Awareness and serendipity can lead to very exciting and uplifting changes in one’s life. New business owner Michaela Chinn took advantage of her passion and skillset when she purchased Sail Fish Scuba and relocated to the Florida Keys from North Carolina last December.
Established in 2012, Sail Fish Scuba is a PADI 5-star scuba diving center and is located in Key Largo at MM 103, bayside. Their dive boat, “Deeper,” is located directly out back of the storefront and travels through Adam’s Cut to the oceanside.
Chinn discovered Sail Fish Scuba was for sale online when she and her husband, Tarek Salem, were driving back from a diving vacation in Key West. Chinn saw the listing in January 2024, checked it out in March and closed in December.
“What are the things that make me happy? How can I combine my love of people and the ocean?” were questions Chinn considered when exploring this career change. She graduated from Duke University with a degree in nursing and worked the bedside oncology night shift for years through COVID-19. She was ready for a change.
“The patients made me want to keep going, but I thought this was something that I could keep going for in the long term — physically. I reached a boiling point where I wondered if this was enough for me,” she said.
Originally from Egypt, Chinn’s husband Salem is a master dive instructor with more than 30 years of diving experience. He first inspired Chinn to pick up diving as a hobby. When Chinn left her nursing job, he left his corporate banking job. They had visited Key Largo and Key West on several dive vacations and considered the Keys “their happy place.” Her first ocean dive was in Key Largo.
“Our first conversation was ‘Do you scuba dive’? And she was like, ‘no.’ And that’s actually how we started — our mutual love of the ocean and conservation,” Salem said.
Salem taught Chinn that it was a restorative, out-of-body adventure — calm.
“It’s not an auction — you do not run around. The ocean moves to you,” he said. “The ocean will come under you, around you, the marine life will come to you. The serenity of it.”
“You don’t know what you’ll see,” Chinn added.
She shared what she loves best about the dive community and the shop.
“When you meet another nurse, we talk about nursing — immediate connection,” Chinn said. “I know what you’ve been through and we connect on the same things. The diving industry is like that, too — connecting with people and their interests. I love talking to customers and getting to know them. People return because of that connection.”
In addition to offering certifications in snorkeling and scuba, Discover Scuba Diving or Discover Snorkeling is a great way to learn before committing.
“You don’t want to commit, but you want to see what the hype is all about,” Salem said. “Then, if you like it, let’s take a class, and if not, check it off your bucket list. There is a level of commitment with the classes, gear and travel, so you want to know if it’s for you.”
Sail Fish Scuba takes smaller groups (up to 14 divers) and runs two trips a day — each includes two dives. They run from North Key Largo to Islamorada and try to tailor the trip to the guests’ wishes, keeping in mind the guests’ certification and the weather. Underwater photos are also included with every trip.
“The dive instructors and also the dive community are super helpful. We get to talk to everyone on the boat, and you find people jumping in to help you. We want people to enjoy their time with us,” Salem said.
“There’s a popular saying in nursing (that) ‘Nurses eat their young.’ Here, it’s the complete opposite. All of the dive shops are the most welcoming people,” Chinn said. “We have a contact group to help each other — team-oriented.
“It’s been very rewarding — I get to see the sun and the ocean. It was an easy ‘yes,’” Chinn continued.Visit www.sailfishscuba.com to learn more. Trips are offered Wednesday through Saturday. Connect on Facebook and Instagram @sailfishscuba.
