ABOUT US

Get to know us. Sorted by time of service. Newest first.

Daniel Monins, Instructor
Daniel grew up on the small island of Jersey in the UK.
Surrounded by the ocean he spent his teenage years throwing himself off cliffs into the sea.
After spending 5 years working in the office he decided to go back to his love of the Ocean. Having never dived before 2011 he moved to Thailand to become an Instructor.
After Thailand he went to work as an Instructor in Australia and Cambodia, he then left the sandy beaches and moved to Iceland for a new challenge in the cold water diving world.



Michal Ziniewicz, Instructor
Michal was born in Poland and has always loved the water.
He was in his schools swimming team and was working as a lifeguard at Poland's many lakes and even the Baltic sea by the time he was 15.
Having completed his Open Water Course Michal went on to become an instructor at 21 years of age and opened his own small diving school in Poland.
After a year or so he felt the urge for new diving experiences and has since worked in Croatia, the Canary Islands and Sri Lanka before coming to us in Iceland.
He is also a keen free diver and is proud to say he has tried every sport he has come across from kayaking to karate and kickboxing. Although his favourites remain the water sports in all their diversity. He is a very patient and calm instructor.


Tine "Frankie" Fløysvik, Instructor
After completing her Open Water Course in South East Asia on a round the world trip it was safe to say Frankie was hooked on blowing bubbles. On a short stint back in Norway to replenish her funds Frankie realised her destiny of becoming a professional diver and headed back to South East Asia to chase her underwater dreams. Having spent two years in the tropics working as an instructor she has decided to return to the cold waters she grew up with in Norway.




Ian Mahoney, Instructor
Having joined the British Royal Navy at the tender age of 18 Ian has travelled the world on the high seas and dived the oceans far and wide. Ian left the Royal Navy in 2007 to become a Divemaster, starting in the UK and then heading off to South East Asia to work and eventually become an instructor. But after years of warm water and sunshine he has come to us in Iceland for the unique experience and challenge of the colder waters that lap between the continents.




Laura Wignall, Office
Laura the lover of all things geographical is living the dream in Iceland! She has travelled New Zealand and Australia extensively, and having planned a visit here for years has finally made it. Our new office assistant Laura is certainly happy to help you with any of your queries and is always ready with some great ideas on things to do on your trip here. Laura who will soon be a qualified dry suit diver doesn't care much for the cold water but even that won't keep her out the water when it comes to Silfra! The Blue Lagoon is still a nice treat though!




Ted Wignall, Divemaster
Born in Sydney and raised in Bermuda Ted has undoubtably spent a great deal of time in the water, albeit slightly warmer water! Having learnt to dive off the rocky shores of Menorca in 2003, Ted qualified as a Divemaster in New Zealand and spent his days guiding tourists around the wreck of Greenpeace's' Rainbow Warrior! After deciding to trade in a world famous wreck for a world famous rift Ted has jumped into a drysuit and is ready to show you how to do the same.




Claudia Sanelli, Divemaster
I was born in and grew up in Italy. I have a BS in Business administration. I came to Iceland for my Erasmus program and never left J. During my 5 years in Iceland I have worked mostly in tourism, as a guide, booking agent and operations agent. I started diving in 2011 (as you know!) and loved Silfra so much that I wanted more. The rest is history :-p







Jessi Kingan, Instructor
Jessi started diving at the age of 14. After an 8-year hiatus, she headed to Thailand in 2009 to become a dive instructor. A planned 6-month trip turned into two and a half years in Thailand and five years abroad. Along the way she picked up an Icelander and after dragging him around Southeast Asia and Central America, they were married last August and have made Iceland their home and she has no immediate plans of returning to her native USA (or anywhere else). Jessi is an avid photographer, above and below the waterline. Before coming to Iceland, she spent the summer in the Dutch Caribbean teaching underwater photography to teens on two-week intensive summer camps. See some of her pictures at www.beneaththesurfacephoto.com.



Nina Hodits, Instructor
Nina started here diving career in 2009 in the cold & milky lakes of the “Sound of Music” Town Salzburg (Austria). After that experience she decided to change place and go to the warm and beautiful Caribbean Sea. On an island called “Little Corn” she did her Advanced Open Water and her Rescue Diver. She fell in love with the underwater world and took her chance to do her Dive Master Training with Dive.Is in 2011. After working several months with Dive.Is as a Dive Master Nina changed poles for her Instructor training. From the high North (Iceland) straight down South to Cape Town where she finished successfully her Instructor Examination.
Feeling so well in a dry suit, the cold water and loving a visibility of +100m Nina came back to Iceland to guide and teach for Dive.Is.



Chris Muzzall, Instructor
Chris, a keen marine conservationist, photographer and general all-round outdoor person, left the UK and the confines of his office in 2007. He became a PADI Instructor in March 2010 whilst living in South Africa before moving to the Bahamas in August 2010 to run a marine conservation project. Currently a Master Scuba Diver Trainer, in March 2012 he said goodbye to the sandy beaches and diving in board shorts and made the switch to enjoy all that drysuit diving has to offer... the crystal clear waters of Silfra. Being typically English abroad, when not leading dive or snorkel tours Chris is always on the hunt for a decent cup of tea... the search is ongoing!



Reynar Jarl, Divemaster
His first dip into the Big Blue was in 2008 while in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
After discovering the depths throughout Central America, Thailand, Greece and Egypt as a 'cocktail' diver, Reynar turned his sights back to his homeland of Iceland.
There is no one in the world who loves diving as much, and is proud to say that his favourite diving is in Iceland.





Zvjezdan "Jammi" Jovisic, Divemaster
Jammi was born and raised in Bosnia but moved to Iceland in 1993.
He has his day job running his own bussines as a carpenter, also coaching handball.
He first fell in love with diving as a litlle boy, thanks to TV and Jacques Coustou and the Calypso. Jammi took his first breath hold dives in Adriatic Sea and learned scuba diving with DIVE.IS in 2009 and became a divemaster in 2011.
Still he wants to learn much more about diving, instructor and cave diving sounds pretty good, but at the moment he enjoys guiding our dive and snorkel tours.

When not in a dry suit, he spends most of the time with his family, he loves good esspresso and plays his guitar on almost every DIVE.IS hangout.
His favorite quote is “where ever You go, there You are“ and he lives to capture every moment of life...



Siobhan Diana White, Shop Manager & Technician
Siobhan has been diving since 1999 and became both a BSAC and PADI instructor in 2008/9 in the murky waters of the UK.
She has a BSc in Hospitality and Tourism and before joining the DIVE.IS team in summer 2011 she ran a marine conservation project in the Bahamas.
She has a passion for marine conservation and can often be found regaling people about the amazing variety of life that can be found in our oceans; as well as how we should be working to protect it!




Hana Belmore, Operations Manager
Hana began her underwater odyssey in the turquoise blue waters of the Eastern Caribbean in 2006 as a side project to a nautical science and oceanography course.
She left the Canadian Forces to become an OWSI in Thailand in 2008 and has taught diving in Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean, mostly on white sandy beaches with thousands of fishes surrounding her.
Armed with her MSDT rating and a wealth of experience, Hana joined Dive.is in June of 2011 and is excited to trade in bikinis and sunscreen for drysuits and wooly socks.
She has now completed her IDC Staff Instructor rating with DIVE.IS and is most often found in the office booking tours and preparing divers for Silfra.
She is easily spotted with her unstoppable energy and terrible sense of humour.



Höskuldur "Hossi" Elefsen, Office Manager
Hossi was born in Denmark but grew up in Siglufjörður, a small (former) fishing village in the very north of Iceland. He studied business at the University of Iceland and graduated with a B.Sc. degree before DIVE.IS fished him out of the crowd.
Hossi is taking his PADI Divemaster along with his work in the office and enjoys it a lot when he gets out into the fresh Icelandic air & water to do some diving.
His favorite dive site is the Underwater Hotsprings in Kleifarvatn but his ambition is to find to ultimate dive spot in Iceland... apart from Silfra, Strytan and the rest.



Andrzej "AJ" Wardziukiewicz, Lead Guide for Diving Day Tours
AJ‘s life has always been connected to water. He has been an active swimmer since he was 6 years old and in later years worked as a yacht helmsman on a number of Poland‘s beautiful lakes.
AJ started his carrer as a diver in 2009 with DIVE.IS and was determined to become an instructor after his Advanced Course. In early 2011 he become a PADI Divemaster and he finished his Instructor Course in April 2011 in Poland.
When he is not diving he likes to read and lay out a masterplan to be the first man to swim around Iceland.
AJ intends to learn more about technical diving and wants to discover dive spots that no one has seen before. That ain‘t too far out in Iceland :-).



Sveinbjörn "Simbi" Hjálmarsson, Divemaster
Simbi was born and grew up in Reykjavik. He learned diving in 1995 and has been a very active member of the Icelandic Dive Club since. He has been the club's president in 2000 and 2006 and has been one of the leading divers that made sport diving popular in Iceland.
Simbi became a divemaster in 2001 and has worked as a dive guide and divemaster since. In 2007 Simbi moved to Ísafjörður in the Icelandic Westfjords and works there in the largest Outdoor store.
Whenever DIVE.IS goes West, Simbi is the man with the masterplan.
Apart from diving his hobbies are theatre, singing and travel.



Guðjón Benfield, Divemaster
Gaui started diving in Akureyri in 2001 and has dived over 300 dives all around Iceland since.
He has been diving many of Icelands so far unknown dive spots on all ends of the country.
Gaui is an active member of the Icelandic Dive Club and finished his PADI divemaster in 2008.
He guides many of our Silfra and Ocean diver tours when he is not selling computers at IBM.








Louis Kotze, Lead Guide for Snorkeling & Caving
Louis is born in 1985 and has been living in Namibia and South Africa for most of his life.
He has been studying journalism and agriculture and started diving in the rough altantic seas of Cape town.
He finished his PADI dive master education with DIVE.IS in the beginning of 2008 and his PADI Diving Instructor course in October 2010. He has been guiding many of our day tours as well as longer tours through Iceland since.
He is the head guide for all snorkeling and caving activities.





Tobias Klose, General Manager & Staff Instructor
Tobias started breath-hold diving for small coins in German high diving pools when he was 7 years of age. It wasn't until in 1995 that he learned to equalize his ears on a PADI Open Water Diver course.
A few years later in 1998 he did his PADI Diving Instructor education on Roatan, Honduras.
He is German but has lived in Iceland since 2001 with his wife Thorunn which happens to work for DIVE.IS as well.
Tobias started managing the operating business of DIVE.IS in summer 2006.
With his long-time experience as a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer and PADI Staff Instructor Tobias sets the standards for all dive courses and dive tours conducted by DIVE.IS.



Davið Sigurþórsson, Lead Guide for Longer Tours
David became a PADI Instructor in 1996 in Phuket, Thailand and has worked as an instructor and divemaster in various parts of the world ever since.
Having certified over 300 students from over 30 countries David is one of Iceland´s most experienced diving instructors.
He has been with DIVE.IS, The Blue Army and Ársæll Marine-rescue unit since 2000 and knows the SILFRA area and other sites like they were his own back-yard.
Currently living in Sweden David spends his summers diving in Iceland as he just can´t keep away. David loves to lead our multiple day tours all around Iceland and our clients love him to do that.



Tómas J. Knútsson, Masterminder
Tómas founded the Sports Diving School of Iceland in 1997 and has owned and managed it until 2006 as Iceland´s only PADI dive centre, setting the standard for recreational diving in Iceland. Tómas´ passion has always been the environment and the fight for a better, cleaner future – both on land and under water. What began as a simple PADI Project Aware initiative became his main activity today. The Blue Army. The Dive Center has been his "soul" and he accompanies DIVE.IS as a consultant, Instructor, Story teller,...