The Kohala Divers Staff

Rebekah:
Rebekah started diving in Washington State in the ridiculous temperature of 43 degrees (She didn’t know any better as she had yet to visit anywhere warmer). In 1997 she visited Hawaii and needless to say didn’t go back to cold water diving. Though she does reminisce about the gorgeous cold water sea life, she remembers it from the comfort of 80 degree Hawaiian waters. She became a Padi instructor on Kauai and dove two to five times a day for most of the time she lived there. After Kauai she lived on Maui before settling on her favorite niche of diving in Hawaii: The North Kohala Coast. Diving for Ocean Sports and then for Kohala Divers, this coastline has truly become her backyard: There is nowhere she’d rather be! Rebekah loves underwater photography and traveling, and has been to Fiji, Australia, Mexico and Thailand, and has a list of hundreds of more places to visit. She loves teaching new divers to enjoy the underwater world, especially when past students return over the years and diving has remained a big part of their lives. This brings her all the satisfaction in her work that she could ask for!!
Favorite dive site: Black Point Caves because it’s an octopus heaven!
Can’t live without gear: Sealife camera w/ wide angle lens.

 

Chris:
Hailing from New York, Chris moved to the island of Hawaii in 2006 and joined Kohala Divers in 2007. He enjoys spotting hard-to-find critters like Titan Scorpionfish, Frogfish, and Blue Dragon Nudibranchs. Chris is known for his detailed site briefings and great surface-interval stories. Certified in Hawaii, Chris has recently been diving in Australia.
Favorite Dive Site: The Dome, for Blue Dragon Nudis out on the far lava finger.
Can’t Live Without Gear: New swivel on his Scubapro MK25 S600 Regulator.

 

Robyn:
On her certification dive in Thailand Robyn saw sharks in the open ocean for the first time and immediately fell in love with diving. Known amongst the crew as “Sharkie” (see if you can get her to tell you why!), she likes any site where she can find our local white tip reef sharks, and has been know to jump into the harbor to photograph feeding sandbar sharks! Robyn also loves exploring long, dark lava tubes where she seeks the elusive. Robyn joined Kohala Divers in 2006 and enjoys teaching the Underwater Digital Photography specialty certification.
Favorite Dive Site: Puffer Reef (Puako 38)
Can’t Live Without Gear: UK eLED Flashlight for illuminating lava tubes.

 

Kelleen:
Soon after her certification in 1994, Kelleen made a bet that if she ever made a living solely through diving she would crop and bleach her hair and go by her childhood nickname “Beanie” (stay tuned). She loves all the critters that can be found at night, and you can find her on Kohala Diver’s Full Moon Night Dives. Certified in the Red Sea, Kelleen has also been diving in California, Palau, Truk, Turkey, and Cozumel, but thinks the Kohala coast is the best diving in the World.
Favorite Dive Site: Horseshoe (or any of them at night).
Can’t Live Without Gear: Pink Tusa Splendive IV mask with prescription lenses.

 

Stephen:
Originally from Hyannis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Stephen spent many years diving in the Caribbean before moving to Hawaii in 1996. A bit of a salty pirate, Captain Stephen is known for his obsessive care of the Kohala Diver boat (no bananas!). He loves wreck diving and deep diving, and is our resident gear repair specialist.
Favorite Dive Site: Black Point (or anywhere deep).
Can’t Live Without Gear: Uwatec Aladin dive computer with Nitrox.

 

Kim:
From a cold water State (Minnesota), Kim came to Hawaii in 1998 and was certified to dive in our warm waters in 2002. She is an avid shore diver who often sets out into unknown areas in search of sharks, octopus, and interesting topography. Kim gets most excited to see the beautiful and intricate local nudibranchs, and recently spotted four different varieties in a 10-foot square area of Outside Crystal Cove. We welcome Kim back to Hawaii after her month-long stint studying acoustics and migration of Gray Whales in California.
Favorite Dive Site: Kim’s Caves (of course! She named the site!)
Can’t Live Without Gear: Tusa Powerview mask.

 

Jim:
Jim had been recreationally diving with Kohala Divers for years and in 2007 he went professional and got his Divemaster certification. Over the next year, he became a PADI instructor and USCG Captain while continuing to hold his day job. You will often see him captaining and diving on the weekends or tinkering with our compressors whenever they act up.
Favorite dive site: Horseshoe
Can’t live without gear: The new Nitrox membrane system that he installed.

 

Gail:
When she’s not teaching preschool, Gail will often come lead dives with Kohala Divers. She always loves diving and never says no to a night diving opportunity. Her love for being underwater is infectious!
Favorite dive site: Ulua Caves
Can’t live without gear: Uwatec dive computer

 

Greg: 
Greg can usually be found on the Reel Pleasure, our sister company’s sport fishing boat moored next to Kohala Divers. Greg originally fell in love with the ocean through Scuba when his grandparents got him a certification course for his 12th birthday in Southern California. He continues to love Scuba and most vacations and days off involve some kind of diving.
Favorite dive site: Turtle Mound
Can’t live without gear: Scubapro Nova Light

Tina:
Tina has been in the water as a swimmer, instructor, and competitor from a young age. She hails from Portland, Oregon, and joined Kohala Divers in 2008, when she was quickly sucked into the diving cult. She has expert knowledge on all our Scuba gear, and enjoys graciously answering all challenging questions and concerns. Tina is a valued addition to our family for her eye for beauty and detail in the shop, and her ability to quell fears with her combined knowledge and compassion.
Favorite dive site: Paniau in Puako
Can’t live without gear: A spotlessly clean mask!

Mari:
Mari hails from Dirty Jersey, via University of Oregon, and has been with Kohala Divers since April 2009. She jumped right into diving in Hawai’i by collecting many shore dives up and down the Kohala Coast. She enjoys hiking (which means you will see her lugging her gear down the cliff to the Dome). Mari has sharp eyes, and likes pointing out the tiny, brightly colored nudibranchs that litter our sites.
Favorite dive site: The Dome (From Shore, cuz she is bad*ss!)
Can’t live without gear: Warm 7mm Scubapro EverFlex Steamer wetsuit.

Nate:
Nate joins us from Georgia, and learned to scuba dive here in Hawai’i. He loves diving at night, in caves, and off deep walls, and is an accomplished freediver (and spearfisherman. Shhh: Don’t tell Robyn). Nate will soon be working in Antarctica, where he hopes to do some diving under the ice. Join the poll in the shop and bet on which digit Nate will lose to frostbite!
Favorite dive site: Horseshoe (because today he hit the 3rd lava tube!)
Can’t live without gear: Mask with low-volume teardrop shape.

Brooke:
Learned to dive in 1996 on the oil rigs of Texas, and moved to Hawai’i via Maui in 2006. Brooke is studying Natural Resources with an emphasis on Fisheries and Wildlife, and hopes to eventually do something useful with her degree. Brooke enjoys photography and has taken beautiful photos and videos of our dive sites (look for them on Facebook!) Brooke’s enthusiastic optimism is a welcome contrast to the rest of the crew’s jaded cynicism!
Favorite dive site: Puako 56 Garden Eels, for all the possibilities.
Can’t live without gear: The Quest Underwater Magnetic Slate

Bob The Cat:
Bob is recovering from a somewhat questionable and dubious past. We don’t know how he lost his tail, and perhaps we don’t really want to know the gory details. Bob was feral, or abandoned, or is running from the law, and has chosen the Kohala Divers Shop as his new home. Look for him stretched out on the counter when you are attempting to sign your forms, or lying on your fins, or jumping onto the boat to drink from the camera bucket. (Kohala Divers is not responsible for any injury attained from attempting to pet Bob. Yeah, it’s there on that Liability Release form you are attempting to sign… Under Bob the cat…)
Favorite dive site: One with Fish. Fish. FishFishFishFish!
Can’t live without gear: Claws. Or Teeth.

Nemo:
You may encounter Nemo hanging out at the dive shop occasionally. You probably won’t get by him without your face being licked. He was introduced to the diving world at a very young age and he loves the water!
Can’t live without gear: Anything he can chew!