A PADI 5 Star Dive Center membership level is awarded to progressive PADI Dive Centers that excel in providing dive consumers with a full range of diver education programs, equipment selection, and experience opportunities and that actively promote aquatic environmental awareness.
Carrie Ewbank, Owner
PADI IDC Staff Instructor and EFR Instructor
A third generation local
California girl, Carrie grew up on and in the water, spending most weekends
sailing out of Marina Del Rey with her dad. As a teenager, she was lucky
to be able to go to Catalina Girl Scout Camp (then called Camp White's Landing)
where she had her first scuba experience and was
immediately hooked, line and sinker! Owning a boat, Carrie then
spent all of her free time, sailing and scuba diving the wrecks of Lake
Michigan, the Coast of California and every vacation was planned around the
availability of diving. Carrie enjoyed being a Divemaster and an
Assistant Instructor for years before earning her Open Water Instructor
Certification, and continuing her diving education is currently a PADI
Instructor Development Course Staff Instructor, teaching students from Bubble
Makers thru Assistant Instructor, PADI Elite Instructor Award 2015, 2016, 2017.
Graduating from
Pepperdine University with 3 degrees, she is a local girl thru
and thru, and loves showing students of all ages (especially the
younglings) what her world underwater look like and how to enjoy it
safely.
Carrie's favorite dive
is anywhere with her best dive buddy, her son, and business partner, Nick.
Tim Hall, Owner
PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and EFR Instructor
Tim took his first
underwater breath in the Bahamas over ten years ago. Since then he
has been scuba diving in Playa Del Carmen, Belize, San Diego, Cabo San Lucas,
Hawaii, the Dominican Republic, Cancun and from many beaches in Southern
California. One of Tim's favorite places to dive is Catalina
Island where he has made over 100 dives! Tim's favorite thing about
diving is the freedom of weightlessness and the ability to hover in place and
being able to move around using only his breath. Diving is an activity
that Tim finds constantly challenging and there are always new places to see
and new things to learn. On his last dive trip, Tim spent ten days
diving and exploring underwater caves in Mexico and seeing sights that few
people have ever seen.
Tim also loves
working with students and sharing his excitement and knowledge about diving
with people who have decided to “take the plunge into the underwater world."
Nick Ewbank, Owner
PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and EFR Instructor
Growing up in the
Midwest, diving was a seasonal activity, as the lakes and quarries
would freeze over making diving a little challenging! But that didn’t
stop Nick. Nick started diving on summer vacation in the
Caribbean, where at age 8, during a PADI Bubbler Makers class in the pool, he
felt completely at home, yet he was jealous of his parents out in the ocean. A
couple of years later, when PADI lowered the age restriction to 10,
he headed immediately to the local dive center and earned his
certification thru Toucan Dive Center in Illinois, and where he continued his
dive training.
With a family boat named
"The California Girl" on Lake Michigan, summers and falls were filled
with diving. Moving out to California only served to expand his water life
experiences including surfing, swimming, free diving, sailing and of course
more scuba. Diving in deeper, he spent his college days at the University of
Hawaii on the island of Oahu, diving during the days and studying at night.
Nick says “diving in Hawaii made me more confident and competent” and
ultimately lead him to peruse my Divemaster certification, and more recently,
his Assistant Instructor rating. Nick’s drive is to bring better
awareness and more diving opportunities to the people of Southern California.
Nick’s favorite dive is
the Manta Dive in Kona, Hawaii, one he says should not be missed.
Bruce Casler
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, EFR Instructor, and NAUI Instructor
Bruce graduated with
honors from Santa Barbara City College’s prestigious Commercial Diving Program
and worked at Club Med as a Dive Instructor for several years. Bruce has
been teaching people to dive since 1985.
This patient instructor
has hundreds of trained students, some even going on to become dive
professionals themselves. Bruce and his wife live in beautiful Moorpark,
California, which he says is the perfect central point to dive locations and
dive boats from Santa Barbara to Long Beach.
Bruce’s personal favorite dive site is Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. “The
diving there in the South Pacific is pristine and you won't find friendlier
people than the local islander a great place to sit on the bottom and watch
black tip reef sharks in their natural habitat.” As for local diving,
“we're blessed with the availability of awesome diving with relative ease
aboard one of the many dive boats that brings us to the Channel Islands.
Nothing beats an hour boat ride "across the pond" for a dive at
Ship Rock, Catalina. If it's bug (lobster) season, then double bonus. Want to
know more, just ask Bruce!
Frank Asencio
PADI IDC Staff Instructor and EFR Instructor
Born in Mexico, Frank has over 18 years of diving experience in Baja California, Sea of Cortez, Riviera Maya and Southern California. As a PADI Instructor Development Course Staff Instructor, full cave diver, and tech diver, he is certified to provide training for Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, wreck diving, deep diving, night diving, enriched air, and side-mount diving, among others. Frank has taught over 500 Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, and Divemaster students. He has received PADI Elite Instructor recognition for the past several years and is excited to continue to build upon his 4,600+ logged dives in Los Angeles and San Diego, California exploring wreck dives throughout the region.
Natalie Wilson
PADI Assistant Instructor, Recreational and Technical Divemaster
Natalie has been diving for
over 20 years and is a Recreational and Technical Divemaster, a certified
Megladon CCR diver, and recently completed her PADI Assistant Instructor
certification. Natalie grew up diving in the Florida Keys where she has
thousands of dives on such famous wrecks such as the Spiegel Grove, USS Duane,
Northern Lights and all of the other amazing shipwrecks the Keys are known for.
Carrie and Natalie met in 2005 at a dive show and have been inseparable
Mermaid friends ever since and have dove together from Coast to Coast. Natalie
and her husband Philip reside in San Diego California with their daughter Coral
and are expecting #2 later this year!
Tyler Grasmick
PADI Divemaster
Tyler Grasmick is a PADI
Divemaster who has over 15 years of experience exploring the underwater world.
Whether he is scuba diving, surfing, or spear fishing, he prefers to be
in the water showing others what they have been missing. Tyler discovered
scuba while vacationing in Hawaii as a child with his family. Shortly
thereafter, he headed to Catalina Island where he earned his certification at
the Catalina Island Marine Institute, and is now expanding his
Divemaster and tech diving skills to work professionally.
Aside from working as
our Divemaster, Tyler is an accomplished Commercial Film Producer, also
coordinating water safety for film and production. A West Los Angeles local,
he currently lives in Venice Beach with his girlfriend and Great Dane, and they
spend their free time hiking and exploring the US via their 4x4 vehicle.
Joe Kitaj
PADI Divemaster
Joe had to be pulled from the water on his first snorkeling trip because he wouldn’t leave the fish alone. From the time he was 6 he asked his mom when he could go SCUBA diving. Joe learned to dive in and around the Channel Islands of his home Southern California. Since earning his PADI Divemaster certification in 2013, Joe has worked throughout the Caribbean, but thinks the cold Pacific waters offer the best diving in the world. When he’s not blowing bubbles you can find him on the golf course or at the nearest sushi bar.
Lela Buttery
PADI Assistant Instructor, SSI, YMCA and Naui Instructor
Lela has been diving for 20 years and teaching for more than 10. Lela's interest in SCUBA comes from her interest in the marine sciences--she has earned a BS in Biology and an MS in Oceanography/Environment Science. As a natural communicator and dynamic educator, Lela enjoys working with schools and other science programs in and around SoCal. She loves spearfishing, talking about fisheries biology and being your tour guide under the sea.
Ruth Mauntz
PADI Divemaster
Ruth earned her open water certification in San Diego 2013. She started diving enough frequent early-morning, cold-water dives with dive buddies from the scuba community, that her friends eventually accepted that she was indeed a mermaid. Eventually, Ruth decided to take the plunge to get trained as a divemaster so she could regularly do guided dives on the less explored side of the California coast! Conservation of our marine ecosystems is very near and dear to her heart, and Ruth hopes that getting more divers in the water will increase awareness of these precious resources underneath the surface. For now, she dives shipwrecks, oil rigs, caverns, and kelp forests, but Ruth's dream is to one day dive the thriving coral reefs in Palau's warm waters. See you in the water!
Nura Ferdowsi
Store Manager
Being raised in Puerto Rico, Nura is no stranger to the
water. She is, however, new to the diving community. Nura is recently certified
but fell in love with diving instantly. She has since been diving at Catalina
Island, Channel Island, Anacapa, and some beaches in Southern California. She
plans to travel and dive all over the world! When not blowing bubbles, you can
find Nura at the In2Deep shop or at the beach catching some sun!
Geoff Walsh
Dive Professional
Geoff is a local beach diver with a passion for traveling around the world.
A third generation local
California girl, Carrie grew up on and in the water, spending most weekends
sailing out of Marina Del Rey with her dad. As a teenager, she was lucky
to be able to go to Catalina Girl Scout Camp (then called Camp White's Landing)
where she had her first scuba experience and was
immediately hooked, line and sinker! Owning a boat, Carrie then
spent all of her free time, sailing and scuba diving the wrecks of Lake
Michigan, the Coast of California and every vacation was planned around the
availability of diving. Carrie enjoyed being a Divemaster and an
Assistant Instructor for years before earning her Open Water Instructor
Certification, and continuing her diving education is currently a PADI
Instructor Development Course Staff Instructor, teaching students from Bubble
Makers thru Assistant Instructor, PADI Elite Instructor Award 2015, 2016, 2017.
Graduating from
Pepperdine University with 3 degrees, she is a local girl thru
and thru, and loves showing students of all ages (especially the
younglings) what her world underwater look like and how to enjoy it
safely.
Carrie's favorite dive
is anywhere with her best dive buddy, her son, and business partner, Nick.
Tim took his first
underwater breath in the Bahamas over ten years ago. Since then he
has been scuba diving in Playa Del Carmen, Belize, San Diego, Cabo San Lucas,
Hawaii, the Dominican Republic, Cancun and from many beaches in Southern
California. One of Tim's favorite places to dive is Catalina
Island where he has made over 100 dives! Tim's favorite thing about
diving is the freedom of weightlessness and the ability to hover in place and
being able to move around using only his breath. Diving is an activity
that Tim finds constantly challenging and there are always new places to see
and new things to learn. On his last dive trip, Tim spent ten days
diving and exploring underwater caves in Mexico and seeing sights that few
people have ever seen.
Tim also loves
working with students and sharing his excitement and knowledge about diving
with people who have decided to “take the plunge into the underwater world."
Growing up in the
Midwest, diving was a seasonal activity, as the lakes and quarries
would freeze over making diving a little challenging! But that didn’t
stop Nick. Nick started diving on summer vacation in the
Caribbean, where at age 8, during a PADI Bubbler Makers class in the pool, he
felt completely at home, yet he was jealous of his parents out in the ocean. A
couple of years later, when PADI lowered the age restriction to 10,
he headed immediately to the local dive center and earned his
certification thru Toucan Dive Center in Illinois, and where he continued his
dive training.
With a family boat named
"The California Girl" on Lake Michigan, summers and falls were filled
with diving. Moving out to California only served to expand his water life
experiences including surfing, swimming, free diving, sailing and of course
more scuba. Diving in deeper, he spent his college days at the University of
Hawaii on the island of Oahu, diving during the days and studying at night.
Nick says “diving in Hawaii made me more confident and competent” and
ultimately lead him to peruse my Divemaster certification, and more recently,
his Assistant Instructor rating. Nick’s drive is to bring better
awareness and more diving opportunities to the people of Southern California.
Nick’s favorite dive is
the Manta Dive in Kona, Hawaii, one he says should not be missed.
Bruce graduated with
honors from Santa Barbara City College’s prestigious Commercial Diving Program
and worked at Club Med as a Dive Instructor for several years. Bruce has
been teaching people to dive since 1985.
This patient instructor
has hundreds of trained students, some even going on to become dive
professionals themselves. Bruce and his wife live in beautiful Moorpark,
California, which he says is the perfect central point to dive locations and
dive boats from Santa Barbara to Long Beach.
Bruce’s personal favorite dive site is Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. “The
diving there in the South Pacific is pristine and you won't find friendlier
people than the local islander a great place to sit on the bottom and watch
black tip reef sharks in their natural habitat.” As for local diving,
“we're blessed with the availability of awesome diving with relative ease
aboard one of the many dive boats that brings us to the Channel Islands.
Nothing beats an hour boat ride "across the pond" for a dive at
Ship Rock, Catalina. If it's bug (lobster) season, then double bonus. Want to
know more, just ask Bruce!
Born in Mexico, Frank has over 18 years of diving experience in Baja California, Sea of Cortez, Riviera Maya and Southern California. As a PADI Instructor Development Course Staff Instructor, full cave diver, and tech diver, he is certified to provide training for Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, wreck diving, deep diving, night diving, enriched air, and side-mount diving, among others. Frank has taught over 500 Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, and Divemaster students. He has received PADI Elite Instructor recognition for the past several years and is excited to continue to build upon his 4,600+ logged dives in Los Angeles and San Diego, California exploring wreck dives throughout the region.
Natalie has been diving for
over 20 years and is a Recreational and Technical Divemaster, a certified
Megladon CCR diver, and recently completed her PADI Assistant Instructor
certification. Natalie grew up diving in the Florida Keys where she has
thousands of dives on such famous wrecks such as the Spiegel Grove, USS Duane,
Northern Lights and all of the other amazing shipwrecks the Keys are known for.
Carrie and Natalie met in 2005 at a dive show and have been inseparable
Mermaid friends ever since and have dove together from Coast to Coast. Natalie
and her husband Philip reside in San Diego California with their daughter Coral
and are expecting #2 later this year!
Tyler Grasmick is a PADI
Divemaster who has over 15 years of experience exploring the underwater world.
Whether he is scuba diving, surfing, or spear fishing, he prefers to be
in the water showing others what they have been missing. Tyler discovered
scuba while vacationing in Hawaii as a child with his family. Shortly
thereafter, he headed to Catalina Island where he earned his certification at
the Catalina Island Marine Institute, and is now expanding his
Divemaster and tech diving skills to work professionally.
Aside from working as
our Divemaster, Tyler is an accomplished Commercial Film Producer, also
coordinating water safety for film and production. A West Los Angeles local,
he currently lives in Venice Beach with his girlfriend and Great Dane, and they
spend their free time hiking and exploring the US via their 4x4 vehicle.
Joe had to be pulled from the water on his first snorkeling trip because he wouldn’t leave the fish alone. From the time he was 6 he asked his mom when he could go SCUBA diving. Joe learned to dive in and around the Channel Islands of his home Southern California. Since earning his PADI Divemaster certification in 2013, Joe has worked throughout the Caribbean, but thinks the cold Pacific waters offer the best diving in the world. When he’s not blowing bubbles you can find him on the golf course or at the nearest sushi bar.
Lela has been diving for 20 years and teaching for more than 10. Lela's interest in SCUBA comes from her interest in the marine sciences--she has earned a BS in Biology and an MS in Oceanography/Environment Science. As a natural communicator and dynamic educator, Lela enjoys working with schools and other science programs in and around SoCal. She loves spearfishing, talking about fisheries biology and being your tour guide under the sea.
Ruth earned her open water certification in San Diego 2013. She started diving enough frequent early-morning, cold-water dives with dive buddies from the scuba community, that her friends eventually accepted that she was indeed a mermaid. Eventually, Ruth decided to take the plunge to get trained as a divemaster so she could regularly do guided dives on the less explored side of the California coast! Conservation of our marine ecosystems is very near and dear to her heart, and Ruth hopes that getting more divers in the water will increase awareness of these precious resources underneath the surface. For now, she dives shipwrecks, oil rigs, caverns, and kelp forests, but Ruth's dream is to one day dive the thriving coral reefs in Palau's warm waters. See you in the water!
Being raised in Puerto Rico, Nura is no stranger to the
water. She is, however, new to the diving community. Nura is recently certified
but fell in love with diving instantly. She has since been diving at Catalina
Island, Channel Island, Anacapa, and some beaches in Southern California. She
plans to travel and dive all over the world! When not blowing bubbles, you can
find Nura at the In2Deep shop or at the beach catching some sun!
Geoff is a local beach diver with a passion for traveling around the world.