ABOUT US Meet the Dive Kawartha Team
Divemaster in Training
Kris Reynolds
Sarah Reynolds
Vernon Moore
Nolan Oliver
Doug Backwell
Jenn Chisholm
Brittney Van Heuvelen
Sarah Finney
A PADI IDC Staff Instructor, Kris is passionate about sharing diving with others and has a deep interest in local water conservation. Kris is known among his colleagues for his organizing and team leadership skills.
His teaching ability has been refined to precision with over 20 years experience as a karate instructor, experience which he readily applies when he teaches divers.
Kris began diving in 2011 on vacation, and he immediately became addicted to the new world he had discovered beneath the waves. His passion for diving is surpassed only by his desire to share it with others; he has an contageous excitement that will make training seem like a vacation.
After years of listening to her husband's fish stories, Sarah finally took the plunge and became a certified PADI Open Water Diver in 2016.
Her first dive trip south was to Cozumel, and she fell in love with the sea. She used to be afraid of fish and water, a phobia that to her surprise melted away the moment she became part of the environment.
Sarah has a real job as a Nurse Practitioner, and owner of Rx Cosmetics, a medi-spa in Lindsay Ontario. With a crazy busy schedule full of high stress and challenge...... Owning a dive shop seemed like a reasonable balance, so she jumped in with both feet.
A PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT), Vernon is a passionate instructor who genuinely cares for students and colleagues alike. Vernon enjoys sharing his experience and knowledge with students and developing them to be safety minded proficient divers.
His teaching began way back in the early `70`s, although not in Scuba Diving, but teaching and mentoring High School Students in Quebec. His years of experience in the Corporate world enables him to easily guide, mentor and teach, aspiring divers and those wishing to further develop their skills.. Vernon is also fluent in French and English, and instructs in both of Canada`s Official Languages.
Vernon began his diving career later in life while on vacation in 2007, and said, ``Why did I wait so long to try this!!`` He immediately developed an infatuation for the beauty and tranquility of the waters of our planet. Vernon spends the colder winter days nestled in the warmth of Roatan Honduras, where he instructs at a 5 Star PADI IDC Dive Resort. His patience; professionalism and experience are reassuring to all and he avidly promotes Scuba Diving in his daily life.
Meet Nolan, always ready for adventure Nolan has become a huge part of Dive Kawartha. A seeker of all things adventure, Nolan began diving as part of his content for his adventure vlog FuelingHappieness,
His passion for life is contageous, and he recognized that diving was going to be a huge passion for him early on, purchasing his own full scuba kit before his second day of open water training.
The weekend after his open water certification he was out diving the wrecks in the St. Lawrence, and within 3 months he had picked up a dry suit and completed his Advanced Open Water and Deep Diver Specialty.
Nolan recently completed his regulator service technician training, and will be helping at the shop while he is enthralled in his PADI Divemaster Course.
Drop by the shop to meet Nolan and get infected with his excitement for diving and his passion for life.
Doug fell in love with the underwater world while snorkeling during a trip in Curacao in 2016. After the trip he knew right away that he needed to learn how to scuba dive. He obtained his PADI Dive Master Certification in 2019 and is an avid cold water diver in Ontario, Canada.
Doug has travelled to Bonaire a couple of times where he has been part of the local coral restoration project. He also participates in Project Aware to clean up local waterways.
Future goals for Doug include becoming an Emergency First Response instructor teaching First Aid & CPR, an Emergency O2 Instructor and Discover Scuba Diving Leader.
In addition, Doug plans to continue his diving journey into the realm of technical diving which includes advanced nitrox and decompression procedures and trimix diving.
His passion for diving is infectious and he is a genuine leader amongst the Dive Kawartha team.
Jenn got an Open Water Diver course as a gift for her 16th birthday, but she didn't start diving until November 2017. Since then, her only regret is that she didn't start sooner!
According to Jenn, "Diving has been one of the most enriching and life-changing decisions I have ever made. I have always been a water baby and spending all of my summers up north as a kid at my cottage in Muskoka, I was drawn to the outdoors and adventure. That little explorer was only unleashed further when I decided to move halfway around the world to teach English after school. And now, with scuba diving, I have expanded my passion for exploration to the underwater world."
Jenn's favorite place to dive is Roatan, Honduras, which is where she originally learned to breath under water, so it will always have a special place in her heart...... and it is where she ran into her first 8 foot Silky Shark hanging out at the surface of the 'Hole in the Wall' site. - The two have become close friends and pen pal often. ;)
Jenn plans to complete her Master Scuba Diver and Divemaster training this year, and plans to have a blast diving with her "tribe" around Ontario, and looks forward to a shiny new Waterproof Drysuit so she can dive more in the off season locally. You might see Jenn out advocating for Project Aware and other marine conservation efforts and doing what she can to assist with coral restoration and take action on climate change.
Long term, she plans to complete some technical training including sidemount, advanced nitrox and decompression training and eventually becoming a certified cave diver!
Brittney BIO is coming..... but she is very busy diving.... so we don't have it yet.
Sarah became interested in diving while snorkelling on a trip to Roatan, Honduras in 2017. While snorkelling was a great experience, she longed to see what lurked in the depths! Shortly thereafter she became a certified diver, and spent the summer exploring some local Ontario lakes a quarry in Ohio. Sarah was given an opportunity to travel to the Philippines where she completed her Advanced Open Water course, and was introduced to reef diving.
Since then she has traveled back to Honduras, Cuba, and Spain where I did some diving in the Mediterranean Sea. Scuba diving has allowed her to see some unique areas of the world, both underwater and above, which has given her a strong desire to share her excitement for discouvery with others!