CURACAO NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
From: Habitat Curacao-The Freedom Journal Hi Phil,
Have you been captivated by a cornetfish, enamoured by an anemone, or dazzled
by dolphins lately? We have. And more....
THE "FREEDOM JOURNAL"
SHARING THE GOOD TIMES
Sharing the good times and, as always, GREAT DIVING, during this past month were folks from
many corners of the globe including Uruguay, Turkey, England, Colombia, Brazil, Switzerland,
Germany, Holland, the US and naturally Curacao. July was also a month for some fantastic
undersea sightings including Spotted Eagle Rays at Porto Marie and Radio City, not to mention a
school of Bottlenose Dolphins jumping and showing off around the point by Hells' Corner. Cecil
found more Seahorses at Radio City and Mako's Mountain as well as Nurse Sharks at Mushroom
Forest. Johan is always ready to show off the two Frogfish he's found at Porto Marie and
visiting guests Gary and Melinda swear they saw a Manta Ray right here on our own shoredive
Nos Kas! Personally I think we should have named our reef "Millions O' Morays" because on any
dive you can find every imaginable size, shape and color of those slithery sea creatures.
Just ask some of the great groups that were here with us, including Paradise Island Divers from
North Carolina, Louisville Dive Center of Kentucky (Hi Ralph!), Suncoast from Western Florida,
Over and Under Group of Central Illinois, Caterpillar, also from Illinois, Monterey Bay Dive
Center of California and Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine from Georgia (and your local
newsstand).
CURACAO COVER SHOT?
While they were here for their yearly sales meeting, the group from Rodale's Scuba Diving
Magazine certainly didn't miss any opportunities to go diving and photograph many of Curacao's
best sights including Mushroom Forest, Porto Marie, Black Sand Beach and Mike's Place. In
fact, renowned photographer Steven Frink was also on assignment with them to shoot the cover
for an upcoming issue. Assisted by camera handlers David Taylor, Dane Farnum, Mike Stafford,
and underwater model Vicki Howden, Mr.Frink captured some incredible night dive images that we
hope to see in a few months. We'll keep you posted. Many other great shots from his previous
Curacao visit can be seen on Rodale's Scuba Diving's website http://www.scubadiving.com.
ONCE UPON A SHOREDIVE...
..a beautiful creature I did see. So made up a riddle to send out to our friends, with
lots of fun prizes and chances to win! Okay, regular readers of the Freedom Journal know the
scoop, so just jump to the riddle and go. New readers this month, have we got a fun game for
you! If you can identify the sea creature described each month, e-mail your guess to
divecuracao@habitatdiveresorts.com and, if your guess is correct, you will be entered into a
drawing to win a week of accommodation and unlimited diving right here at "The Home of Diving
Freedom" Habitat Curacao next year. Only one entry per person is allowed per month, but each
newsletter gives another chance to win. And, if yours is the first correct guess each month
you'll also win a Habitat Curacao t-shirt and TWO entries into the draw! Pretty cool, huh?
The drawing will take place at the stroke of midnight during our millennium New Years Eve
Celebrations and the winner announced in the January 2000 issue of The Freedom Journal.
Congratulations to winner Bruce Dare of Gainesville, Florida who beat out over 200 other
players to identify the Puffer Fish in July's riddle and is now lookin' stylin' in his Habitat
Curacao tee.
Ready, set, go!
"I'm enlisted right now on a special project.
Send your guess to The Freedom Journal at divecuracao@habitatdiveresorts.com
PHOTO FEVER, NITROX NUMBERS and SPECTACULAR SPAWNING
Since the Coral Spawning is coming up soon, if you're like me and can't figure out one
side of an underwater camera from another, now is the perfect time to learn. Throughout
the entire month of August, our Photo Pro Chris Richards is hosting "Photo Month" with
camera try-outs, photo dives, classes for all levels, E-6 processing and critiques, plus
his usual dose of good humor and fun.
By the time September rolls around we'll all be taking such great shots that we'll be
wanting more bottom time to capture every little moment underwater and that's where Dive
Manager Mike Stafford steps in. He's made the entire month of September "Get on the Gas"
Nitrox Month where for 1/2 the regular price divers can become nitrox certified and/or
rent custom blended tanks. The course is easy too, only half a day! So, armed with an
underwater camera and nitrox tank, soon enough it'll be time to capture all the
excitement of the Coral Spawning Oct.1 - 3rd and Oct. 30, 31st and Nov. 1st. Visitors for the
first Coral Spawning may have the chance to become celebrities too as the TV show "Outdoor
Journal" is planning to be here to film an episode on the sensational scuba diving in Curacao.
CORAL SPAWNING PHOTO TIPS
Chris recommends macro and close-up as the ideal way to shoot the Coral Spawning. One
possible shot is using close-up with a fairly large framer to capture not only the coral
head itself but numerous polyps in various stages of release and drift. Another idea is 2:1
macro for an extremely close shot of a single polyp as it opens to release the larva. Because
this is a night time event with no ambient light Chris recommends 50 ISO speed film and the
strobe as close to the framer as possible. He also uses a diffuser to soften the quality of
the flash a little. With only 3 nights to capture the magic you'll want to process your slides
right away to pick up any trends that you may need to correct for the best shots and once
you've got your prized slides picked out, Chris can scan them and print them on a t-shirt
or mousepad for a truly "one of a kind" souvenir of your vacation.
AS THE BOAT FLOATS
Congratulations to all of our Habitat Curacao staff members from Housekeeping, Front Office,
and the Restaurant who successfully completed the American Red Cross CPR course from instructor
George Safirowski this past month. All of our Dive Staff also completed the course and spent
an extra day practicing rescues at sea to be fully prepared for any diving emergency. Dive
Manager Mike Stafford spent 4 days in Bonaire becoming a Rebreather Instructor along with Jack
and Karen Chalk from Capt. Don's Habitat. Finally, the Freedom Journal staff will be away on the
other side of the globe (New Zealand) for most of August and September, so you can look forward
to the next issue of the Freedom Journal in your inbox on October 1st.
HAVE A SUNNY SUMMER!
Habitat Dive Resorts Website: http://www.habitatdiveresorts.com
The Freedom Journal: divecuracao@habitatdiveresorts.com
Date: Sunday, 01 August 1999
Subject: August Newsletter
HABITAT CURACAO
August 1999
A circle of tiny purple eggs I must aerate and protect.
You'll see many others with my stripes and rank,
from Habitat's dock, just strap on a tank."