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Bride & Groom Dive into Marriage
Off of St. Croix' Shores

Couple Attempts Guinness Book of World Records
With Underwater Wedding

An adventurous young couple will attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records off the shores of St. Croix with the largest number of scuba divers underwater for a wedding. With the help of St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures (SCUBA), John Santino and his fiancée Toni Wilson will celebrate their wedding nuptials in the Caribbean Sea surrounding the beautiful island of St. Croix on Saturday, September 13, with at least 40 diving guests to witness their unique wedding ceremony.

John and Toni are geared up to tie the knot off the west coast of St. Croix. The couple has selected a unique wedding site near Rainbow Beach Club. Accompanied by a host of family and friends, the bride and groom will walk out from the white sand beach for a short swim to a depth of 15 feet, where their naturally beautiful wedding site awaits them. This shallow area is populated with brightly colored tropical fish and scattered coral.

In preparation for this big day, Toni became a certified scuba diver approximately a year ago. John is currently a manager with SCUBA, the award-winning dive operation on St. Croix. SCUBA has been honored with numerous awards by Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine's Annual Readers Choice Awards. This year, they were rated the number one dive staff in the world, number two diver operator in the world and number four for best value in the world.

Captain John Macy, better known locally as Big Beard, will officiate the underwater ceremony. He has married more than 500 couples in more than 15 years as a licensed minister on St. Croix. The couple will use underwater slates to exchange their vows and laminated registers as their guest book. Several family members who are not divers will have the opportunity to attend the wedding through their participation in a Discover SCUBA Diving introductory program with professional instructors.

In addition to beginning a new life together, John and Toni hope that their wedding nuptials go down in history. The current record was set on April 12, 2001, when 39 certified divers including the bride and groom submerged themselves completely for a brief 10-minute wedding ceremony in Key Largo, FL.

For more information about St. Croix Ultimate Bluewater Adventures, call (340) 773-5994 or (877) 567-1367. For additional information about the United States Virgin Islands, call (800) 372-USVI (8784), visit www.usvitourism.vi or contact the nearest USVI Department of Tourism regional office in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Washington, D.C. or Toronto.

Edited By Dave Shultz

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