This week’s special guest on the popular Facebook Livestream DIVETALKS, orchestrated by Divesoft, is president of RAID International, Paul Toomer. Toomer has had a lengthy and successful diving career which includes establishing his own training agency, diving historic wrecks all over the world, and working in written and film media. Be sure to tune in this Thursday, July 2nd at 1 p.m. EDT, to hear more from this titan of the diving world!
Originally from South Africa, it wasn’t until Paul moved to the south of England in his 20s when he first became interested in diving. He was immediately hooked by the sport changing the course of his life by setting up his own dive center in London just months after his first dive. He then rapidly progressed to Course Director, and later pursued his passion for technical diving mainly using a rebreather.
From there, Paul moved to technical dive training and expeditions and created the company, Diving Matrix Tec Lab which set the benchmark for advanced diver training. His career continued as the Direction of Technical Training for SSI, where he wrote diver and instructor manuals. Now he is proud to be the president of RAID International and thrilled his work has assisted so many divers in receiving better and more comprehensive training.
In addition to these many accomplishments, Paul has also dived wrecks and caves all over the world, including deep ocean wreck dives. Some of his more well-known expeditions include dives to the HMS Hampshire, Vanguard, and Royal Oak in Scapa Flow. He has also dived a number of Italian and Phoenician amphora wrecks off the coast of Italy and Malta, as well as Polish, British, and American WW2 wrecks. It’s no surprise Toomer has been featured in various dive magazines from Submerged to Tanked Up, and has provided dive support and assistance for the film industry.
There will be many topics to go over this week on DIVETALKS, airing Thursday, July 2nd at 1 p.m. EDT. Paul truly is an intriguing character, and we recommend asking any questions you might have for him in the comment section while watching the livestream. From rebreathers to dive shows to becoming a diving entrepreneur, Paul will do his best to answer anything and everything. Follow the link HERE on Thursday. You’re not going to want to miss this show!
