NEWS FROM THE TOURISM SECTOR

• Photo Tours Divers and Yellow Submarine band together to deliver great new services in 2006!
• Dogfish Days of Summer Sale
• Golden Reef Inn Announces Wild Side Dive Packages
• AB Car Rental Offers Savings
• Budget Rent a Car Bonaire Gives its Fleet a New Adventurous Dimension
• Calendar of Events

Quarterly Cleanup Dive in Bonaire’s Yacht Anchorage Yields Less Trash Each Time; Efforts to Educate the Public about Throwing Trash in the Sea Appear to be Successful On July 10, 2005, a group of 11 persons met at Bonaire Yellow Submarine to help clean up the world. The group consisted of three non-divers, who assisted on shore, and eight divers comprised of Yellow Submarine crew, visiting tourists, and local Bonairean residents. The group received an in-depth dive briefing which included topics such as body position while in the water, the type of trash to retrieve, how to deal with bulky and/or heavy trash, and how to be sure that any marine creatures were protected. Logistics as to making the dive were also included. The group then went to the cleanup area—a portion of the shallow shelf in the “Anchorage”, where visiting yachts moor in Kralendijk’s harbor. While the eight divers prepared to descend, the shore crew was busy making provisions to receive the trash. Within 30 minutes or so, the first bags of trash were brought to the surface using lifts bags and removed from the ocean. They were immediately emptied, and all trash was inspected to be sure no marine creatures had been inadvertently included. After this, all trash was sorted and counted. During this cleanup, the following trash was collected and removed for proper disposal: 33 bottles, 31 pieces of fishing line, 2 fishing nets, 70 pieces of rope, 6 pieces of foam plastic, 52 pieces of other types of plastic, 24 pieces of glass, 11 pieces of rubber, 52 pieces of metal, 21 pieces of paper, 5 pieces of wood, and 42 pieces of cloth. When compared to prior cleanups of the same area, it can be easily seen that the amount of trash being collected and removed is becoming less and less, a clear indication that efforts to educate locals and tourists alike about keeping Bonaire clean are successful. This Cleanup was closed with a BBQ Dinner at Bonaire Yellow Submarine available for all participants. Cleanups are conducted on a quarterly basis, and are sponsored by Bonaire Yellow Submarine, a division of Dive Friends Bonaire, along with NetTech, N.V., Bonaire’s Official Web Site Developer. The next Cleanup will be conducted on Saturday, September 17th, 2005, in conjunction with International Cleanup Day. Divers and non-divers alike are welcome—meet at 1:00 PM at Bonaire Yellow Submarine on the seaside in Kralendijk. For further information, contact Bonaire Yellow Submarine and Photo Tours Divers, Phone +(599) 717-2929, Fax +(599) 717-2929.   Back to the top Bonaire Kids' Windsurf Camp The windsurf world knows Bonaire is one of the best launches to learn to sail. Recently windsurfer wanna be's saw this for themselves when Bonaire Windsurf Place hosted a Premier Kids Camp from July 24th to 31st. Patun Saragoza, Elvis Martinus and Roger Jurriens were delighted to offer this premier camp for kids, as the focus was to get kids on the water using kid-friendly rigs. This camp was ideal for beginners as well as for kids who wanted to take windsurfing to the next level. Local pros participated in instruction. This year's camp was geared for kids 7-14 years of age. The camp included 5 days of clinic and instruction, daily lunch, video footage and daily viewing, and a beach BBQ. Parents and older siblings were able to take part in lessons and windsurfing as well as the BBQ for an additional fee. Back to the top Bonaire Digital Shootout 2005 Concludes During the week of July 23rd through 30th, Divi Flamingo Beach Resort & Casino hosted the annual event, Bonaire Digital Shootout. Tourists and residents alike participated in the week's events, which included seminars such as digital photo gear preparation, photographic seminars on focus, exposure, and composition, and two PhotoShop sessions teaching the basics and more advanced methods of digital optimization. Each evening a slide show party showed off the day's efforts. The week ended on a highlight when over $10,000 of prizes was given to the participants for images they shot throughout the week. The Bonaire Digital Shootout's main sponsors were Backscatter and Light & Motion. Back to the top Diva Women's Windsurf Week Concludes Diva Women Windsurf Week was a great success for the nine women who enrolled in the 3-day, women-only clinic July 19-21. The nine Diva's actually referred  to themselves  as Dancing Divas. One student, Angela said,  "It was like dancing on a moving dance floor with your partner the rig and the wind was the music."  And music there was.  Mother Nature brougth a nice breeze to enable the women to learn  the basics and to improve their already established skills. Beth Powell, instructor, said, "We spent 90% of the time on the water learning in the best place that I know of to learn."  Skill levels jumped by leaps and bounds in the emerald blue waters with a constant breeze of 15  knots blowing on shore.   Beth continued to say, "I've done tons of clinics, but never one with such perfect conditions in warm breezes and shallow waters.  Class control usually is an issue, but we had no problems with the wonderful venue Elvis from The Place provided.    We hope to make this an annual event in hopes of helping other Dancing Divas with their sailing goals."    Diva Women's Windsurf Week was sponsored by Caribbean Wind & Sun Vacations, Bonaire Windsurf Place, Budget Car Rental, Croccantinos Restaurant and Starboard. Back to the top The Story Continues--Bonaire's Student Chefs in Italy Yoan Lopez, Alexis Ramirez, Jonathan Cicilia, Felix Torres are four graduated students from SGB who are working in the Riccione region of Italy. They are past their required intern period, but are gaining experience in Michelin-star restaurants and learning advanced food preparations, organic and non-organic product selection, flavors, and overall cultural activities. The Executive Chef who supervises three of our boys is more then pleased with their skills, attitudes, and willingness to learn and work. Chef Antonio Palmisani is the ex-chef for Locando il Girasoli as well as the Catering operation for the Motor Bike & Car Race Track (up to 2,000 meals on a weekend), and banquet facility of the Hotel il Girasoli. This has been an awesome experience for Bonaire's young chefs. The company provides a countryside italian villa for our Bonaire chef's to live together, all expenses paid and close enough they can walk to work. "Cayenne Restaurant and Music Lounge", a hot, new, trendy and contemporary spot in Riccione, is the new job for Yoan Lopez, second chef and working every day since the opening three months ago. I asked him if he is tired since the opening, he admits yes, but the work environment is full of life and energy, so once he is at work it is no problem. We are very proud of these young chefs who are making a name for themselves and Bonaire as they mature into young professionals as well as respectful adults in the world of HORECA. We know they will return "home" in due time, but meanwhile the world opens its doors with varied opportunities and is waiting to give them yet more experiences in life and careers.Working Hard? YES! Enjoying life? ABSOLUTELY! Want to return home? YES, but not immediately, "we still have more to learn!" Back to the top New Bonaire Ambassadors AWARDED SILVER:  Alfred & Sarah Galiani, Virginia, USA TCB welcomes Alfred and Sarah Galiani from Virginia, US to the Bonaire Embassador Club. They love the relaxing atmosphere of the island. Alfred and Sara started coming to Bonaire in the year 1985 with dive group. Then they brought their daughter, and now they bring their grandson and granddaughter for their first dive on Bonaire. Alfred and Sarah love the fact that every year when they return people from Bonaire come up to them to say welcome again. On one of their visits, a joke turned into a three week tennis session! Congratulations! AWARDED BRONZE:  Sherry & Les Fulton, Illinois, U.S.A. The two new Bronze Ambassadors of Bonaire, Sherry and Les Fulton from Illinois, love Bonaire because it is not over-developed. They started coming to the island in 1995 with their dive shop, then later on came by themselves. When they read about the ambassador programme in the Bonaire Reporter, they decided that they wanted to be ambassadors, too, but they still had about four years to go. Last Friday they reached their goal. Lisa Muehlemann, Operations Manager of Buddy Dive, had the honor of officially making them ambassadors. Sherry and Les Fulton plan on returning to Buddy Dive and Bonaire for many years to come. AWARDED BRONZE:  Vicki Miller, South Carolina, U.S.A. In December 1989 Vicki Miller read a Bonaire Tourism Brochure sent to a US dive operator. Beautiful pictures and the information about friendly courteous Bonaireans charmed her. She was attracted by the promise of a quite atmosphere in harmony with nature. Her first visit was September, 1990. Her friend in the States said, “Now you have found your favorite place in the world”, when she would tell them about Bonaire. Vicki has visited other Caribbean Islands, Honduras, the Atlantic coast, and Gulf of Mexico, but she always returns to Bonaire. This is her second trip in 2005. She has the Bonaire flag in her home in Seneca, South Carolina, USA. In 2000, she met Al Catalfumo, owner of Black Durgon. His motto “come as a vacationer and leave as a friend” is very appropriate and explains all of this island. Vicki tell us, "Now, many times I am greeted “Bon Bini, Vicki”, even at Flamingo Airport. Her experience on Bonaire is not just to dive. She celebrates the customs and history, and looks forward to sharing in the plans and promise of the future. Now as a Bonaire Ambassador, she will promote this island to children in the US, as an eco-tourist destination. Her dream is to start student exchange programs that would arrange trips for US students to Bonaire to study the island’s nature management and challenge them to share their experiences with others. She is a licensed counselor and specializes in children, teens, and their family relations. She hopes this will allow her to work with Bonairean foundations like Jong Bonaire, Maria Hoppner, and the youth with special needs or who are disabled. Like Don Stewart says, “There is more to life than diving.” When people ask, “What do you plan to do while on vacation?” I answer “The 4D’s--Diving, Dancing, Dining, and Dreaming--always about the beauty of Bonaire.” Back to the top