John Baldi

John Baldi was an early pioneer in Scuba. He opened the first dive shop on the South Shore in 1951 on Hancock St. in Quincy.

He owned and operated the Dive shop for 50 years. He brought on Howie League while Howie was in high school. Howie and John eventually partnered after Howie married and had 2 children.

Below is John on Plymouth Beach decked with his hand made wetsuit, triple tanks and twin hose regulator. Wetsuits were not originally manufactured. Skindivers had to custom make wet suit in the early days of diving.

The wood ovals below are a pair of goggles John carved from wood and were fastened with cord. The dive mask was John’s first. He made it from a tire inner tube. These were from pre-scuba days.

John served in the Navy in WW2 and was based in Florida where he enjoyed free diving before scuba came along.

April 30th [2023] marks 100 years since John’s birth in Quincy. He passed away in 2013 at age 90. True his cool ways, before passing on he told family and friends “he was off on a new adventure”. He was not afraid!

All who knew him, dived with him or hung out at the shop know why he will always be remembered as “the Great John Baldi”.

Submitted by John’s wife,
Cheri Herbert Baldi

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