Celebrated artist and conservationist
Guy Harvey along with his Guy Harvey Outpost organization announced today
plans to team with renown dive authority Neal Watson to offer "top of class"
dive centers at Guy Harvey Outpost resort properties. Their first dive
center will open in mid October at the newly renovated and rebranded Bimini
Big Game Club, a Guy Harvey Resort & Marina.
In announcing Neal Watson’s Dive Bimini, a Guy Harvey Outpost Dive Center,
the pair noted their excitement in joining forces to bring Neal Watson’s
legendary diving reputation and world record accomplishments together with
Guy Harvey’s internationally recognized work in marine research, underwater
photography and marine life art.
Known fondly as The Dive God within the scuba diving community, Watson is
considered one of the world’s foremost "Shark Encounter" divers and a member
of the DEMA Hall of Fame. Watson started diving in the Bahamas in the mid
1960’s, setting the Scuba depth record in 1968. He opened a Bimini dive
operation in 1975, where he lived and worked until the mid 1980s before
expanding throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean under the Neal Watson
Undersea Adventures brand.
"In a manner of speaking, I’m going back to the future. Neal Watson’s Dive
Bimini, a Guy Harvey Outpost Dive Center will offer our guests access and
insights into Bimini’s veritable treasure trove of dive sites and
experiences, most of which I had the good fortune to discover", Watson notes
with his customary humility. "Working with Guy and his many colleagues is
going to seriously raise the bar on Bahamas diving for the benefit of every
customer who dives with us."
"Diving is my window to exploring a vast underwater world, rich with beauty,
mystery and not without some danger" commented Guy Harvey. "Spending much
of my life diving, I can think of no better person to ensure that my
colleagues and friends and our Outpost guests will not only have a safe dive
experience, but with Neal’s personality and knowledge of Bimini, one that
will surely be filled with memories of a lifetime."
Dive Bimini will open mid-October upon arrival of its 60-foot dive boat.
Notes Mark Ellert, President of Guy Harvey Outpost, "two-decks, a glass
bottom and certified for 100 passengers nothing in Bimini will come close
to offering the comfort and safety that Dive Bimini guests will enjoy, never
mind the chance that Neal or Guy might be on board diving with you." He
adds, "Everything is new the tanks, rental gear, even the Bauer compressor.
We want our customer to have a top of class experience that’s the Guy
Harvey Outpost DNA."
Neal Watson’s Dive Bimini, a Guy Harvey Outpost Dive Center is currently
taking reservations and is expected to be operational in October of this
year. In addition to equipment rentals and air fills, the center will offer
instruction for PADI SCUBA certifications as well as open water referrals
and specialty classes.
The legendary Bimini Big Game Club officially re-opened this summer as a Guy
Harvey Outpost Resort & Marina following completion of a $3,500,000
renovation that included all guest rooms, the new Bimini Big Game Bar &
Grill, and the Outfitter Shop, a retail experience featuring sportswear,
fishing supplies and gifts.
For more information on the dive center and the Big Game Club, please go to
www.BigGameClubBimini.com.
About Neal Watson
A Fort Lauderdale, Florida resident and local business owner for over twenty
years, Watson has been involved in owning and operating hotels, establishing
a chain of dive operations, working in the treasure salvage business, stunt
coordinator for the movie and TV industry, owned and operated an airline
charter company and established a chain of Neal Watson’s Undersea Adventure
franchise dive operations in the Bahamas and Caribbean.
In 1985 Watson moved to Fort Lauderdale from Bimini and established Neal
Watson’s Undersea Adventures as a Florida Corporation. Shortly thereafter
he started USA Travel Network, Inc., which is an ARC accredited tour company
specializing in diving and adventure sports travel.
Watson currently serves on the Board of Directors of DEMA (Dive Equipment &
Marketing Association), which is the World Trade Association for the diving
industry; President of the Bahamas Diving Association and Chair of the
Bahamas Dive Marketing Committee, which is responsible for recommending
budget expenditures for the Bahamas Ministry Tourism for the Bahamas
Government Dive Market Promotions.
Personal achievements include breaking the World’s Scuba Depth Record,
diving 437 feet on compressed air as well as breaking the World’s Underwater
Distance Record by swimming 66 miles underwater, non-stop without surfacing.
About Bimini Big Game Club, a Guy Harvey Outpost Resort and Marina
Founded as a dinner club in 1936 in Alice Town, the island’s cultural hub,
by Nassau entrepreneur and bon-vivant, Neville Stuart, the Big Game Club has
over the last 74 years hosted world-class fishermen, major tournaments,
international celebrities and tens of thousands guests looking to bask in
the unique "Islands in the Stream" mantra made famous by author Ernest
Hemingway who fished and lived in Bimini in the mid 1930s.
Today, the Big Game Club’s Outpost concept is designed to take the resort
beyond that of a "fishing lodge (though admittedly a majority of visitors
will be there for the world class fishing) to create an eco-destination
attracting both fishing and diving enthusiasts while focusing on adventure
travel, sustainable tourism and marine conservation.
The Big Game Club, which is located on the main navigation channel in Bimini
Bay, currently features a 51-room resort and a 75-slip marina capable of
accommodating boats up to 145 linear feet. By Spring 2011, a full service
fuel dock will be operational.
There are Phase II plans that will include a Guy Harvey Theater, guest
lecture series and interactive sessions with Dr. Harvey and the Guy Harvey
Research Institute at NOVA Southeastern Oceanographic Center and day trips
to the Bimini Biological Field Station’s world-famous shark lab.
Location: Alice Town (North Bimini’s Southern Tip)
Marina
Facilities: 75 Slips
Regular Rooms: 35
Penthouse Suites: 4
Cottage Rooms: 12
Restaurants: Bimini Big Game Bar & Grill
Pools: Freshwater
Other
Activities: Outpost Outfitter Shop
Reservation: 1-800-867-4764
Website: BigGameClubBimini.com
