Tom, Lisa, Kimberly, & Mike
Photo credit to Thalia D. Naidu
To do this, we are ever searching farther afield, hunting for new and fascinating dive sites, to expand both your horizons and our own. Our "schedule" is geared to 1-hour dives, and 70+ minute dives are common. If you don't know how to breathe efficiently, we'll teach you. In humpback whale season, (Jan.-Mar.), we watch for whales before, between and after dives! We take a MAX of 12 divers with 2 guides (if we're over 6, we're in 2 groups, each with its own guide) and a captain on board. Of course, everybody advertises "small, personal, guided tours", but we truly try to live up to our advertising. We go slowly to let people absorb the reefs, guiding to show what's unusual and/or hidden and helping people improve their skills so that we "take only photographs, and leave only bubbles."
Truly, the best part of Dive Makai is our crew.
We are all PADI or SSI instructors/dive masters, bringing you over 75 years of experience! Kimberly and I firmly believe that with our talented and caring people, we have the finest group of guides in the world. We are honored to have made the Rodale’s Scuba Diving’s Worldwide Gold List for the Best Dive Operator Staff. In 1976, (we are the oldest and the longest continually operating dive charter in Kona), Tom and Lisa set out to build a business where guests would have such a good time that they would come back, year after year, and bring their relatives and friends -- a business where the guests would become more than customers, they would become friends. Kimberly and I work each day to continue this long tradition. The making of friends has been Dive Makai’s greatest success.
Captain Mike Henshaw
DIVE MAKAI - A BRIEF HISTORY
Tom Shockley and Lisa Choquette, officially started Dive Makai Charters on September 1,1977, although Tom had leased his charter services under the name Makai Charters from April 1975. Tom taught diving in California from 1969-1974, and came to Kona in early 1974, to manage the old Hawaiian Divers. Lisa joined him in 1976. In 2004, Lisa started making plans to move to the Solomon Islands and the decision to find a new ownership team for Dive Makai was made. In the summer of 2005, my wife Kimberly and I assumed the wheel of Dive Makai.
A bit about us. I learned to dive longer ago than I care to admit in Seattle, Washington. In 1987, I moved to San Diego to attend UCSD, where I eventually earned a BS in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution. While I was working towards my degree, I became a scuba instructor (SSI and PADI) and worked for the Diving Locker in Pacific Beach. Also while in school, I met my lovely wife, Kimberly. We were married in 1994. After college, I took a job with the National Marine Fisheries Service as a biologist. While there, I studied marine mammals and monitored the impact of various fisheries on them. After a brief interlude where I attended law school and practiced as a lawyer, I have returned to doing what I really love, working on the ocean every day. Kimberly is a new diver and also is the business brains behind the operation. Kimberly spent over 10 years in retail management, including 5 years in the management of various Williams-Sonoma stores in the San Diego area. Always the multi-tasker, she received her Bachelors Degree in Business Management while working full-time. In 1998, she changed direction and managed a consulting firm for 4 years. In 2002 she met up with Kevin and Jackie Freiberg, best-selling authors and world class speakers, and became the “Duchess of Details” and helped to manage their business and took care of all the fine details. She received her degree in motherhood in 2000 with the birth of our daughter, Amber, and her PhD with the birth of our son, Cade, in 2004. Deciding to make a life change and move to Hawaii was a huge decision and as each day goes by we are so glad we did.
Our goal with Dive Makai is to continue to provide our guests with a dive charter that we would like to dive with.
