Times Colonist - February 18, 2006 

Diving for Redemption

Every so often he bolts out of sleep in a cold sweat, dead faces swimming in his head. The nightmares have never really gone away for Darryll Harasemow. Diving for cadavers used to be a part of his business. Today the grim duty he undertook for police and other emergency services is a painful residual that he struggles to overcome while continuing a lifelong passion for scuba diving. Liquid Heaven is his redemption. The new dive store in the cannery development on the Sidney waterfront – a few meters from where he was dive certified many years before – is Harasemow’s way of starting over without having to leave the tanks and wetsuits behind. Darryll opened the full-service dive shop in early January, six months after moving from the mainland. “I’ve dived in rivers, lakes, sewer systems, you name it … and I’ve seen a lot of terrible things,’ said Harasemow, 42. “The nightmares got to me. I’d see the last child wed recovered, a pregnant mom. It’s a culmination of things its awful, but you sort of learn to live with it. “For a while, I never went in the water” Harasemow sold off his share of Richmond-based Corporate Private & Aquatic Investigations, where he used his skills to specialize in the recovery of human remains, vehicles, weapons, and other items. The company also  used cadaver dogs able to sniff water surfaces for point of entry and worked worldwide on land and under water, including searching for missing women from downtown Vancouver’s east side, the Kenya terror bombings and San Francisco earthquake.

Sidney is the reward for a few years of that brutal work, he said. Harasemow was certified as a diver just off the Beacon Avenue shore and worked for local diving Frank White at his Sidney Surf and Scuba in 1989-90. He taught classes at the Panorama pool and in local waters.  He views Liquid Heaven as more than personal business, but a draw that will help bring tourism dollars to the community. People come to dive but also use local charters, eat in local restaurants, shop in stores and stay in area hotels. We want to promote Sidney, said Harasemow. Liquid Heaven offers full scuba classes, new equipment sales and rentals as well as clothing and many other items and gifts.

The Harasemow’s also believe they’ve opened the islands first ‘oxygen bar,’ where $1.00 per minute you can breathe 90-93% pure oxygen mixed with natural aromatherapy fragrances. “It’s the best cure in the world for a hangover.”  Liquid Heaven at 103-2537 Beacon Ave. is open 9am to 9pm 7days a week. Call 888-1601