Hello, my name is Daniël
My Story
Looking back, I wish I had gotten into scuba diving way earlier in life. I was never much of a fan of beach vacations, and had therefor never tried snorkeling or diving. When I spent a few days on Aruba visiting a friend, and did some snorkeling, I was immediately hooked on the beauty of the ocean, and before I had made it home, signed up for a scuba class.
I got certified later that year, and then gradually built my experience, confidence and certification level over time, traveling to various beautiful places across the globe to see the world under water.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, and I could not travel anywhere to keep diving, I decided to sign up for the Rescue Diver course solely to grow my confidence and skill level. After earning my Rescue Diver certification, the world still had not opened up yet, so I continued with my Divemaster certification.
When I finished that, the owner of my local dive center, Underwater Safaris in Chicago, asked if I wasn’t interested in becoming an instructor, and so I embarked on a whole new journey of going through the PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC) and the Instructor Exam (IE), to become an open water instructor in the summer of 2021, and I’ve been teaching ever since.
Some of my favorite/most impressive/noteworthy dives:
Palau
An environment that’s absolutely spectacular above water, but even more amazing underwater, with the largest abundance and variety of coral and other underwater life you can find
Silfra, Iceland
Located in Þingvellir national park, diving at Silfra is one of the coolest dive experiences out there (literally and figuratively). Some of the clearest water in the world, you can look up from a depth of 50 feet and see the sun and the clouds as clearly as you would from above water
Cenote diving in Tulum, Mexico
Experience a taste of the magic of cave diving, without the risks of cave diving: explore these giant sinkholes with water so clear that at times it’s hard to believe you are actually in water, and the sun penetrate the caves to create a spectacle of light
Professional Certifications
Master Scuba Diver Trainer
2024
Dive Against Debris Instructor
2024
Wreck Instructor
2024
Underwater Navigator Instructor
2024
Enriched Air Instructor
2024
Dry Suit Instructor
2024
Deep Diving Instructor
2024
Open Water Scuba Instructor
2022
EFR Instructor
2022
Peak Performance Buoyancy Instructor
2022
PADI AWARE Instructor
2022
Assistant Instructor
2022
Coral Reef Conservation Instructor
2022
Divemaster
2021
Recreational Certifications
Blue Heron Bridge Diver
2025
Deep Diver
2021
Rescue Diver
2020
Master Scuba Diver
2020
EFR Primary & Secondary Care
2020
Wreck Diver
2020
Equipment Specialist
2020
Enriched Air Diver
2019
Digital Underwater Photography
2018
Dry Suit Diver
2017
Advanced Open Water Diver
2017
Peak Performance Buoyancy Diver
2017
Open Water Diver
2017
Daniël Van Gool
I usually teach pool classes a few weeknights and/or weekend days per month at Underwater Safaris throughout the year, and during the summer season I teach a few open water classes at Haigh Quarry in Kankakee, IL as well. More recently I got certified to teach various specialty classes as well.
There’s nothing more fun that sharing your passion with others who want to learn about it, and I enjoy it tremendously. If you’re in the Chicago area and diving is something that has been on your bucket list, check out Underwater Safaris’ class offerings!
At the same time, as the world slowly opened back up, I picked up travel again too – often diving a day or two on our various international trips, and taking a dedicated dive trip (often on a liveaboard, my favorite way to experience diving) once a year as well. In recent times, I’ve picked up underwater photography, with a focus on macro photography. While I love seeing the big underwater life, the small critters and creatures is what really stole my heart – spotting and observing the many hundreds of varieties of nudibranchs, shrimp, crabs, pipefish, seahorses, and many others is what excites me most about diving these days!
I’m using this website to share my experiences diving. If you have any questions about diving, dive travel, getting certified, etc., please reach out!
