As a Dive Operator and Dive Instructors for many years on this beautiful island, we have witnessed some of the damages being done to the coral reefs by all of us. (Dive Guides, Dive Operators, Resorts, Government, Fisherman, Divers visiting our reefs and Local Individuals) and everyone has complained, pointed fingers but very few have taken the time and are willing to change their behavior and practices.

This is no longer a time to point fingers, but is time to change our actions and ignorance, to acknowledge and respond to these problems, change our attitude to establish a healthier reef and develop a stronger attitude of conservation.

In Order to do our part as Dive Operator, Dive Guides, Dive Instructors, Crew and part of this small family business that is Emerald Dolphin Dive Services, we are proud to have provided personal, professional and safe dive services for the last 10 years.  We have decided to adopt the Sustainable Tourism Practices, promoted by the Marine Park Arrecifes de Cozumel in association with The Coral Reef Alliance

Sustainable Tourism Practices:  means tourism that provides economic benefits to local communities, respect cultural values, and minimizes environmental degradation for the long-term benefit of present and future generations.

We at Emerald Dolphin Dive Services want to promote this awareness by educating our selves and share the information to our customers so we all can appreciate the beauty and complexity of the coral reef,  promote the respect the value of our coral reefs as sources of income, medicine and recreation. We are taking pride in our local reef resources and understand the long-term consequences of our actions.

We would like to share lessons and information to help everyone improve conservation efforts.  Some of these efforts will be posted in the next blog.  Your active participation is welcome and, hopefully, will be incorporated in future environmental policies.

Emerald Dolphin Dive Services would like to thank all who donated toys or money for the celebration of Kings Day on January 6^{th, 2008}.  Sponsored by and in conjunction with the group “Ninos Limpien Cozumel” (Kids Clean Cozumel), over 350 gifts and food items where distributed to the under-privileged children and families on the island. As some of you may know, we started soliciting the help of some of our dive clients for small donations to support this endeavor in the fall of 2007.  Our goal was to provide a toy, toothpaste, toothbrush, and soap to 100 children ages 0-15 years.  However, we underestimated the generosity of our clients and were able to raise toys/toothbrushes, etc for 363 children on the island!  On top of that we had money left over which purchased 50 food packs consisting of beans/rice/cooking oil/milk to families in need.   On the 6^th of January at 10 a.m. we started out with 4 trucks filled with toys and food and 10 adult volunteers and 7 children (ages 6-16) from the group “Kids Clean Cozumel” and by 12 noon we were finished handing out the donations.  It was an incredible day filled with smiles and good will.  Some of the photos taken from that day are posted on the following web site: http://www.abys.net/kingsday/FrameSet.htm Please feel free to view them and see how your donations helped make over 400 kids and their families happy! Thank you very much…………….Tony & Suzanne Castillo

We look forward to keeping you informed about what’s happening in Cozumel, Mexico. If there is something of interest happening or scheduled to happen in the future, we will post it so you know ahead of time and can plan you vacation time accordingly.

So check back with us and see what we have found out !!

Tony and Suzanne