As you probably are aware, for a Scuba Instructor there are many aspects to being part of the dive industry. Along with my Dive Shop Manager and PADI Course Director…
Come on, have you? Well, if not, you might be surprised by the number of divers that have. As divers, we can sometimes be very focused on the numbers of…
We asked Kasper to share his impressions with everyone afterour recent group dive trip to the Philippines and he had a lot to say! Read on:
(more…)
The viz has just improved from a little over zero to perhaps five feet, just enough that I can see that my Divemaster instructor Zac Lenox has lost a fin. This is the last dive of my training and I am guiding Zac and another Divemaster student Matt back to shore at Olowalu after completing a Scuba Review skills section. Only another one hundred yards to go, but in the wind and break the bottom is stirred up and I am doing my best to keep an eye on my charges while navigating with my compass to our dive flag set just off shore.
(more…)
Whew!!! I just finished my Rescue class and boy am I tired. Saving people requires a lot more energy than I thought. I consider myself to be in pretty good physical condition but after today I know I need to workout even more.
(more…)
I have said many times “I saw Jaws at a very influential age”. Growing up, I had a fascination with critters in the water but I had no interest in joining them. It started with tadpoles. We had a ditch that ran along the front of our house, and it was there that I first discovered them wiggling around. I would go out looking for them every season, patiently watching through the algae for them to emerge. My mom took me salmon fishing, I caught my first big catch at the age of 9. I was fine as long as I was on the boat. As a teen, I would go to the river during the summer. I was usually afraid to go in to the water once I saw that the “rocks” at the bottom were moving. We would also go to the Oregon Coast and I was told “watch out for the jelly fish, they can sting you”. I played in the ocean only once or twice always fearing what might be touching me.
(more…)
About the IDC, what can I say? You learn so much about yourself and where you are in the dive world when you go through it – it’s truly amazing. During these two weeks of daily, intensive training, I had the one of the most fun, stressful, crazy, and growing periods of my life. I met a lot of really cool people and got “knowed up” by some very excellent instructors. We endured a lot of struggles, misinterpretations of training standards, and huge learning curves, but in the end you know what they call me? INSTRUCTOR!!
(more…)
The cry rang out across Keawakapu beach in the early morning hours just before the sun crested Haleakala. Nervous sunbathers looked on as a group of scuba divers struggled in the water and quickly carried one of their fellow divers on to shore, abandoning their gear and beginning CPR on their lifeless friend. One of the divers ran to the parking lot and returned with emergency oxygen which he added to the rescue efforts. A sunbather ran over to the wetsuit-clad group and asked if she could help them by calling 911. “Didn’t you hear our cries?!” one of the divers asked, “We said to call for pizza!”
(more…)
Throughout my diving career I have learned again and again that “diving is a humbling sport”. Teaching SCUBA Instructors provides many more opportunities to prove this mantra. While teaching the recent Instructor Development Course, the dive gods smacked me again.
(more…)
Okay, so I’m also the one who bestowed that title upon myself, but thankfully, many of my divers seem to agree! This morning I went scooter diving with a co-worker and it made me think about my experiences on a scooter and the store’s history with them.
(more…)
It had been a great day at work. My two students (John and Barbara) and I had just finished the 2nd dive of our PADI National Geographic specialty, and as the conditions were ideal that day, both dives had been great. The three of us were slowly swimming back in and talking about what we’d seen. What we didn’t realize was that it was the PREVIOUS class I had taught them-Rescue Diver-that was about to become important.
(more…)
When I was working through my Divemaster internship I assisted my Instructor (Don) with a night dive at Five Graves here on Maui. There were several divers in the group…