat?

A: The Quarterdeck on SE 17th Street. That was the first place we ate when the pandemic ended. The atmosphere–you can sit outside underneath a giant tree. Music playing and the food’s good too.

Q: Where is your favorite place to dive?

A: Truk Lagoon in the central Pacific. Just the history and being able to dive the wrecks. You can see pictures of them before they were sunk and then you go down and check them out.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do when you are not diving?

A: I like gardening. I like being outside.

Q: If you could go anywhere in the world and money were no object, where would you go?

A: I’d just cruise through the Bahamas and just play.