Kim MurrayRecreational Training, Travel, Kids & Family Program Director
- Highest Dive Rating Held: Assistant Instructor Trainer / Advanced Nitrox & Deco
- Affiliations:
- Contact/Social:
Kim Murray's Gallery:
Background:
Kim fell in love with diving during a try scuba session in Curaçao—it was included in the all-inclusive resort package, and she figured “why not?” The moment she surfaced, she turned to her travel partner (already certified) and said, “Dammit, now I’m going to have to get certified… and I blame you.” Twenty years later, she works full-time in diving—and he dives occasionally. So yeah, it worked out just fine.
She paid for her first open water class and referral dives with blackjack and poker winnings, which sparked a short-lived rumor that she used to be a professional gambler. (For the record, she wasn’t—but after years of teaching preschool and kindergarten, she figures it’s a similar risk profile.)
Kim’s passion is teaching. She lives for the moment a student takes that first breath underwater, especially the ones who struggle at first but go on to become confident, capable, totally bad-ass divers. While “it’s just scuba” is her go-to mantra, she has a soft spot for teaching kids. To her, diving is more than a sport—it’s a way to build life skills like problem-solving, personal responsibility, and teamwork in an environment that feels like play.
She loves all kinds of diving—from pelagics to muck—but more than anything, she loves diving with people who just get it. Like the time in Socorro she spent 30+ minutes hovering over a field of sand and starfish with a group of divers who were perfectly happy to float and wait… just in case. (They were later rewarded with a juvenile humpback whale, and Kim is absolutely convinced it was karma.)
Favorite Dive Site:
Ask Kim to pick a favorite dive site and you’ll get a polite nope. Even narrowing it down to a location is tough. Outside of New England—which she genuinely loves—her top three are:
-
Socorro, where she decided to become a dive pro while surrounded by mantas and magic
-
Saba, which left such an impression that even breaking her arm hiking there didn’t ruin it
-
Indonesia, for the kind of mind-blowing biodiversity that resets your expectations for what diving can be
Each one represents a different part of her journey—and she’ll never get tired of talking about any of them.
Favorite Creature:
Kim will be the first to admit that picking a favorite marine creature feels impossible—there’s just so much to love. She’s had unforgettable encounters with octopuses in multiple locations (they're smart, curious, and frankly better problem-solvers than most people), but if she had to pick, it’s the flamboyant cuttlefish.
They’re tiny, a little grumpy, and kind of look like disco-colored mini rhinoceroses. When they get fired up, they stomp around changing colors like living rave machines. What’s not to love?
Favorite Certification Course:
Kim has a few favorites when it comes to teaching—and she’s not picking just one.
She loves rescue because it’s where everything clicks: students go from focusing solely on themselves and their buddy to understanding the bigger picture of dive safety. Watching that confidence and awareness grow is incredibly rewarding.
Search and recovery is just plain fun—an underwater treasure hunt with a purpose. Lifting lost objects off the bottom? Yes, please.
And then there are the pro-level courses. Helping divers discover the joy of sharing their passion, guiding others, and becoming mentors themselves—that’s what it’s all about for Kim. It’s the full-circle magic of diving education, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Goals In The Dive Industry:
Kim teaches because she believes diving should be fun—and fun comes from feeling confident and in control underwater. At East Coast Divers, she’s proud to be part of a program that develops divers who are competent, comfortable, and excited to keep diving long after their certification card arrives.
Her goal? Train as many instructors as possible who share that mindset—who believe that good buoyancy, trim, and propulsion aren’t “advanced” skills, but core parts of being a safe, capable diver from the very beginning. No more teaching on knees. No more treating buoyancy like an afterthought. Just better divers from the start.
Also, sitting at a desk made her itchy and twitchy. So she chose the ocean instead—and hasn’t looked back since.