The sad passing of Andy Phillips, teacher & friend to many in Utila and across the globe.

[laurenceh]

As some of you may know, our friend Andy Phillips of Utila Dive Center (UDC) died in a diving accident last week. The tragic incident occurred in the St. Lawrence River in Canada, his body has yet to be recovered.
Andy was a wonderful man who first came to Utila 20 years ago and was a huge influence on not just the promotion of diving in the Bay Islands but throughout the world. He trained 1000's of students from OW - Tech - Instructor.
My fondest memories of him will be of the trips he organized to Wolf and Darwin (Galapagos) each year.

A go fund me page has been set up to assist his family:-
View attachment 525259

manta ray in manihi lagoon

• laurenceh
• Jan 9, 2011
• manta shark whale

Andy worked and had dealings in various countries which has created labyrinth task of trying to track down assets and liabilities which will inevitably create travel costs and more importantly legal representation costs in these various countries. Marie-Claude and Andy’s sister will be trying to navigate these costly issues. The mere fact that it is an ongoing investigation means that Andy is still considered a missing person and only exacerbates the burden on MC and the family.
Click here to support Help family of Andy Phillips organized by Jessi Pfeltz

 

[Stout]

Damn, I'm sorry to hear that. I can't say I knew the guy well. A wave passing on the street, the odd beer if we ran into each other somewhere. He'll be missed for sure.

 

[TecRec50]

Hi,
I used to review the demonstration of Padi OW skills with Andy Phillips video, really great.
Are the circumstances of the dive accident known now ?