“At some point in the mid-1980s, we arrived in Yap and there was a woman sitting in front of the airport chewing a beetlenut. We told her we want to go diving and she was very friendly and said ‘I know somebody – jump in the car.’ She brought us to a building that was not finished yet, and then there was this man called Bill Acker”, says Walti Guggenbühl with a broad smile on his face. Good times…

Walti formed the succesful Swiss tour operator company SUBEX, explored scuba diving hotspots like Sudan and ran the first liveaboard trips in many places.
It was a pleasure to welcome him at our booth at the boot show in Düsseldorf and hear him remember the “great wall dives” he had in Yap.
And this man saw a few drop offs in his life, that’s for sure!

Bill, Walti, Jan and Detlef in front of our booth in the mares compound

Bill sure was quick to chime in when it came to the memories: “I remember we had a honeymoon couple and she could not sleep in her room because there were no curtains installed yet, and the breakfast was served in the lobby.”
Sure, there is nothing like pioneering a place, but I think it is fair to say we are all glad we improved a bit since then. 🙂