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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
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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.
