Mark Stead

Mark was born and raised in the Seattle area and was certified as a PADI open water diver in the frigid waters of Puget Sound at the age of 18. Over the next two years he logged 40 dives there before deciding to move on to warmer waters. The warmer waters he decided on were those surrounding the island of Utila in the Bay Islands of Honduras where he completed his Advanced, Rescue and Divemaster courses. He ended up staying on at Ecomarine Gunters Dive Shop working as a full time Diveguide/Divemaster. After a year, Mark moved back to Seattle, where he took a job as a gear technician and Divemaster with the dive shop he was originally certified at, Underwater Sports. Eventually, warmer water beckoned once again, and Mark set his sights on Kona. In October of 2000 Mark made the move to Kona and started to work at Jack’s Diving Locker the day after he arrived. Soon after, he completed his PADI Instructor course, acing the exams. Since then, Mark has worked full time as an instructor, Diveguide, underwater photographer and gear technician, logging over 2000 dives on the Kona coast. In April, 2005, Mark made the switch to Dive Makai. He loves the emphasis on marine life education at Dive Makai and has proven himself to be an exceptional guide with an amazing ability to find the reef's smallest and rarest of critters.

 

David Maddox

David comes to Dive Makai from Wisconsin by way of Southern California. He has been diving full time in Kona since 1999. David is a USCG Captain, and a PADI Divemaster.

 

 

David is a fantastic videographer and will be happy to provide you with a professional DVD of your diving day.

 

Heather Cone

I was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, and did my Open Water course there in 1995, completing my four Open Water dives and getting certified here in Kona, Hawaii in March of 1995. I then took a bit of a hiatus from diving, as I spent the next 10 years in land-locked Colorado, and had no desire to dive in cold water resevoirs! After an awesome liveaboard in Palau in 2000, my love for diving was rekindled and I haven't stopped since. I spent 3 years living in Tokyo, Japan, and spent all of my long holidays from teaching kindergarten traveling around South East Asia diving. I got my Advanced Open Water in Ko Phi Phi, Thailand, and the following year got my Rescue Certification in Panglao, Philippines. I had so much fun doing the Rescue course and was so inspired by my instructors, that I decided that I would follow my dream of becoming a Dive Master and an Instructor and the ultimate dream, getting paid to dive!!

In March of 2006, I found myself on vacation in Kona (after not having been here since my original certification over 10 years before!) and spent 2 weeks diving and loved every minute of it. I was attracted to come here to work as a diver because of the awesome marine life and the seemingly endless supply of dive sites that Kona offers. So, I packed up and left my busy Tokyo life behind and moved to Kona in May of 2006. I did my Dive Master course as a 6-week internship with Dive Tek and loved every minute of it. I got to know a lot of the dive sites and meet a lot of the fun, friendly people working in the diving and boating industry here in Kona and decided this was definitely the place for me. I then took my Instructor course with Jack's Diving Locker in December of '06, and am loving getting to combine my love for scuba with my love of teaching. After studying Japanese in college and living in Japan for 3 years, I have also found that Kona provides an excellent source of Japanese tourists and divers, and I've been fortunate to get the opportunity to take the Japanese diving and get to use my language skills working here and there for Breeze Hawaii, one of the only Japanese-specific dive shops in Kona. So far as an Instructor, my favorite part has been getting to work with and certify kids and share my love for the sport of scuba and the amazing underwater world. I love to learn and am thoroughly enjoying studying the marine life that is unique to Hawaii and am so happy and fortunate to be working and diving here in Kona and now as part of the Dive Makai crew!!

 

Trish Morris-Plise

Trish came to the Big Island from the San Francisco Bay Area. She started her diving in California. Having earned her Instructor certification she began to teach in the cold waters of Monterey Bay.

It took about two years to realize that the conditions in Monterey we not getting any better and she was not getting any younger so she set her eyes on Kona.

Since Trish has been on the island she has earned her PADI IDC Staff Instructor certification as well as her USCG Master Captains License.

When Trish is off the
water you can find her at the gym working towards her fourth triathlon or at home pursuing another one of her passions, the art of Quilting.

Trish has three children, Jonathan, Tom and Caitlin. In April of 2006 Samantha was welcomed into her family, her first grandchild. Trish and her husband, Norm, call Keauhou home.

THE DIVE MAKAI CREW

 

Mike Henshaw

Mike started diving at the age of 15 in his hometown Seattle, Washington. At the age of 18 he began his migration south and west, moving to San Diego, California to attend UCSD. While there, Mike became an SSI DiveCon, and instructor. (He also finished a BS in Ecology.) This led to working and teaching at the Diving Locker, one of the oldest dive shops in the country. Mike’s next two careers kept him out of the water more than he would have liked. He first worked for the National Marine Fisheries Service as a biologist in the Marine Mammal Division. He then suffered a bout of temporary insanity which led to law school, a year in Vermont, and legal career. Once the craziness cleared, Mike realized that he has somehow stalled his southwest migration and that he really missed diving. In preparation for resuming his true calling, Mike crossed over to become a PADI instructor and got his USCG Captains license. In August of 2005, Mike and his family moved to Kona where you can find him underwater most days acting as Diveguide or Instructor, and climbing the learning curve of underwater photography.

 

Kimberly Henshaw

Kimberly is Mike’s lovely wife, customer service and business expert behind the scenes as well as chief coordinator on the home front. Keeping up with two children and running the biz keeps her out of the water more than she would like. Kimberly grew up just outside Cleveland, Ohio and moved to San Diego, California when she was 19. Kimberly started her certification over 13 years ago with Mike as her instructor (they were only dating at the time) she got through all of the classroom and pool sessions and headed off to La Jolla Shores Beach in La Jolla, CA for her first open water dive. It was Thanksgiving morning and after putting on all the necessary gear to just stay warm, Kimberly was not feeling very glamorous at all. Mike and Kimberly headed off into the water and swam out to work on some of the skills. Kimberly remembers thinking to herself “there sure isn’t much to see here and boy, the water is gray. What’s all the excitement about anyway?” After a brief panic while filling her mask full of very cold water she decided “hmmmm maybe this isn’t for me.” After moving to Hawaii, Kimberly thought she would give diving a try again. After settling in after the move, Kimberly went out on Lio Kai III and Mark Stead, one of our Divemasters/Instructors, led her through the Introductory Scuba Experience class. Kimberly LOVED the dive!! As of January 10, 2008, Kimberly is now a certified diver!!!!!!

Tom Shockley

Tom is the founder of Dive Makai Charters and ran it for almost 30 years with Lisa Choquette. Tom originally arrived to Kona early in 1974 and started Makai Charters, leasing his charter services to the shop he was managing. His diving career began in CA where he graduated from Ed Brawley’s Professional Diving Instructor’s College, and went onto work in a shop in San Mateo. Leading several trips to Kona convinced Tom that this was where he really wanted to live and work. Tom has spent over 30 years gently and thoroughly introducing people to the spectacular underwater world and teaching them about the fascinating animals that inhabit it. After the sale of the business in 2005, Tom couldn’t bear the thought of not being there to answer your phone and email questions, so decided to stay on as the “Voice” of Dive Makai. He is likely the first person you will talk to when you call. You should set aside a bit of time as Tom loves to chat and always goes out of his way to answer, or find answers to, all your questions.

 

Allison Brandt

Allison was born and raised in land-locked Pennsylvania and later moved to the desert in Palm Springs, CA. After a fun-filled trip to the Bahamas, she was convinced to learn to dive in spite of the distance to the ocean. Only a few months after Open Water certification, Allison moved to San Diego and began diving regularly and continued with further dive classwork. Charters to the Channel Islands and trips to Roatan, the Bahamas and Hawaii further cemented her love for the underwater world.

In 2006, Allison's favorite dive buddy moved to Kona to pursue a career in diving. Inspired by her friend, Allison enrolled in the Divemaster course and later began working part-time as a Divemaster at a local dive shop in San Diego teaching Introductory dives and assisting with Open Water classes. Then after too many emails from Kona describing awesome dives with whales, manta rays, dolphins and more, Allison completed her PADI Dive Instructor course and was persuaded to give up her adding machine and accounting office for the diving life in Kona.

Allison joined the Dive Makai Crew in July of 2008 and has been enjoying every day. She feels excited to be a part of such a knowledgable and professional crew and to have the opportunity to be sharing the waters with the amazing sea life of Kona.