Kihei's first dive boat operation was established in 1979 by Mike Severns, who obtained his biology degree from the U. of Hawaii after three years of travel around the world. Mike's adventurous spirit and scientific interest have led to numerous discoveries both on land and underwater. Over the years he discovered the longest underwater cave system in Hawaii, the first ancient Hawaiian fishing site and a wave bench 240 ft. underwater at Molokini from a previously lower sea level over 10,000 years ago. Another find, two of the largest Hawaiian voyaging canoe anchors known, are on display at Maui's Bailey House museum. His land discoveries include living tree snail populations that were thought to be extinct and lava tubes which contained the bones of over 30 previously unknown species of extinct birds. He has has coauthored and photographed several books, among them Molokini, Hawaii's Island Marine Sanctuary; Sulawesi Seas, Indonesia's Magnificent Underwater Realm; Hawaii's Sea Shells; and Diving Hawaii and Midway. Recently an Indo-Pacific wrasse was named for him as Pseudojuloides severnsi. Although Mike no longer owns or operates the dive operation, he can be contacted for other business at: mseverns@hawaii.rr.com

Mike Severns Diving is a close-knit group of people driven by the love of diving and the desire to share that love with other divers. All six of us have years of experience showing divers Hawaii's unique marine life and want to make sure that you have a wonderful diving experience.

Pauline Fiene has a degree in biology from St. Olaf College and is especially interested in Hawaiian nudibranchs, two of which have been named for her, Hallaxa paulinae and Hypselodoris paulinae. She has studied Hawaiian marine life for over twenty years, discovering many new species of marine animals and publishing a paper on the annual spawning of Hawaii's most abundant species of coral, the first time spawning had ever been recorded for this species worldwide. She is coauthor of several books including Molokini - Hawaii's Island Marine Sanctuary; and Diving Hawaii and Midway and is currently completing a Hawaiian nudibranch website with Cory Pittman which will be launching in summer 2008! Very enthusiastic about sharing what she has learned with interested divers, she takes the time to make sure that they see the details and unique animal behaviors that make diving so interesting.

Andy Schwanke gave up partnership in a dive business ten years ago and joined MSD in order to spend less time on business and more time where he belongs - in the ocean, sharing his talent for discovering animal behaviors that the rest of us have overlooked for years. His most recent contribution has been to our knowledge of the Hawaiian green sea turtles that live along Maui's Kihei/Wailea coastline. Using a digital camera he has identified several hundred individual turtles and the data he has compiled has resulted in the first fibropapilloma tumor rate estimate for this area of Maui. His unusual animal observations and photos have also appeared in several books. Andy's great sense of humor and unique approach to marine life are two of our company's greatest assets, as our repeating divers will attest.

Michelle White brings twelve years of experience to our operation having grown up on Maui and worked in diving since she was a teenager. Knowledgeable and charming, Michelle has her Hawaii Ocean Awareness certificate and leads fascinating dives during which she loves to point out details about the animals that make a dive memorable. When not leading dives she has been restoring a 32-foot sailboat with her high school sweetheart, in preparation for a South Pacific voyage (we hope not too soon!). 

Warren Blum put in 16 years as a dentist, most of them in private practice, before breaking out and heading to Maui eight years ago to fulfill his dream of diving and working out on the water. Although an instructor, Warren's real passion is showing and teaching people about Hawaiian marine life. One of his interests is in photographing and identifying manta rays that visit the areas that we dive. He has added several individuals to the known Maui population and one is even named after him. As one of our more "mature" divemasters Warren's knowledge and calm countenance make diving with him a true pleasure.

Sharon McGauley graduated with a zoology degree and spent the following years as a whale research intern, research diver and marine biology teacher to groups of school child ren. Most recently she left behind her artgallery and divemaster job in Key West and moved to Maui to experience new adventures. Within her first 10 dives here on Maui she had seen humpback whales twice underwater - something some long-term divemasters here have never seen. Her luck has continued with her work being chosen for Maui's competitive annual artshow, Art Maui 2005. (See her work at www.sharonmcgauley.com). These things aside, Sharon is simply a joy to dive with.

Dan Diaz joined us in 2006 after 10 years of diving and captaining a dive boat off the island of Lanai. He is especially skilled at guiding less experienced divers, partly due to years of experience and partly due to his remarkable good humor and patience - we have yet to see him riled! Dan also has a great eye for finding small animals such as the tiny sea urchin crab, Echinoecus pentagonus, which he documented living in an urchin species previously unknown to host this crab. His dives are fun and relaxed and he carries a 100-watt light so that divers can see the beautiful colors at depth.

©2008 Mike Severns Diving
The information contained in this web site
may not be republished or redistributed without the
prior written authority of Mike Severns Diving.