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1979
Horst Hinrichs arrives in Phuket armed with three dive tanks, courage,
and his love of the underwater world.
He realizes his dream with a dive school in Thailand, Santana
1982... 1983
Santana is one of the first dive shops to organize a Thailand liveaboard Similan Islands, in those days traveling
with longtail boats and camping on the uninhabited beaches.
1989
With their first daytrip boat, Santana lays the foundation for today's
fleet. 1000 satisfied divers per year are the result.
Santana assembles 20 sets of gear, the first classroom training center,
and a 10-man crew.
1992... 1993
Andrea marries Horst and joins the Santana team.
Santana establishes Patong Beach's first Thailand
sea canoeing daytrips, equipped with its own daytrip mother ship.
Santana receives the coveted 5 Star IDC Center designation, one of the
highest PADI marks of recognition.
1996
The present day flagship of the Santana fleet, "MV Discovery" is built.
2000
Santana heads into the new millennium with yet another innovation.
Liveaboard Burma Banks safaris to the largely unexplored
dive sites of Myanmar's Mergui Archipel.
2003... 2004
Horst and Andrea, along with the 25-man Santana team celebrate their
25-year jubilee.
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The father of Phuket diving, German native Horst founded Santana way
back in 1979. A hugely experienced diver, Horst actually named famous sites
like Elephant Head in the Similans. Horst has always been a keen explorer
both above and below water and loves to get involved in Santana's 
Munich native Andrea met Horst in the mid 80's. After numerous dive
vacations in Phuket she decided to join him as his wife and business
partner. Andrea is now the General Manager of the company and highly active
in the Dive Operator Club of Thailand. Still nuts about diving, Andrea
personally leads alternate 
There
are very few Thais, if any, to match the experience of Andaman diving that
Ohn enjoys. With over 1500 Similans dives alone, plus huge experience of
sites in Burma and around Phuket, nobody knows the local underwater
landscape like Ohn. As a result she is to be found leading many of Santana's
Spencer came to do his 
Swiss native
Marcus is one of our busiest instructors, and handles many of Santana's
When the phrase "Land of Smiles" was coined, it was written
about the crew of our flagship vessel MV Discovery. They did not need to be
taught about customer service... it's in their genes! Captain Tong brings a
wealth of experience of Thai waters. Brothers Mana and Dinan take care of
you and the boat. And our cooks Panada and Boonpa take a pride in preparing
an excellent selection of tasty dishes between dives.
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