St.Eustatius wat een prachtig eiland
Nel Kromhout, Rotterdam (The Netherlands)

Wow, impressive!
J. and E. Verschuren (The Netherlands)

Hele vriendelijke bevolking. Altijd mooi weer en een prachtig eiland
Evert and Menke Douma (The Netherlands)

Visit of Travel Writer Harald Steiner

The St.Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation is pleased to announce the arrival of Travel Writer Mr. Harald Steiner. He will arrive on Wednesday December 19th and will be returning on December 22nd 2007. Mr. Steiner will be writing a story on St.Eustatius. This is his first visit to the island. Mr. Steiner will be visiting dive shops, hotels, Stenapa, historical sites, the Quill and other areas of interest. The St.Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation is looking forward to hosting Mr. Steiner. More information will be following concerning his visit. Mr. Steiner will be leaving on Saturday for the island of Saba.

Calender of Events 2008

January 1^st New Year’s Day (National Holiday)

March 21^st Good Friday (National Holiday)

March 23^rd Easter Sunday (National Holiday)

March 24^th Easter Monday (National Holiday)

Island wide beach picnics, music, jam, food and drinks.

April 30^th Queens’ Birthday Celebrations of Former

Queen Juliana (National Holiday)

Cultural events, sport activities, picnics and music.

May 1^st Labour Day & Ascension Day (National Holiday)

July 1^st Emancipation Day

Ceremonies and celebrations of the abolition of slavery.

July 20^th to July 29^th Statia Carnival

Festivities at carnival village nightly, with lots to eat and drink, music, local & international show and beauty & calypso contests.

July 31^st Carnival Monday (Local Holiday)

October 21^st Antillean Day (National Holiday)

Cultural festivities and celebrations commemorating Antillean Day. Flag raising ceremony, speeches by Government officials, Sports & music.

November 13^th to 16th Golden Rock Regatta

November 9^th – 16^th Statia-America Day Celebrations

November 16^th Statia- America Day (National Holiday)

An entire week of Cultural Manifestation and celebration. Flag raising ceremony & program on November 16^th commemorating the First Salute to the American Flag by a foreign power. Dignitaries & Government officials from neighbouring islands.

December 25^th Christmas Day (National Holiday)

December 26^th Boxing Day (National Holiday)

Season's Greetings from Statia

The St. Eustatius Tourism Development Foundation extends warm wishes to families and friends for a bright holiday season and prosperous new year. We wish you good health and strength.

World Class Diving Statia

Scuba Diving has grown and developed like a mushroom in the tourism industry. When diving first began, no one in the industry would have imagined that this would have grown so very fast and become such an attractive sport. It has grown like a silent vegetable into an empire in the industry. Not to miss, is the tremendous amount of female divers the sport has attracted. St.Eustatius is one of the islands that has attracted many visitors. Diving has become and is, the main attraction of the island. There is a variety of diving available in St.Eustatius. Statia is home to virgin diving and various types of diving. Just to name a few; shallow dive, deep dive, night dive, computer dive, archaeological dive and wreck diving. For the none diver, you can snorkel over the ruins and walls of the seventeen century just in front of your hotel along the waterfront. Most of the hotspots have become overrun and impacted by divers. Divers are looking for new dive destinations that is unknown by many. St.Eustatius is that spot and destination.

Photograph courtesy Stenapa

Statia Marine Park acquires National Park status

Oranjestad- The St. Eustatius National Parks Association (STENAPA) on Monday, December 03, 2007 launched a week long programme of activities to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the St. Eustatius Marine Park and the Official Opening of the new STENAPA Visitor Center in Lower Town. During this ceremony President of the Board, Mr. Irving Brown and Parks Manager, Mrs. Nicole Esteban, were presented with a plaque by Mr.Paul Hoetjes, Director of the Federal Department of Environment announcing the National Park status of the Statia Marine Park. Park officials were also presented with a copy of the November 27th, 2007 Federal Decree confirming National Park status for the St. Eustatius Marine Park.With this new Federal Decree St. Eustatius has become the first island of the Dutch Caribbean with two National Parks. In 1998 The Quill/Boven National Park became the first national land park in the Dutch Caribbean.

Her Excellency, Acting Governor General of the Netherlands Antilles, Mrs. Adele Paulina van der Pluijm-Vrede, delivered the keynote address. Following her address, in which she strongly urged Statians to take good care of their island and its resources, the Act. Governor General joined STENAPA's President, Mr. Irving Brown, in the unveiling of the new Visitor Center sign.

In his address Statia's Commissioner of Tourism, Mr. Julian Woodley, commended STENAPA for their consistent and invaluable contributions to environmental management and conservation. "On this your 10th Anniversary, we can truly say STEANAPA has laid the foundation for the development of sustainable tourism". Commissioner Woodley acknowledged there is more Government can do to facilitate the work of STENAPA. "I acknowledge Government must now seek to implement existing policies and laws to deal with ongoing littering and illegal dumping of construction and household waste. Implementation of the laws must go hand in hand with public awareness. By doing this we would be contributing in a positive and holistic way to sound environmental management and sustainable development". The Commissioner also thanked the dive sector for their contributions to the growth of tourism in St. Eustatius.

A contingent of kingdom, federal and island government representatives were in attendance. These included among others Governor of St. Eustatius, Mr. Hyden Gittens, Drs. de Maan Senior Policy Worker of Dutch Representation Office in Willemstad, Drs. van Toorn, Senior Policy Worker, Dutch Representation Office in Philipsburg, Mrs. Kali de Meyer. Executive Director of Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance, Mr. Boekel and Ing. Rood of the Department of Physical Planning and Environment. The Golden Rock Song was sung by 13 year old Urisha Blake while the invocation was done by Reverend Dr. Joan Delsol Meade of the Methodist congregation.

For more information visit www.statiapark.org

Photo by: Lynn Kennedy