Upcoming Events:
- September 14th Bandito San Juan Island boat trip!
- September 22nd Lake Crescent Beach Dive & Cookout!
- September 27th Bandito San Juan Island Boat Trip!
- September 28th Bandito San Juan Island Boat Trip!
- October 6th Edmonds Underwater Park Beach Dive!
Go Diving with Us!
Meet our Staff!
Whether you need to find the right diving gear, perfect diving vacation, good local dive sites or sign up for scuba diving lessons, we're here for you. Every member of our staff is a certified and active diver. We know the ins and outs of diving in cold water and, because we travel the world to find perfect dive sites for you, our clients, we know quite a bit about tropical diving, too. We can answer your questions about local and international dive sites. We can help match a dive site or diving vacation to your skills and needs. And we can sign you up for the perfect lesson to improve your skills. We are passionate about diving. Let us share our passion with you!
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 now is spending most of his underwater time on a rebreather of some kind.
Craig's work and dedication has paid off. 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. Craig has over 8000 dives, over 2,000 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 is at SW most days during the week, and driving the kids to sports in the evening and weekends. The rest of the time you can find her on a plane to some distant dive location!
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!
Thom Robbins
SDI 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. He is always looking for a great shot of what the cold water holds. 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!
If not teaching, you can usually find him looking for that perfect shot at one of the many dive sites in the area.
Corey Regen
Instructor
Corey started diving in Sept 2014. As a youngster, he was always fascinated by Jacques Cousteau and his extraordinary underwater explorations. His love of nature and curiosity for everything above and below the water has lead him to become certified as a Dive Master. 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
Jake Bishop
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 one of key in-store employees and 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 Twomey
Instructor
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.
Janine Johanson
Divemaster
Janine is Washington native, visiting the tidepools of Kalaloch and Canon Beach every summer. She started diving while studying Marine Biology in college. She learned in the PNW and dove avidly but, took a "sabbatical" for a while after having her two boys. 2021 sparked the need to get mermaid time again in Washington. This led to obtaining her Dive Master cert in 2022 at Silent World, where she can be found guiding club dives. 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. Outside of diving, she volunteers teaching kids about the Salish Sea and its marine life, enjoys traveling with her husband and kids, has two Great Pyrenees and has a career as a biologist. To her, diving is not a destination, but a journey.
Don Clemmer
Instructor
Don has been in the water his whole life, and after spending many years hiking and snowboarding in the mountains of the northwest, he realized he was neglecting a huge part of Washington state and got his SCUBA certification in 2013. Since then, he's been diving in Palau, British Columbia and with the giant mantas in Socorro Mexico, but the vast majority of his dives have been right here in the home waters of Puget Sound and the fascinating underwater wilderness just beneath the surface.
Miho has always been a water baby. Swimming in a pool at 3 years old and competitively swimming and surfing throughout her life, lead her to become very comfortable in the water. She became a certified diver in the summer of 2013. 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.
When she’s in town, you’ll usually see her with her black dog, “Roxy” because she loves being by the water too.
Jonathan Clark
Instructor
Jonathan is an adventurer under the water and above. He 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. If you don't see him there, look up and you might see one of his fireworks shows!
Chris Wells
Instructor
Long time diver Chris Wells earned his first diving certification in 1983 in New York. Growing up on the East Coast, Chris' earliest diving adventures involved exploring many of the shipwerecks off New York and New Jersey. Chris later moved to the Pacific Northwest, earning his first Instructor rating with NASDS in 1995, and taught here at Silent World. Chris has extensive experience exploring shipwrecks around the world and had dove Truk ( Chuuk) and Bikini Atoll, as well as many of the more famous wrecks in the Pacific Northwest.
These days, Chris is actively teaching all levels of scuba classes, from Open Water through Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures.
Most weekends, you will find Chris on a beach either fresh out of the water or getting ready to go under it!!
Andrew Hassard
Instructor
Andrew began diving in 2009 and quickly immersed himself in further training until he became an instructor in 2014. He has also become an avid underwater photographer, traveling the globe in search of the perfect critter photos - Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Fiji, Bonaire, Hawaii, and British Columbia have been frequent destinations. Shark encounters are a particular favorite, including dives with great whites in South Africa, walking sharks in Raja Ampat, and tigers & hammerheads in the Bahamas. 2019 started with sea lions off Hornby Island BC and ended with salt-water crocodiles in Banco Chinchorro, Mexico. A patient teacher, Andrew enjoys introducing students to the freedom of underwater adventures.