ABOUT US Meet the J&T Dive Shop Staff

One of two people who made this store popular back in 1973. I was certified that year and worked until I became an Instructor the following year. My favorite place to dive is Norfork's Gypsy (probably because i've been there so many times) and my greatest accomplishments are introducing thousands of people to the world of scuba, and working with Jacques Cousteau's son Jean. As the beginning of the three generations of divers for my family, its a wonderful thing to watch other families fall in love with the sport.

Keith Sharp is the son of the store opener Terry. With two daughters and a beautiful wife, Keith has a full family of bubble makers and can help your family grow gills of their own. 

My diving career started when a friend of mine came looking for a dive buddy and of course i love being in the water, doing water sports like fishing and skin diving, so the idea of scuba diving definitely interested me. My friend pointed me to J&T Dive Shop in Jonesboro. I was certified for open water in 1995 and after that i was hooked. I completed my Master Scuba Diver certification in October of 1997 and then went pro in July of 1998 when I completed the divemaster course. After four years I realized I wanted to do more. I finished my IDC course and became an instructor in December of 2002. I am now currently a Master Scuba Diver Trainer and I'm loving every minute of it. My greatest enjoyment in the class is watching the student's eyes light up after taking their first breaths underwater through the regulator.

Open water certified in June 2015. A short 4 years later I received my Master Scuba Diver and Divemaster certifications. I am proud to be a part of J&T diveshop, and look forward to many years of introducing others to the underwater world.

I started diving in Feb of 1981. I received my Dive Master in 1988. And have been a PADI Instructor for several years now. I absolutely love the sport. It has provided me opportunities to travel all over the world. The Philippines, Japan, and all over the Caribbean. I absolutely love being underwater. I also very much enjoy turning people on to my diving passion.

Todd Reed is one of our part time instructors while he is working full time in Tech. He has a great kid and takes great care to make sure new divers feel they know anything and everything about the class and gear they will be in contact with. Todd can certify up to a Master Scuba Diver so be looking for him on your way up the ladder. 

I was certified as an Open Water diver in 1988 by JT dive shop. Up until that time I had spent a lot of my youth in fresh water lakes and rivers around northern Arkansas snorkeling with one of those cheap dive masks and no fins.A little over two years ago my wife and I decided to get back in to diving in a big way. First we updated all of our equipment, then we updated all of our training with specialties we were interested in. We both went on to obtain our Master Stuba Diver certification and I decided to move up the ranks even more until I became an Open Water Scuba Instructor. As far as my favorite PADI specialties, Underwater Navigation is really important, but I do like to go DEEP as well.

My dive career began in 2018 with my open water certification. From there I continued to move up the PADI ladder with my Divemaster certification in early 2020 and becoming an Instructor in 2021. The rescue diver course has been my favorite so far. It really gives you added tools to become a more efficient and aware diver. There are many places on my “diving bucket list” at the top is the Silfra Fissure in Iceland.

My dive experience started with my Open Water Certification in July of 2018. Since then, I have received many specialty certifications, culminating in receiving my Master Diver, the highest recreational certification. This inspired me to make the move to becoming a professional Dive Master, which I received in September of 2019. I plan to begin my Dive Instructor training in the spring of 2020. Diving has become a whole-family activity. Our two younger children and my wife are working to become Open Water certified. Our son plans to continue on to the Advanced Diver course right away. We, as a family, love spending time in the water. It’s a great way to destress after a long week or spend a long weekend discovering new dive sites. Mermet Springs, Illinois, is our favorite place to dive inland. We have dive trips planned for Cayman Brac and Belize in the next year. Our dream is to dive the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia. Of all the classes I have taken, the most interesting and useful class was Rescue Diver. It presented challenges I had not considered and helped me to be more prepared as a diver in general. I highly recommend this as a certification.

Scuba diving is something my family enjoys doing together. We have traveled to many places and have made very good friends diving. I enjoy helping others to learn to dive and hope they will enjoy it as much as I do.

Steve became Open Water and Advanced OW certified in 1983/84, at J&T Dive Shop. After not diving for some time he started back in 2018, at the age of 61. Since then he has earned the certification of Assistant Instructor. In the process he has become a Master Scuba Diver with 7 specialty certifications (working on #8). His motivation is the love of diving. Steve wants to pass the love of diving onto others and help people get back into diving.

Favorite Dive : The next one!

Advise to others: Start or get back into diving and continue your education.

I became open water certified in 1995 and became a dive master in 2010 and an assistant instructor in 2018. I decided to turn pro as a diver because I wanted to share my love of diving with others and help alleviate some of the nervousness experienced by new divers and always try to help them have fun experiencing this fantastic sport. As far as dive sites, I love Morrison Springs in Florida and Grand Cayman is fantastic.

I became Open Water certified in the spring of 2006 and completed Advanced later that year. I earned my Divemaster certification in the fall of 2008. I am an EFR Instructor and Equipment Specialty Instructor. I also hold the rating of PADI Master Diver.

Madison is part of the three generations here at the store. Terry being her grandfather and Keith being her dad made it obvious what her favorite hobby would be growing up. She claimed her first certification at just 8 years old. Madison is one of our newest Dive Masters as well as our store manager. When customers contact us, Madison is usually who they will talk to. All of the videos you've seen have been put together by her so ask any questions you may have!

I was certified in July of 1998. My entire family dives which makes each site that much more special to me. I decided to go pro so I could help others enjoy the underwater world, not to mention it's the family business. My favorite places to dive would be crystal river in Florida or the Bahamas as of right now. My most exciting dive would either be the shark feeding dive with my girls or the dive I saw the largest turtle in the bahamas on. My favorite class that ive taken so far was Open water. It was super easy for me since i've spent my entire childhood in the water, being under the water for the first time was amazing. 

I first obtained my Open Water Diver certification in May of 1992 with Crystal Coast Diving Adventures in Jacksonville North Carolina. I continued the professional diving course to eventually obtain Divemaster in June of 2019. My favorite scuba diving course has been Deep diving. Planning a singular task while aware of the possible risks and completing your task while safe and enjoying your brief time at depth is exhilarating  whether at 60 feet or deeper depths. My deepest depth thus far has been 117 feet at Mermet Springs, Illinois. Followed closely by Night diving.