Walt Morris
Welcome to Blue Diamond Dive Safaris, LLC. We are a dive travel company dedicated to a service level that provides our customers with fantastic dive destinations, great accommodations, excellent meals, and loads of fun.
In June of 2024, I formed Blue Diamond Dive Safaris, LLC, in partnership with Coral Reef Dive Shop to book, organize, and lead customers to some of the best dive destinations in the world. This partnership followed my work as Coral Reef’s Travel Manager. Over the years, I’ve organized and led trips to the Caribbean, Central America, South America, the Eastern Pacific, Southeastern Asia, and Micronesia, and I use what I learned from these experiences in setting up trips. When looking to add new destinations, I am committed to visiting and diving with the operators prior to recommending our customers book trips.
My love of being on the water began in the late ’50s with family boating trips on the Ohio River in southwestern Indiana. My obsession with being under the water came from watching Sea Hunt in the early ’60s, and Mike Nelson replaced Paladin as my TV action hero. Living in landlocked Indiana, it wasn’t until my college years in Florida that I had my first scuba experience in the Florida Keys. I became an official scuba diver in 1989 and have since logged over 2,500 dives.
Meet you at 60’.
Speedo Sutton-Morris
Many of you know me as the Goodwill Ambassador of Coral Reef Dive Shop. I am happy to announce that I now work with my guardian, Walt Morris, and Blue Diamond Dive Safaris, LLC, to ensure our dive trips provide great diving and loads of fun.
When not traveling the world and spreading joy, I spend my time in Floyds Knobs, Indiana helping research and arrange dive trips. When your travels bring you to the Louisville, KY area stop by and say hello. Or join me on one of our fantastic dive trips. In either case, you’ll love the experience.
Rick Sutton, MSDT
Rick Sutton’s passing was a tremendous loss for his family, the community of Slidell, LA and the dive industry. I met Rick in early 1990 on a dive trip to Orange Beach, AL. We were just two open water divers wanting to enjoy our time under the water and leave a few bubbles behind. A friendship and bond was formed on that first day of diving together. For the next 36 years, we made countless dives together: always the first two in the water and last two back on the boat. We worked together at Coral Reef Dive
Shop, trained hundreds of student divers, knew we had answers for many of the world’s problems and became as close as brothers.
Rick confirmed his illness to me the day of diagnosis, and we spent close to an hour on the phone. We last spoke the evening before I left for a dive trip to the Philippines. He was returning a missed call from me and wanted me to know he would enter hospice the next day. For the first time in weeks, Rick sounded strong. He joked about getting old; reminded me to bring bottles of Mount Gay rum and Hendrick’s gin on my next trip to Slidell and asked me to make a deep wall dive for him on my upcoming trip. As the call ended his last words to me were, “love you buddy”.
Rick Sutton
Owner & PADI MSDT
I fell in love with water at an early age and can’t remember a time when I couldn’t swim. When “Sea Hunt” made its debut on TV, I knew that scuba diving was going to be part of my life. The nearest I came was snorkeling at Cape May along the New Jersey coast while on summer vacation.
In 1990, I got a scuba course for a birthday present, and once I was certified, diving took over all my spare time. If I wasn't diving, I was reading about it. I wanted to share my new passion with the world, so I became an instructor. Diving is an important part of my life, and training good divers is the most important aspect of it.
PADI Open Water Instructor 1992/ PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer 1995/ PADI Specialty Instructor (14 Specialties)/ NASE Open Water Instructor 2010/ Medic 1st Aid Instructor 1997/ Emergency First Responder Instructor 2003/ DAN O2 Instructor 1997/ DSAT Gas Blender Instructor/ NSS-CDS, NACD Certified Full Cave Diver 1999/ Member of the Safety Review Board Homeland Security Underwater Evidence Recovery Team New Orleans/ 3000+ logged dives.
Speedo Sutton-Morris
Goodwill Ambassador
I became associated with Coral Reef Dive Shop in 2014, and since then, I have traveled the world with my guardians Rick Sutton and Walt Morris as the Coral Reef Goodwill Ambassador. I love diving, but on most trips, I sleep in, grab some sun in the afternoon, socialize at dinner, and party late into the night. I am always the center of attention and have hundreds of friends around the world.
When not traveling, I watch over Coral Reef and keep Staniel Pig in line (he had a short-lived career as Coral Reef’s mascot but could not compete with my good looks and personality). So, the next time you visit Coral Reef, head over to my shelf and say hello. You’ll love the experience.
Walt Morris
Travel Manager
My love of being on the water began in the late ‘50s with family boating trips on the Ohio River in southwestern Indiana. My obsession with being under the water came from watching Sea Hunt in the early ‘60s, and Mike Nelson replaced Paladin as my TV action hero. Living in landlocked Indiana, it wasn’t until my college years in Florida that I had my first scuba experience in the Florida Keys. I became an official scuba diver in 1989, and since I have logged over 2,200 dives. I started diving with Rick Sutton in 1990, and my association with Coral Reef Dive Shop stretches back to its beginning in 1994. As I approached retirement, Rick offered me the opportunity to become the Travel Manager at Coral Reef, and I began a new career in April 2020.
As a travel manager, my responsibilities encompass booking, organizing, and leading our customers on trips that provide fantastic diving, great accommodations, excellent meals, and loads of fun. My goal is to provide a calendar that includes return trips to “old” favorites as well as new and unexplored destinations. Over the years, my dive travels have taken me to the Caribbean, Central America, South America, the Eastern Pacific, Southeastern Asia, and Micronesia, and I use what I learned from these experiences in setting up our trips. When looking to add new destinations, I am committed to visiting and diving with the operators prior to recommending our customers’ book trips.
Meet you at 60’.
