Meet Course Director And Jdl Boat Captain David Pinilla (daveeed)

Andy Woerner   Jun 05, 2022

Have you had Captain David on your boat?

Or taken a class with David?

Maybe you’ve just heard his Colombian accent while making a reservation.

David always has a positive attitude on the boat and is very attentive to his divers and passengers. He’s just an all-around great guy.

David is From Colombia

Born in Bogota Colombia, Davidhas loved the Ocean since the first time hesaw it when hewas five years old. Since then, he always wanted to be close to the ocean, if not in it.  

He did his first dive at the age of 12 in San Andres, Colombia and fell in love with SCUBA. After serving in the Colombian Military, stationed in the Amazon, he left for Australia to learn English and there, he became a certified diver in 2000.

Costa Rica and his dream job

In Costa Rica, Davidbecame a PADI Divemaster in 2004, then a year later an OWSIInstructor, to fulfill his dream of being a Cruise Director for one of the best live aboard vessels, the Undersea Hunter, in Cocos Island Costa Rica. After three years there hedecided to continue hisdiving adventures on the other side of the world, Africa.  

Africa & Mexico

With his Divemaster girlfriend (now wife), Lauren, Davidspent four years managing a resort Dive Center in Zanzibar Tanzania.Theyalso worked with the BBC and Nature films as diving supervisor for documentaries and TV shows filming in the Indian ocean.

After having a son, Demien, they decided to move closer to the Americas, and landed in Mexico for 2 years as operational managers for a dive company in Mahahual Mexico.

David became a PADI Course Director in Oahu

David landed in Oahu Hawaii in 2013 with his family and became a US citizen, Course Director, and Boat Captain.  He also collaborated with theAlaska National Guard and Hawaii’s Coast Guard on their annual joint ocean rescue training operations.

David Joined the JDL family in 2019  

Having known Teri and Jeff Leicher for a few years, David decided to move to the Big Island and become a part of the JDL family (officially). As a Course Director, David has certified over375 professional divers, with a total of 2,300 diving certifications, and he himself has over 10,000 dives under his weight belt.

“Diving has given me some of the best experiences of my life. I have seen things I thought I would never see. Through diving I have come to understand the importance of protecting the Ocean and taking care of it now so my son can also have the chance to have the same experiences. I am happy to be working for a company whose mission is to bring awareness to Ocean conservation.”

If you are interested in becoming a professional Diver, reach out to David or our other wonderful Course Director, Shannon, to learn more!