Becoming a Scuba Instructor

Have you ever watched your Scuba Instructor give a boat briefing and thought, "She has the life! Getting paid to dive!" Have you ever thought that this might be the life for you, too? Recently we had two Divemasters make the wonderful transformation to PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors, and I thought I would let you in on some details of the process.

"But wait", you are asking, "Isn't DIVEMASTER the absolute height of Diving coolness?" Well, maybe. They get the coolest-sounding name. But a Divemaster is trained to lead certified divers on underwater tours, handle any problems that occur, and teach refresher courses.






To become an Open Water Scuba Instructor, Divemasters must attend a gruelling 9 day program called an Instructor Development Course with a PADI Course Director. During the class, they learn the PADI curriculum and develop their own teaching style. They are tested on dive theory and skills, and they are taught to develop classroom presentations, pool training, and open water teaching and evaluating techniques. The Course solidifies an Instructor-Candidate's excellent dive skills, and often inspires an enthusiasm and love for teaching that can be carried over into a successful career.

After this course, an Instructor-Candidate is then eligible to attend a PADI Instructor Examination, where-in a PADI Examiner comes out from Southern California and evaluates and tests the Candidates. By passing this 2-day exam, a Divemaster becomes a newly-minted Instructor. Our Examiner this past September was Gordon Apons, a 20 year veteran of Instructor Examinations. He was thrilled with our whole batch of candidates, which included our amazing new Instructors Oliver and Elizabeth! Examiner Apons was enthusiastic and supportive, and said of our group, "These were some of the best-prepared candidates I have seen in my whole time as Examiner." Right on, guys! So what is next for our new Instructors? At Kohala Divers, the training continues, as we intern the new Instructors with our more seasoned crew. Watching Divemasters make the jump to Instructors is almost as joyful and proud as watching new divers becoming Open Water Certified. We all know that Scuba Diving is life-changing. Please congratulate Oliver and Elizabeth when you next dive with them, as they have joined the ranks of people who make divers. And that is amazing.

Henshaw's Crocodile Eel vs. Scorpionfish Video

Our own Scott Rettig filmed this amazing encounter between a Crocodile Eel and a Scorpionfish. Two fish enter...Only one remains! Can you guess what happens?
We have watched this awesome video over and over and over. Everyone says, Scott! You should be filming for National Geographic!"

Kohala Divers Ltd. Newsletter for May 2014

Kohala Divers News May 2014 Summer will be here soon and we are planning on lots of great dives while we have calm clear water. Summer is a great time to get dive certified as well. If you or someone you know has been waiting to get certified you know where to go. Kohala Divers would love to share our love of the underwater world! We are a PADI 5 star training facility with some of the best instructors around!! Thanks for your continued support of us at Kohala Divers. We look forward to seeing you in and under the water soon!   Aloha,   -Rebekah Kaufmann and the Crew of Kohala Divers   Kohala Divers Has a New Ride our new ride You may see are new ride cruising around the island. Believe me its hard to miss! Photos for our great van wrap were provided mostly by our very own PADI instructor Robyn Smith. Now we can feel like we are diving even while we are driving. Give us a wave if you see the sealife mobile! Annual Dry Dock We have scheduled the Kohala Diver annual dry dock for October 6th-the 11th. Our trusty boat will be getting spruced up and ready for more adventure. We will be available for shore dives and classes during that time. We will also plan our annual big Clear out tent sale at the shop that week so if you are around come visit us in Kawaihae! The Iron man 2014 is scheduled for the 11th so Kohala Divers will be closed that day.   Seattle H20 Show a Success Kohala Divers was a proud exhibitor at the Seattle based h20 Scuba and water sport show. We had a great time meeting other northwest divers and exhibitors. Seattle has some great adventurous folks and I'm not just saying that because it's where I am from. Thanks for making us feel welcome. We hope to see those of you that we met there when you make it to Hawaii next.    Join us on Facebook!! Click turtle to see all of our latest pictures on our facebook page!   In This Issue New Van Annual Dry Dock dates Seattle Dive Show Kohala Divers 61-3665 Akoni Pule Hwy Kawaihae, Hawaii 96743 808-882-7774 godiving@kohaladivers.com

Gear Review: Aeris Jet Pack Travel BCD System

What: Aeris JetPack Travel BCD System: Travel BCD and detachable dry-bag backpack.
Price: $649.00
Why We Wanted To Try It: One-size-fits-all, they say. Rugged and comfortable construction. Can fit all of your divegear, clothes, and personal items into the system and still have it be a 30 lbs or less carry-on size. The system uses the bcd as a basis for the travel backpack (shoulder straps are the straps, the rest folds and zips onto the included Dry-bag). The dry-bag is also a detachable dry backpack with its own fold-away straps and waterproof zippers.
Why We Were Dubious: Can it really fit everyone? Tall, short, busty, big, small... we do have a plethora of variable-sized Divemasters at our disposal. If it fits Robyn will it also fit me? How is this possible? This is higher priced than most travel bcds, but lower priced than a travel bcd plus a dry backpack. Will it really fit all my dive gear, plus clothes and such, enough for say, a week-long trek through the various airplanes and dive sites of the Philippines? (The Aeris website advises 3 days of clothes. Do some laundry on long trips, yes?)

Let's put it to the test!

Fit: Yes, it fit every one of our variable-sized crew. There are many ways to adjust the fit of the BCD: Cummerbund can not only shrink or grow, but can be seated higher or lower. Chest strap can slide (quite ingeniously!) over about a 5" long area. Shoulder straps can lengthen or shorten, with any extra webbing folded and secured by velcro into smart tab-sized bundles, keeping anything from dragging through the corals. Weight pockets can even be adjusted on the cummerbund for comfort and trim options. I got this right after it had been sized to the tiniest of our Divemasters, and I was able to size it up pretty fast. It did take some adjustment and fiddling, and it felt unstable on the 1st dive, but by the 2nd dive I had it pretty locked in.Warning: While the shoulders and chest strap can be set and forgotten (and used as-is for the backpack), the cummerbund needs to be removed for the backpack option, meaning you will need to re-set it from packing to diving.There are a bunch of videos on the Aeris Jetpack site to help. Dives great: The back inflate has a bunch of lift, and the adjustable weight pockets mean you can make it trimmed out for your body. There is even a rear-dump valve! I thought I would miss the D-rings, but I loved the looped chain of webbing for organizing my hangers-on all up and down my shoulders.
Conclusion: So many options for adjustment means you will need to find the best arrangement for your body, but once you do, it is stable and comfortable.

Packability: I gathered and packed all dive gear (wetsuit, fins, booties, mask, snorkel, regulator), clothes for 3 days (swimsuits, tee-shirts, shorts, sarong, hat, dress), laptop, towel, and assorted stuff to replicate toiletries or what-have-you. I packed it all without working too hard. The drybag is roomy and can cinch down even smaller. Fins can fit either in the drybag, between the bags, or even strapped to the sides. Success!

Conclusion: If I were going back to visit the Philippines, where one dives, hops on a plane to another island, and dives again, I would buy this right now and be thrilled!

Packed and all set to go...Wait, where is my airline ticket?

10 Reasons Moms Should Go Scuba Diving on the Kohala Diver!

 

 

 

Having recently stepped into the realms of motherhood I have seen my dive days shrink in amount, and the time between dives grow. I have met many moms of little ones who say "I used to dive" with no hope in their tone of ever returning. I get it. Our worlds become so engrossed in raising our children that even taking care of our basic survival often gets put on the back burner. When I do make the effort to have a free morning where someone else drops my daughter off at school and I take the time off to get underwater, I am so happy that I did! I have put together a list for fellow moms to help get you back into the sport that you once fell in love with. Or, if you have never tried diving this list might just make you sign up for our next PADI Open Water course!

The top ten reasons moms should go Scuba Diving on the Kohala Diver

10. To experience 2 hour-long dives where all that is required of you is to breathe.

9.   To get inspiration for some excitement in your bedtime stories. Weave in some underwater mermaids riding sea horses and mystical sea princesses who have pet nudibranchs into your stale stories and your kid will be thrilled. 

8.  Start your next adult conversation with "so last weekend I was diving in a lava tube when this shark went by" instead the latest potty training story.

7.  To blow bubbles through a regulator, instead of a purple wand.

6. To Find your happy place. Remember it well as you gaze at the turtles being cleaned by yellow fish at the turtle cleaning station with bright blue water and whales singing in the back ground.  The next time your little one is melting down because you let the blueberries touch the yogurt and now its ruined..... You can go back there in your mind.

5. Underwater no one can hear them scream.

4. To have a status update on your facebook page that isn't a picture of your kid being adorable for once.

3. To be a hero. Bring a shell back to your kiddo and tell them you brought it for them from the bottom of the ocean and immediately add another notch to your superhero belt.

2. Hour surface interval= 1 hour nap. Worth the price of admission right there. 

1. Because you deserve it!! A happy mom is the key to a happy family.

Hope to see you underwater soon!

Fantastic Whale Video Off the Kohala Diver!

On a calm day in Puako, a recent group of divers off the Kohala Diver were surprised to see a Humpback Whale sneak up on them! Fantastic video footage by one of our divers. Thank you, Dave!

The Whale swings in close, then turns up and pumps a powerful tail, and breaches right overhead! The divers reported that they were close enough to feel the movement of the water from the tail. Amazing!

Goodbye Kitty Bob

We are saddened to report the passing of our friend and dive-shop mascot Kitty Bob, on this day the 7th of December 2013. Oh Bob, who appeared mysteriously one day already missing his tail (and keeping mum as to how), you wormed your way into all of our hearts: Staff, crew, customers, and random Kawaihae-visiting shoppers, campers, and paddlers. Somehow friendlier than the other Kawaihae cats (or perhaps just confident? Insistent? Fearless?) he had no fear of us and would just walk calmly through the front door, setting off the doorway buzzer. He would meow for food and a bowl of cold, filtered water. And he would get it! Satiated, he would jump up onto the newly windexed glass counter and promptly bathe himself atop a divers halfway-filled-out liability paperwork. He favored nap spots in display windows, or freshly folded shirts. Last week he made a quite comfortable bed in the fluffy cotton "snow" in our Christmas window.
Bob had his active times, too! Did you ever see him run up a palm tree? Quite a fast and lithe ascent. A few days ago we watched him stalk and capture a green gecko, parading off with its limbs protruding from his Cheshire grin.
Non-divers would often stop in, year after year, to see how Kitty Bob was doing. Children liked to guess about how he lost his tail (Drunken bar fight, Shark attack, Lost a bet, jealous kitty girlfriend...) and each tail tale could have been the truth. Fishermen stated that Bob knew how to read the fish flags, appearing at top speed if it was an Ahi flag, and more leisurely if it was "just" a lesser fish. That was our fish snob! After his snacks of fish trimmings, Bob liked to refresh himself with a drink of water straight from the hose, or to the delight of divers, by jumping aboard the Kohala Diver and drinking straight out of the Mask/Camera buckets! He never took us up on the offer of going to sea, preferring, I think, the free trimmings brought back to him in tribute.
Oh mysterious Bob, telling no tales, moodily swiping at kids, leaving cat hair on merchandise and legal paperwork alike. You made us crazy! But you also reminded us, every day, that no matter your history or the strain of your nightly toils, one can find a warm spot of sun, a beautiful view, a bite of fish from a friend, and a family to adopt you, to love you, and to cry at your passing. Wishes for fishes in kitty heaven to you. We will miss you, Kitty Bob.