Divers shoot out into the water at Kadena Marina Saturday after the horn signals the underwater Easter egg hunt has begun. Seventy two teams of two participated in the hunt to find the 500 plastic eggs, with numbers inside for a raffle, dropped into the Marina the night before. (Megan McCloskey / Stars and Stripes)
KADENA MARINA, Okinawa — Apparently there’s strategy involved in an underwater Easter egg hunt.
On Saturday morning, a couple of airmen discussed lessons learned from last year’s hunt as they waited for the 18th Services-sponsored, scuba-diving event to begin.
The key to winning the good prizes — which are raffled off using numbers found in the eggs — is to find the eggs dropped far out in Kadena Marina, they said.
“All the crappy prizes are up front,” Air Force Staff Sgt. Paul Borud said, holding up the key chain he won last year. The airmen decided it was best to search for the eggs with their dive partner because the rules say you have to come up together and it was too easy to lose sight of each other, given the low visibility.
“We’ve been devising a plan for a year,” Borud laughed.
Tech Sgt. Jon Alkonis jokingly chimed in: “You’re not going to put this in the paper, are you? Because it’s top secret.”
Seventy-two teams of two participated Saturday in the underwater Easter egg hunt. The day before, 500 plastic eggs with weights attached with fishing wire were scattered all over the marina.
The 144 divers had 45 minutes to search for the eggs, with each team allowed to collect six. They could win prizes ranging from a water bottle to an underwater digital camera.
Some divers came out of the water in just minutes and others lingered for the full time allotted.
“It’s bad down there — almost zero visibility,” Marine Staff Sgt. Jason Daniels said after emerging with eggs in hand.
So how do you find the eggs?
“Go to the bottom, spread your arms like angel wings and hopefully snag yourself on some fishing wire.”
Divers shoot out into the water at Kadena Marina Saturday after the horn signals the underwater Easter egg hunt has begun. Seventy two teams of two participated in the hunt to find the 500 plastic eggs, with numbers inside for a raffle, dropped into the Marina the night before. (Megan McCloskey / Stars and Stripes)
Marine Capt. Ken Belovarac walks up the beach from the water with his hands full of plastic eggs after participating in the underwater Easter egg hunt Saturday, where 144 people dived for eggs weighted down with anchors. (Megan McCloskey / Stars and Stripes)
Marine Master Sgt. Mark Kitashima, of Camp Hansen, comes out of the water after collecting eggs during the underwater Easter egg hunt that 18th Services held at Kadena Marina Saturday morning. "I wanted to take my daughter out," he said. (Megan McCloskey / Stars and Stripes)
