Welcome to Huatulco Dive Center

OWNERS

Meet Barrett & Jennifer and their children Jacob, Zoe & Olivia - The Lindsay-Kolari Family.

Barrett started diving over 35 years ago and is the new face of HDC, and not because he is handsome but because Jennifer says he seems to be aging backwards. Barrett is currently working through his Divemaster training to ensure he can support the team and our divers even better. An avid sportsman, the only draw back is that he is a lefty, although he will often change to being right handed to give his opponents a chance, so kind.

Jennifer, being the CEO and founder of Connected Parenting and one of North America’s leading parenting experts is certainly a busy lady, but you will see her from time to time, keeping an eye on her tribe and checking in with our divers. We are still working to convince her to become a certified diver and now she owns a Dive Center has no excuse…other than time.

Be sure to ask either of them about how Barrett proposed to Jennifer. Lets just say it involved INXS, Zorro and a broken foot.

Our resident Jac-ob of all Trades can certainly do it all. Whether he is focused on dive logistics, playing one the five instruments he has mastered or baking sweet treats, one thing is certain and that is Jacob is a walking encyclopedia and he is one you will want on your quiz team. Think of a random topic and we are pretty sure that Jacob will have a random fact about it. Where he stores this information, we have no idea, but we are looking forward to the imminently forming HDC Quiz Team.

Zoe is the latest member of the family to jump into diving and has just started her diving journey. Whilst teaching pre-school art and music as well as improv to children and being a licensed therapist in California, we are not sure where she finds the time to add diving into her days, but here we are.

Olivia has been diving since she was 10 years old and is our latest Divemaster trainee. Currently studying for her Forestry undergrad with a concentration on Forest Restoration, yet she has smashed her Divemaster exams so we have high expectations for her moving forward. As the only ginger in the family, this makes her the spicy one and one to watch.

PAW-FESSIONAL GUEST SERVICES

Honey, Mia, Marsha and Hershey are ready to offer you a paw-fessional service that you can only get at HDC.

Each of these rescue dogs came from the San Diego Humane Society each has a unique and individual story to tell. Yet they all have one thing in common - work hard, play hard, nap harder.

Services offered range from demanding mandatory Belly Rubs and Back Scratches, facilitating the fair distribution of treats, Personalised Sniffing Services, Stress Reduction, to Welcoming Woofs. Chances are if you have visited HDC lately, you will have met one of these four and they have probably provided you with their excellent guest service skills.

These pawsome coworkers are ready to welcome you to HDC.

DIVE CENTER MANAGER, HEAD of MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA, and MASTER SCUBA DIVER TRAINER

Our token tea drinking British MSDT Instructor Shaun. He more often goes by Sean, Shawn, Shawne, Shorn, Shoon, Shun and sometimes even John, although he’s adamant there’s only one correct way to spell it.

Shaun left the world of managing 4 & 5 star hotels, resorts and spas in the States and Europe behind for a more tranquil way of life and first discovered HDC back in 2021. He speaks and can teach in British English, American English, Australian English, Canadian English, English with a Scottish accent, English with an Irish accent and Spanglish. Some may say that’s just in English and whilst we may agree we would never say that to his face.

Having dived in Egypt, The Canaries, Madeira, Malta, Jamaica, Mexico, Honduras and Nicaragua to name a few it almost seems he is avoiding the cold water and cold weather and we are certainly glad he is doing so and with us full time in Mexico.

A true definition of customer service and with a dry sense of humour, Shaun ensures that everyone is comfortable and well taken care of all whilst having fun, whether visiting the shop, on a course or while leading certified divers exploring the national park. He has the patience of a saint and is still adamant he has never heard a silly question and can always make light any situation.

Shaun loves the abundance of aquatic life in Huatulco and how diverse the diving is with a keen eye to spot even the smallest of life from far away. You’ll no doubt see him with his trusty GoPro attached - don’t forget to smile if he’s pointing it your way or at least look behind you for something you may not yet have seen.

Shaun is our local “Where to Eat Guide” with an obscene amount of first hand knowledge of the local restaurants and eateries having tried almost every single one in Huatulco and no we’re not kidding.

Stop by and hear one of his “jokes”, get a restaurant recommendation or try and give him his first stupid question.

DIVEMASTER, DSD LEADER and Queen of the Seahorses

Originally from Mexico City, Brenda joined HDC as a Divemaster in early 2025. Leaving the landlocked city life behind her and saying adiós to her career in Customer Service within the transportation industry, Brenda set her sights being close to the ocean and here she is!

With diving experience across Mexico as well as in Peru and Panama, our Queen of Seahorses brings a fresh perspective and energy to HDC.

With the Galápagos Islands at the top of her favourite places to dive so far, a number of dive sites here in Huatulco are beginning to make a challenge for the title.

Outside of diving Brenda is an award winning Ocean Swimmer and an animal lover with 14 fish, 5 cats and 4 dogs including her beloved Pancha who you may see at the dive center from time to time - not enough animals if you ask us.

CAPTAIN of DIVE BOAT MAKO

Our Capitán extraordinaire of our boat the Mako. Affectionately known as Capi amongst the many other nicknames that we and our customers give him, none of which are ‘fishy’ or we will feel his ‘wrasse’.

Pedro grew up along the Huatulco coast. Born in Maguey at his family restaurant, Pedro has been a certified captain for the past 12 years and brings his wealth of experience to ‘kelp’ the team and clients be as safe as possible when out at sea. It’s ’o-fish-al’, nobody knows the local waters like Pedro.

Pedro oversees a team of four captains who take the helm of the Mako all of whom are super ‘e-fish-ent’, but whether it is Pedro or one of his team, there is no ‘jaws’ for concern and you can be assured you’re in safe hands. Pedro is the master at spotting aquatic life on the surface and will give us the ‘oppor-tuna-ty’ to get up close and personal whenever we can.

When not on the ocean for work, Pedro loves to be out fishing and enters almost all the competitions along the Pacific coast and we have been ‘herring’ he’s pretty good at it.

Safe to say, we ‘landed’ a ‘reel’ ‘catch’ with the ‘fintastic’ Pedro and ‘cod’ not imagine HDC without him.

Ok, ok that’s enough puns. Just ‘squidding’ these are the last ones as you don’t need to be a brain ‘sturgeon’ to know we’re ‘kraken’ ourselves up laughing and hope you’re not ‘krilling’ yourselves with laughter either