Staff Bios

Steven Hensley - PADI & IANTD Dive Instructor

I remember watching my parents and their buddy's SCUBA diving when I was 4 and 5 years old.  Dad finally allowed me to begin diving the summer I turned 7.  He and a partner had all the gear, including a compressor, so we were self sufficient, no training agencies necessary.  They were professional educators, and experienced adventurers, so I never felt under�trained for our dives.  Until I struck out on my own, summers were filled with lake and river exploration in Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Only after I moved to Kauai did I have the opportunity to get back into diving, finally certified in May of 1992.  I got a great deal on a full set of equipment from Poipu Divers after Hurricane Iniki, and started to dive regularly again.  After moving to Maui, and dabbling in the boat and beach world, I caught the photography bug.   My exploration of Makena and Molokini caused me to dream of being a professional underwater photographer.

Moving near Monterey Bay put me in cold water, with frequent toxic algae blooms, convincing me to focus on surface activities.  I attempted to whale and dolphin watch in my little Catalina 22, but most of my good pictures were from the Charter Boats.  Soon, my plan was to move back to warmer latitudes and make the ocean my career.  Ocean Divers, in Key Largo, provided my PADI OWSI training, and their neighbor, Nitrox pioneer and IANTD founder Dick Rutowski, certified me as an IANTD Advanced Nitrox Instructor. As long as I was in Florida, rebreather and cave training were a must.  Summer was too hot though, so back to Hawaii, as planned all along.

As long as the trades blow, the temperature in Hawaii is just right!  Oahu's North Shore is not known as a diving Mecca, most of the year big waves dominate the scene.  In the summer we do have some of most dramatic cavern diving in the islands, with Sharks Cove a dive I will never get tired of.  Pat calls me the resident radical activist; I will tell people when they are violating Marine Conservation District laws in Pupukea (Sharks Cove to Waimea Bay), if that doesn't work I will threaten to call Enforcement, and finally I will make the call if necessary!  That is a big reason this part timer is honored with a bio posting here with Deep Ecology.