People tell me it is impossible to own an Island. I don’t think it is. You may say I am a dreamer, but I’m not the only one who wants to buy an Island and make it into a scuba divers paradise. Do you dream about it too? Your own Island in the (sub) tropics? I do.

I’m one of those guys who wants to start a scuba dive center with a bed and breakfast somewhere, some time. I’ve been thinking about this for years. A couple of years ago I rented out my house to become a scuba dive instructor. That was my first step towards realizing my dream; I had been teaching scuba lessons for about two years before heading home.

Private_island

Why did I go back? Good question. I wanted to touch base before I would travel to SE Asia. This was in December 2004. We all know what happened on 26th of December 2004. The Tsunami hit in SE Asia. This ended my plans for traveling Asia at that time.

The two years I had been teaching I made enough money to buy a ticket once in a while and to pay the rent. I was living the life, diving every day, I was surround by happy people, Every day was a sunny day. I loved it. Back home, I had to find a real job to make some money to pay for the rent.

So I had to do what I had to do. I found a decent job. And guess what seven years later and three jobs further I’m still here. Don’t get me wrong. I love Amsterdam, I love my friends and family. But there is something inside that tells me that this is not the life that is meant for me.

About a year ago I was planning a scuba diving Holiday to SE Asia. (I thought it was about time to go there) So what do you do when planning a trip? You start researching on the web. You can and will find all the info you need about specific regions all over the world.

So that was the easy part.

As a scuba dive instructor I know there are a lot of low-quality dive centers out there. So I wanted to find some independent information about dive centers and their services. Just like the reviews we all read on Yelp or Trip Advisor. Guess what? It wasn’t there. At least I didn’t find it, or it did not attract my attention.

That were the idea of Bookyourdive started. This site should become the starting point for every diver or soon to be a diver when planning a scuba holiday. Finally, I got an idea that would bring me back into scuba diving. It took a while, but this is something that could work. The experience I gained the last years I could use now to build something that could change the way the word plans a scuba dive holiday.

Success_baby

This was my EUREKA!! moment. Now nine months later we are making real progress. Dive centers would like to be listed, We have found partners who will promote us and we have about seven bloggers who share scuba related content on our site. So where does the Island come in.. ? It’s coming trust me.

To have an EUREKA moment is one thing. Now to make it work. We have validated the idea and we will launch the website any time soon. Bottom line so far is NEVER STOP DREAMING!

2 years ago I would never have thought I would become an entrepreneur within the scuba industry. Now I am. Starting the website is the first step towards my initial dream to have a small dive center with a bed and breakfast or a boutique resort. I have learned to think out of the box, what the heck why shouldn’t I?

So why not buy an Island and make it into a scuba divers paradise?. The kind of place where you dream to go to and your nondiving spouse can have a good time too. You don’t have to have millions to buy one. My guess is that there are loads of scuba divers out there who have the same idea. So why not team up and see if we can make it? It is no rocket science to make a calculation.

Let say we could gather about 100 people who could spare $10.000 that makes $1.000.000. Islands are on sale for half. On our Facebook page, there are already 30 people who would want to chip in 10K. So 70 to go. All I’m saying here is that owning an Island is not unrealistic.

Think of the possibilities.

There could be an eco (dive) resort on the Island where tourists can plan a week or 2 diving and relaxing. The money this will generate could be used for maintenance in any form.

  • People could implement an artificial reefing program for divers to explore
  • Education programs can be offered for divers on marine ecosystems
  • A marine reserve can be made
  • The possibilities are endless.

With this post, I wanted to spark your creativity and wanted to let you know that anything is possible if you want it. I invite you to leave a reply with your thoughts and ideas on buying an Island and making it into a scuba divers paradise. I’m dead serious about this. Our priority is to launch bookyourdive.com and make it a successful website. In the meantime, I would love to talk with you about your dreams. And who knows maybe we meet anytime soon on an Island far from here.

Please feel free to leave a comment below or contact me directly trough twitter if you have any ideas or just want to talk about you dream.

Blog written by: Rutger Thole who is an avid scuba diver and loves to travel, dive and write about scuba diving. Based in Amsterdam he runs bookyourdive.com and at least twice a year he plans a dive trip to the beaten track.

Feel free to check out our Scuba Dive partners on the map below for packages, training or guided trips:

This article is published by The Scuba Page, the online magazine for Scuba Dive lovers around the world. The Scuba Page is part of RUSHKULT : the online booking platform for adventure sports. Visit the RUSHKULT platform to book your next Scuba Dive training, guided trip and accommodation.

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