Gabby Shepard (Black Girl Blue World)

Location: California, USA

Occupation: Storyteller/ Dive trip host

Scuba Diving Since: 2022

Favorite Local Dive: Catalina Island, California

Favorite Dive Location: Quintana Roo, Mexico 

Gabby uses her passionate enthusiasm for scuba diving to inspire others to explore the underwater world. She documents her big blue adventures on social media to help people to experience the ocean through her engaging storytelling. Gabby also organizes group trips to various of her favorite dive sites around the world. She loves meeting new people and connecting her community to all the beauties of the ocean.

An Interview with Gabby Shepard (Black Girl Blue World)

Why did you decide to take the giant stride into the oceans?
I have always found solace and healing simply by being near any body of water. When I started diving, I felt a freedom that I never imagined was possible for me. It felt like flying through a dream. I wanted to see everything, feel everything. I could have stayed underwater for hours if I could. Once I knew what pure, untouchable, freedom felt like, it became my guiding light.

How has diving changed your life?
It brings me so much joy to share my diving journey with the beautiful community of people who’ve magnetized around the ocean and my exploration of it. Diving has taught me how to trust myself in every possible way: physically, spiritually, emotionally. It’s allowed me to experience a divine level of peace and freedom. After I discovered all the joys of diving for myself, I felt a burning passion I my chest to share it with other people on a larger scale. I started to organize group diving trips to my favorite locations both for new divers and already certified divers who were yearning to explore. I’ve always loved traveling and I’m so grateful that my love of diving allows me to explore new places in the most exciting way.

What kind of diving do you like to do?
I love diving with marine life. I’m enamored with how connected all of our species are down there. On some dives I just sit still and little fish will stay and hang out with me for a few minutes. Or I’ll catch the wise glance of a shark or manta passing by. It always feels as if they are communicating with me. I would love to know what they are thinking!

Tell us about one of the most amazing experiences you have had underwater?
Taking my family scuba diving for the first time was the most emotional I’ve ever felt underwater. It was the first time I cried into my mask. I got to watch them challenge and surprise themselves during the certification process. Growing and connecting with the ocean and each other. And the way our society is set up, we don’t always get to see each other for all the various “life” reasons, let alone vacation together. But it was beautiful that the ocean brought us together so intimately in that moment.

Where are some of your favorite places underwater?
I absolutely adore the kelp forest at Catalina Island in California. I always feel like I’m wandering through a fairytale. I’m so grateful to call it my home dive site that’s easily accessible to me. Internationally, I love the diversity in dive experiences in Quintana Roo/Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. The gorgeous barrier reef in Cozumel and the nesting bull-sharks that visit every winter are some of my favorite dives. But the bonus gifts are the cenotes near Tulum. They are quiet and sacred and stunning. My favorites are the ones with glowing rays of light bursting through them like beams of heaven.

What is your advice to someone considering diving?
You don’t have to be fearless, you just have to be brave. Do it scared! Every dive gets more and more comfortable. Diving can seem very intimidating at first, and there are many safety aspects that are to be taken very seriously, without question or margin. But there’s also a layer of joy, liberation and brightness around it that I don’t see as often in conversations. My approach to diving is inclusive, colorful, visceral and engaging. When I first started I was terrified, then liberated, then hopelessly enamored. I want that for all of us, as many as I can bring with me.

What would you tell people about the oceans?
We are a part of the ocean and the ocean is a part of us. When I’m down there I’m in harmony with it. Not as a guest, but a friend. It’s not nearly as scary as popular media makes it out to be. I’ve gotten way more hugs from the ocean than hurts. And the more we develop an intimate relationship with the ocean for ourselves, the more we will care for it and understand how to give it the help that it needs. So much of our own survival depends on the ocean and its all of our best interest that it thrives.

What does diving mean to you?
Diving is my sanctuary. It’s a place where my existence is limitless. I feel superhuman when I’m under water and that feeling gives me strength, imagination, and hope for my life on land.

What's your favorite thing in your dive bag?
The BCD carry bag itself. As a traveler, I love how easily and cleverly all of my equipment fits into the backpack. I even carry it on the plane with me! Fins and all.

Follow Gabby on Social Media:

Instagram: @blackgirlblueworld

Tiktok: @blackgirlblueworld