CURACAO NETHERLANDS ANTILLES

Habitat Curacao-The Freedom Journal wrote:

Hi Phil,

Still thinking about what to do for Valentine's Day? How about an underwater Valentine! Have a great Feb. from all your friends at Habitat Curacao.

THE "FREEDOM JOURNAL"
HABITAT CURACAO
FEBRUARY 1999

DEMA'99 REVIEW

New Orleans, Louisiana is world renowned as a city of S's: scrumptious seafood, soul music, seductive sideshows, and this past Jan. 13-16th, SCUBA!! One could feel the energy and excitement as dive professionals from around the globe gathered in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to buy, sell, and see the latest in scuba goodies and gadgets. There was plenty of celebrity watching too: "Look, there's Lauren Hutton! Isn't that Jean Michel Cousteau? Wow, I see Pipin, the free diving world record holder!"

Glitz and glamour reigned during the Thursday night SSI Platinum Pro 5000 Awards as many hard working folks, including our own Karen Chalk from Capt. Don's Habitat, Bonaire, were added to the list of those honored for their long-term commitment to diving.

Finally a "double thumbs up" to the warmth of the ABC Islands Group who donated their carpet from the show to the local New Orleans chapter of Goodwill to aid victims of some recent flooding in the area.

WHAT'S NEW AT HABITAT?

SPECIAL: March 13th-20th "Go Green Nitrox Week!" Hey, St. Patrick's day is green, and all Nitrox associated stuff is green so we're going crazy for a week with half price on all Nitrox tank rentals and instruction! No need to pre-book for this deal, come give it a try while you're here and see how you can get more bottom time. Now for sale are last year's inventory of rental 2mm shortie westuits. They're being sold to make room for all the new 3mm long-sleeved shortie wetsuits available to rent in the diveshop. Also, video enthusiasts will be thrilled with the addition of a universal housing for all Sony TR series cameras now available to rent so you can take your camera underwater.

Chef Michel and F&B Manager Marcel are continuing to make the restaurant even better with an enlarged buffet area, enhanced training for the staff, tasty munchies during Happy Hour, and exotic daily specials in a modern style under the new name of "Sharky's Restaurant & Bar."

BATTLE OF THE BARTENDERS

Front and center at Sharky's are our two fun bartenders Evi Sambo and Ethienne Ortela. Both gentlemen hail from the nearby town of Tera Kora. Evi, age 21, is the practical joker, always ready to entertain with a blind "pick the coaster" game, or an impromptu dance. After training at Curacao's MBO Horeca School in cooking, restaurant service, and bartending he prefers the bar because he enjoys interacting with guests from around the world and "getting them off to a good start!" Try his famous "3 Color Colada" and see if it doesn't get you off to a good start too! In a fancy cocktail glass pour 1tbsp grenadine, then slowly add an icy cold pina colada (rum, coco lopez, and pineapple juice blended with ice), and top with a tbsp of our famous Blue Curacao liqueuer and a cherry. This drink is great for American 4th of July parties also.

Ethienne, age 24, prides himself on creating exotic tropical cocktails and serving them with flair. "You must make jokes, give good service, and make good cocktails all at the same time." His favorite is the "After Dinner Decompression." In a regular tall glass filled with ice layer 1/2oz. white creme de cacao, 1/2oz. kahlua, 1/2oz amaretto, fill with milk and garnish with whipped cream and a cherry. Cheers!

CONTESTS, CONTESTS

Last month's riddle was a little tricky, with over half the respondents falling for it. While the riddle described a Juvenile Spotted Drum, it was the adult narrating, hence the correct answer of Adult Spotted Drum. J.Becky Brenner of Austin, Texas wasn't fooled for a second though and she won a Habitat Curacao t-shirt for being the first with the correct answer. Ready to win yours? Here goes: "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." "Sorry, my name isn't Mohammed Ali." "Look under my fin to see the design," "Step on my back to feel that spine." E-mail your guess quickly to divecuracao@habitatdiveresorts.com Good Luck!

FOCUS ON FREEDIVING

Many people have been asking about Habitat Curacao as a location for aficionados of the popular and growing sport of freediving. While there are currently no freediving courses or programs offered at Habitat there doesn't need to be either. Mother Nature has blessed us with a perfect location for all skill levels. Only a few kicks from the dock, the drop-off starts at 25ft and slopes down gently enough to gauge your progress as you work towards deeper dives. There's a starlet coral resembling butt cheeks that's an easy goal for beginners at 25ft, Samson the Frogfish's home is two purple tube sponges at 40ft, and more advanced freedivers can aim for the "Throne", an orange elephant ear sponge at 75ft. Oh yeah, the fact that the visibility is always around 100ft, the water is 80F, and there are hordes of tropical fish to look at doesn't hurt either! Just remember, always freedive with a buddy to minimize the risks of shallow water blackout.

AS THE BOAT FLOATS

From an entire ceiling mural of your work like the Curacao Seaquarium displays, to photo postcards, to the latest in creative photo processing, Blue Water Photo of Dallas, Texas knows all the latest techniques. Their monthly newsletter for photo buffs has all the hottest tips and trends plus a Classified Ad section. Contact Peter Chestnut at: bluwater@mindspring.com for all the scoop. Ace reporter Nick Lucey who wrote the highly informative Curacao piece for the May '98 issue of Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine is now writing their e-mail newsletter. Its fun, informative, free, and covers a wide variety of diving activities worldwide. Click on this link to subscribe: http://www.scubadiving.com Divemasters shivering in the northern climates still have time to join Course Director Pam Teitel for the PADI Instructor Development Course to be held at Habitat Curacao Feb. 17-28th. Contact Pam pampromo@bonairenet.com for more information.

There are so many events happening on Curacao during 1999 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the island that we have both a calendar style list (Microsoft Word), or a simple text list available for interested people showing both Habitat events and Curacao wide festivities.

Also available are back issues of the "Freedom Journal", stories about the coral spawning (Oct.1-3rd and Oct.30,31 & Nov.1st this year), divesites, and general Curacao information.

Please feel free to contact us anytime:
"The Freedom Journal" divecuracao@habitatdiveresorts.com
Dive Operations Manager Mike Stafford mike@habitatdiveresorts.com
General Manager Albert Romijn albert@habitatdiveresorts.com

Website-http://www.habitatdiveresorts.com

In parting, we'd like to say thanks to all the great people who visited us during the month of January including Aquarius Dive Center bringing folks from Ohio and Kentucky, as well as the rough and tumble "Underwater Adventures" bunch from wintery Wisconsin.

HAVE A FABULOUS FEBRUARY!