Meet the Staff

Sail Fish Scuba Family

Dive Shop Team
This page consists of our Sail Fish Scuba Family, While we work hard as a team to make sure our customers have the best experience possible, we also have fun and enjoy each others company. This is what makes Sail Fish Scuba so successful! Good friends, smiling faces, & creating everlasting memories.

Owners

Chris Kerr

Owner / Captain / PADI MSDT Instructor
When Jen bought Chris his first scuba lessons in 2002, he told her, “I don’t even swim.” “Class starts next week,” she replied. “Learn quick!” Four years later, Jen put their house on the market and said, “We’re moving to Florida. I hate snow!” They became scuba instructors and worked for dive shops in Oahu, St. Thomas, and Key Largo before finally opening their own shop, Sail Fish Scuba, in 2011.

Jen Kerr

Owner / PADI MSDT Instructor
Jen spent years helping other scuba shops build their businesses but that only inspired her to want to open her own dive company. Taking the best of what she’d learned, and adding a few special touches of her own, Jen envisioned Sail Fish Scuba, a small, less-crowded scuba operation where customer service is the highest priority and guests are treated more like family than customers.

Crew

Mike Jordan

PADI MSDT Instructor
Mike was still a Florida State Trooper the first time he came into Sail Fish Scuba looking for two folks who’d been in a traffic accident the day before. (We weren’t hiding them, honest!) “I been diving all my life,” he told us. “But if I wanted to do this professionally when I retire, how would I do that?” Within minutes, Mike was signing up as a DM intern and filling out the paperwork for AOW, Rescue, DSAT Gas Blender, and EANx specialties. So… that’s how he did that.

Tom Simmons

PADI MSDT Instructor
Tom has a Facebook page named Old Guy Diving, but that’s not how we think of him. He runs a couple of miles on his days off and works as hard as anyone on his days on, so we just think of him as another member of the Sail Fish Scuba team. Certified since 1965, a dive instructor since 2012, Tom joined us in the spring of 2018 we haven’t worn him out yet. The only things he misses from his prior life in Virginia are his children (now grown) and his ultralight airplane.

Captain Bill Defries

Captain / PADI Divemaster
Captain Bill takes the helm of our dive boat, DEEPER, most days and our “guest experience” is one of safety and comfort in his capable hands. Introduced to Jen and Chris by a mutual friend, Bill joined Sail Fish Scuba in 2015. A former marina owner and diesel mechanic, Bill’s expertise extends far beyond the fly bridge and makes him a most valued member of our team. Bill is also a Divemaster but, as he says, “Captains are mostly like cats. They don’t like to go in the water.”

Lauren Zelt

PADI Divemaster
Lauren did her first scuba dive in Belize in 2014, and like many new divers, she only got to blow bubbles every couple of years for a while after that. That is until 2021, when she started focusing on advanced certifications, earning her Rescue Diver and Master Diver status. Then she joined Sail Fish Scuba for the summer of 2022 as a Divemaster intern, and immediately proved that she would be a valuable addition to the team. We’re so glad she did, and so are our guests!

Michelle Sanders

PADI Divemaster
Michi began diving in the Seychelles in April 2015, and then extended her diving experience in other exotic locations like Croatia, the Canary Islands, and Catalina, CA. She moved to Key Largo in October 2022, and continued her diver training at Sail Fish Scuba with advanced certifications. Realizing that she wanted diving to become a more important part of her life, Michi became a PADI Divemaster in 2023 and joined our crew at Sail Fish.

Sassy

Shop Dog

Chris and Jen Kerr took in Sassy as a Rescue in 2012. She was a full grown adult and we have had her around the dive shop since it’s opening in 2012. She is officially our dive shop greeter and loves to give hugs and kisses, if you kneel down in front of her.

Rescued Date March 3rd, 2012 – Died February 3rd, 2024.

Colt

Shop Dog
Yup, short for Colt 45, cause this little man is quite the powerhouse! Colt was adopted 30 Nov 2022 at our local Upper Keys Animal Shelter, and has made a wonderful new addition to our STAFF Team. He is a mix of Terrier, Beagle, and Chihuahua. Which makes him what they call a Mexican Pit Bull, not joking! Colt had a real hard start to life before coming into our loving fur-ever home, but he has come 360 in every way since becoming a member of our little family.

Crew Photos

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Fuel Surcharge

FUEL Surcharge Per Person / Per Trip effective as of 1 April 2022

*Rider, Snorkel guest, Scuba guests, Scuba Instruction Students, Multiple Trip Scuba Guests, this applies to each person boarding the boat.

We hope this Fuel Price Spike ends soon, but at this time – this is the only way we can continue to afford to operate.

Notice: As of 29 April 2022, No one is permitted to use any Full Face Mask while on tours with our company for SCUBA Diving OR Snorkeling. * Sorry, zero exceptions to this policy.

If you cancel your booked tour less than 48 hours of your scheduled check-in time OR you are a NO-SHOW for your booked tour, you will be held to payment in full for the booked tour.

Any cancellations more than 48 hours before scheduled check-in time will have payments refunded.

Top Rated on TripAdvisor

A PADI Five-Star Dive Center