Our journey as a Maui dive shop
Our origin story
It was March 2020…sounds like the start of a horror movie, doesn’t it? Well, it is true. That is when I decided to start my own business.
I had worked for other dive shops on Maui and the mainland and heard dive stories from all types of divers about their experiences while diving around the world. I had also observed the degree of green washing throughout an industry that is so intimately submerged in the world’s most vital resource - our oceans. I wanted to create something different.
The ocean truly is my happy place. Every day is better after a dive. I love watching the symbiotic relationships between different animals and all their different behaviors: hunting, feeding, mating, cleaning. Mating is my favorite;) I always look forward to whatever Nāmaka brings to me each day.
These days, I spend most of my time teaching and diving the Avelo System. I am also a PADI MSDT (#405099), SSI DM (#94868), and RAID Instructor with more than 400 certifications, and 5000 dives. I have been on Maui since February 2018, where my passion and love for the ocean and environment has only grown.
Understanding the complex relationship between land and sea has been a life-long passion. I have a graduate degree in Earth and Geological Sciences, with a real local for earthquakes and volcanoes (I even have 2 dogs named after volcanoes). During my 12+ years as a research scientist/academic, I also mentored and instructed undergraduate and graduate students through research projects. When I wasn’t teaching, I was exploring the underwater world as a recreational diver.
In 2017, I made the decision to leave the traditional classroom behind and enter the underwater classroom. I received my divemaster in Monterey Bay, California (gotta love some cold water diving) and PADI Instructor credentials at the Bay Islands College of Diving in Honduras, one of the top dive schools in the world. During this time, I also studied at the Whale Shark and Ocean Research Center where I conducted fish surveys, coral monitoring and restoration, ocean and beach cleanups, and ocean data analysis to expand my knowledge of marine life and interaction.
Let’s learn and explorer together!
I’m Dillon PADI Instructor (#438649) and SSI Scuba Instructor (#95347). I originally came to Maui on vacation to escape from the mid-west (Oklahoma) and see what else the world had to offer. At that time i could only go as far as Hawaii (unfortunately I did not have a passport at the time). After experiencing the underwater world on Day 1 and all this beautiful island had to offer I decided to stay another week and explore some more. My two weeks on maui left me wondering how to make diving not only a career, but a lifestyle. Even before I left, I knew I would be back sooner rather than later. It only took me six weeks to pack up my life in Oklahoma and return to Maui to become a dive professional.
Even with my immediate commitment to a life as a diver, I need to wait six months to become an instructor. I took this time to perfect my guiding skills and learn to be an instructor from some of the best on Maui. I was finally became an instructor in February 2020 and have been teaching people how to scuba dive every day since. Being able to show people how life-changing the underwater world can be (as it has been for me) is one of the MOST REWARDING parts of my job. I feel SO LUCKY to introduce people to this side of the planet. I NEVER get tired of the reaction and enjoyment on my divers after their VERT FIRST experience breathing underwater while surrounded by so many turtles, or when there are HUNDREDS of fish rushing by.
Three years 2,000+ dives later, I still get the same enjoyment out of diving as I did THE FIRST TIME I ENTERED THE WATER. I have came to realize - a bad day in the water is still a 1,000 times better than sitting in a office or working in warehouse. I never thought that I would find a career that I wake up every day excited to go see what the ocean has in store for me!
Hi, my name is Anna. I fell in love with scuba diving on my first dive at 15 years old in Turks and Caicos. The ocean has always been my happy place, the place I find peace. I have traveled the world, diving in places like The Great Barrier Reef, Cozumel, and Bonaire. I have always had a passion for teaching, which brought me to Maui in 2019 to teach fifth grade. Now my two loves: diving and teaching get to be my “job”. I find so much joy in showing people the ocean and all of its magical creatures!