Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Cheezem.
Chris, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Growing up in Florida I was always in the water. From playing Marco Polo in the pool to wakeboarding, fishing, and eventually Scuba and freediving, I was always happiest in or on the water. My love for the ocean led me to study Oceanography at the Naval Academy, drive ships for the Navy, and then go to Dive School and become a Deep Sea Diving Officer.
While in college, I took a freediving class, and it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. The more I pursued freediving, and the more time I spent in the ocean, the more I built a relationship with it and wanted to take care of it. As my years of diving went on, I saw first hand how the fish were getting smaller and fewer, and I wanted to do something about it.
When I got stationed in San Diego, I went out freediving a couple times by myself; I didn’t know anyone to go with, where to go, or what to expect. When I got out in the water, it was so murky that I could barely see my hand in front of my face, which made me even more uncomfortable. After a few attempts, I decided I didn’t like the cold, murky water, and I would pursue surfing instead.
The problem was that I missed diving. I knew how important it was, and I saw how, even though I was surfing frequently, my relationship with the ocean wasn’t as intimate. I decided I wanted to figure out when the water would be clear and good for diving, but there was no information on this topic, so I had to figure it out on my own.
I started logging buoy and weather data every day, make my prediction, and then I would walk down to the OB pier and drop a Secchi disk in the water to see what the actual water clarity was. Over time I started to figure out what affected the conditions, and I started posting my reports.
Over the past year, I realized that conditions weren’t the only thing that was keeping people from diving. This knowledge was gained through talking to more people that wanted to hear me, asking endless questions, and competing in startup pitch competitions where my idea would be challenged from many different angles.
What I learned is that we all crave community, but diving especially is a sport that heavily depends on having a buddy. When I realized this, my friends encouraged me to start a meetup group for snorkeling and freediving in San Diego, and this is one of the things I am most proud of.
This group has shown me how many people are interested in exploring themselves and the ocean via freediving, and their enthusiasm and support has increased the amount that I dive and strengthened my own connection with the ocean and my own self.
Has it been a smooth road?
This has not been a smooth road, both from a personal and business standpoint.
Personally, I left a successful career in the Navy that would have provided me with all the security and income I could ever want. I strayed from the military path, and more recently the more corporate path as I decided not to take a formal internship in my MBA program, choosing to pursue DiveViz instead.
The level of anxiety and self-doubt has been crippling at times… many times. But worse than that anxiety, is the sadness of believing fully in something yet not acting on it.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
The goals of DiveViz include inspiring passion and stewardship for the ocean through freediving, forming a welcoming and accessible freediving community, and providing visibility reports and forecasts.
We are the only freediving meetup group in San Diego. We know that there are lots of people interested in exploring the ocean and themselves through freediving, but there is a lot to know, and it can be an intimidating sport. We want to make you as comfortable as possible, no matter what your level is.
We love to take first-timers out for an introductory snorkel, just as much as we like to teach freediving courses and invite divers out to our practice sessions where they can push their depth limits. We want to give you the opportunity to be comfortable enough that you can unlock the potential you are naturally built with.
DiveViz is the only website in San Diego that provides daily visibility reports, as well as the only platform in the world to develop a visibility forecasting algorithm.
It is truly amazing that no one has done this before, and it will encourage people to get in for a dive the way that surf forecasting platforms have encouraged surfers to go out when the waves are good.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
San Diego is absolutely perfect for DiveViz. We are sports and active lifestyle brand, a community built around the water, and also a bit of a tech startup with our forecasting algorithm. San Diego is very similar in that it is an eclectic combination of all these unique attributes, and supports them all.
Having La Jolla in our backyard is an added bonus, as we can hop in the water without the need of a boat and see some of the most incredible marine life just a short kick away from shore. Specifically, as freedivers, this means we can start hitting some serious depth without the need of a boat, which is very rare.
I think that San Diego is the perfect place to start a successful business that has not only a great culture but also a positive impact on the community and the environment. The city is hungry for new startups and entrepreneurs and is throwing everything it can into that community.
This has resulted in a powerful network of entrepreneurs and many supportive organizations and events to strengthen the thriving startup scene here.
Pricing:
- Freediving Fundamentals Class – $295
- Freediving Instruction plus Freediving with Whale Sharks in La Paz – $1000
Contact Info:
- Website: www.diveviz.com
- Email: chris@diveviz.com
- Instagram: @diveviz
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/diveviz
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
