The team
Stephan learned to dive in cold Dutch lakes, worked his way through every SSI level there is, and moved to Bonaire in 2023 because he wanted to teach somewhere the water matches the ambition. He holds the highest certification SSI offers: Instructor Trainer. There is no one else on Bonaire with that credential. The person teaching your first Open Water course is the same person who trains the instructors who train other instructors.
He also holds a Mares Horizon Instructor certification. If you want to try semiclosed rebreather diving, Stephan is the one who takes you out.
Every course at Wanderlust is taught by Stephan or Linda. Four students maximum, often one-on-one. He does not hire rotating staff to fill spots. If you book with Wanderlust, you know who is in the water with you before you arrive.
Before 6am most mornings, he is already at a dive site checking conditions. After that it is teaching, fixing something on the truck, or explaining to Mara why flamingos are not pink fish.
Linda is a certified SSI Divemaster Instructor. She teaches Open Water courses, specialties, guided dives, and trains divers all the way to Divemaster level. She is also the person who runs everything that is not in the water. Gear prep, scheduling, WhatsApp messages from guests arriving next week, tank logistics, and the hundred small decisions that make a dive day go smoothly.
Before Bonaire, she worked in the Netherlands in a job that paid well and meant nothing. The move in 2023 was not impulsive. Years of conversations about what kind of life they wanted led to a one-way ticket.
Her favorite site is Oil Slick Leap. She will tell you why if you ask. She is usually the first person guests talk to, and the one who remembers your name when you come back a year later.
She also keeps Stephan from overcomplicating things. That might be her most important job.
We moved to Bonaire as a family. Our daughter Mara was one when we arrived. She is growing up with sand between her toes, three languages in her ears, and a dive center as her backyard.
Wanderlust is not a side project. It is the thing we are building so our family can live the way we want to live.
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