Darrin started his Open Water course back in 1982 when his mom realized he had a passion to dive and wanted to save the sharks in Jaws. She spent every penny she had to buy him the very best of gear and his course and he has been grateful ever since to his mom. Darrin has achieved the rating of PADI Course Director, TDI/SDI Instructor Trainer, TecRec Instructor Trainer, and PSI Inspector Instructor. He loves to cave dive in Florida, and explore the beautiful Pacific Ocean off Vancouver and Vancouver Island. His most accomplished dives has been on the SS Andrea Doria and the Hydro Atlantic in Florida. He has worked, managed and operated 4 dive stores in the Calgary and Airdrie area over the years, including his current shop Aqua Dive. Darrin also is a highly experienced and the most knowledgeable service technician around. Being able to service a wide range of every make and model of dive equipment makes him highly sought after. But with all this achievement he is just loves to dive and get other people diving. His passion has always been teaching diving and making the sport available to everyone.
I was first certified as a PADI Open Water diver in 1978 while in high school. I spent 2 years diving around Northern Saskatchewan before life took me in a different direction. 30 yrs later, yikes, I found my way back into the diving world. I recertified as an Open Water Diver in 2008, achieved Divemaster in 2011 and Master Scuba Diver Trainer in 2015. I am also a PSI inspector. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to dive some beautiful spots including the Canadian west coast, Tobermoray, Bahamas, Bonaire, Cozumel, Curaçao, Roatan, Utila, Cocos Island, Mali, Australia, The Maldives and Iceland. Looking forward to meeting and helping new people find the enjoyment and beauty of our underwater world.
Mike’s passion for diving is attributed to his first dive with his father in the late 1970’s. Mike has over 20 years of Recreational and Technical instructional experience, from Alberta to Vancouver Island. He has worked on Cruise Ships for many years which is a great passion and achievement of his, as he loved to interact and share his love of diving with his students and shipmates, and experience all the amazing Islands in the Caribbean. Mike has also lived in the diving oasis of the Philippines. His favourite local dive spots include Waterton Lakes National Park and Emerald Lake in the Crowsnest Pass.
I was first certified as an open water diver in 2003 in Waterton in a wetsuit, and early on I mostly enjoyed holiday diving in warm destinations. When I relocated to Calgary in 2016, life and career created more time for diving and I started completing certifications to meet people, become familiar with local dive sites, and improve my skills. Shipwreck diving in the Florida Keys was a big encouragement for me to enter the world of technical diving, dive planning, and exploration. From complicated scuba math, multiple cylinder mixed gas dives, to deep dark dives, I’m fortunate to explore with a great group of skilled friends and see places many people don’t know exist. Out of the water, I’m also a PSI Cylinder Inspector, Oxygen Cleaning Cylinder Technician, Advanced Gas Blender, and a Certified Valve Repair Technician. In 2021, I completed my Dive Master and in 2022 completed my Open Water Scuba Instructor, and always looking for more courses!
I started diving in 1977 through NASDS and the University of Calgary.
That very first dive off the coast of Galeano, grabbed me and has held me ever since.
There is a silent simple majesty to the ocean and I never tire of the privilege of exploring her treasures big and small.
Darrin Barker showed me that I could share that wonder with others, and I am truly grateful for that gift.
Oh yah .... and it's a BLAST!!
Keri started diving while she was in Sea Cadets in 2002 and has been hooked ever since. She started working in dive stores when she was still attending school over 20 years ago and loved it so much she never looked back. She took a break off diving when her daughter Koral was born with a rare liver disease, but now that her health is better, Keri went right back into diving. Keri is the Owner of Aqua Dive along side her husband Darrin Barker since 2017. She achieved her Divemaster rating in 2018 and has been working on her PADI OWSI. Keri is also a PSI Inspector, and a NSSCDS Cave Diver. She loves diving off Vancouver and Vancouver Island, but her favorite dives are still in the caves in Florida.
I have been a shark lover and enthusiast for my whole life and it took until 2014 for me to get into the water and experience scuba diving for the first time. I was certified with my daughter solely for the purpose of being able to dive with sharks. That all changed the first time I hit our cold Alberta waters and decided that I wanted to advance and continued on to take more and more courses and eventually becoming a Divemaster in 2018. From that point on my garage has been filled with nothing but dive gear, dive paraphernalia and talking non stop about diving to anyone who will listen! In 2020 I began my IDC course to become a PADI Instructor, unfortunately COVID-19 had different plans for me for the time being. Scuba diving has become a passion so large that it consumes a big part of my life and would like to continue encouraging others to join me on my adventures!
I originally learned to dive in the late 1990s for a marine biology course I was taking as part of my degree in biology at the U of C. My grandfather had been a scuba diver since the 1960s, so I was always interested in the sport. I very clearly remember taking my first breath underwater from a regulator in the pool and thinking, “This is amazing! I want to do this for the rest of my life!”.
I continued diving on vacation and on the odd trip out to the coast, but really got into diving in big fashion when my work relocated me out to Vancouver in 2011. I started diving on a weekly basis out there and went to get my PADI TEC65 certification and NSS-CDS Full Cave down in Florida. I have enjoyed diving off the west coast extensively, down in the Caribbean, Florida and Mexico caves, and even over to Europe, where I spent a week diving the wrecks at Scapa Flow.
Work has since moved me back to Calgary, and as I enjoy being around other divers and helping build the sport that I’m truly passionate about, I decided to take the leap and become a PADI Pro! Looking forward to seeing you in the Aqua Dive pool and in the local lakes!
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