Where to Learn how to Dive in St. Thomas

When you arrive on the beautiful island of St. Thomas there are a few things that you absolutely need to do. The top being heading to the beach, ziplining (of course), and exploring under the water!

Now most of us have done some snorkeling before. Some are able to go from the beach and swim out to the closest reef. For others, a great day-trip on a boat can bring you closer to the gorgeous underwater scenery where you get snorkel masks and fins on and then overboard you go.

However, there is only one way to truly get up close and personal with amazing coral and unique Caribbean Sea life and that is Scuba Diving.

Thousands of divers each year head to the Virgin Islands to experience the incredible discoveries in temperate waters. From vibrant reefs teeming with life to shipwrecks and rock formations, diving in the VI is a rewarding experience that many come back for year after year.

Some may think that getting into scuba diving is difficult, time consuming, and expensive. Well if you are on vacation on St. Thomas you can get started quickly, easily, and inexpensively.

In fact, many of the resorts on island have dive shops where you can try diving for free or a reduced price in the pool.

Once you see if you like it you can get your certification and head out to open water!

Below are a few of our top picks for dive shops on STT:

Coki Dive Center

St. Thomas Diving Club

Red Hook Dive Center

So next time you’re in the Virgin Islands and want to make your vacation a memorable one, think about getting yourself certified! You’ll open a door to a whole new way of looking at the Caribbean.

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How EWG Can Help You Control Your Life

In a world where fast food is king and profit margins are more important than the quality of what we feed the children, it’s nearly impossible to tell the good from the bad. This is not a scare tactic persuading you into buying more expensive food, but a wake up call to take action and decide for yourself instead of letting the media deciding for you.

This is bigger than just what you eat, but down to the ingredients in your cosmetics, where your energy source comes from, and what’s in every day products you may buy for your home… that’s barely scratching the surface. At Tree Limin’ Extreme, we promote healthy living in an eco-friendly way!

Luckily, there is a group out there that is a great reference for anyone looking to educate him or herself on what’s really going on in this world. They are called Environmental Working Group or EWG. Their goal is to educate and empower the average consumer and unmask the wrongdoings of widely popular products to create a healthier tomorrow.  We strongly believe in what EWG has to say and what they are doing for the world.

How can you have access to this information you ask? Well it’s incurably simple! Here are a few ways you can do so, sitting at home or on the go.

If you’re just lounging around and want to have a good read and dive deeper into the multiple facets dealing with health and environmental issues, check out their website at www.ewg.org

If you can’t get enough and want regular updates about what’s going on in the world, sign up for their e-mail newsletter. They can then bring the news to you whenever it breaks.

Now, if you’re on the go, you can visit their mobile site, or you could do one better. They have 3 free apps you can download directly to your smartphone that can give you all the information about a product right then and there.

On their “Food Scores” app, they have a bar-code scanner that allows you to take an in-depth look into any product. They have a unique system that tells you how it compares to similar products, and gives you an additional option to check out those products. With this powerful tool, you can make the best and most educated decisions when it comes to you and your family’s health.

Their app “SkinDeep” is much like the first app, with the bar-code scanner and scores, but rates products all the way from make-up to sunscreen.

Their third app is called “Dirty Dozen”. This is a shoppers guide to pesticides in products. It labels all the fruits and veggies that are more susceptible to pesticide residues and which aren’t. While eating organically has grown 11% from 2013 to 2014, it may be hard for every family to afford a purely organic diet. With this app, you will be able to see what you should buy organic and what products are safe from pesticides.

 

Also has advance options like newsletter sign up, FAQs, and Reports

By educating ourselves on what is good and what is bad, we will be able to create a better and brighter tomorrow! With these useful tools, you can easily become an advocate for safe and healthy products for you and your family.

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Interesting Facts about Sargassum Seaweed

Legend has it that the Caribbean Seaweed appears once a year in the form of massive amounts of seaweed from the Sargasso Sea. Although it's nearly cleared up this year, it's still good to understand where this comes from.  Hailing from the North Atlantic, the Caribbean Seaweed warms the water and sends low winds to push the Sargassum seaweed into the tropical currents.  On occasion, it sends close to 10 million metric tons of Sargassum to the Eastern Caribbean Islands.  Along with Mother Nature’s help, the seaweed washes ashore.  Scientists, a.k.a. Environmental Super Heroes, are constantly working on new uses and ways to deal with the wrath of the Caribbean Seaweed Monster.  

If you visit the Caribbean and enjoy the beaches, you may find that this particular type of seaweed has struck your favorite beach.  Luckily, trained Environmental Super Heroes are finding a variety of uses for the Sargassum seaweed and they have been trained to take it off the beaches in a responsible manner.  “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” or “When the Caribbean Seaweed Monster gives you seaweed, make a multitude of uses”  There are many potential uses for seaweed, including: a medium for landfill, help build up dunes and beaches to combat erosion, fertilizer and compost, weed control, and some have incorporated it into their cuisine. 

So what should a vacationer expect?  Sargassum can have an unpleasant odor if left in the sun for too long, which is just the seaweed decomposing, and this is non-toxic to humans.  The Sargassum does not sting, but has pointy pods.  When it decomposes on the sand, you may see a layer of black underneath, no worries, it is just Mother Nature doing her job.  Removal should be done by a trained professional, aka Environmental Super Heroes.

If you have any beach concerns or would like more information on Sargassum, here is a fact sheet with general information.

http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat_conservation/documents/pdfs/hcd_pdf/gcfisargassumfactsheet_2015.pdf

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