All Dive BVI staff, shops and boats are safe. We experienced 100 mph winds on Virgin Gorda for a while on Monday afternoon. There are a lot of trees down and some minor roof damage to homes. The power went off on Sunday night and we don’t know when it will be back. So far, no serious injuries have been reported. We would like to thank everyone for their well wishes, thoughts and prayers as we went through a lot yesterday.
All Dive BVI locations will be closed on Mon/Tues for the passage of Hurricane Earl. We’ll be open again on Wed but boats will still be in the boatyard. No diving until Thursday at the earliest, but we’ll have to see what the next system, potentially Fiona, does later in the week. Thank you for your support!
Dive BVI is proud to announce our latest additions to the team! Please help us in welcoming Ryan Lukas and Sarah Barrington to our Leverick Bay location. They bring some great resort experience to that end of VG and are looking forward to leading some great wreck dives.
We are also excited to bring on Marc Taggart and Vivian Toro to our Scrub Island and Yacht Harbour teams. These guys have a tremendous background with big animals (SHARKS!!!) and technical diving as well.
We had 19 divers from the US come down to participate in our 2nd Wreck Week event. These divers dove on 11 of our fantastic wrecks and saw some amazing wildlife. There were spotted eagle rays, sharks, turtles and loads of great macro critters to be found. The week also included some great parties…opening night at Top of The Baths, beach party at Cooper Island, and a Jumbies party in Leverick Bay to close out the week. Our main sponsor, Scubapro, assisted the event by providing a full regulator set with computer to the winner of our Wreck Week Jeopardy contest. We really enjoyed getting to make some new dive buddies and are already looking forward to next year’s event. Check out our Facebook page for photos (www.facebook.com/divebvi) Wreck Week 2010 album!
Today, I got to visit with the class of Ms. Nesbitt at Bregado Flax Educational Center in the Valley, Virgin Gorda. Today, we talked about careers in diving, environmental awareness in the BVI, and how the kids can get involved today. I was very happy to see that they already had one of our lionfish posters up in the classroom and were well informed about them. I’ve even been invited back to give a talk on the RMS Rhone as part of their history of the BVI section.
Today, Jeff had the pleasure to speak to Ms. Powell’s 4th grade class at Robinson O’neal School in Virgin Gorda. As part of Career Day, Jeff spoke with the kids about diving, reef ecology, and the many fun aspects of his job as a Scuba Instructor. What started out as a 15 min. presentation ended up at an hour! Jeff was excited to share the underwater world with these future ambassadors of the BVI and hopes to get as many as possible into his snorkeling classes this summer. They watched a quick video of diving in the BVI, learned about the lionfish removal program and asked some great questions.
Dive BVI is proud to announce that Andrew and Samantha (Sam) Hansen have arrived on Virgin Gorda and are now part of the Dive BVI team. They bring exciting, fun-loving attitudes to the island and we hope that everyone gets a chance to meet them soon! Andrew and Sam are looking forward to diving again after a nice break back in the US. New staff bios are coming soon!
March 5th, 2010 – Dive BVI staff member Kyle Herrington was able to video and photograph an Indo-Pacific lionfish off of Ginger Island, just west of Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. Fellow staff member, Chris Blackwell had spotted the fish earlier in the week but did not have a camera available with him. The pictures and information have been forwarded on to BVI Conservation and Fisheries Department to aid in development of a removal program.
Marine Biologist in the Conservation and Fisheries Department Ms. Shannon Gore explained the danger now posed to marine life by the presence of the lion fish. “Consider this as biological warfare on the fisheries of the Virgin Islands. They will eat just about every fish that is up to two-thirds their body size. This will leave reefs vulnerable to algal overgrowth and mortality. They are also venomous and a potential threat to anyone that tries to handle them,” Ms. Gore said. Persons should instead contact the department to report sightings by telephoning 494-5681, 494-3429, 468-9611 or 468-9678. Additionally any photographs, specific location details, GPS positions or questions may be emailed to bvilionfish@gmail.com.
Dive BVI will continue its efforts to locate and remove this specimen as soon as possible. Updates to follow.
Dive BVI is running a BCD Special for the month of March. Trade in your current BCD, new or old, and receive a $100 credit towards a new Scubapro BCD. We’ve got Knighthawks, Glide Pro, Bellas, Pilots, Ladyhawks, and Equators in stock. Many of these BCDs feature weight-integration, padded neck rolls and multiple D-rings. Stop by the store today to try one on!
($100 credit is applied towards purchase price, not redeemable in cash or services)
We had 19 divers from the US come down to participate in our 2nd Wreck Week event. These divers dove on 11 of our fantastic wrecks and saw some amazing wildlife. There were spotted eagle rays, sharks, turtles and loads of great macro critters to be found. The week also included some great parties…opening night at Top of The Baths, beach party at Cooper Island, and a Jumbies party in Leverick Bay to close out the week. Our main sponsor, Scubapro, assisted the event by providing a full regulator set with computer to the winner of our Wreck Week Jeopardy contest. We really enjoyed getting to make some new dive buddies and are already looking forward to next year’s event. Check out our Facebook page for photos (
Dive BVI is running a BCD Special for the month of March. Trade in your current BCD, new or old, and receive a $100 credit towards a new Scubapro BCD. We’ve got Knighthawks, Glide Pro, Bellas, Pilots, Ladyhawks, and Equators in stock. Many of these BCDs feature weight-integration, padded neck rolls and multiple D-rings. Stop by the store today to try one on! 