Staff

Doug Bennett

Doug came to Okinawa with the military in 1990 and has stayed ever since. With over 6000 dives throughout Asia, his diving career has brought him from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to Hainan, China and back to Okinawa. Founding Reef Encounters in 1995 as a small shop to provide quality training for dedicated divers, he has been working full time in the dive industry for more than 12 years. 

Doug holds certifications from NAUI, IANTD, PSI, GUE and is certified to repair most brands of SCUBA equiment. Throughout his career Doug has introduced 1000's of divers to the underwater world. He has also worked as the Diving Safety Officer for numerous films and documentaries. Especially of interest is his participation in many television programs on the underwater structures of Yonaguni.  Doug regularly leads our tours to Yonaguni to explore these structures and swim with the schooling hammerhead sharks found there in winter time.

In his spare time Doug explores the deeper reefs and caves around Okinawa. He got into technical diving back in the mid-90's when independent doubles were the norm, but since has progressed to the RB80 and other re-breathers.  Using his extensive knowledge of Technical diving, Doug can show his students the advantages and disadvantages of numerous set-ups from DIR to NAUI Tech and more.

Miho Yamazaki

Miho is a NAUI Worldwide instructor and at the same time works as our official international liason.  After recieving her master's degree in Japanese linguistics at the Univ of Hawaii, she came to Okinawa.   Besides teaching scuba diving, she is a wiz at web design, taking phone and email reservations, and organizing meetings with our sponsors and friends in high places. Her favorite dives sites in the Keramas are Ariga Cable, Manta Point, Catsle Rock, and Coral Garden. Also, she absolutely loves diving at Manza Dream Hole.

Jim Winter

Jim became a NAUI Worldwide instructor here at Reef Encounters. He loves to teach classes and lead dives. He is also a dedicated professional underwater photographer. You can learn various techniques and tips about taking pictures from him. Be prepared, he talks alot, especially about cameras!
Currently, Jim is working on designing various underwater photography courses and a very unique advanced openwater class.    

Kumiko Katsuya

Kumi is from the coldest area of Japan - Hokkaido. She learned to dive in the Izu Penninsula after doing an intro dive in Okinawa.  Kumi joined the Reef Encounters team to learn more english and to complete her NAUI Instructor training.  She is a great cook and enjoys singing karaoke in her spare time. Up until now, her best dive experience was in Hokkaido where she saw sea lions.

Reef Encounters Alumni

Chris Davis

Chris started his professional diving career at Reef Encounters in 2005 and received his NAUI Instructor Certification at the beginning of 2007. Chris also trained through NAUI Tech in Pensacola, FL to recieve Technical Diving certifications that include Decompression Techniques, Advanced EANx, and Helitrox. After teaching and guiding dives for Reef Encounters Chris has now moved on to start his own shop back in Arizona check him out at www.submersionscuba.com continuing to bring quality dive education to students worldwide.