The Dive Team

Bio: I grew up in Los Angeles so I had many opportunities to dive and surf. Fueled by my love of the ocean I became California Kelp Reforestation diver, Artificial REEF builder & research diver. I decided to open our dive center in 2004 and here we are with our go-getter team of fun, eco-minded dive professionals. Here at Eco Dive you'll see a huge difference compared to our competition, we teach diving because we love it, we encourage additional dive training because it's all about safe underwater exploration and understanding our oceans. Our credo is Educate, Equip and Explorer. Come learn and earn your certifications with us, come explore the worlds reefs with us, purchase your equipment from our highly trained, fun & friendly team of instructors. We're not out to sell you a piece of junk for a quick buck, we want you in the right gear the first time. Plus we beat any price. Come see why our shop is rated the best in Southern California. 

Bio: Started diving in 2018 and loving it ever since! Scuba has given me a new perspective on life and the life on this planet. Such a wonderful and beautiful place. I have always had a passion for helping others and that is why I work in the medical field whenever I am not in the water. Having experienced the transformation that scuba can bring, I want to spread that to others so that they too can share in the mysteries of the underwater world! I also channel my care into a coral restoration project in the Philippines and am happy to report progress! I hope to get many others as excited as I am for opportunities to heal our oceans. Eco Dive Center has been my foundation for scuba since day one. And despite all the challenges they have been there like a family. I am now proud to be a part of the team and I cannot wait to welcome you all into the Eco Dive family!

Bio: There are three things I love most about diving. Teaching swimming, snorkeling and bubble making to the community's young future divers lets me share my passions with our next generation. I also enjoy traveling & diving the world, I've been to amazing reefs like Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Cancun & Cozumel, Thailands Similan Islands, Fiji, Costa Rica and the famous Galapagoes... but our SoCal Islands are still my favorite. Our waters have the some of the most biodiversity in the world & that gives me lots to teach. We opened Eco Dive Center in 2005 with an awesome mission of Exploration, Conservation and Education. Our instructors are hand picked and are considered the best, just read our reviews. 

My Photo Gallery: https://ecodivecenter.smugmug.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecodivecenter/

Bio: At the age of 10 I attended CIMI - Catalina Marine Institute and I instantly knew that I wanted to dedicate my life to all things ocean. Started out free diving and eventually moved to scuba. It has been downhill from there. I have dove all over the world my favorites being Western Australia (Wobbegong Sharks!) and the Kelp Forests here in California. I specialize in fish identification and marine life. I am particularly interested in sharks. I love diving with them and educating people on how to protect them. I have a distinctive specialty in Shark Conservation Diving. My goal is to get my students as excited about the ocean and diving as I am. 

Bio: I've been fascinated by the ocean my whole life and ever since I took an Oceanography class, all I wanted to do was understand more about underwater life. I love learning about both the technical and gear side of diving as well as the magical experience of observing marine life that scuba diving allows. I'm excited to continue to explore all the beautiful dive sites in California and get my students as excited about scuba as I am!

Bio: A former US Army Paratrooper and avid lover of the sea. I started diving with my wife a little over a year ago and found a passion at the bottom of the tranquil ocean among the fish and kelp. As we furthered our certs, I realized I could make my passion a career as an instructor and now I’m on track for that as I work in the shop. I also find the gear and working one on one with people nearly as enjoyable as breathing underwater. 

Bio: I was born to the beat of the Venice drum circle and fell asleep every night to the rhythm of crashing waves. I was beach brat. As I grew older and moved further from the ocean I started to crave it and it was obvious. At first I thought I could reconnect by studying marine biology. But it wasn’t enough. I then volunteered for Heal the Bay doing beach clean ups and working at their aquarium. It still wasn’t enough. The next step was to submerge. I dove head first into scuba and haven’t surfaced since. My favorite dives so far have been at the Socorro islands and locally at Farnsworth wall on the back side of Catalina. Still, the wavy kelp forests and rocky reefs of the California coast blow me away. I’m always excited to introduce the curious to new adventures. 

Bio: Since I was a kid I’ve had a love for the ocean. I do everything I can just to be near the water. I drive power boats, sail, and surf, but nothing is as thrilling as diving. Being a diver brings me closer to what I love down below. I learn something new every dive.

Bio: I began diving in 1989 in the dark cold waters of Whittier, Alaska and while that slowed me down temporarily, a move to California reignited my love for diving. I love to travel and one of my goals is to explore the world both above and below the water although California still ranks as my favorite dive location. The kelp forests are amazing, I can think of no better way to pass an hour than laying on the sand watching a sea-lion chase fish in the sunlight. I love going on Eco’s tropical trips once a year, meeting new divers and exploring new places underwater. My favorite dive though so far was off Aliwal Shoals, S.Africa diving the Produce wreck and listening to humpback whales singing underwater. The effect was as if the wreck was haunted. While there I took a specialty course in Shark diving that has lead me to appreciate sharks even more and try to spread the word on fact and fiction regarding them. I am very excited to be working in diving and can't wait to share the experience with others. 

Bio: Growing up on a tiny island in Southeast Asia, it is ironic that I was an aquaphobe till my early twenties. Refusing to give in to my irrational fear of the water, I decided the best course of action was to do something extreme. During summer break in 1999, I traveled to a tiny island in Malaysia, and got certified as an Open Water Diver. Since then, it has been an amazing odyssey which has brought me diving all over the world. Now I want to share my love of the underwater realm with students eager to jump into the water and explore. Few things can compare to the satisfaction of seeing a wide eyed student brimming from ear to ear after their first encounter with a playful sealion. I love all types of diving; wreck diving in Florida and in San Diego, Drift diving down the Colorado and in Cancun, muck diving in Redondo Beach and Lembeh Straits, wall diving in Roatan and in Sipadan, and of course reef diving in Catalina and in the Great Barrier Reef. But one of my favorite types of diving is swimming thru the kelp forests off our California coast. It is like a magical hike through an enchanted Redwood forest with the sun beams shining through between the trees only underwater!

Bio: Oleg grew up watching the adventures of Jacques Cousteau and his dive team and got captivated with the underwater world. So when opportunity presented itself he got certified and went diving all over the world. When Oleg moved to Southern California he got really fascinated with the local kelp forests and overall marine biodiversity here. After doing a lot of diving he decided to share the passion and became an instructor with Eco Dive center. Oleg is excited about sharing his skills and knowledge about diving and local marine life with new divers. It is always awesome to see the spark in peoples' eyes when they get introduced to the amazing world of diving. Oleg also got into tech diving and just recently got his TDI Full Cave Diver certification.

Bio: Char grew up in Las Vegas, NV and has lived in Los Angeles since 2001. In 2017 Char's life would forever be changed when she bought a Groupon to learn SCUBA at Eco Dive Center and has never looked back. Growing up in Vegas she had never heard of scuba and the only water she had seen were the ones in front of hotels. It will forever be true love with over 2000 dives under her BCD and has dove in Thailand, Maldives, Mexico, Thailand, Belize, Fiji and Philippines.

Bio: I always had a love for the ocean and all the life in it. Like a lot of kids, I kicked around the idea of becoming a Marine Biologist when I grew up ...Well, that didn't happen. Needless to say, my career focuses on getting hit in the head more than using it :-D I am a stunt woman now and have been lucky enough to be able to use SCUBA diving within my field of work as well as outside of it. I also work part time as an aquarist and scientific diver at the California Science Center and I am a volunteer diver at the Science Center as well as the Aquarium of the Pacific. If you want to dive these amazing exhibits, too, we can help you get qualified! Needless to say, diving has become a big part of my life both recreationally and professionally and I am happy to be able to share my passion with you. Now, let's go diving! 

My Dive Gear: DRY Suit! Zeagle Stiletto BCD, Atomic ST1 regulator, Scubapro Seawing Nova, Jet Fins or OMS Slipstreams, usually wearing my pink hood, and a Suunto Zoop Novo dive computer and Shearwater Teric

Bio: Bio Coming soon...

Bio: The first question I often get is how I got my nickname: Sharkey. It’s actually my last name! In spite of that (or maybe because of it), my love of the ocean and sharks makes me proud to be called Sharkey. Growing up in Michigan, made me very familiar with living by large bodies of water but my passion has always been the ocean. As soon as I moved out to LA, I signed up for my Open Water cert and got hooked on scuba. As an LA transplant, the dive community really made me feel at home. I love to see how diving empowers students and the bonds that are created in open water classes. My mission is to share the beauty of our kelp forests and the community that welcomed me into LA with as many future divers out there.

Bio: Growing up in Southern California, I have always enjoyed living near the ocean and experienced new adventures. With having an adrenaline for discovering new hobbies I discovered scuba diving shortly after a trip from Hawaii, I was fascinated with the aquatic underworld and was curious to discover what else I could do besides snorkeling. In planning a summer vacation, I thought to myself that if I were to go Tropical for my next vacation, I should consider scuba diving, and what better way to perfect my skills in diving then to be able to practice in my own back yard of the Pacific Ocean. That is when I went to Eco Dive Center for my OW certification and quickly moved through the certs to get where I am today, teaching with people who taught me how to dive. In this journey I have been coral, night, and wreck diving in the Caribbean and in the Bahamas of course California . It has been an amazing experience and I can�t wait to pass on my passion and knowledge of diving to many new divers. 

Bio: My first scuba experience was actually at Space Camp (yes, I'm a bit of a nerd) - simulating weightlessness in a tank in Huntsville, Alabama. Years later, I was traveling in Central America and remembering how much I'd enjoyed scuba and loved the water, decided to get certified. I fell in love with scuba, immediately moving on to my Advanced course. In early 2014 I relocated from Washington DC to sunny Los Angeles and jumped at the chance to dive every weekend, and ultimately decided to share my love of scuba and the ocean with others. I've been to Belize, Honduras, Mexico, Grand Cayman, and the Philippines; traveling and diving are two of my favorite things and I love to combine them whenever possible.

Bio: Started diving in 2005 and loving it ever since! I have been on many tropical trips around the world throughout the years. I love California diving since I moved to LA January 2020. I believe that divers in all levels should appreciate the underwater world, protect it, and preserve it for next generations. Who is a diver? A person who dives as a sport, or who works or searches for things underwater using special breathing equipment. This is a simple way of explaining it but for me it is more than that. A diver who appreciates underwater life, shelter, and conserve it for all cost. As Jacques Yves Cousteau said a lot of people attack the sea, I make love to it. So, we should love the sea…. Being a member of ECO instructor team allows me to teach right way to dive and to make new divers appreciate the sea at the same time.

Bio: Been surfing since I was 6 and diving since I was 15 years old in Israel. When I started my professional diving career I fell in love with introducing people to the underwater world and to see their excitement in their eyes. Can’t wait to take you with me. 

Bio: I was thirteen when I had my first dive experience in the warm waters of the Florida Keys, it allowed me to see an amazing underwater world and gave me a new found clarity. I started my professional diving career in 2015 and progressed through the ranks quickly to gain my Instructor status. I was lucky to be trained by the best instructors in Southern California and now I'm stoked and inspired to teach others the same crucial skills that allow me to dive with ease and confidence. I am here to get more divers in the water and gain a better understanding of our oceans and dive safe.

Bio: I grew up surrounded by land in the middle of the continent--Missouri. Planning to study marine biology, scuba was always on my radar of things I must achieve. In college, I took a scuba diving course and did my first 40 dives over two weeks in Cozumel, Mexico. It is safe to say that after that trip, biology was no longer the focus of my diving experiences. After moving to Los Angeles in 2014, I finally lived by the ocean. I became a PADI and SDI scuba instructor, and so my interests slowly became focused on being a dive professional. I have a passion for conservation and ecological awareness, which are two very important ideals for divers to learn. Come to Eco and let us teach you!

Bio: Teacher by trade, when you cannot find me teaching someone in the water you can find me teaching history in a classroom. I've been working in and around the water for well over 15 years which includes surf lessons, swim lessons and now scuba lessons. With my dive career I've been lucky enough to go all over the world in pursuit of my aquatic adventures with some of my favorite dive locations in Fiji and French Polynesia. My absolute favorite dives have been with sharks and jellyfish, I can't get enough of them! My goal with all of my students is to cultivate that same love and appreciation for the underwater world that I have, and if you walk away with even a sliver of how I feel, I promise you'll be hooked for life.

Bio: Ashley's first scuba experience was in Koh Phangan, Thailand, in 2007. She loved it so much she decided to get certified the next year in Cozumel, Mexico. She dove for many years in tropical locations such as Maui, Cabo and the British Virgin Islands before finally trying California diving in an Advanced class with Jason at Eco. In addition to teaching, she completed the Reef Check California training program, allowing her to collect data which is used to protect our local rocky reef ecosystem. Her favorite dive trip ever was a Red Sea Liveaboard and her favorite class to teach is Wreck Diver. 

Bio: During my junior year of college at UCSD I took a Marine Invertebrates Lab class in which my professor kept showing these epic underwater videos he had taken on research trips around the world. After that class I knew two things: that I wanted to see those underwater sights with my own eyes and that I also wanted to take epic underwater videos. Later that year I got my open water certification in Panama and the year after I took a month long underwater photography class in Mozambique with Africa Media. Since 2015 I’ve gotten to see and film things I never imagined I would like: a sea snake slithering through the water in the Ningaloo Reef or an octopus stretching its arms across a rock in the Pacific. But I’ve also seen sad sights too. A plastic bag that looks like part of a school of fish in Bali and coral dying in Cozumel. Scuba has made it obvious to me why it’s important to be a good steward of the ocean because as a diver you see the effects of things like pollution first hand. I’m very stoked to get to introduce others to the incredible underwater world and why it’s important we work to conserve it.

Bio: Kerry was born in Japan on a naval base. She was born a fish swimming since the age of two. She learned how to scuba for her sister's wedding in Hawaii, but had always wanted to learn after seeing her parents scuba dive while living in Cuba. Scuba diving developed into a passion while living in California and traveling to amazing dive sites in Australia, Iceland, and Indonesia. She loves participating in dive cleanups and exploring the amazing sites around California. When she is not working with data and analytics you can find her underwater or on a mountain taking in all that California has to offer. 

Bio: Coming soon...

Bio: Having grown up near the beach in SoCal, I was no stranger to the ocean, but it had mainly been above water. The moment I went under water, I felt like I discovered a whole new world. I started diving 10 years ago and immediately fell in love with the sport. The desire to share my passion and show this world to others is why I became an instructor. I am an avid traveller and have been diving in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Caymans, and of course in our backyard playground of the channel Islands.

Bio: I have been in and out of the ocean all my life. I was PADI Open Water certified when I was 13 years old. My second home was diving Casino point over at Catalina island. I loved diving so much I continued my education to become a Scuba Instructor. I have been on many tropical trips throughout the years but there is nothing like California diving. The Kelp, Sea Lions and the fact that in my own backyard have always been most attractive to me. I loved the ocean so much that I moved down to San Diego and worked for Sea World for a number of years working with Commersons Dolphins, Sea Lion show, and even witnessed the birth of Takara (AKA Baby Shamu). I still continue my passion for diving today. I love teaching new students the fundamentals of diving as well as the advanced students the technical nuisances that they are learning and exploring. Diving is and will always be one of the best things in my life and my only hope is that I can share my joy for scuba with all of my old and new friends.

Bio: Raised between Corsica and Nice, France. I'm a world dive mercenary, private French chef & JiuJitsu practitioner. When you love something you want to share it, so I teach scuba diving. 

Bio: Will “SEABIRD” Brauer practically learned to swim before he could walk. Growing up in La Jolla, CA. Mission Bay quickly became his playground. During Highschool, he became the swim team captain and earned himself the nickname “Seabird,” due to the way he flew across the pool cutting into the water with speed and accuracy. He spent countless hours on the beach with his father and fell in love with the ocean. From the warm sands of Acapulco in the Pacific, to the white sanded beaches of the Mayan Riviera, ocean exploration and protection have become his strongest passions. In 1999 he took that first breath from a regulator and never turned back. The biggest reason he became a scuba instructor is to share his love and passion of the ocean as well as to create awareness of how much we need to protect it.

Bio: Dave Bunch certified as a basic SCUBA diver in 1962. In 1964 Dave completed the L.A. County's 13TH Underwater Instructors Certification Course (13 U.I.C.C.) and began teaching-certifying divers the very next day. That same year, the first L.A. County Advanced Diver Program started and Dave staffed the first through the 40Th as a dive master and assisted in all other ADP's to date. He has also staffed 14 U.I.C.C.'s as an instructor dive master. Awards over the years are many and include: Outstanding Service as an Instructor to the Underwater Program ( 1967), Outstanding Underwater Instructor (1972, Conrad Limbaugh Award (1993), Presidents Award (1988) and was the recipient of the California SCUBA Service Award (2006). Dave also served on the Board of Director's for the Underwater Instructors Association for many years, and participates in the 3R's Program. He leads three snorkel tours, two days a week at Catalina Island. Dive interests include teaching Basic SCUBA(open water), Intermediate and Advanced Diving Courses, diving for Jade, Spear fishing, game taking, photography, fresh water lake and river diving and Search and salvage diving. Dave worked aboard Princess Cruises (The Love Boat) for ten years teaching crew members and with Astronaut training at the Johnson Space Center's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory for three years while working at The Boeing Company. Previous to that he was in charge of diving operations for Garrett Air Research Mfg. Co. with the first space walks for the Gemini program.