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Advertisers The Windward Islands Bank Ltd.
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Undersea adventures of island are a must-see
St. Maarten/St. Martin offers some excellent diving sites. The Proselyte Reef and proximity to Saba, one of the best scuba locations in the Caribbean, make the island a scuba destination with numerous options. There are more than 40 dive sites around the island alone. The preserved reefs of Saba are only one hour away by boat. "St. Maarten/St. Martin offers warm water. The coldest it gets is 78 degrees in the winter and 82 during the summer season. The water is clean and the reefs are very colorful," noted Peter Frye, owner of The Scuba Shop. Frye started his retail dive operation in the early 1990s, after arriving on the island while working for a boat charter company. The Scuba Shop is a full-service retail dive operation. Frye decided to team up with Bobby and Whitney Keough of Dive Safaris, a local dive company.
"Almost 80 percent of our clients are North American tourists and the rest are from Europe," he explained. He likes the idea of working with another company as equipment and operation can become expensive. "We do the retail and they do the organized dive trips," he said. Most island shops like his and Dive Safaris work with internationally recognized certification organizations. Island dive companies readily accept the Professional Association (PADI) of Diving Instructors and the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) diving certifications. In addition, those that would like to become a certified diver for the first time can take a four-day, PADI Open Water Diver course through his colleagues at Dive Safaris. "The prices of my equipment are 10 to 20 percent lower than New York and the manufacturer's list price," he said. "We are about par with Florida rates." Through wholesaling big orders from his suppliers, Frye is able to offer the prices he does. He advised potential visitors to establish the facts and come and see what St. Maarten/St. Martin has to offer. "This is a diverse island with many different interests." Scuba enthusiasts should not delay. The beautiful reefs and sea life offered in the depths around the island and nearby are a must-see. When planning your next vacation, don't forget that "a bad day diving is still better than a good day at work!" |
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Table of Contents Setting the record straight, Governor Richardson welcomes guests |
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Scuba diving is a sense of freedom that is difficult to describe. All veteran divers still remember back to the first time they took a breath through their regulator under water. With the realization that one can actually trust all that equipment that he had to suit up with, a whole new environment now becomes accessible - the underwater world.
The two companies work well together as one is a retail vendor and the other offers and organizes dive trips with cruise ships and individual tourists.