Diver Stories 01: Design & Tech Entrepreneur Allison Keiley

What city are you in right now?

I am in Ipswich, Massachusetts (about 45 minutes north of Boston), where I live—just a few miles from the beach and rumored to be the birthplace of the whole belly fried clam.

Allison Keiley on her hometown beach for a post-work swim.

Where was your most recent dive and what kind of diving did you do there?

I was lucky enough to spend a few weeks on Mafia Island, the main island in an archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Tanzania, south of Zanzibar. My partner is collaborating on a project that involves some archaeological research on Mafia Island, and I got to tag along. For readers who are interested in what Mafia Island boasts on the historical front, check out a recent “Expedition Unknown” episode from Discovery. We were very privileged to form relationships with some folks on the island who helped us learn, engage, and explore in truly special ways during the weeks we were there. I’ve included a photo of me pointing out an octopus while snorkeling. It may have been the same octopus that our local friend caught with his bare hands moments later—dinner for his family that day.

Unknowingly pointing out the very octopus that a snorkel buddy would catch for dinner.

Mafia Island has been growing as an eco-tourism location, and with the significant and consistent growth of tourism in Tanzania in recent years, I’ll be excited to see it host more travelers – especially divers – from around the world.

Anyway, diving! I’m a relatively new and novice diver; I did 13 of my lifetime total 16 dives while on Mafia!

We did the majority of our dives with wonderful guides from a small, independently operated dive lodge, off their boats (shout out to Gianna and Deus at Dive Planet Mafia!) in Utende, in Chole Bay. The bay is home to the Mafia Island Marine Park, a nature preserve that features a huge diversity of species and also reefs made up of a type of coral that is able to uniquely regenerate itself. The team at Dive Planet are lovely and fun to dive with, but what made it really special is that we felt like we were on an underwater safari – they shared so much knowledge about everything we saw. That was quite different from my early experiences off of big tourist dive boats in South Florida where it’s kind of every diver for themself. My partner and I also did our PADI Advanced Open Water cert while there, which included a very cool night dive. We also did a dive outside the bay in the open ocean, where we saw a guitar shark (actually a ray often called a bowmouth guitarfish) hanging out at about 70 ft.

In addition to diving, we did a ton of snorkeling, including with whale sharks, which was unbelievable.

When did you start scuba diving and what inspired you to do it?

I started diving a couple years ago. I was fortunate to go on vacation for a good friend’s 40th birthday to Grand Cayman, where mutual friends who are very experienced divers were living at the time. I knew if I was going to spend 10 days in Grand Cayman with these guys, it was time to get certified.

I wanted to dive since I can remember. I grew up on the beach in Massachusetts and was always a water kid. I used to lay on my stomach on an inner tube with a mask and snorkel and just float with my face in the water for hours (though “hours” may be a slight exaggeration because in this part of New England, water temps rarely break 70). My dad had a side business taking out fishing charters (striped bass, bluefish) on his modest center console to help pay for gas and a slip, and I was always out on the boat with him. For a time, my dad would take out a couple guys on the boat once a week who would dive for lobster (they paid him via a share of the lobsters!) and I remember asking them a ton of questions and being really curious. We lived on a big marsh. I was very aware of and fascinated by this whole world of creatures and ecosystems occupying the other 70% of the planet.

I’ve always been that friend or, now, with friends’ kids, the “aunt” who will swim in any temperature, any surf condition. I was recently reminded of a midnight swim I took at the after party of a friend’s wedding in Iceland a few years back. 🙂

Allison, fishing with Dad.

I think, as an adult, there are very few things I could cite as, like…a childhood dream. Learning to dive may have been one of the last few experiences I’ve had as an adult that I could describe that way.

What do you like most about your current or go-to wetsuit?

I like cold water (you can take the girl out of New England…) and feeling cool in the water, so unless the water temp is below 75F or so, I dive in a 3mm shorty that I got off the final sale rack at my local dive shop. I’m not a small person: I’m tall, pretty muscular, long-torsoed, busty; I have yet to find a full wetsuit that I’m comfortable in – I always just feel like a sausage in a casing meant for humans without curves or dimension of any sort! I’ll rent a full wetsuit if I need to, but ugh, I’ll be a little chilly for the comfort of my simple, thin shorty.

Do you have any dive gear comfort hacks that might surprise us? If so, describe them.

I’m not sure if this counts because this is so trivial, but my hair is too short to pull back fully, so I tie up my bangs in a little Pebbles Flinstone-style mini ponytail on top of my head so it doesn’t get in the way of the view. And the neoprene mask strap cover is a genius invention.

I recently discovered how much I love diving with a slate and pencil, and a “tank banger” to help get buddies’ attention. I have a notoriously poor sense of direction, and during my Advanced Open Water cert, I really botched the compass navigation portion on the first try, which should have led to a failure. But I threw an underwater temper tantrum, knocked on my tank, and wrote on my slate “PLEASE LET ME TRY AGAIN!” and my instructor got a good enough laugh out of it that he let me.

Describe a memorable experience with a marine animal.

During one of our first Mafia dives in Chole Bay, we kneeled on the ocean floor for a couple of minutes just a few feet from a giant ray, covered mostly in sand, sleeping.

And, on my very first dive in Grand Cayman after my certification, my friend and I saw a spotted eagle ray within minutes of our descent. When we surfaced he had to tell me how lucky that was to temper my expectations for future dives.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the big, graceful rays and turtles, but my favorites are the smaller creatures (colorful slugs, darting shrimp) and those that lurk—a hiding moray eel is always one of my favorites.

Last day of diving with the best crew at Dive Planet on Mafia Island.

Think of a time when you had an exceptional experience with a dive buddy, what made diving with them so great?

My normal existence on dry land involves just…so much talking! For work, I’m often in meetings all day – I joke that I talk for a living (I lead business operations and strategy for design and technology initiatives). With family and friends, I am not known for my brevity or withholding of thoughts, feelings, and opinions.

Part of what I love about diving is the non-verbal companionship and partnership among buddies. When I first started diving, I was with people I had only just met or didn’t know very well (instructors, casual acquaintances), and it felt pretty remarkable to recognize that such a unique shared experience can rely on such simple, non-verbal communication.

What would you say to an adventure traveler who has never been scuba diving but is curious to explore it?

The concept of being able to explore the majority of the planet we inhabit only by being able to breathe underwater is usually my main selling point. But apart from my interest in marine life, I tell people that I can’t think of any other activity that is so simultaneously peaceful, meditative, technical, and exciting. I’m really into the multitudes diving captures! ✿