Welcome to Green Feet SCUBA
START YOUR ADVENTURE
Dive Like A Pro!
Learn from an Army Special Forces Underwater Combat Dive Operations graduate
& SCUBA "destination" Instructor and divemaster.
Don't Just Learn To Dive... Russell will teach you to
dive like a pro...
Be Fearless Through Confidence...
And Confident Through Training
Who's Russell?
2000 PADI OW Diver
2003 NAUI AOW
SFUWO Military School Graduate, Key West, FL
2015 NAUI/SSI Instructor
2016 Instructor/Dive Master - FL Keys
Free Diver beyond 60'+
Now Teaching NM how to dive like a PRO.
As a father of 6... Green Feet SCUBA is
the Premier destination for kids to learn.
Curriculum
Not all curriculum is created equal.
And not all instructors are created equal.
Working as a rescue diver... and as a destination instructor/divemaster, I see things from a different perspective.
I cannot tell you how many times I had "certified" divers on a boat with me, that had no business being in the water.
It was obvious to me that the shop they got certified at was more interested in getting paid (which means rushing the training and certification) than the actual success and SAFETY of the diver.
If you dive with me, you will be ready to dive at any destination SAFELY without embarrassing yourself or the Green Feet Brand.
If you're a guppie but want to get better. Let's do this...
If you're a guppie and want to stay that way... we'll fix that too.
Training
Keep It Simple...
Practice doesn't make perfect...
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.
As a father of 6... Green Feet SCUBA is
The premier destination for kids to learn
What Does Green Feet Mean?
We strive to build strong confident divers.
At our SCUBA school we teach water confidence from the very beginning.
Green Feet strives for you to be the strongest diver regardless of age. Confident divers make everyone around them more safe.
Helping those who cannot help themselves.
SCUBA diving is a buddy sport. Be the dive buddy you would want.
You can't help others if you can't help yourself.
SCUBA involves risk. Mitigate that risk with proper training.
Bringing families together.
Green Feet originate from the USAF Pararescue or "PJ" community. We ask a lot of our military and unfortunately they are away from home far too often.
As civilians, we can dive with our families and friends, NOT apart from them.
Green Feet brought our family together when Russell met Nicole while stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base in the Pararescue program... and now we want to bring your family together.
Open Water
SCUBA Training
This course provides the fundamental knowledge and skills to SCUBA dive.
Upon successful completion, you are considered competent to engage in open water diving activities without supervision to a depth of 60'.
Prerequisites:
15 years old for full certification
10-14 years old for junior certification - Can dive with a certified parent/adult
Mature enough for activity
Physically capable of activity
Not a Guppie
This course is the foundation for all your SCUBA diving adventures. We will of course focus on the skills necessary basic skills... But we will also prepare your for future skills. Enjoyment comes from confidence. Our goal is your confidence in the water.
No Minimum Standards Mentality Here...
Course outline will be as followed:
At home eLearning - (10 Hours)
Classroom Session - Study the physics and effects of pressure on the body. Remember... "Plan Your Dive, Dive Your Plan"
Pool Work or "Confined Water" - with and without SCUBA gear - (3 hour session X 2)
Open Water Training - with SCUBA gear - (Open Water, 4 dives, Saturday and Sunday)
Gear Required
No Gear Is Required...
All SCUBA gear and wetsuits will be provided.
Students of course will be allowed to try on different styles and can make any purchases during their training if they so wish.
Course Cost - $499
This includes all eLearning modules, gear rental, training both in the pool and open water along with your certification.
This price includes everything from start to finish except hotel and food for any travel required for training.
Advanced
Open Water
SCUBA Diver
A continuing education course for certified divers. This course is designed to introduce divers to a variety of... and advanced diving activities.
Upon successful completion, you are considered competent to engage in open water diving activities without supervision to a depth of 130'.
Prerequisites:
15 years old for full certification
10-14 years old for junior certification
NAUI Open Water SCUBA Diver or equivalent certification
Not a Guppie
Be fearless from confidence,
And confident through training.
This course builds the foundation of your SCUBA diving adventures. We will refine the necessary basic skills... And dive into the more advanced skills. This course will continue to set you apart from the rest of the diving community.
No Minimum Standards Mentality Here...
Course outline will be as followed:
At home eLearning - (10 Hours)
Pool Work or "Confined Water" - with and without SCUBA gear - (2 hour session X 2)
Open Water Training - with SCUBA gear - (Open Water, 4 dives, Saturday and Sunday)
Gear Required
No Gear Is Required...
All SCUBA gear and wetsuits will be provided.
Students of course will be allowed to try on different styles and can make any purchases during their training if they so wish.
Course Cost - $499
This includes all eLearning modules, access to gear, training both in the pool and open water along with your certification.
This price includes everything from start to finish except hotel and food for any travel required for training.
SCUBA Diver Continuing Education
A continuing education course for certified divers. This course is designed to introduce divers to a variety of... and advanced diving activities.
Upon successful completion, you are considered competent to engage in open water diving activities without supervision to a depth of 130'.
Prerequisites:
15 years old for full certification
10-14 years old for junior certification
NAUI Open Water SCUBA Diver or equivalent certification
Not a Guppie
Be fearless from confidence,
And confident through training.
This course builds the foundation of your SCUBA diving adventures. We will refine the necessary basic skills... And dive into the more advanced skills. This course will continue to set you apart from the rest of the diving community.
No Minimum Standards Mentality Here...
Course outline will be as followed:
At home eLearning - (10 Hours)
Pool Work or "Confined Water" - with and without SCUBA gear - (2 hour session X 2)
Open Water Training - with SCUBA gear - (Open Water, 4 dives, Saturday and Sunday)
Gear Required
No Gear Is Required...
All SCUBA gear and wetsuits will be provided.
Students of course will be allowed to try on different styles and can make any purchases during their training if they so wish.
Course Cost - $499
This includes all eLearning modules, access to gear, training both in the pool and open water along with your certification.
This price includes everything from start to finish except hotel and food for any travel required for training.
How It All Started...
Green Feet Swimming... Formally know as "Nicole's Swim School" started in 2013 while Russell and Nicole were teaching their 4 young children how to swim in their parents backyard pool.
Russell and Nicole knew it was super important to teach their children how to swim, but as their family grew they couldn't afford the cost of swim lessons.
This is where it all began! Nicole took her decade plus of gymnastics and diving coaching background and applied it to teaching her own children how to swim. Friends quickly started noticing how well Nicole's kids were swimming and asked for help. That led to more friends and friends of friends.
Despite the growth, Nicole has always made the effort to keep cost down. She understands the financial struggle of young families and multiple children. Nicole wants to help as many kids learn to swim as possible and always wants to make swim lessons accessible to children.
Nicole taught even while traveling full time in a RV for 3 years. She taught lessons in UT, FL, and NC. Through the years she has done group lessons, semi private lessons, and private lessons. She has seen what truly works and created her curriculum around what works best.
Our focus now is to help AS MANY kids learn to swim. The city of Albuquerque has a goal of helping 100,000 kids learn to swim in the next 10 years and we want to be a big part in that. This is no small task, which is why Green Feet Swimming has trained and hired more instructors and has new pool locations to help give more children the opportunity to learn to swim.
Our family owned and operated school now employs 2 of the 6 children Russell and Nicole have. Russell works behind the scenes on all things business while Nicole focuses on the teaching. There is no greater joy than to work side by side, doing good and making a difference, with the people you love!
The Swim School has now achieved a 20 year goal of offering SCUBA!!!
About the owners
A competitive gymnast from a very young age, Nicole reached level 8 by the age of 10, but had to say goodbye to the sport she loved so much after wearing a back brace for 3 years.
She began diving for Albuquerque High her junior year, and found something she could pour her heart into without the severe back pain.
Nicole first began coaching in 2000 when only a junior in high school at the gymnastics school she grow up in. Upon graduation in 2001, she pursued coaching diving for all Albuquerque Public Schools as well as Rio Rancho and Saint Pius high schools. In her 4 years as a high school diving coach, she coached 6 state champions.
After coaching the high school team she was invited by a former Olympic diver, Abel Sanchez, to help coach the women's dive team at the University of New Mexico.
That was not her first influence by an Olympic athlete. Rusty Mitchell was a 1964 Olympic gymnast. He was the first person to ever compete a double back in the Olympics. He then built New Mexico gymnastics from the ground up. As the head coach, Rusty won multiple national championships at the University of New Mexico. Rusty and Nicole's father were long time friends. Rusty passed away recently but he was a mentor to Nicole from the day she was born.
Russell came to Albuquerque in 2003 in the US Air Force PJ pipeline after graduating the Army Special Forces Underwater Operations course in Key West, FL. Earning the coveted "SCUBA bubble", he excelled at all things water and medicine. After graduating near the top of his class in combat medicine, his military career came to an end after an injury.
Still loving the water, Russell now teaches SCUBA as a civilian instructor. He has instructed and divemastered both in the Florida Keys as well as here in Albuquerque.
Of all the sports they love, Russell and Nicole have chosen to pursue teaching swimming. They believe every child deserves to know how to swim and save themselves if ever needed. The standards, work ethic, and passion they teach is evident in the program that they have built together.
What a wonderful first swim lesson we had today! Amazed with the lesson, but overall Nicole the instructor. So patient with my daughter, such a lovely person who is able to just genuinely make your child feel comfortable. She won my daughter over within minutes of meeting her. Super excited to continue these lessons and watch my daughter learn such wonderful tips and tricks. A big thumbs up from us!
• Erica M | Albuquerque
Multiple locations and options!
Conveniently located just south of
I-40 and San Mateo
Now offering classes near Tramway and Menaul
