Three Boats. One Island. Infinite Bragging Rights – Dive Pirates Take the Challenge to Brac!

The Dive Pirates Foundation is celebrating 21 years of making waves in the adaptive diving community with a return trip to Cayman Brac from June 21–28, 2025. This year’s trip brings together new adaptive recipients, returning pirates, scholarship recipients, their dive buddies, instructors, adaptive buddies, and volunteers—all gearing up for a week of epic diving, plenty of laughs, and some friendly fundraising rivalry.

While this is the 31st trip for the foundation. It’s the first for newly appointed President Col. Gregg Wentworth, USAF (Ret.), a longtime supporter and adaptive instructor. “This organization continues to change lives, one diver at a time,” Wentworth shared. “What’s more powerful than watching someone discover freedom underwater when they’ve spent years being told what they can’t do? That’s why we keep going. And we’re inviting the whole community to join us in helping the next crew get there.”

This year’s big fundraiser, the Deep Down Challenge, is open to everyone on the trip, not just recipients. Each boat will track its fundraising efforts, competing for bragging rights on who raises the most booty toward the collective goal of $40,000. The concept is simple: ask friends and family to sponsor your dives – $1 per foot, or make a flat donation. Whether you’re diving 30 feet or 50, every dollar supports training and equipment for future adaptive divers.

Meanwhile, this year’s recipients have already been hard at work raising money on their own personal fundraising pages. Each has a story that brought them to the Dive Pirates Foundation, and each is ready to swap barriers for buoyancy and take in their first breath of underwater freedom.

• Isabel Perez Rios Bravo, an environmental engineer with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, is ready to prove just how far she can go.
• Michael Fattaruso, a conservation educator at Disney, is excited to bring his passion for ocean life below the surface.
• Thomas Goerler, a U.S. Navy veteran recovering from multiple back surgeries, is looking forward to diving with his family.
• Michael Whittaker, a Navy veteran living with MS, is returning to the water for the first time in 25 years.

The week in Cayman Brac wouldn’t be complete without the return of the legendary costume karaoke night and some good old-fashioned superhero-themed boat rivalry, led by President Wentworth, Past President Tyler Brandes, and President-Elect Carl Fago. Reef Divers and Cayman Brac Beach Resort continue to be incredible hosts, celebrating more than two decades of support for the Foundation.

Support the Mission

Can’t join us on the trip? You can still be part of the action. Visit here to support a diver or make a general donation. Every bit helps the Dive Pirates Foundation keep its promise: to bring the joy and freedom of scuba to those who thought it was out of reach.

Thank You to Our 2025 Sponsors

• Boat Banner Sponsor: Tyler Brandes
• Lanyard Sponsor: 9 Little Piggies BBQ
• Nitrox Sponsor: Tommy Smedley
• Trip Packet Sponsors: Divers Alert Network, JAWS, LITAS
• T-Shirt Sponsors: Police Fire Dive, PlayScapes, TeamBS, 9 Little Piggies BBQ

About the Dive Pirates FoundationDive Pirates Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that trains, equips, and supports people with mobility disabilities to experience scuba diving. Applications are accepted year-round. Learn more, join the crew, or apply to be an adaptive diver at www.divepirates.org.

Join the crew. Make a splash. Help us chart new adventures!