When IMAX came to Palau in 1993 to document the underwater wonders of Palau into one of their feature films, the crew soon discovered that Francis was as interesting a story as was the destination’s natural attributes. Francis and his family became the stars of IMAX’s “The living sea.”
Francis retired from the diving industry in 1998 and sold Fish ‘n Fins dive shop to Tova and Navot Bornovski, he moved back to the United States to be with his kids during their education. However, Francis and Susan returned to Palau in 2004 to pursue new frontiers.
Being an environmentalist at heart, Francis wanted to save and improve the environment. He knew from an early age that Palau was home to exotic trees such as mahogany and teak (his father planted mahogany trees in Palau more than 40 years ago). Francis flew to Thailand to learn tree plantation and started his own teak plantation in the state of Ngradmau, convincing others in Palau to plant trees as well.
Francis’ latest adventure is his celestial navigation course and long traditional canoe voyages to the outer islands of Micronesia.
Francis was a scuba instructor, employer and mentor to many of today’s leaders of the diving industry in Palau, such as Itaru Kishigawa from CARP, Sam Scott from Sam’s Tours, Shallum Etpison from NECO, Surangel Whipps (who also had a dive shop in the early 80s before becoming one of Palau’s most successful businessmen) and Tova and Navot from Fish ‘n Fins and Ocean Hunter.
Upon induction into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame on January 30, 2010 Francis will receive the ultimate recognition in the diving industry, an honor given to very few. Francis will be forever in the company of JacquesYves Cousteau, Lloyd Bridges, Sylvia Earle, David Doubilet, Rodney Fox and other diving pioneers.
Palau, Micronesia
Located in the westernmost corner of Micronesia, Palau is an archipelago of more than 586 islands with about 20,000 inhabitants. Consistently ranked as one of the world’s best dive destinations, Palau is the ultimate paradise for the adventurous traveler, boasting some of the most spectacular water features and beaches as well as the world famous Rock Islands and Jellyfish Lake.
With more than 1,400 species of fish and 500 species of coral, some have called Palau the “8th Natural Wonder of the World”, while others have identified Palau as “One of the Seven Underwater Wonders of the World.”
