On Saturday, 13th September, Santa Margherita Ligure in Italy hosted a PADI Dive Day event.This was a full day dedicated to divers and PADI Members where they met and dived with PADI staff in the beautiful Portofino Marine Protected Area – one of Italy’s premier diving destinations near Rapallo.
Participants were given the opportunity to meet – and dive – with Mark Spiers (Vice President Sales, Field Services, Marketing & Business Development), Tony Andrews (Field Services Manager), Roberto Raffaeli (Senior Executive Business Development & Strategies), Anna Maria Mencatelli and Massimo Zarafa (Italy Regional Managers).
The event was supported by the town of Santa Margherita, the Marine Protected Area of Portofino (Environment Ministry), the Hotel Association Group, bars, restaurants, shops and seven local PADI Dive Centers.
Before each dive every person who attended were given a pair of bright yellow PADI sunglasses so that they could snap a “selfie” on the surface, and take part in a fun competition to win some cool prizes donated by manufacturers.
The event was a huge success with more than 500 divers and PADI Members taking part, enjoying some fantastic diving and, when not underwater, exploring the town (wearing their yellow PADI Sunglasses, of course!).
Once the diving had finished, the local mayor of Santa Margherita Ligure, Mr Paolo Donadoni, presented prizes (three regulators and a dive computer!) on the stage in the Bindi Square. These top awards were given for the three funniest selfie photos and another prize to the largest diving group who attended the PADI Dive Day.
Many congratulations go to the winners Gianluca Frigerio, Davide De Lorenzi and Paola Rappaccioli and to Decostop from Piacenza for bringing the highest number of participants to the event.
At the end of the awards ceremony, Mark Spiers thanked the mayor for all his hard work and awarded him a special PADI glass plaque for his commitment towards making the day such a success and for supporting diving tourism.
The day finished with a series of social events, with attendees visiting the local bars, pubs and restaurants to use discount vouchers, provided by the local retailers, bars and restaurants, and listening/dancing to live music played in the square until late into the night – the perfect way to end such a successful, enjoyable day for all.
PADI would like to extend a special thanks to all the businesses and organizations involved:
- The City of Santa Margherita Ligure and the Mayor Mr Paolo Donadoni
- The Protected Marine Area of Portofino and Dr. Giorgio Fanciulli
- The Dealers Association and Mr Soave Verderio
- The Hoteliers Group and Mr Sandro Tarella
- The PADI dive centres involved in the event:
- DIVING ACADEMY BY DWS
- IL GRANDE BLU
- S. FRUTTUOSO DIVING CENTER
- THE EUROPEAN BY SCUBASER
- THE EUROPEAN DIVING CENTER
- ABYSS DIVING SERVICE
- TORTUGA DIVING PORTOFINO
- The manufacturers who donated the awards
- AQUALUNG
- CRESSI
- DIVE SYSTEM
- SCUBAPRO.
Keep an eye out for similar PADI Dive Day events in the future, and happy diving!
