January 2011    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 26, No. 1   What's this?

Why no Statia?

from the January, 2011 issue of Undercurrent  

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The St. Eustatius marine park ranks high on the list of good Caribbean diving. So why would the Caribbean Explorer drop it from its itinerary and add more time at mediocre St. Kitts?

The Statia marine park welcomes liveaboards as long as they pay the park and immigration fees. However, Kate Walker, the manager of St. Eustatius National Parks (STENAPA), says that “It is a requirement for all divers to dive within the park under the supervision of island operators. In the past this was done by one of the dive centers for the CEX, however this arrangement stopped working, so the marine park offered the supervision services of the park staff for free. When I took over as manager of the parks I found that we could not realistically continue. We are under funded, under staffed and cannot feasibly afford the staff time away from the park work to continue this for CEX.” ...