Participating next week in the annual worldwide Women’s Dive Day on July 16 will be “icing on the cake” for the crew at Kohala Divers Ltd.
Participating next week in the annual worldwide Women’s Dive Day on July 16 will be “icing on the cake” for the crew at Kohala Divers Ltd.
“Every day is women’s dive day!” explained Kelleen Lum, master dive instructor at the Kawaihae store who leads 2-5 outings every week.
For the second year in a row, Kohala Divers is planning a full day of dive activities designed to celebrate experienced women divers. The event is also open to beginners as an opportunity to discover the underwater world for the first time.
“For anyone who has never experienced diving, this would be a perfect opportunity to try it,” Rebekah Kaufmann said, who owns the store along with her husband, Greg.
While he manages the fishing component, she oversees the dive portion of the business as one of the growing number of women who now fill leadership roles in the dive community.
Kaufmann encourages beginners who have never dived before to join the group because she knows firsthand how empowering and life-changing the experience can be. For those who’ve harbored fears about using scuba gear and being safe underwater, she feels diving boosts confidence about many aspects of life.
“The first time I went out diving, the instructor terrified the class with horror stories,” she remembered with a laugh. “I was so frightened I vowed never to return,” Kaufmann said. “After quitting the class, some encouraging words got me to re-enroll and I’ve never looked back.”
Kaufmann’s teaching style is calm, informative, attentive and reassuring to the novice, and she understands the importance of taking things slowly. She says her mission is to help others overcome their fears.
On Women’s Dive Day, Kohala Divers will host a free scuba pool party at a private home staffed by women dive instructors, where beginners can get their feet wet. Each female participant will learn how to get comfortable wearing standard dive gear, practice basics and do simple breathing techniques to relax under water. A group underwater photo will be a memento of their first step into the deep end.
After that, novices can sign up for the Kohala Divers next full open water scuba class or plan an ocean dive from the boat, aptly named the Kohala Diver.
It’s out in the open water that novice divers can feel the thrill of a completely new life experience, moving effortlessly through the beautiful underwater surroundings that are home to an abundance of sea life. The freedom of movement and extended ability to take a long look at coral and sea creatures in all their splendor causes new divers to temporarily forget the mundane demands of everyday life that requires their attention on land.
For certified divers, Kohala Divers will offer a catered, two-tank morning deluxe dive boat experience on the PADI-sponsored Women’s Dive Day.
Tina Davis, a long-time swim instructor and competitor who works in operations at Kohala Divers, remembers when the shop was described years ago as “the all chick” dive shop. Nowadays men are now also on staff as master divers, instructors, boat captains and in other roles in the dive shop.
On other days of the year, Kohala Divers reaches out to more than just women divers. They also sponsor the Kohala Dive Club, a “family” group whose missions are to promote quality diving, networking opportunities and camaraderie among divers with social gatherings for novice to extreme divers, non-divers and family members alike.
The dive club also promotes dive safety, education and special-interest diving and participates in eco-friendly events like beach and underwater dive-site cleanups twice annually.
For more information on Women’s Dive Day or to book a space, call 882-7774.