Wayne Hasson: Tireless Devotion to the Sea

In the scope of his life, PADI Diving Society member Wayne Hasson has probably spent more time underwater than above. Along the way, he has had a significant impact on the way we see and explore our world. An avid diver since 1967, Wayne began his love affair with the sea during an eight-year stint in the Marines, where he certified scores of his fellow warriors and their family members. After departing the Marine Corps in 1978, he immediately began to furrow a deep trough in the dive world. Among his myriad accomplishments, Wayne Hasson founded Aggressor Fleet in 1984 and captained the first Cayman Aggressor. His approach to the luxury live-aboard concept has literally changed the way we explore the world. Today there are 12 Aggressor-franchised live-aboards.

While in the Cayman Islands, Wayne helped install the first 112 permanent moorings and took the concept and idea to Belize, Turks and Caicos, the Bay Islands, Kona and Truk. Wayne also invented SASY (Supplied Air Snorkeling for Youth). And his award-winning photography has been featured in publications worldwide.

Wayne Hasson has been a major voice and influence in the world of diving for 36 years, accumulating more than 10,000 dives along the way, and he still spends several hundred hours a year underwater. I've been on dive trips with Wayne that were filled with his neighbors, divers from his local shop, movie stars, brief acquaintances and kids that he'd once certified. When not diving, he's one of the world's greatest advocates and most vigorous promoters of scuba diving as the ultimate activity and lifestyle. Anyone who will stop for five minutes within his purview will become an acolyte, so passionate is his desire to share the wonders of the ocean to the world. Most recently, Wayne has put together a program of marine science, diving and awareness, called Oceans for Youth, to inspire the next generation of divers. He'll even spread the gospel of the dive life to his gas station attendant.

Wayne Hasson has lived the dive life from the moment he became certified and continues to influence the way we dive today.