Meet Mia Daponte, New England’s youngest female Master Scuba Diver and Scubaverse.com’s latest blogger!

Hi, I’m Mia DaPonte, and this is my first blog! I am New England’s youngest female master scuba diver. I did my training in Jamestown Rhode Island and I’m 12 years old.

I’m also black belt in karate, and I also play soccer, basketball, and love to race my sailboat named “Beluga”. My journey to become a master diver was amazing, not all of it was easy but with the help of my friends and family they supported me so much.

When I turned ten years old, I wanted to scuba dive for my Birthday. After learning diving in the cold murky waters near my home, I wanted to start my training for this Master Diver certification. I met my instructor Seamus on my first day of diving. He was a very good influence on me and always supported me. He taught me everything I know about diving.

I also got to go to new tropical places and dive for fun. We went places like Puerto Rico, Punta Cana, Bermuda, and Bahamas. For the first time I could see far. I saw stingrays, lion fish, coral reefs, tropical fish, and lots of other animals. My favorite animal that I saw was an octopus.

Finally, it was time for my certification trip. The trip came so fast, and I eventually succeeded. In February, I went down to Cozumel Mexico and went diving at Blue Angel Resort. To get my certification, I had to do a deep dive of a max depth of 60ft, and I had to do rescue training. I also had to do an online e-learning test to qualify for this certification.

On the first day I only worked in the pool to practice and perfect rescue techniques for the next day. It was fun putting the online learning to reality. The first part felt harder than the second because I didn’t have as much room in the pool as the open ocean. On the second day, we did it in the ocean. It was hard for me to do the rescue breaths, and bring the adult diver from the bottom of the ocean to the surface. But I was able to do it after hard work.

Cozumel was a lot of fun. We made so many friends down there and hope to see them again. Diving down there was truly magical. I can’t wait to go back someday.

After hard work and dedication, I was able to achieve this accomplishment. It took me 2 years of studying and practicing, but in the end it all paid off. I can’t wait to share my next adventure with you.

by Dave Alexander

I love dive shows.

From a business perspective, they’re perfect; not only can I catch up with my existing customers, but I can also introduce myself to prospective new ones—all in one place.

However, after 19 years in the industry (and with no current signs of escape), dive shows aren’t just about empire-building for me anymore. In fact, it’s getting harder and harder to empire-build, because I always end up spending about half the show just catching up with friends. And I love it.

Earlier this month though, as I walked the floor of Go Diving Show 2025, looking around at a sea of familiar faces, I noticed something that alarmed me: everyone was going grey. And some, who I will not name here, had maybe even gotten a little bit wrinkly.

And then it dawned on me: divers are a dying breed.

How has this happened? Well, that depends on who you ask.

Some say young people these days are more interested in cataloguing one-and-done experiences so they can document them on social media and then move on to the next adventure. The cost of starting a hobby like diving is also daunting to young people, as they simply don’t have the disposable income enjoyed by previous generations.

Others say the industry itself doesn’t do enough to encourage young people into the sport, with the finger often pointed in the general direction of the training agencies—the organisations that some say should be leading the charge. There may be some truth to this. However, I don’t think the responsibility of this task lies purely on the training agencies’ shoulders; I think everyone needs to pitch in if we want new blood in diving.

Which brings us to Mia DaPonte.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a lady named Jill, who told me all about her daughter’s journey to become a PADI Master Scuba Diver. Mia is just 12 years old. We ran a press release about Mia’s story last week on Scubaverse.com, which you can read here.

Mia is the youngest female in the United States—and one of a very small (single-digit) number globally—to achieve this elite diver status.

So the question is… how do we get more Mias?

Well, firstly, let’s celebrate the first one.

PADI – you have a golden opportunity here. Make Mia your latest Ambassadiver and get her face and her story in front of as many people as you can. Get a press release together and send it out to as many news outlets as you can. Send that press release to as many schools as you can. Shout from the rooftops about Mia as much as you can, because her story will inspire more people her age to try scuba diving.

Manufacturers – you should be falling all over yourselves to sponsor this girl. She’s a Master Scuba Diver at the age of 12—she’s clearly serious about diving and will no doubt continue her diving journey over the coming years.

A journey, I’m delighted to announce, that will be documented on Scubaverse.com. On Monday, we will be publishing the first of an ongoing series of blogs written by Mia about her diving adventures. Welcome to the Scubaverse family, Mia!

So, back to new Mias.

To anyone reading this article, I say this: Scubaverse is here to support all young divers. If you have a story about someone like Mia who is just beginning to embark on their own diving journey, we will publish it for you. And, if—like Mia—they would like to blog about their journey too, Scubaverse would be happy to publish them.

To the industry at large, I say this: let’s grab this moment by the horns, people. It’s time to start cultivating the next generation of divers. The future is in our hands – so let’s grab it.