News
Diving with…Mike Harterink, Scubaqua Dive Center, St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean
In this ongoing series, we speak to the people who run dive centres, resorts and liveaboards from around the world about their businesses and the diving they have to offer…
Mike Harterink
What is the name of your business?
What is your role within the business?
Co-owner
How long has the business operated for?
Since 1997
How long have you dived for, and what qualification are you?
25 years, PADI Course Director
What is your favorite type of diving?
I love to dive off the beaten track.
If you could tell people one thing about your business (or maybe more!) to make them want to visit you what would it be?
The reefs surrounding St. Eustatius are flourishing in a protected marine park. Underwater you will experience what much of the Caribbean must have looked like many years ago. Add some historical dive sites and more recently sunk wrecks to the mix and you’ve got yourself a divers paradise! And we dive how we want to dive ourselves on our vacations; small groups (6:1) and unlimited dive time.
What is your favorite dive in your location and why?
Blue bead hole is a dive site between the old harbor bay and the color full reefs, under the volcano, in the south of the island. Here you find a mix of coral heads, sandy patches, sea grass and if you are lucky: blue beads. Actually, according to the legend, the beads find you, not the other way around. Even without being found there is a fair chance you encounter some amazing critters. Pike, and sailfin blennies, juvenile angelfish and the blue beads guardians: flying gurnards.
What types of diving are available in your location?
Statia offers a huge variety in environments packed in a nutshell. Deep dives, coral gardens, historical dives, wreck, and muck dives are all in 10 to 15 minute reach.
What do you find most rewarding about your current role?
We have four owners here which allows me and my partners to dive with our guests on a daily basis.
What is your favorite underwater creature?
Hard to choose but one of my favorites are the turtles. We encounter both Green, and Hawksbill regularly.
As a center what is the biggest problem you face at the moment?
Although Statia wasn’t damaged too much by last year hurricanes Irma and Maria, we stil feel the negative aftermath due to cancellations.
Is your center involved in any environmental work?
We are! All of our staff keeps a special garbage bag in their BCD in case they find some (plastic) garbage. But we do more to preserve our environment:
We collect and store rainwater to use for our rinse buckets, our toilets and showers at the dive center. The amount of water we collect covers about 80% of our needs. We installed drinking water fountains. We provide free fresh water to customers at the dive center and to divers on our boats in an effort to reduce the use of plastic bottles. We also use cups and straws made from recycled cardboard instead of plastic. We have two separate garbage bins for recycling.
We continually try to educate our divers about responsible behavior (including good buoyancy control) to protect our fragile coral reefs (no anchoring allowed, one boat per dive site, etc.).
We offer low guest-to-guide ratio (max 6:1). This gives us more control over behavior which could damage the underwater environment. We also make sure that the divers respect the established marine park rules.
How do you see the SCUBA / Freediving / snorkeling industry overall? What changes would you make?
Owning (or working in) a Dive Center is a labor of love. It’s crazy that for instance a Open Water certification worldwide is priced for around 400 US$. For a lot of dive centers it’s hard to keep afloat.
What would you say to our visitors to promote the diving you have to offer?
The moment you arrive in St. Eustatius, locally known as ‘Statia’, you immediately get that typically Statia feeling. There are no big crowds at the airport. Actually you don’t find big crowds anywhere on Statia. St. Eustatius is untouched by the big development companies. You don’t find casinos, shopping malls or worldwide fast food restaurants. What you do find is a safe and friendly island where time stood still. You can enjoy cosy restaurants and bars in Oranjestad, St. Eustatius’ one and only town. This is the place to unwind, read that book you always wanted to read, and to dive the beautiful Statia waters.
Where can our visitors find out more about your business?
News
Dive Worldwide Announces Bite-Back as its Charity of the Year
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
-
News3 months ago
Hone your underwater photography skills with Alphamarine Photography at Red Sea Diving Safari in March
-
News3 months ago
Capturing Critters in Lembeh Underwater Photography Workshop 2024: Event Roundup
-
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs3 months ago
Creature Feature: Swell Sharks
-
Blogs2 months ago
Murex Resorts: Passport to Paradise!
-
Blogs2 months ago
Diver Discovering Whale Skeletons Beneath Ice Judged World’s Best Underwater Photograph
-
Marine Life & Conservation2 months ago
Save the Manatee Club launches brand new webcams at Silver Springs State Park, Florida
-
Gear Reviews3 months ago
Gear Review: Oceanic+ Dive Housing for iPhone
-
Gear Reviews2 weeks ago
GEAR REVIEW – Revolutionising Diving Comfort: The Sharkskin T2 Chillproof Suit