Upcoming Events:
- January 18th Advanced Adventurer class!
- January 25th Nitrox Course
- January 26th Club Dive at Edmonds Underwater Park!
- February 8th Bandito Charters!
- February 9th Club Dive at Redondo Beach
Go Diving with Us!
Meet our Staff!
Check out our staff backgrounds, and you'll probably agree, we have some of (if not THE) most experienced staff you'll find in the Northwest!
Craig Willemsen
SDI & TDI Instructor Trainer,
Tech Instructor &
Store Owner
Craig started diving in 1972 and for over 50 years has shown us that scuba diving is his passion. He has dove all around the world and keeps looking for new places to share with his clients. He continues to expand his own skill set, becoming one of the first instructors in the Pacific Northwest to teach rebreathers; he is now certified on 10 different units as both an Instructor and Instructor Trainer. Craig holds the highest Instructor rating with TDI , SDI and SSI. In 2006, he was awarded the SSI Platinum Pro 5000 Diver and Instructor Award. Craig holds many Instructor certifications with SDI, SSI, TDI, IANTD and ANDI, has worked for several training agencies. He has over 8500 dives, over 2,500 of which are rebreather dives. You can catch him most weekends underwater, somewhere in the world.
Mona Willemsen
Travel Manager
Mona started diving in the early 1990's, and has traveled extensively all over the world. She enjoys seeing new places, good friends and laughing ( a lot!). Mona does the bulk of our International travel planning, and if you can't find her at Silent World, she's probably on a plane to some distant dive location!
Thom Robbins
Instructor Trainer
Thom started diving in 1987 and continues to learn even today. Diving was a natural extension to his love of the water and the creatures that you find. While he enjoys warm water, the cold water of the Pacific Northwest holds his passion. As an avid photographer, the clear cold waters we enjoy here are the home of some of the most beautiful creatures. One of Thom’s passions is helping people to learn how to safely pursue their own love of the water. In 2022, Thom earned the top rating from SDI, and is now an Instructor Trainer.
Thom also has been busily writing marine ID books, and lately underwater fiction novels. You can see his latest here.
If not teaching or writing, , you can usually find him looking for that perfect shot at one of the many dive sites in the area.
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Maddux Tillman
Instructor
Maddux first started diving in 2012 in South Carolina. She completed her Advanced and Rescue cert's in Hawaii, then continued on with Divemaster training in Indonesia, and completed Instructor training in Florida. She came to Silent World after working several years in Florida, and really loves the PNW. Her favorite kind of diving is exploring new places and seeing all the cool weird fishies!
Jake Bishop
Instructor
Chris Twomey
Instructor
Jake got his first certification in 2020, in preparation for commercial dive school. Well, Craig talked him out of that career pursuit, and next thing you know, Jake is our In-store expert on just about everything we do, as well as an SDI Instructor! Jake likes diving on his Prism2 rebreather and exploring new dive locations when he isn't at Silent World "making it happen".
Chris started diving in 1994, and has dove in in many places over the years including Florida, Hawaii, The Caribbean, Mexico and Costa Rica, and of course, Puget Sound! Chris is an avid photographer both above and below the waters' surface, and also enjoys boating, golfing and working out. Chris became rebreather certified in 2020 and continued into leadership rolls, becoming a divemaster in 2021, and recently an SDI instructor.
Corey Regen
Instructor
Corey started diving in Sept 2014.and become certified as an Instructor in 2021 Corey has extensive experience diving in the Puget Sound along with taking several dive trips to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean Islands. He loves to share his experience and enthusiasm with new and veteran divers alike.
Miho Kawamura
Instructor
Miho became a certified diver in the summer of 2013, and an Instructor in 2023. She loves to travel and also tries to combine diving if there’re any diving opportunities. She enjoys weekend dives in the Puget Sound, and Hood Canal with her camera. Other favorite dive locations are Raja Ampat, Maldives, Okinawa, Mexico, Caribbean, God’s Pocket (Canada), Jamaica, and her tub.
Jonathan Clark
Instructor
Jonathan got his diving certification as a college graduation present in 2019 and now under water is his happy place! Jonathan enjoys teaching and helping new divers discover the same love of diving that he has. Look under water most any week and you'll find Jonathan diving somewhere in the Salish Sea.
Kai Johanson
Instructor
Kai was born and raised here in the Pacific Northwest. Kai started diving when he was 10 years old, but really got active around 2021. Kai earned his Divemaster rating in 2023, and his Instructor rating in 2024. He is super active at local dive sites, where he has become known as the "Octopus Whisperer".
Janine Johanson
Divemaster
Janine is Washington native, and started diving while studying Marine Biology in college. She obtained her Dive Master cert in 2022. Her favorite place to dive is anywhere there are octopuses or nudibranchs, however, she still needs to see a whale shark and a hammerhead!! She enjoys taking pictures underwater but is still learning.
Ronn Mercer
Divemaster
Ronn became OW certified as a college student in 1988, but didn’t begin diving regularly until after moving to Washington in 1997. He enjoys diving and UW photography in the PNW, Hawaii, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Ronn earned his SDI Divemaster certification in 2024. When not scuba diving, you’re still likely to find him outside – either hiking in the woods, skiing down a mountain, or cycling in the countryside.
Sean Smith
Divemaster
Sean originally got PADI open water certified in 2018 in Illinois. Shortly afterwards, he moved out to the Pacific Northwest. He found Silent World and proceeded in 2020 to get SDI (re)certified, and completed his SDI Divemaster training in 2024. Sean has dove at locations in many different countries and climes and continues to pursue new opportunities for underwater adventure.
Scot Ritchey
Divemaster
Scot first started diving in high school, and after a long hiatus, he picked it up again with Silent World, eventually obtaining his SDI Divemaster certification in 2024. In addition to Washington state and British Columbia, he has been diving in Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and Guadeloupe. His favorite local dive sites include Sund Rock and Keystone Jetty (pictured!).
Casey Banaskey
Divemaster
Casey started diving with us several years ago, and recently completed his SDI Divemaster training, and Prism2 Rebreather certification! He is our "Go-to" guy when on the beach, as he has pretty much everything you need, whether its a pop-up shelter, propane heater, or spare pair of gloves (cuz you forgot yours!). Casey is always psyched to go diving!.