Tuesday, August 14, 2007

The Wounded Warriors are Certified to Dive

Since their arrival last Saturday, the Wounded Warriors, their families, and instructors have kept busy schedules, but the warriors and families did complete their open water scuba certifications on Monday.  Images from their arrival are available on the Bonaire Insider Photo Gallery by clicking here.  Read on to view further photo galleries.

The six men and their families started right in on Sunday morning with their dive training, which went the full day with two open water dives on Sunday afternoon. Chris Humphreys from Capture Photo was on hand to do a video of the men and their families during training.  Capture Photo also donated a copy of each video to the Wounded Warriors, so they would have a momento of their training dives.

That evening, the group arrived at Papaya Moon Cantina for a relaxing Tex-Mex dinner, compliments of the restaurant.  A pleasant surprise awaited them, as they were escorted to their table:  All of the restaurant’s other patrons give the group a standing ovation.  There was hardly a dry eye.  The restaurant even baked them a special cake!  Images from their dinner at Papaya Moon Cantina are available on the Bonaire Insider Photo Gallery by clicking here.

Monday brought another full day of training, with their final two certifications dives in the afternoon.  The group, now accustomed to the water, did great water entries and immediately adjusted their buoyancy.  Images of the training session are available by clicking here. 

Monday evening brought more events!  At the Captain Don’s Habitat Manager’s Rum Punch Party, the group was able to meet the legendary Captain Don, thank Mike Hill from PADI, who sponsored their training materials for the Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses, and then enjoy a BBQ buffet, thanks to private donations made through the Bonaire Talk Community.  Images from the evening are available by clicking here.

Today brings a film crew from a Florida NBC affiliate to film the action, so the men are back in the water.  The Bonaire Insider will continue to report on events as they happen.  (Source:  Bonaire Insider Reporter)