JGW - Tube of You
Check out our YouTube Channel to catch a glimpse of our community, courses, & trips!
chris cheezem
The captain of this ship and founder of this band of misfits is the man, myth, and legend, Chris himself. It all started in 2018 when he had an idea to build a community around freediving and spearfishing that was fun, welcoming, and a little sassy. He began his underwater journey spearfishing in Florida and the Bahamas as a kid, which led him to study Oceanography and join the Navy where he drove ships and then became a Deep Sea Diving Officer. He now is an Instructor Trainer and the lead captain for our spearfishing charters. One of his favorite experiences was hearing an earthquake while freediving
derik rush
Derik is our Shop Manager from Colorado living in San Diego, and does everything under the sun: rigging, sales, instructor, spearfishing guide, photographer, editor, etc. He’s been with Just Get Wet for 3 years, and started his diving journey through spearfishing. Spearing introduced him to freediving and he now has several certifications under his belt: PADI Freedive Instructor, Molchanov Freedive Instructor, and SSI Level 2. His favorite thing he’s seen while diving is schools of 80 lb Groupers in remote areas of Baja because who doesn’t love big fish? When he’s not in the shop, he is diving off of La Jolla or going out east to ride his motorcycle.
brittani eaton
Brittani moved from the East Coast and has not looked back. She is truly a Jack of all trades and enjoys biting off more than she can chew! She is a Molchanovs Freediving Instructor and you will see her instructing classes, spearfishing, helping out on the boat and more. She fell in love with freediving from her dad who threw her into the water before she could walk. She has her Bachelor's degree in Marine Science and studied everything from bioluminescent plankton to tagging bullsharks sharks for NOAA. Her favorite thing to see diving is of course sharks but her favorite memory was during one of her deepest dives she got to dive with the Sperm Whales. Talk about the ultimate freedivers! When she isn’t diving she is taking her van out camping, surfing, and of course, conquering another hobby!
nathan minatta
Nathan is our filmmaker/editor, camera guy, freediving and spearfishing instructor, and captain. He is from Colorado and has been with JGW for four years. He first found freediving in Hawaii and through North County Depth Finders and combined that with his passion for filmmaking. He loves both freediving and spearfishing equally and is a Molchanov Wave 3 Instructor. His favorite underwater experience is being vortexed by blue fin tuna. When he is not working he is still working, resting, diving, skateboarding, wakeboarding and snowboarding.
gretchen beehler
Gretchen is our aquatic swiss army knife of JGW. Is there anything she can't do? You'll see Gretchen around the shop, out on the boat, and anywhere she can yap your ear off. Gretchen grew up freediving the Great Lakes and has been a competitive swimmer since she was 5. She is currently working towards her Wave 3 Molchanovs Certification and hopes to one day take over the world. In her free time, Gretchen is also a surf and underwater photographer. Her favorite ocean memory is when she lived out on Catalina Island and got to swim offshore with 6 blue sharks that were feeding on a dead whale. And yes, she will tell you all about it.
charlie de la rosa
Charlie has become the king of the line dive. Fearlessly leading our crew out to the canyon and back to the hot dogs, Charlie is an experienced spearo and and excellent teacher. As a Wave 3 diver he has been an incredible assistant on many of our classes, and guided many first time spearos to their first fish
Hannah Brown
Hannah has pursued freediving and training unlike most out here. With multiple trips to Mexico training with the likes of Harry Chamas and Carlos Coste, she has put in the hours and the meters to master all things deep. With her background as a lifeguard, she has added an incredible safety component to our community and even was the head of safety for the Cortez Cup competition
Jay Marin
Jay has been diving with us from the start, and after spending dedicated time in Mexico was able to reach some serious depth. He is an avid spearo and gets on every boat that's heading to the islands in search of fish
FAQs:
Diving stuff
About our courses / charters / trainings:
The course starts with online materials you will get ahead of time. We recommend you study these, and take the Fundamentals of Frenzel program. This has been a massive help for new students, as equalization is typically the biggest challenge.
The course starts with theory, where you will learn the science and reasoning for what we do, how and why. In the pool we will do some static breath holds, as well as dynamic swims (swimming underwater for distance) where we will help improve form, and get used to breath holding under water.
After the pool we will do the skills session in shallow water. This is where we will get familiar with the gear, develop equalization and duck dives, and work through the rescues.
The final depth session has nothing new added, we just take the skills we've learned throughout the class and go a bit deeper with them. On weekend classes, the depth session will end in a cookout with other divers in our community who are out training!
We typically do these on weekends, so we do a Friday night classroom session (5-7PM), Saturday morning pool (0645-0930) and Saturday afternoon shallow water session (1030-1400) all in Mission Beach. Sunday depth session is at La Jolla Shores from 8-11 (or 7-10 during the summer)
First and foremost…you don’t have to pass everything in one weekend. You have a year to knock all the requirements out, and our focus is to be here to help you along that journey as it often takes a few sessions to really settle into the sport, and the environment.
Regarding schedule:
The biggest component of this course is the ability to relax underwater. If you have experience swimming, snorkeling, surfing, etc that is a huge help. We have had a lot of students train with Deep End Fitness, and in only a few sessions their comfort and confidence in the water has increased exponentially, and they've performed extremely well in the class!
Usually…no. I get it. I surf, I have multiple surf suits and I did not want to buy a freediving suit. The thing with freediving is that we are sitting on the surface for 90% of the time, making no movements and generating no body heat because we’re trying to slow our heart rate down and relax. Additionally, the first time you shiver your relaxation completely dissolves and your oxygen consumption goes up 300%. In my mind, you’ve paid good money for this class and having a wetsuit that is too thin ruins the experience.
Confidence in your abilities, comfort in greater depths, and a community of local freedivers who are eager to improve and want to do that with you. You also have the opportunity to earn a certification. If you hit all the pool requirements you will get a Lap certification, and if you hit all the open water requirements as well you will get the full Wave certification.
We will start with a theory session in the classroom where we will cover gear, regulations, hunting techniques, and safety. Then we will take the boat to the Coronado Islands, do some target practice, dive with the gun and develop fish ID, and finish off with some hunting! It's a very full day, and the best way you can get into spearfishing. Note, must have taken a freediving class in order to take the spearfishing class!
Yes, it's a safety and liability thing, but more than anything it gives the entire group comfort knowing that everyone else they are diving with is properly trained in safety procedures. You need to hold a certification (from any agency), or if you have taken a course with us but not passed you can book a refresher session to be paired up with an instructor. These can be found under the Group Line Diving page.
We do not, but our close friends at Oddysea Adventures do and we can not recommend them highly enough!
Our standard courses as well as our spearfishing charters have a minimum age of 16. However, we do offer kids freediving courses now! Age groups are 8-11 and 12-15, each with courses designed specifically for their stage of development.
Yes. Give us a call with the specs of what you need.
Other stuff
About our shop and community:
YES! They won't tell you about us even though we've given them a ton of content, but we still love them. In an older sibling type of way, maybe a step sibling.
Masks, snorkels, dive weights, weightbelts, Riffe, Leaderfins, noseclips, all the fixins for a freediving buoy set up, a couple wetsuits(Riffe, Beuchat & Omer), and Riffe spearguns and accesories to include floats, float lines, dive knives, fish stringers, and many more.
Chris, usually.
First rule about Fightclub... don't talk about fightclub.
