DUI DEMO DAYS

This is great you can join us at PEARL LAKE, and try a DUI DRY suit. What a nice thing they do (DUI) and this offers you a chance to try a Dry Suit before you buy one.

Join us for a weekend in the country and Pearl Lake Resort, June 6 and 7. Stop in or call(708) 226-1614 to purchase your tickets.

Teaching Instructors

They all passed and were so happy they dived into the 58 degree water. What a great group. My next week long IDC in Illinois is July 23

Working Hard at the Jamaica IDC

What more could I say about this IDC other than I dig class! I am having so much fun here in Jamaica and the candidates are loving the course. Though I do feel a bit guilty calling this “Hard Work”. The weather is amazing, the water temperature is the perfect, and I have a great group; all of which I believe will pass.



And when they do pass, I’m celebrating by teaching them our new Invasive Lionfish Specialty! This will be unbelievable fun, and then it will be time for the cook out. I can’t wait to find out what the Lionfish tastes like. What do you think should I offer them my Gourmet Diver Specialty?

Have a Great Day Diving
Patrick Hammer

I have a new entry for the Coolest Fish Ever Award. The Barreleye!

This Barreleye usually lives at between 2,000 to 2,600 feet, is only a few inches long, and is thought to eat smaller fish and jellyfish. The best observations scientists have made of this little guy have been with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and attempts to bring intact specimens to the surface have often been thwarted by the fragile structure of its head. Oh, have I mentioned that its head is TRANSPARENT!

 That’s right. As you can see in this photo, the Barreleye has a transparent forehead and its large green eyes are actually inside its head. The eyes are often found looking up through its forehead scanning for prey, but they have found that the eyes can look forward; usually when feeding. Above the mouth it looks as though the Barreleye does have squinty eyes, but those are actually its olfactory organs; much like our nostrils.

Check out this awesome ROV shot video footage of the Barreleye from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

 

Start a Career in Diving!

It is true one can make a living from the DIVE Industry!

I am conducting a PADI IDC in Jamaica, this week. What is wonderful about the PADI Instructor Development Program (IDC) is that it has become the most sought after dive program in the world. Not only do we have local Jamaicans in the program, but we also have a gentleman from New York. This is what makes the course so interesting: the diversity of the candidate’s backgrounds and goals. The locals are looking to more than double their income by becoming Dive educators, and the divers from the states look to complete the program and then return home to teach in the local stores. Now if fact, I am also seeing an increasing number of people over 50 who are retiring, and teaching diving becomes a way that they can enjoy their golden years, and not tap into their investments.

Our IDCs are offered all over the country, and in the Caribbean. This Jamaican IDC for example is at Sandals Resort. While you might not normally think of Sandals and diving, they have over 20 properties around the Caribbean, and Sandals just might have more Dive boats and Dive Instructors than any other property in the Islands. They by far put more divers in the water than any other company. Sandals are known for their quality and comfort, and that is one reason they want their staff to be PADI educators.  
What is really nice is that I have seen beach attendants who have in a few years moved up to the instructor rating, doubled his pay, and increased his standard of living.  Sure makes me feel real good!

My next Instructor program is at SCUBA EMPORIUM in Orland Park, Illinois starting on May 14. If you are looking for a way to enhance retirement, or just want to have more fun and do more diving, think about our Instructor Development Program. 

post by: Patrick Hammer