News
Buddy Dive Dominica becomes a casualty of 2017 Hurricane Maria

After two years of successfully running Buddy Dive on Dominica, the dive operator will officially be closing its doors at the Fort Young Hotel. As difficult as it is, Buddy Dive has come to terms with the end of an era. “After the devastating effect of Hurricane Maria, the decision was unavoidable,” says CEO Martien van der Valk.
Buddy Dive started doing business in Dominica late 2014 with signing the partnership agreement between Buddy Dive and the Fort Young Hotel, followed by the official opening of the dive operation in August 2015. In the two years that followed Buddy Dive on Dominica has grown into a full service dive operation with three boats and eleven staff members and the journey has been great. Unfortunately Dominica saw a direct landfall from Category 5 Hurricane Maria on September 18, 2017. With the devastating effect of Hurricane Maria, Buddy Dive on Dominica has lost all three dive boats and has been out of business ever since.
In the face of all that has happened over the last couple of months, Buddy Dive has been looking into the opportunities to rebuild what was lost. “The way the numbers added up and the way the future looked to us, we have come to the unavoidable decision to close down our business at the Fort Young Hotel. This is an emotional time for us and our employees, who have been such a big part of what has made Buddy Dive on Dominica successful”, Van der Valk said.
Buddy Dive would like to thank Fort Young Hotel for a great partnership over the past 3.5 years. “We are happy to see they are rebuilding and we wish them all the best for the future.”
Buddy Dive will continue with its award-winning diving services on Bonaire as usual. For more information visit www.buddydive.com.
News
Frontline workers honoured with free dive trip to Yap

The remote island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia is among the few places in the world that remains free of Covid-19 thanks to its ocean border and a strict travel ban that has kept its residents safe.
Nonetheless, Yap has been affected, too. As one of the world’s premier, award-winning destinations for divers, this paradisiacal location in the western Pacific Ocean has had no outside visitors to its rich shores and reef for nearly a year. But while there may be no virus, the island hasn’t been cut off from the economic impact experienced around the globe.
That didn’t stop Bill Acker, CEO and founder of the Manta Ray Bay Resort and Yap Divers, from doing something, though.
Last March, soon after the island went into lockdown, Bill began to realize the effect of the virus on daily life beyond the island. “Yes, we are closed, have no divers, had to send our employees home and prepare for difficult times,” he said. “But we’re lucky in that we have, for the most part, avoided the human suffering and death this pandemic has caused.”
Thinking about the problems faced by his family business, they paled when he compared them to those endured by the healthcare workers who have been fighting selflessly around the clock for months on end for the well-being and lives of others.
“One evening, while checking the news online, I saw pictures of frontline workers who were tending to desperately ill and dying people when families and friends could not be with their loved ones. It was heartbreaking,” he added.
The next day, a meeting was held with the resort’s staff and Bill invited suggestions for ways they could do something to honor healthcare workers. The result was the idea to award twenty divers who are working on the frontline to save other’s lives during this pandemic while risking their own, with a free week at the resort.

Manta ray, Manta birostris, gliding over a cleaning station in M’il Channel, Yap, Micronesia by David Fleetham
Divers around the world who had been guests at Manta Ray Bay in the past were invited to submit the names of candidates for the award by December 31, 2020. “We received nominations for 126 individuals from as far away as Germany, the U.S., Australia and Canada,” he said. “It was not easy choosing the winners but our committee of staff members took on the job and selected the 20 finalists.”
“While trying to choose the people to reward for their hard work during this Covid-19 crisis,” Bill added, “by reading the nominations we saw that every one of the nominees was doing things above and beyond the call of duty. Sadly, we don’t have the finances to offer over 100 free weeks in Yap, but we do want to recognize the contributions all of them are making to our world. So, we are offering the rest of the nominees a free week of diving in Yap which includes room, hotel tax, airport transfers, breakfast, diving and Wi-Fi. The only requirement is that they travel with at least three other people and stay in two rooms or more.”
“We do not yet know when Yap will open its borders,” said Bill, “but when it does, we will welcome these important guests to Yap to relax and dive with the manta rays and the other beautiful denizens of the ocean surrounding our island home. They are the true heroes of this devastating, historic time and we look forward to honoring them with a well-deserved dive vacation.”
Watch out for our exclusive trip report from a healthcare worker from the UK who is one of the 20 to have been awarded this amazing dive trip!
For more information on Manta Ray Bay and Yap Divers visit their website by clicking here.
Dive Training Blogs
Dream Dive Locker Build Out. Part I: Demolition (Watch Video)

It’s finally here! Time to start building the greatest dive locker the world has ever seen! Part I: Demolition! #dreamdivelocker
This is the first of a series of videos showing the evolution of building out my dream dive locker. My dream dive locker needs to be dive gear drying and storage, dry storage, workshop, office, editing suite, You Tube studio and classroom. That’s a lot of functions for a small space!
The first step is planning out the space and demolishing the laminate flooring. Then I taped up the walls to get a feel for the space. We have a lot of work to do!
But finally we will have a purpose built space to house all of our dive equipment! Subscribe to our channel to follow our progress!
Thanks for watching, Team!
James
Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/DiversReady
- Competitions3 months ago
WIN one of the NEW Momentum M20 Dive Watches!!!
- Competitions2 months ago
WIN a Northern Diver NDB5 Holdall Bag!!!
- Gear News3 months ago
Breaking News: Garmin Descent Mk2 & Mk2i Launch & Review (Watch Video)
- Competitions2 months ago
WIN a Fourth Element Arctic Hoodie!!!
- Competitions1 month ago
WIN a PADI eLearning Course – 5 courses up for grabs!!!
- Gear News3 months ago
Momentum announce new M20 series of watches
- Gear Reviews2 months ago
Equipment Review: NEW Garmin Descent Mk2i Dive Computer (Watch Video)
- Dive Training Blogs3 months ago
Deptherapy returns to its Roots – Part 7