At the end of July, ten members of the Marin Scuba Club traveled to Bonaire for a family-friendly week of diving and more diving, and a little bit of doing nothing.  When we got on the island, Ken started joking around, stating’ “Please listen carefully as this could save your life, I told the group.  Always be jovial and joking around such that if something were to happen and you were to go missing, your silence would be noticed.  But, don’t be so much of a joker so that your silence would be welcomed.”

Many SCUBA jokes were cracked as we had 3 gorgeous days of boat diving.  Since the reefs on Bonaire are just a few kicks from the shore we had a tremendous amount of latitude to set our own schedule.  We rented 2 trucks and were able to drive and dive all over the island.  Twilight dives were a group favorite. As was Salt Pier where we made several night and evening dives. And, we all went down on the Hilma Hooker, but no one penetrated.  Wait, wait, that did not come out right.  It’s a shipwreck.  The Hilma Hooker is a shipwreck.

Kimberli Moore brought her son Logan who obtained his basic open water certification. Mark Judson brought his wife and son who got in a little bit of diving and a whole lot of doing nothing.  We also took a bit of time at the end of the week for a bit of sightseeing.  We drove to Washington-Slagbaai National Park to see flamingos in the wild, stopped at the Cadushi Distillery for some spirit tasting, and visited the donkey sanctuary.

After all the joking around, we came to realize that this is not so much a lesson for life as it is a life lesson.  Live your life so your silence will be noted. At the end of the trip, the group had so much fun, plans are being made for another trip next summer to go back to stay at the Sand Dollar hotel in Kralendijk.