Barrington Scott is a record-holding scuba diver who has spent the last decade exploring the underwater world through snorkeling, scuba, and freediving. He’s lived in coastal towns around the globe, diving as often as possible and immersing himself in coral reefs, sea caves, and marine life. In 2024, Barrington set a Guinness World Record for scuba diving on all seven continents.
Barrington Scott is a record-holding scuba diver who has spent the last decade exploring the underwater world through snorkeling, scuba, and freediving. He’s lived in coastal towns around the globe, diving as often as possible and immersing himself in coral reefs, sea caves, and marine life. In 2024, Barrington set a Guinness World Record for scuba diving on all seven continents.
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Barrington Scott:
When I'm diving, it forces me to be more present, I have to be more in the moment, because it's peaceful. It's peaceful in the water. Like, okay, there's times where you have the chaos from life, and you get into the ocean, and it's, like, all that just washes away.
Shelby Stanger:
Barrington Scott didn't learn to swim until he enlisted in the Marine Corps 18 years old. That decision set him on an unlikely path to become a scuba diver. Beneath the surface of the water, surrounded by coral, sea creatures, and caves, Barrington discovered a deep sense of peace and connection.
Over the last decade, he's dedicated his life to exploring the underwater world through snorkeling, scuba, and free diving. Barrington has since lived in coastal towns all over the world, diving as much as possible. In 2024, he even set a Guinness World Record for scuba diving on all seven continents.
I'm Shelby Stanger, and this is Wild Ideas Worth Living, an REI Co-op Studios production presented by Capital One and the REI Co-op Mastercard.
Barrington Scott, welcome to Wild Ideas Worth Living, all the way from Thailand. You're one o f our furthest guests this year.
Barrington Scott:
Yeah. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Shelby Stanger:
What are you doing in Thailand right now?
Barrington Scott:
A little bit of everything, a little bit of nothing. Relaxing, chilling. Taking a break.
Shelby Stanger:
So, where'd you grow up? Because you got this great ... You're not from Thailand.
Barrington Scott:
No. Absolutely not. I'm originally from Bronx, New York. Yeah. Born and raised. And I spent some time in other parts of New York like Brooklyn, Queens. I was raised in foster care. So, I bounced all over. And then I moved to the south in my teens around 13, 13, 14, and finished off my high school year.
Shelby Stanger:
Where in the south did you go?
Barrington Scott:
South Carolina. My adopted mother wanted us in a more quieter environment for we can focus on grades, just staying out of trouble. And so, yeah. She moved us to the middle of the woods. I was indoors for the first year, because I wasn't used to the gnats, the mosquitoes, the dares, the bears, the snakes.
So, yeah. I stayed indoors for the first summer, and then I creeped my toe out the next summer, and I started doing more outdoor things. Yeah.
Shelby Stanger:
So, is that how you found your love of the outdoors and nature?
Barrington Scott:
I think my interest started ... I was a little bit of a nerd growing up. So, my outlet was watching a lot of Nat Geo, a lot of Discovery, but it wasn't until I moved to the south where I had that exposure, the outdoors, and going out into the woods and the ponds and the lakes and all that good stuff. It piqued my interest in wanting to be outdoors more.
And then during my senior year of high school, I was slacking off and my ... Because it's your last year of high school. You're like, "Oh, I made it this far." So, I'm like, "Oh, yeah. I can slack off a little bit," and ended up ... My GPA just took a tumble.
And then a couple weeks later, I had this recruiter all in his dress blues, I remember he came to the school, and he was like ... He pulled me over. He's like, "Are you Barrington?" I was like, "Yeah." And he was like, "Did you ever think about joining the Marines?" And I said, "No. It's not in my goal to join the Marines. I'm going to finish high school and go off to college," blah, blah, blah.
But then he was like, "All right. I'm going to come back some other time." So, during this time I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, I wanted to study architecture, but my GPA wasn't high enough at the time just because, again, I was slacking off my senior year. So, I didn't get any scholarships. And I didn't want any student loans. And so, when the recruiter came back, I was like, "Well, tell me again about the Marines. Give me some more information."
And so, he's telling me. He led with, "Oh, you got the GI Bill. They pay for college, and you get all these benefits." And I was like, "Wait, back up. So, I can go to school for free?" He was like, "Yeah." I was like, "Oh. Sign me up. You should have led with that at the first meeting."
Shelby Stanger:
A month after high school, Barrington entered Marine Corps boot camp. The training was brutal, but his hardest challenge wasn't the long runs or the drills. It was the water. Barrington couldn't swim, but in basic training, he had to face his fears head on.
I'm curious how you learned to swim so quickly. Did the Marines teach you?
Barrington Scott:
So, swim qual was two days long. The first day, they taught us the basics. And I was able to pick it up, because I only failed one portion of the swim qual, which was the treading water portion. I just couldn't grasp that down the first day.
Shelby Stanger:
Yeah. It takes most people a lot longer than one day to learn how to swim.
Barrington Scott:
Yeah. I remember it vividly actually. We was on this platform, and we had to jump off and tread water for two minutes. So, I'm at the edge of this platform and my drill sergeant is saying, "Okay. Okay, recruit. I need you to move. I need you to move. I need you to jump." And I'm looking like, "I'm scared." All I know is he pushed me. He pushed me into the pool. And I'm trying to tread water, trying to tread water, but I was sinking like a rock.
And one of the main things they tell you to do during safety training is do not hold onto the next Marine. Right? If you're drowning or you're having trouble, just swim to the edge, or whatever way for help. When you get panicking, you forget the protocol. You forget, "Oh, what I'm supposed to do, A, B, and C."
I see this guy, he's floating and treading water so effortlessly. So, I'm like, "Oh, I'm going to grab onto you." And so, I grabbed onto him. And we were both drowning. So, they had to save us both.
Shelby Stanger:
Barrington finished boot camp and was immediately deployed to Afghanistan. The experience was intense, and often overwhelming. He struggled to manage the stress. Six months into his deployment, Barrington needed a break. So, he booked a cruise to the Bahamas. On that trip, he discovered the underwater world for the very first time.
Barrington Scott:
It was my first cruise. I didn't know what to expect. First time, officially, out of the country outside of my deployment. So, I was just excited to be out, to just experience it all, and just drinking everything, and just having the drinks, [inaudible 00:06:24] the back, just enjoying the cruise. And we get to the Bahamas-
Shelby Stanger:
And you're, like, 21 years old. 22.
Barrington Scott:
Yeah. Yeah. Like, 21. Yeah. I was 21. And we got to the Bahamas, and I remember the ship offering a scuba diving excursion. And I said, "Oh, scuba diving." I was like, "Oh, that sounds epic. Sign me up."
So, normally, to get scuba-certified, you go through ... It's called open water certification. Right? And it can be between three to five days. A three to five days certification, which you learn all the basics, how to take your mask off, breathe, the whole nine. And so, they teach you all of the techniques, and after your five days, you're pretty much certified for life. So, you just do it that one time and you're certified for life.
Now for the people who is vaguely interested in wanting to know about scuba, or wanting to experience scuba without having to do the certifications, and they take half of the days to teach you all of the basics, and they take you out into the ocean. And you're not going that deep, you're going anywhere from 10 to 15 feet, maybe a little bit deeper if you're really comfortable.
And, yeah. You get to experience scuba diving for the first time. And, for me, it was the most amazing thing up until that point, because it was, like, I'm in the water for the first time this long, and I'm seeing all this marine life, and there's so much going on. I was slightly overstimulated, but I was so excited. And it was just so magical.
Shelby Stanger:
Tell me more. What did you see?
Barrington Scott:
It was such a long time ago, but I remember seeing just different species of fish, some stingrays, sea turtles. The coral was nice and bright and healthy. It piqued my interest in wanting to get certified, and wanting to have more of these experiences.
Shelby Stanger:
After his vacation, Barrington finished his enlistment, moved to North Carolina, and enrolled in culinary school. His days were filled with classes, kitchen work, and long hours training to become a chef. Once he graduated, Barrington bought a house and he fell into a comfortable routine. But something felt off. The trauma of his past started creeping in, and his mental health began to suffer.
Barrington Scott:
I was in this weird space in my life where I was depressed, I was dealing with so many mental health elements, I was dealing with PTSD, depression, and just trauma from my childhood, from the military, from deployment. Just everything was crashing on me at once, and I felt like I was suffocating. I couldn't breathe. I just felt ... It was so many emotions at once. And I felt like I needed to get away, I needed to escape.
And what was initially a three week trip turned into a gap year that changed the trajectory of my whole life. So, as I was planning my three week trip to southeast Asia, I was still in the point of this thing called gap year. Right? And at the time, I was like, "What is a gap year?" Because I had never heard of it up until then.
And it's, like, you take a year off. It's, like, a year sabbatical off life, and you just go enjoy life. You go frolic anywhere you want for a year, which I was like, "Oh, this sounds amazing. Why haven't I heard about this?"
And so, I was like, "Oh, this sounds more like my speed. I'll maybe take a year off, and figure out what I want to do with my next stage of life and just figure some things out."
And so, I was like, "You know what? It's not going to be three weeks. I'm going to take a year off." And so, by that time, I had a house, I had a car, I just finished graduating college, I had my partner, a dog, the picket fence. So, I had the American Dream. Right? And mind you, I was, like, 24, 25.
Shelby Stanger:
Yeah. That's incredible. Where was your house?
Barrington Scott:
In North Carolina. In Charlotte.
Shelby Stanger:
Amazing.
Barrington Scott:
Yeah. And I was like ... Well, at the same time, on top of just dealing with all this, I felt like I was rushing to this point. Right? This point in my life where I was like, "Okay. Is this it? Is this what ... I obtained this American Dream. It's a dream. Right?" And I was like, "I'm only 25."
So, again, I was just really confused. Like, listen, a really weird space. And so, I ended up selling my house, selling my car, pretty much selling everything. I was like, "Everything has to go." I tell my partner, "Hey. I'm selling the house. You don't got to go home, but I'm selling this house. So, you got to figure out some place to live." I was just ready to just pretty much get away. Right?
And so, anyway, he was like, "Okay. Well, you can sell the house, you can sell everything, but we're staying together. Right?" And I was like, "Okay. Fine. We'll figure it out, but I'm leaving."
Anyway, I ended up buying a one-way ticket to Malaysia. Everything happened so fast that when I landed in Malaysia, I didn't have a place to stay. I'm at the airport ... Like, I have a photo of me with my hat, my little backpack, and it's like, "What did I just do? I am here in Malaysia, no plans, no place to stay for tonight. I'm just here." Right?
And so, I sat down with myself for a little bit, and I cried for a second, because I was like, "I really did it. I'm here." And I had just a little moment with myself, and I was like, "Okay. [inaudible 00:11:33] figure out a place to stay for tonight first, and I can figure life out from here."
But the whole year, I said to myself, "I'm going to be a yes man. Everything and anything I want to do ..." I had all this lump sum of money from selling my house and selling everything. So, I was like, "Whatever I want to do, I'm just going to do it." And so, that's what I did.
Shelby Stanger:
During that year in Malaysia, Barrington fully embraced a life of adventure, island-hopping, eating street food, and encountering local wildlife. Best of all, he was able to scuba dive as much as he wanted. Just a few months into his time in Malaysia, he earned his advanced scuba certification, and began to understand the ocean on a deeper level.
What about some of the most amazing dives you did then?
Barrington Scott:
Yeah. My most amazing dive? I want to say it was [inaudible 00:12:22], because [inaudible 00:12:23] even to this day is one of the top tier dive locations in the world.
So, I did a dive on the island. It was beautiful. I think there was two to three islands surrounding us. Right? It was so shallow at some points where you can literally just, essentially, walk to the other island, if you want to. But because they have so much coral, you just snorkel. So, you can literally just snorkel to the other island. It was amazing. Can you just imagine that? Just the number of coral in-between the islands, and you're just swimming, and you can see the sea turtles and different, like I said, many species of fish. It's alive. Right?
And I think what was most amazing is that at that point there was a drop-off where you can just see whitetip sharks, blacktip sharks, some octopus, which, let me tell you, it's rare to see octopus. Out of all of my dives, I've probably seen octopus probably, like, twice. I've seen many species of sharks, other species, but octopus it's just really rare to catch them.
So, crystal clear, you can see 50 meters down. Like I say, it was pristine. Pristine. Pristine.
Shelby Stanger:
What does diving do for you? I'm curious. You had struggled with mental health for this year. I think a lot of young twenty year olds do. You achieved the American Dream and you're like, "Huh. This is what it is? I'm not into this. It's not making me happy."
And you had found diving pretty young. But what does it do for you? Like, mentally, emotionally.
Barrington Scott:
Yeah. So, diving at the time, it was really therapeutic for me. Right? On land, I'm really high energy, a type of anxiety, but for the most part, I'm high energy, I'm always on 100. Right?
And so, when I'm diving, it forces me to be the complete opposite. I have to be more present, I have to really be more aware of how my body's moving, and it forces me to also be more reflective. It's peace.
Shelby Stanger:
Diving beneath the surface and looking for aquatic life gave Barrington something he couldn't find on land. It provided him space to breathe, to think, and to imagine what might come next.
Barrington's sabbatical involved into a nomadic life abroad. Most recently, Barrington was living in Thailand where he watched a documentary that sparked his wildest idea yet.
In 2024, Barrington Scott set the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to scuba dive on all seven continents. Long before his record, Barrington was already living an adventurous life traveling around the world and diving in some of the most stunning locations.
But the inspiration for this particular challenge came from an unexpected source, a film about the legendary swimmer and past Wild Ideas guest Diana Nyad.
I want to talk about this wild idea you had, which is how we found you. You broke the Guinness record for scuba diving in all seven continents. A kid who couldn't swim until he was 18-
Barrington Scott:
Yeah.
Shelby Stanger:
... has the Guinness record for diving. It's really cool.
Barrington Scott:
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
Shelby Stanger:
When did this wild idea even happen?
Barrington Scott:
So, last year, February, and I was watching a Netflix documentary called Nyad. Have you heard of it?
Shelby Stanger:
Of Diana?
Barrington Scott:
I think that's the name. Right?
Shelby Stanger:
Diana Nyad? The swimmer.
Barrington Scott:
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Shelby Stanger:
Yeah. We've interviewed her. Yes.
Barrington Scott:
Oh my God. I'm a big fan. So, I'm watching her documentary on Netflix. My lazy ass is sitting on this couch, watching this woman swim from Cuba to Florida, and I wanted to do something as epic as this. And so, I'm calling my friend like, "I just watched this documentary. This woman swam from fricking Cuba to Florida nonstop, 24 hours. This is incredible."
So, I wanted to do something just as ... I wanted to have an incredible adventure like this. Right? And so, my friend he was like, "Well, why don't you do a Guinness record or something?" And I was like, "A Guinness record?" I was like, "Oh." I took a pause for a second, because I was like, "I didn't think about just doing a Guinness record." I didn't know you could just wake up, "Oh, I'm just going to do a Guinness record." Right?
He's like, "No. Just go on the website, type in scuba, or whatever you want to do, and just do it." I was like, "Oh, I didn't know you can do this." Again, it's all new to me. Right?
So, me, I don't waste no time. So, I'm on the Guinness website. And so, I take in scuba, and I'm looking through the records of what has been done, what hasn't been done. I was like, "Okay. What's feasible? What's affordable?" And I stumbled upon like, "Oh, fastest time to scuba dive all seven continents." So, now I was like, "Oh, this seems very doable. Very doable." I was like, "I can scuba dive all seven continents. That doesn't seem that hard."
So, I was like, "Okay. Well, the biggest issue is how the hell am I going to afford this?" So, I applied to do the record, which if people don't know is that if you see a record that you want to complete, you can apply and they'll send you the parameters regarding the record, and you just adhere to the parameters, and you just complete the record, and whatever evidence they ask for, you just send it. Right?
So, that's pretty much what happened with this record. I sent over my itinerary, which took me all of a few days to plan out, things to ChatGPT. Work smarter, not harder. Right? So, I had ChatGPT, I was like, "Hey. What would be the fastest route, the fastest itinerary to dive all seven continents?" And so, they sent me a couple of plans. I tweaked some locations.
Anyway, sent it to them, they approved it. And the next obstacle was for me was just to raise the money. I was like, "I can't afford this right now completely." So, I ended up starting a GoFundMe, which raised about $4500. And I had some friends send me some money personally on the side. And then I had Cressi sponsored all of my gear.
Shelby Stanger:
Cressi makes really nice dive masks.
Barrington Scott:
They do. And so, with all of that, it saved me by, like, $10,000. And so, I ended up putting up out of my personal money, personal savings another $15,000. For me, it's one of them things like, "Money comes." Right? Money will come. I'm still young. Whatever. I just want to enjoy my life.
And so, yeah. I set off on this expedition.
Shelby Stanger:
It took Barrington 19 days, 19 hours, and 40 minutes to scuba dive on every continent. At each location, he needed to be underwater for, at least, 15 minutes and descend five meters or 16 feet below the surface.
His journey began in Australia, then continued through Thailand, Egypt, and Malta, which is an island off the coast of Italy. He then crossed the Atlantic to dive in Florida and Argentina before setting the record in Antarctica. The travel alone was a logistical puzzle, but each dive was memorable in its own way.
Tell me a little bit about some of these dives. Like, which one is the most memorable? You talked about a cemetery underwater in Miami. What does that even look like? What kind of cemetery is underwater?
Barrington Scott:
It was the most significant for me I think because ... Well, two things. One, it's the only official underwater cemetery where you can get cremated and what happens is they take your remains, and I guess they make some kind of special cement, and they turn you into a marine animal of your choosing. You can plan ahead of time. So, if you plan to be a dolphin, they turn you into a dolphin. And then they'll set up a little space for you underwater, they'll plant your statue.
And what happens is that you can pay upwards from, like, anywhere from I think $15,000 to a couple million dollars, because you can actually build a whole mausoleum. Yeah. It's actually pretty incredible.
So, I changed in my will, I was like, "Hey. Turn me into an octopus. Okay? When I die, you send my money, turn me into an octopus. I want to be underwater." Ooh, fun fact. You know Julia Child?
Shelby Stanger:
Yup.
Barrington Scott:
She's buried there.
Shelby Stanger:
Really? The famous chef and-
Barrington Scott:
Mm-hmm.
Shelby Stanger:
... culinary ... Amazing.
Barrington Scott:
Yeah. So, she's buried there, which that was pretty cool to know. I think the second most interesting dive was ... I don't want to put them in any particular order, but diving Antarctica itself, I feel like it's a very exclusive experience, because not a lot of people get to experience Antarctica and then also dive in Antarctica.
First of all, I'm freezing. I was freezing my behind off. So, I didn't get to fully enjoy it, because I was like, "Oh my God." I have all these layers under me, but I'm still cold. My face is freezing. I can't feel my lips. And I was like, "But this iceberg is massive." It probably went down 120 meters. It just seemed to go on forever, but it was pretty huge and it was pretty cool. So, that was a cool dive.
Shelby Stanger:
These dives sound incredible. Okay. So, how long did you spend in each place?
Barrington Scott:
Yeah. It was pretty quick. I spent about three to four days in each location. I fly in, get set up, the next day I would dive, and then the next day I would either wait it out, let me gear dry, or I would either fly out the next day. Yeah. That was pretty much the setup.
Shelby Stanger:
Oh, yeah. Because you had to travel with wet gear.
Barrington Scott:
Yeah. Right. So, I was like, "Maybe not travel with wet gear, because that can start smelling, and just not ..." I was like, "I would rather just not have those issues."
So, yeah. It was about three to four days in each location. So, it wasn't that strenuous honestly. I think the most strenuous part was the timezone changes. Just so quickly. But aside from that, it was one of them things where when people ask me, "Oh, did you enjoy the journey?" I was like, "Yeah, but not really," because I pretty much had my head down, I was pretty much focused on just getting from A to B, and rinse and repeat until I finished the record. So, it was like a race.
Shelby Stanger:
How did you keep a record of all of this?
Barrington Scott:
Oh, okay. So, I had a whole system in place, which usually I'm not this organized, but for this I had to really be focused. Because each dive, I dive with a buddy, a dive buddy. And so, I told them ahead of time, I was like, "Hey. I'm doing this record. It's really imperative that I have all the footage from when I enter to when I get out the water. Keep this GoPro on me at all times. Do not take it off of me." And that's pretty much what happened.
And so, each dive, I had somebody take some footage of me. In-between that, I had people who would be like, "Hey. Can you record me real quick?" And people are really helpful. They was like, "Oh, okay. Yeah. No. Sure. I'll help you. I'll record you real quick." So, it pretty much was that, and I just pretty much combined all of the footage together and pretty much sent it over to Guinness.
Shelby Stanger:
So, you just had random strangers, basically, help you-
Barrington Scott:
Pretty much.
Shelby Stanger:
... the whole time?
Barrington Scott:
Yeah. Yeah. Shout out-
Shelby Stanger:
Awesome.
Barrington Scott:
Shout out to all the random strangers.
Shelby Stanger:
What was it like when you finished in Antarctica? And then got the record.
Barrington Scott:
Let's see. When I surfaced, the first thing I reached for was my camera, because I got to document this. Right? But as I'm documenting it, this is my actual reaction of me completing the record, because now I get to really process the emotions. Right? So, I'm like, "Oh my God. I completed this record. The Guinness World Record. Seven continents, 19 days," dah, dah, dah.
And so, it was just a rush of excitement, rush of adrenaline. And, yeah. Just really excited. And, again, it's one of them things I will always remember for the rest of my life.
Shelby Stanger:
What happened when Guinness actually sent you the record?
Barrington Scott:
Oh, that actually was a thing, because ... Okay. I'm really inpatient. And so, when I sent them over the evidence, I also paid for the expedited process, so, I can get it within five days, because they said it can take anywhere from two weeks to two months. And I was like, "I'm not waiting that long."
Four days pass, and I was like, "I haven't heard anything back." I was like, "Hey." I'm messaging them. "It's coming up on the time, I haven't heard anything from y'all." And I'm not sure if they messaged me right away, I think they messaged me on the sixth day, and they was like, "Oh, we're working with CBS to deliver the news." So, I was like, "Okay. Okay. I can relax. I know this is happening. Whatever."
So, when I got the interview with CBS, it was live. So, I was doing the interview, and the correspondent, his name is Skyler, yeah, he was like, "Hey. Do you know if you got the record?" I was like, "Yeah. I don't know. I don't know if I got the record." He was like, "We got something for you." And I look behind me and they presented me with the Guinness record. I was like, "Oh, snap." I knew, but you got to play the field. I was like, "Oh my God." It was still exciting to get the plaque, to actually have it tangible in my hand. And so, yeah. I was excited.
Shelby Stanger:
Since finishing the record, Barrington has been living back in Thailand, enjoying his time abroad for a little longer. He's also finishing up online classes in order to go back to school to become a physician's assistant. One day, he hopes to work with Doctors Without Borders.
If you want to learn more about Barrington and what he's up to, find him on Instagram at BJ.TheTraveller with two Ls. That's B-J dot T-H-E-T-R-A-V-E-L-L-E-R.
Wild Ideas Worth Living is part of the REI Podcast Network. It's hosted by me, Shelby Stanger, produced by Annie Fassler, Sylvia Thomas, and Sam Pierce Nitzberg of Puddle Creative. Our senior producer is Jenny Barber. Our executive producers are Paolo Mottola and Joe Crosby.
As always, we love it when you follow the show, take time to rate it, and write a review wherever you listen. And remember, some of the best adventures happen when you follow your wildest ideas.