About US
Joe Liburdi
57 Years Beneath the Sea
Joe Liburdi started diving in 1952, when divers wore twin-hose regulators and scuba lessons consisted of the words, “Blow and go!” In 1966, he founded the Liburdi Scuba School for servicemen in the Philippines. That was also the year he took his first underwater photograph. His images nearly six decades beneath the seas.
Joe’s encounters have appeared in a wide range of publications, including the most popular American diving magazines, Skin Diver, Scuba Diving, Dive Training, and Sport Diver. He has been published in Undersea Journal, Alaskan Air Magazine, the Digital Photographer, National Geographic Diver Almanac, and the list goes on. He has coauthored seven books: A Guide to Our Underwater World, The Underwater Photo Logbook, How to Use Sea & Sea, How to Use the Motor Marine II, The Complete Guide to Sea & Sea, The New Guide to Sea & Sea, and The Complete Guide to the Motor Marine III.
Joe is the recipient of numerous awards of recognition, amongst them the NAUI Man in the Sea award and PADI’s Distinguished Achievement Award for his contributions to the sport of diving. He has been applauded for his 16mm film of Mt. St. Helens’ ravaged Spirit Lake in a BBC documentary called “Legacy of a Volcano”. In 1995 Joe was elected to Scuba Schools International’s Platinum Pro 5000 society for having pulled 5000 dives. But if we’re counting, it’s closer to double.
In 1972 Joe opened his first of three dive shops in the Pacific Northwest.. In 1991 Joe and his sons founded Liburdi's Scuba Center, one of the industry's foremost training and retail facilities and the largest dealer of underwater imaging equipment in Southern California. Joe retired from the retail sector in 2005 but continued to teach underwater imaging and lead photo adventures around the world.
Joe is an industry pioneer. The white hair is testament to a career spanning 57 years. But his enthusiasm for diving and photography keep him young. And now Joe's love of the sport has lured him out of retirement and back into retail with Joe Liburdi's Dive & Photo. He may well be the oldest man to ever open a dive shop. He certainly is the most experienced.
Carl Felien
Director of Dive Training
Carl is Joe’s younger partner. He’s only 72. He is a graduate from Cal State Los Angeles with an advanced degree in electrical engineering and was Senior Engineer at Pacific Bell for 35 years. He retired at 58 and took up diving. To say he liked it is an understatement. He became a PADI instructor at the age of 62. Carl is a PADI certified Open Water Instructor, Master Scuba Diver Trainer, Technical Deep Diver (accomplished at the age of 67), and instructor of 10 specialty courses, among them Navigation, Enriched Air, Search and Recovery, and Photography.
Carl is the consummate training professional, knowledgeable, thorough, compassionate, and devoted to introducing the uninitiated into the sport of scuba diving.
Till he got involved in the dive shop he dove once or twice every week all year round. Owning a dive shop has put a crimp in his diving.
Evan Sherman
Video Pro
Evan Sherman started working in the dive shop when he was 17. He was soon drawn to underwater imaging and enrolled in Cal State Long Beach in the highly competitive film production program, where he soon showed his gift for video. Even before graduation, he had formed his own company, Seasick Productions, a mixed media production company that specializes in underwater, videography, editing and photography.
Evan has earned a worldwide reputation as an innovative, highly-skilled underwater videographer. He is the Director of Photography for PADI International, has produced training and promotional videos, live webcasts, public service announcements. He has been called “a talent.” We call him our Steven Spielberg with fins.
Evan’s professional credits include PADI’s DSAT, National Geographic, Jet Blue, Kia Motors, Taco Bell, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, LA County Sheriff’s Department. And he’s gone Hollywood, working on NBC-TV’s The Biggest Loser, VH1’s Breaking Bonaduce, and Warner Brothers’ Beauty and The Geek. Last January he filmed an episode of young women in bikinis for German’s Next Top Model. Of that experience he said, “The water was cold.”
His other “dry” job, in addition to managing the video department at Joe Liburdi’s Dive & Photo, is as the executive producer of corporate events here and abroad.
You can get acquainted with his work at www.SeasickProductions.com
Cara Sherman
Dive Travel Coordinator
Cara Sherman is former President of Underwater Exposures, an advertising and publishing firm that specialized in the diving industry. Her career as a writer, editor, and marketing consultant spans more than three decades and three coasts. She is co-author of six books with Joe on underwater photography. She is managing director of JoeLiburdi.com, the name and online presence of Joe and Cara’s dive travel firm. They organize and lead dive and underwater photo tours around the world. Cara will continue to coordinate tours for Joe Liburdi’s Dive and Photo.