Meet Our Professional Scuba Instructors
Steve Ladd
PADI Master Instructor
Emergency First Response and Divers Alert Network O2 Instructor
Emergency Medical Service / EMT
Steve earned his Open Water certification at age 15. Now the owner of OADC/PADI 5 Star Instructor Development Center spreading his life long passion for the ocean to his community. He offers high quality equipment, instruction and dive travel. Having a family of divers and a network of diving friends has kept Steve's enthusiasm strong. His passion is watching our local dive community flourish, as the dive club grows and the barbecues get bigger! Steve encourages his staff to excel and provide advanced instruction. Steve is also a past volunteer presentation diver at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.
Steve's favorite dive spot: Ship Rock, Catalina Island
Steve's on the Board for Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber's Chamber Day Comittee and the Dive Safety Board for Loyola Marymount Scientific Courses
Steve's favorite Specialty: Photography
E-mail Steve:
Andy Huber
IANTD Adv. Recreational Trimix Instructor
TDI Adv. Nitrox Instructor
SDI Open Water Instructor
PADI IDC Staff Instructor
DAN Diving Emergency Specialist (DES) Instructor
Life Support Systems Service Technician
GUE Tech 1 Diver
IANTD Advanced Cave Advanced Side-Mount Diver
GUE Cave 2 Diver
TDI Adv. Trimix Diver
IANTD Full Trimix Diver
SAG Member
Andy was born and raised landlocked in Switzerland. During an extended childhood stay in Kenya, he spent the great deal of time free-diving and gained a deep affinity and appreciation for sub-aquatic activities. In Los Angeles and its motion picture industry, Andy is a sought-after underwater lighting technician and instructor and as such involved in projects like, Star Trek, War of the Worlds, Mission Impossible 3, Get Smart, Case 39, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, True Blood, Ghost Whisperer, Invasion, Surface, NCIS, CSI Miami, CSI New York, Flash Forward and many more.
As a passionate and dedicated technical dive instructor, Andy promotes the DIR-philosophy of diving through simplicity and knowledge. Using this platform of technical diving, he is involved in shaping progressive technical dive protocols as well as developing and testing innovative equipment. Andy's enthusiasm as a diver and instructor guides fellow divers into the realm of advanced diving and aims to foster awareness and respect for the ocean within the diving community.
Andy has been with Ocean Adventures' dive team since 2002.
Fluent in German
E-mail Andy:
Szilvia Gogh
PADI Course Director
PADI Specialty Instructor Trainer
EFR Instructor Trainer
DAN Instructor Trainer
Dive Travel Specialist
SAG Member
Stunts and Water Safety
Since 1989 Szilvia has been involved in International Competition Level Orientation Diving, and has logged close to 5000 dives, including training, competition, and recreational dives. She decided to travel around the world and make a living of scuba diving right after she finished college. Szilvia has lived and taught scuba all around Europe, Australia and Asia. In 2003 she became a Course Director. She is proud to be the youngest female world-wide ever excepted to become a PADI CD. She teaches dive instructor courses for the LAPD Dive Unit leaders, works as a safety and stunt diver in the motion picture industry. Recently she worked on Green Hornet, Piranha 3D, Flash Forward, Desperate Housewives and doubled Drew Barrymore for her latest movie, Everybody Loves Whales.
She loves to travel off the beaten path to expose herself to anything new and unusual, as she believes this is how we learn more about local culture and people. You can see some of her pictures at www.SzilviaGogh.com. She is a founder of Miss-Scuba, the online resource for female divers. www.Miss-Scuba.com. Miss Scuba is a culture of its own; an expression of free will, untamed souls, a rebellion against mediocrity and the yearning for finding adventure and excitement in life.
Szilvia takes great pride in designing and creating unique, one of a kind jewelry inspired by the ocean and creatures living in it for her Gogh Jewelry Design. Each hand-crafted piece reflects the artist’s sense of mystery and individuality, and beckons the free spirit in every self-made woman.
Szilvia's favorite dive spots: Antarctica, South Africa
Szilvia's latest Awards: Journalism Excellence Award, Platinum Pro 5000
Szilvia's favorite Specialty: Underwater Navigation
E-mail Szilvia:
Tim Balcomb
PADI IDC Staff Instructor
Emergency First Response Instructor
Underwater Video Specialist
DSAT Trimix Gas Blender Instructor
TDI Nitrox and Trimix Blender
PSI Visual Cylinder Inspector
Underwater Filmmaking Instructor
UTD Tech 1 Diver
Tim learned to dive right here at Ocean Adventures Dive Company! Initially certified to work on a movie he was soon bitten by the bug and diving every weekend possible. Now an instructor, he wants to share the fun, beauty, and most of all, the community of diving with all of his students. “Ocean Adventures has become like a second home to me over the years, and I want each and every one of my students to feel as welcome as I did.” Tim is also an aspiring underwater filmmaker, and is always available to answer questions about capturing the ocean world on film. Tim worked as Camera Operator and/or a Safety Diver on Outside, Clear Blue, Shark Swarm features. See his reel at www.TimBalcomb.com
Tim's favorite dive spot: Anywhere Deeper Than 130ft
Tim's Student Said: "Tim was a great instructor. I was a little nervous of the water and unsure of how to operate all of the equipment during my first ocean dive. Tim was very patient, helpful and knowledgable about diving. Also Tim is relatable and made spending two full days in the ocean fun, educational and memorable.
I highly recommend Tim as an instructor and if I decide to further my diving skills, I will certainly contact Ocean Adventures," Christine Putman.
E-mail Tim:
Karen Praxel
PADI Instructor
SAG Member
AAUS Scientific Diver
Underwater Photographer
Karen has been a certified diver since 1984. In college she flip-flopped between marine biology and theater arts majors. Life went in the direction of acting professionally but a passion for learning about life in the seas never waned. Karen has been volunteering as a diver at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach since 2002. There she started training as a scientific diver, became certified by the AAUS and joined many research projects. She started to work on some local boats and to DM for aquarium and scientific dives and to assist with some training. Now an instructor Karen is able share her passion for the oceans in the best way yet: training new divers and taking divers on their continuing education and being a part of their growth, confidence and enthusiasm.
Having traveled all over and done some thrilling diving in places including Fiji, Cocos, Socorro, Sea of Cortez, Indian Ocean (The Seychelles), Karen always loves coming home to the incomparable waters of Southern California Pacific and the beautiful Channel Islands! It is a pleasure and a constant adventure to be able to contribute to people's love and understanding of the ocean at the aquarium, to contribute to conservation and research with scientific diving, to be able to help guide new divers as an instructor! "The look on someones face when they dive and see underwater world for the first time never gets old," Karen said.
Karen is also an enthusiastic underwater photographer and has worked as dive safety on films. Still a professional actor (Karen can be seen in national commercials, recently Off-Broadway in New York and in award winning indi films) she is a true believer that you really can do it all and doing what you love is what it’s all about! Karen is committed to opening up what has traditionally being a male dominated sport to the unique energy of women and creating space for women to explore and grow both in the industry and in the adventure.
Karen's latest Awards: AAUSD Scientific Diver
Karen's Student Said: "I just finished my open water certification course with Karen Praxel. Karen is a great instructor and really takes the time to answer any questions and is very patient, which is a good thing when you have a ton of questions and anxiety about your first dives! What I really appreciated about learning under Karen is being able to see her passion for diving and teaching others the wonders of diving and sharing her passion for it…her passion is contagious, so watch out! Karen is so full of information about diving, safety, procedures, and ocean life, it’s ridiculous. Thank you Karen for showing me (cue the bad cliché) a whole new world!," Daniel Warner.
E-mail Karen:
Erika Ladd
PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor
Emergency First Response Instructor
DAN Instructor
Coming from a family of divers, Erika naturally took the water at a very young age. She earned her Open Water certification when she was 12 years old, shortly after she continued and received her Advanced and Rescue certifications.
She can’t get enough of the beautiful kelp forests of southern California but also loves to get away and indulge in warm tropical water. Traveling is one of her biggest passions and after living in Europe for a little while, she got the travel bug and has been able to dive in some extremely beautiful places such as Baja, Fiji, Cuba, Palau and Yap.
Over the past few years she was finishing school and pursuing her dream of becoming a special effects makeup artist. Having taken a short time off from diving, she realized how much she missed it and recently decided to make diving part of her career as well. She is now an Instructor and has had a blast sharing her love for the ocean with others. She looks forward to more travels and finding out what else our beautiful oceans have to share.
Erika's Student Said: "i would like to thank Erika and all the wonderful people at OADC for helping me become certified. You all are awesome and I will recommend OADC to everyone.Thank you so much!" Sean Campbell
Erika's favorite dive spot: Palau
Erika's favorite Specialty: Underwater Photography
E-mail Erika:
Blaire Ladd
PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor
Emergency First Response Instructor
DAN Instructor
Blaire has always felt like a fish in the water and learned how to swim and snorkel when she learned to walk. As soon as she was old enough to Scuba Dive she was certified at 13. She spent the majority of her first diving years exploring the Channel Islands with her dad and adventures to the Sea of Cortez with her family.
She earned her Divemaster certification when she was 18 and began volunteering at the Long Beach Aquarium of Pacific. She loves teaching kids to scuba dive and watching people overcome their fears of the ocean. When ever asked where her favorite place to dive she responds “There’s nothing that compares to the beauty of the kelp forest in California with 80ft visibility on a sunny day descending down a wall with a harbor seal swimming nearby, giant black sea bass, bat rays, abalone and schools of fish! It’s absolutely breathtaking!”
Blaire's favorite dive spot: San Miguel Island
Blaire's favorite Specialty: Underwater Naturalist
E-mail Blaire:
Hilaire Brosio
Divemaster
CPR/EFR Instructor
DAN O2 Instructor
Underwater Camera Operator (Local 600)
Safety Diver (SAG)
Hilaire started diving 20 years ago because of all of those Jacques Cousteau
specials he grew up watching on the television. The ocean is filled
with mystery and intrigue and he wanted to experience it firsthand.
Over the course of his diving career Hilaire became a PADI Divemaster because he
felt it was important to have a good grasp of the fundamentals of
diving for the sake of himself and his dive buddies.
He has the
ultimate respect for the environment. That is why the only things he
takes when he is in the ocean are pictures and video. Fortunately he
has been able to travel and shoot some of the most beautiful dive
spots in the world including, Antarctica, The Red Sea, The Galapagos,
Papua New Guinea, The Great Barrier Reef, and Wakatobi. Regardless of
his travels, Hilaire still finds the kelp forest in Southern California to be
one of the more magnificent dive destinations in the world. It has
close to 700 species of life that you can observe. Fins up! See his camera work at www.HilaireBrosio.com
Hilaire's favorite dive spot: Galapagos Island
Hilaire's favorite Specialty: Videography
E-mail Hilaire:
Steve Clark
PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor
Emergency First Response Instructor
Underwater Cinematographer
Well-traveled, gregarious, motivated, and a passionate environmentalist, Steve Clark is a newly minted PADI Instructor. Steve loves introducing people to the underwater world and sharing his experiences about miraculous marine environments and creatures he’s seen. Steve also enjoys the reaction when he tells people the best Southern California dive sites are more beautiful than anything he’s seen in Indonesia, Mexico, or Papua New Guinea. No one believes him… but it’s true.
Steve grew up around boats and had his first one at 9 years old. Years later he skippered a 43’ SAGA from LA to Auckland and the story of that calamitous voyage is about to become an IMAX film.
His underwater short film, Arc of a Diver, won the Montana CINE award for best children’s film, honor of distinction at Celebrate the Sea Film Festival and, Blue Ocean Film Festival, and Kids First! Film Festival. Arc of a Diver was also a finalist at the Cannes Film Festival, International Wildlife Film Festival, and Los Angeles Children’s Film Festival. See his work at www.SteveClarkFilms.com
Steve's favorite dive spot: Farnsworth Bank, Catalina Island
Steve's favorite Specialty: Videography
E-mail Steve:
Piotr Czyzykowski "Peter"
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer
Emergency First Response Instructor
PADI Specialty Instructor
Nitrox Gas Blender
Piotr started diving when he was 15 years old in Egypt. He continued diving for a few years in Egypt, Poland (in his home country) and Czech Republic before at age 18 he became a Divemaster. Piotr decided to travel to the USA and get his Instructor training. Piotr still today is continuing his education. “Underwater I found peace and quiet, nothing is more relaxing than watching marine life, and spend good time with your friends who share the same passion with you,” said Piotr. "I am different than other instructors in town. Don’t believe me? Show me another 20 year old Polish Instructor in Cali :p"
E-mail Piotr:
Shawna McLean
President, Ocean Adventures Dive Club
Dive Master
I learned to dive in the Philippines in 1983 when I was a foreign exchange student. I dove sporadically in the following years, but the turning point came while I was gearing up for a trip to Bonaire in 2004 and visited Ocean Adventures. The owner Steve Ladd and his staff were so helpful and passionate about diving when I returned they helped me finish my advanced course. Over the next three years I dove all over Southern California and the Caribbean with Ocean Adventures while continuing my dive training. Steve Ladd encouraged me to become a Dive Master, he thought I had a natural ability for helping new divers. My special skill as a DM is my ability to empathize with divers struggling with a skill or a fear, because I was once that student. I find it very rewarding to see those same students beaming with accomplishment once they've completed their first open water dive.
What sets Ocean Adventures divers apart from other dive facilities, is that through training and by example, Ocean Adventures staff inspires every diver to become a steward of the Ocean.
E-mail Shawna:
Canyon
Future Master Diver
He has a smile for you anytime you come in and will let you scratch him all over.
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