New Adventure Tours from a New Pier at Divi Little Bay

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Divi Little Bay Beach Resort on St. Maarten recently opened a new pier on the property in tandem with Aqua Mania Adventures, one of St. Maarten’s largest water adventure companies.

Beginning this month, a wide range of water sports and adventure tours led by Aqua Mania will start at the 100-foot-long pier, made of steel and concrete and finished with wood for a pleasing look.

Conveniently located on the grounds of Divi Little Bay near the Aqua Mania Adventures kiosk, the pier will serve as the launching point for round-the-island trips, champagne brunch sails, sunset sails and adventure tours.

See below for the weekly schedule of departures from Divi Little Bay, subject to change. For the most current schedule, contact Aqua Mania Adventures.

Tuesday: Santino Round the Island Cruise

Wednesday: Sand Dollar Half Day Snorkeling Adventure to Creole Rock and Santino Round the Island Cruise

Thursday: Tango Sunset Sail

Friday: Sail La Vie and Moon Dance Sailing Charters to Anguilla

Sunday through Friday: Double Tank Scuba Dives and Discover Scuba Courses

Daily: Water Sports Rentals

Debby Lind-Steyn, Manager of Aqua Mania Adventures, looks forward to launching trips from Little Bay. “We’re excited about the new pier at Divi Little Bay Beach Resort,” she says. “Sailing from the Little Bay peninsula is just so beautiful. Our clients will have lots of photo opportunities the moment we cast off.”

Celine Van Meer, General Manager of Divi Little Bay Beach Resort, believes the pier will greatly add to the resort’s guest experience. “Being able to offer our guests fabulous island trips just steps from their hotel room is very exciting,” she says. “We already have our top-notch water sports center that offers scuba diving and a wide array of rental options such as wave runners, paddleboards, hobie cats and pedal boats. This new pier means our guests can enjoy even more fun activities right from our bay.”

Teaching Healthy Eating in Aruba

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Regional Executive Chef for Divi Resorts Matt Boland recently led two cooking classes for young children at a local school in Oranjestad, Aruba. Using simple ingredients like spinach and mushrooms, he showed the kids how to prepare a simple quesadilla with vegetables as he talked about the importance of healthy eating habits and properly balanced nutrition. Then the classes sampled the meal—proving that nutritious food can also be delicious!

Chef Matt and Divi Resorts organized the classes in concert with IBISA, a department of the Aruban government focusing on public health. “Working with children and food are two of my favorite things, and being able to combine them—while showing children healthier eating habits—is a win-win,” Chef Matt says.

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Divi Southwinds Partners with Barbados School as Part of Divi Cares Program

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Divi Resorts is proud to partner with local Caribbean island communities as part of their corporate Divi Cares initiative.  Many of the outreach programs they support directly assist in educating children and supporting schools, focusing on healthy lifestyles, animal rescue and humane treatment, as well as green projects focusing on environmental impact on land and sea.

As part of their Divi Cares program, Divi Southwinds Beach Resort on Barbados recently worked closely with the local Mount Tabor Primary School to sponsor a class trip to the resort for the school’s grade 3 students. The students got to be “tourists for a day,” learning about the tourism industry and its importance to the Barbadian economy. After the tour, the students wrote about their experience and what they had learned. 

During Mount Tabor’s recent end-of-the-school-year graduation ceremony, Divi Southwinds staff once again partnered with school officials to present top-scoring students in their graduating class with gift certificates to purchase back-to-school items as they transition from primary to secondary school. In addition to this gift, Divi Southwinds surprised these students and their parents with dinner for their families at Divi Southwinds’ pureocean restaurant in celebration of their achievements. 

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Divi Southwinds staff would like to recognize the top-scoring students in the class of 2016, Zachari Daniel and  Aaliyah Gibson. Congratulations, Zachari and Aaliyah, on working hard and your achievement!

“We’re proud to provide these Mount Tabor’s students with educational and experiential opportunities through our Divi Cares program,” says Linda Kirton, Human Resources Manager and Training Officer for Divi Southwinds, “and we look forward to working closely with Mount Tabor Primary School throughout their upcoming academic year.”

Celebrating the Fourth of July at Divi Aruba Phoenix

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Divi Aruba Phoenix Beach Resort held an all-day celebration on July 4 with plenty of music and live entertainment in honor of American Independence Day. Guests and staff decked themselves out in patriotic red, white, and blue.

The day started with the raising of the American flag and a moving rendition of the National Anthem by a wonderful guest. Guests and employees joined in a singalong to “New York, New York,” and kids were treated to a scavenger hunt and an ice cream prize for all as parents and other families enjoyed barbecue burgers and hot dogs from purebeach. Festivities continued with a fun game of volleyball and Happy Hour at purebeach. As the day wound down and the stars came out, guests relaxed on the beach and enjoyed a distant fireworks show on Palm Beach.

Divi Phoenix hopes everyone in the Divi family had a safe and fun Fourth of July! Let us know how you celebrated in the comments.

pureocean at Divi Little Bay Joins in the Taste of St. Maarten Food Festival

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On July 3, the Annual Taste of St. Maarten food festival and community event brought the entire island together to celebrate the amazing variety and quality of St. Maarten cuisine, proving why the small island is known as “the culinary capital of the Caribbean.” Executive chef at Divi Little Bay Beach Resort Iwan Hokahin and his culinary team offered samples from the pureocean St. Maarten menu to the crowd. Tourists and locals alike enjoyed pureocean’s chicken roti with pickled cucumbers, polenta with stewed saltfish and fire-roasted peppers, seafood cazuela with shellfish and coconut milk, and oxtail rendang with jasmine rice and sweet plaintains.

Joan Samson, sales manager for Divi Little Bay, made sure Divi was a part of the event, which also featured live music, entertainment, and fun outdoor family activities. “We loved introducing pureocean to new people!” she says. “They got to taste Chef Iwan’s amazing cuisine right there and then. We look forward to welcoming both island tourists and locals to pureocean’s buffet breakfast, Sunday brunch, and dinner—and, of course, participating again next year!”

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