The Southern Cross Club has been awarded the Professional Association of Dive Instructors Longevity Award for 15 years of outstanding service to the dive industry. Each year PADI recognises members for their continuous support of recreational dive training, safety and education.
“The dive industry’s success depends on the commitment and enthusiasm of the dive stores and resort operators like the Southern Cross Club,” said PADI Retailer and Resort Associations Executive Nick Jenny.
Southern Cross maintains an excellent PADI dive-training programme, but the club’s commitment to the sport goes far beyond dive training.
Founded in 1958, when Little Cayman had only 12 permanent residents, the Southern Cross Club has been welcoming divers to the Island for decades. When the Cayman Islands established the Marine Park system in 1986, the Southern Cross Club, as the only dive resort on Little Cayman, was instrumental in helping define the parks and name the dive sites.
Once divers see the famed and beautiful sheer drop-offs of Bloody Bay, many are hooked for life and remain active divers. Keeping Little Cayman’s reefs healthy for those active divers is a top priority for Peter Hillenbrand, owner of the Southern Cross Club and chairman of the Central Caribbean Marine Institute. Also based in Little Cayman CCMI’s mission is to sustain marine biodiversity through research, education and conservation.
“The plights and delights of the world’s oceans are so often unknown or misunderstood by us land-loving Homo Sapiens, yet our very blood flows with the sea,” says Hillenbrand. “As a once aspiring marine scientist and a passionate lover of the sea, it is a tremendous honour and privilege to work with this great and valuable organisation.”
The Southern Cross Club supports CCMI by hosting events designed to educate guests − talks, lectures, presentations, social events and fundraisers. The club’s enthusiastic and informed staff always encourages visitors to take tours of the research facility and learn about its vital programs.
“Great presentation on camouflage,” said Steve Reed a diver from Evergreen, Colorado, who attended a lecture and toured the facility with his friend and fellow diver Erick Roden.
“I attended the talk because I find cephalopods − octopus, cuttlefish and squid − to be fascinating and I found the talk to be very informative and insightful,” said Mr. Roden. “The ways in which science is studying the chromatophores, colour-changing cells, and the impact it could have on our everyday life is astounding.”
Mr. Roden adds that he knows the institute’s conservation efforts will ensure there is a rich, diverse ecosystem to study on Little Cayman for years to come. These are welcome comments for CCMI Director of Development and Communications Kate Pellow, who says it’s a challenge to raise awareness of their work in an interesting and engaging way. This is where support from the Southern Cross Club and other local dive operators is key.
“Marine conservation is something most divers are interested in and want to help with, but often don’t know how,” she says.
The Southern Cross Club and CCMI are also involved in a joint battle against invasive lionfish. Club Manager Neil van Niekerk heads up the community lionfish culling project, which aims to remove these predators from reefs and snags specimens for the research lab where the work to find a solution continues.
“This also helps raise awareness of the significant issue of invasive species – one of the most pressing threats to the world’s biodiversity,” said Fellows.
Southern Cross Club was one of 74 PADI members to receive the 15-year PADI Longevity Business Award in 2012.
During the past 15 years more than 600 divers have been certified through its dive training and education programme, which includes specialties such as Emergency First Response, Enriched Air Nitrox and Master Scuba Diver. Six professional divemasters completed their training here last year and many visitors have also enjoyed Discover Diving resort courses through the years.
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