Our Origin: Thinking Around the Corner
We aren’t “crazy” in the reckless sense; we are just crazy enough to do unusual things to stay safe. As a group of technical cave divers, we reached a critical realization: for the dives we were doing, the “standard” approach—relying on open-circuit bailout—wasn’t just a logistical nightmare. In an emergency, it wasn’t nearly enough to make it back home alive.
The math for gas needs at extreme depths and long penetrations simply didn’t add up, which led us to “think around a corner.” We developed dual-CCR (bailout rebreather) diving protocols as the only logical way to ensure we always had enough gas to return. While our departure from traditional methods was met with significant skepticism early on, we have been operating this way safely for years. Our experience shows that this setup enables us to do dives that would have been impossible to do safely before. In the rare case that something has gone wrong, we’ve had the equipment and techniques to make it out safely.
What Drives Us
We don’t need to prove how “tough” we are—our dives speak for themselves. COBRA is about exploring farther, accomplishing awesome missions safely, growing the community, and having fun. Our team members are driven by diverse goals, some of which are:
- Pushing the end of the line: Going farther into cave systems and other challenging underwater environments than anyone has before.
- Science & environment: Contributing to research and protecting the environments we explore.
- Big challenges: Reaching depths and distances that require novel approaches to dive safety and mission execution
Sharing the Mission
The COBRAs have dived all over the world. We’re always learning a lot, and we like to share a lot too. We aren’t a training agency, and we have nothing to sell. This site serves as a resource for those curious about dual-rebreather operations and extreme exploration. We’re here to showcase our work, provide data-driven insights, and help others understand how we built safety into our work in some of the planet’s most demanding environments.
2 CCR, n DPVs, 0 sanity. We go farther because we’ve built the resilience we need to get back.
Daniel Lee
Daniel is a founder of COBRA Divers and a serial entrepreneur with a career spanning robotics, geospatial tech, and renewable energy. Drawing on his background in the space industry, he applies risk modeling to the development of dual-CCR protocols, treating underwater mission planning with the same rigor as earth observation systems. Within the COBRAs, he focuses on pushing the community’s safe operating envelope through expedition diving, disseminating cutting-edge techniques, and doing silly things on his decompression stops.
Adrian Reuter
A founder of COBRA Divers, Adrian balances high-stakes exploration with a mission to document the dual-CCR frontier. Whether performing technical work on Baltic wrecks or navigating deep caves, he brings precision and passion to every mission. As the team’s documentarist and ambassador, he shares the COBRA journey to amuse and amaze. You can’t miss him underwater; since he carries a famously excessive number of lights, he can be mistaken for the rising sun.
Stephanie Krause
Mountain sports, climbing, caving, and diving have always been more than just sports to Stephi. They are a resource, part of her identity, and her home.
The joy she gets from them and the search for new challenges drive her forward. That’s how she got into cave diving in 2011 and eventually CCR diving. Which has now gotten pretty out of hand with two CCRs (JJ and T-Reb), scooters, and much more. 😅
Despite increasing technical complexity, her focus remains on simplicity—knowing that we ourselves are the biggest weak point. Training, precision, respect, and humility are indispensable to her. Learning never stops.
She shares this love of nature with her little dog Buddy, who is by her side on every adventure.
Isabelle Trinks
For Isa, the dive can always be a little deeper and a little longer. She is equally comfortable in the blue of the open ocean as she is in complex overhead systems. Her approach to diving is defined by extreme precision—her equipment is literally adjusted with a caliper to ensure perfection. She operates a dual setup consisting of a JJ-CCR and a Kiss Sidewinder (Kisskat).
Mike Abel
Mike feels most at home in overhead environments, having clocked more hours under ceilings than in open water. Known for his resilience to the cold, he excels in long, deep exposures where focus is paramount. His technical configurations reflect this dedication, typically diving a dual setup featuring a JJ-CCR alongside a Liberty SM or a customized SMIR.
Jędrzej Mosiężny
JJ is a researcher, an aerospace engineer, and a diver. He works on applications of Artificial Intelligence for Spacecraft Flight dynamics, Computational Fluid Dynamics and Multi-physics simulations. Within COBRA he contributes to developing high-end photogrammetry pipelines, bringing his expertise in CAD design and CFD preprocessing to create realistic reconstructions of the mapped caves and mines. When he’s not busy diving or working on research, he cooks.
Sepideh Rahimian
Sepideh brings a foundation in AI and data processing, with a knack for turning raw data into meaningful insight. Fascinated by photography, she approaches data the way a photographer frames a shot—carefully, thoughtfully, and with an eye for what really matters. At the quiet intersection of signals and insight, her work brings together carefully handled data and innovative AI methods to support clear, reliable understanding beneath the surface.
Guillermo Tesoro
Guillermo Tesoro is a software engineer by trade and a nerd by choice. He is a curious person who loves technology and creative endeavors, with a big tendency for procrastination.
Gabriel König
Gabriel is a technical diver and cave diver, with a focus on underwater photography. He approaches dark cave environments with precision and patience, using light deliberately to document details that would otherwise remain unseen. As a passionate photographer, his work is driven by clarity, structure, and respect for the environment.
Luke Lukas
A spacecraft operations engineer, psychologist, and clinical mental health recovery guide, Luke Lukas brings a unique interdisciplinary lens to the COBRA team. She is a steady-handed observer, integrating interdisciplinary expertise to offer fresh perspectives to the team. As an “over-the-shoulder” diver, her constant learning feeds her curiosity and fuels the team’s improvement. Above water, Luke is a balcony gardener and a good friend to come to with crazy ideas – to which she’ll add a few of her own.
Bee Jackson
General maker of things. Usually found in the craft room sewing, painting, crocheting and sawing metal… and in this case, aiding the creation of this very website. Also rides bikes, rollercoasters and plays bass guitar.
Hayley Evers-Loveday
Hayley loves diving in places much nicer than caves but has a PhD in optics and a flair for communications which brought her to the team. She spends her work days helping others understand how we can observe our oceans from space, and the rest of her time experimenting in the kitchen and making delicious food for her friends and family.
