Sharkman aka (Ridlon Kiphart)

First off, what is your gear?

10 year old SeaQuest Explorer BC with several thousand dives on it, wireless Suunto D9 with ti bracelet – sweet! Aqualung Mikron reg, Aqualung Slingshot fins – these are awesome – whatever wetsuit that isn’t completely worn out. I’ve got a closet full.

Camera Gear?

Nikon D700 in Nexus housing. 4 Inon Z240 strobes. ULCS arms. Hartenberger light.

What is your position?

CAO – Chief Adventure Officer. I love finding the most kick ass diving adventures on the planet. I’m also the head gear guy and I love gear so that’s pretty cool.

What is the best part about doing what you do?

Adventuring all over the world with cool people. It’s a feast for the soul and a hell of a lot of fun!

What are your favorite places to dive?

That’s our list of diving destinations!  They are all awesome in their own way.

What’s the origin of your nickname?

Sharks rock! They are these graceful, powerful and mostly misunderstood prehistoric animals. Sharks are just way cool and diving with them is somewhere between Zen and an adrenaline rush. They are also being slaughtered by the hundreds of millions worldwide. That’s why we started a non profit foundation to do something about it or else your kids are never going to see one outside an aquarium. And that would suck!

Best dive ever?

Surfing a 45′ whale shark solo. I figured out that if you can get your whole body about 12 inches over the top of a whale shark’s giant head that you’re in a bit of a slipstream and you can kick relatively easily and still keep up. The two of us cruised together up the reef and out in the blue for 25 minutes. After a while, other sharks like hammerheads and oceanic black tips started swimming up alongside us. It was freaky wild to have this enormous living, breathing being right under me. For a moment, I felt like I knew what it was like to look through a whale shark’s eyes.

Where are you from originally and where are you now?

Originally? Texas, and yes I still love my cowboy boots. We have an awesome log home in Montana and are there maybe 60 days a year. The world is home now.  I’m looking for a beach house.   Email me if you know of one with amazing diving!

Do you even remember your first set of dive gear? What was it?

I bummed dive gear for soooooo long. A friend lent me a US Divers BC & reg and a Dacor computer. There’s a pic on my desk of me on my 4th open water training dive – man did I look like a dork.

What is your greatest adventure dream?

Going into space would be amazing – and I am not talking about any of this “astronaut altitude” junk but real orbit. Meanwhile, I’d go for mach 2+ in a jet fighter. Back on the earth, I’d love to do the Jacques Cousteau thing – get a ship and sail around the world exploring the Ocean. Taking rebreathers down to 200′ and seeing what’s down there. There’s still so much left to discover on our blue planet.

What adventure jobs have you had?

  1. Founder, Ocean of Hope – Charitable non profit for Ocean Conservation and Education, worldwide
  2. Founder, Global Dive Adventures – Worldwide, upscale guided dive travel
  3. Senior Tour Director, Tauck World Discovery – US, Central America, Europe
  4. Senior Dive Director, WindStar Cruises – French Polynesia, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Fiji, Tonga, Niue, Cook Is, Red Sea.
  5. Watersports Dude (Director) Ocean Quest – Honduras, Belize and Mexico
  6. Trapeze Artist – Circus team, Club Med, St. Lucia
  7. Windsurfing and Sailing Instructor at Club Med – Cancun Turks & Caicos and the Dominican Republic