Yes, changing one thing can in fact change everything. Yahoo’s new Green site is a vast resource of information on every shade of green you can image. One initiative for 2007 is the ‘18 Second’ change a light bulb challenge- to simply change a standard light bulb with a CFL bulb.

http://green.yahoo.com/18seconds/

A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) is a light bulb that uses less energy than a standard bulb to provide the same amount of light. Those bearing the ENERGY STAR label use 1/3 the energy of a traditional bulb, can last up to 10 times longer, and save $30 or more in energy costs over their lifetime. You can find ENERGY STAR CFLs most anywhere you currently shop for light bulbs.

What kind of difference can one CFL make? Consider this: If every American swapped just ONE bulb for an ENERGY STAR labeled CFL, it would collectively save more than $8 billion in energy costs, prevent burning 30 billion pounds of coal, and remove 2 million cars worth of greenhouse gas emissions from our atmosphere. Just imagine the difference we could make if we replaced all of the lights we use most!

Simply buying a CFL makes you a part of the solution to help slow global warming!

http://green.yahoo.com/18seconds/

Cayman Diving Lodge will not and will never use any incandescent lighting throughout the property. All lighting will be provided through low energy CFL or LED bulbs.

To assist with ongoing work from our architects, engineers and surveyors- we carried out a little housekeeping over the entire Cayman Diving Lodge site. With the help from our good friend the ‘BobCat’ and some special sand sifting buckets- the site was looking very inviting in no time.

Now the site is cleared to the boundaries on all sides, it is much easier to visualize the rebirth of this legendary diving lodge.

As part of the structural design process for the new Cayman Diving Lodge we needed to excavate several trail holes to determine the depth level of the bedrock. The Cayman Diving Lodge site is blessed with tons and tons of powder like white sand of 10 feet thick, even as much as 16 feet thick in some places. Beneath this lays a solid layer of bedrock, or what is locally call ‘Hard-pan’. The foundation for the Cayman Diving Lodge will sit directly on to this hard-pan and create a structure that is engineered and tied in to mother earth herself.   Anyone buying a Condominium can rest assured that the new buildings will be ’solid as a rock’.

There was also the slim chance of us digging up a chest full of gold – with Cayman’s history of Pirates and their known visits to East End…. who knows what we might have found (or did find)!

The all new Cayman Diving Lodge had to be a combination of everything that the old lodge was and everything else that our guests always asked for and what we thought was missing- all in brand new green specification buildings. The key ingredient that will always remain, is the friendly and high level of service, great food and great diving.

In addition to a whole new building for the lodge, new swimming pool, new dining area and restaurant- the key new element for the Cayman Diving Lodge is 10 new condominium residences available from private purchase by our diving customers. Imaging owning your own private divers retreat. The Condos are placed in a rental pool when not used by the owners to generate some return on their investment. Oh did anyone mention that it would also be an off-shore tax free investment

All of the above sketches are the original concept drawings for the new CDL that were drafted after hurricane Ivan.

Developing a Green Property from an old site starts with disposing and re-using in the most environmentally friendly way- and most of all avoid sending demolition materials to the landfill. Believe it or not, the old Cayman Diving Lodge was no more than 32 truck loads of materials.

All of the wood was separated from the rubble and then loaded on to different trucks. All 25 loads of rubble were re-used as fill on sites in the district of East End. Only 7 loads of materials had to go to the land fill. Therefore we managed to recycle 79% of the building

Global Climate Change is effecting coral reefs through bleaching and in addition our Cayman Reefs have recently had to stand up to the forces of Hurricane Ivan – Many divers who have never been to Cayman or have not visited since our big storm are very keen to learn about the conditions of the reefs.

All the images shown here were shot post Ivan and clearly demonstrate how alive and well our reefs are. Within the Caribbean region, the Cayman Islands is well positioned due to the very, very deep waters of the Cayman Trench which help to moderate our water temperatures between 79-86 degrees. If the water temperature increases above 88+ degrees, the hard corals are the first to show signs of stress.

The reefs and walls along the North Coast of Grand Cayman and East End did not suffer any damage from Hurricane Ivan and will be exactly as beautiful as you remember them. The South coast of Grand Cayman took the full force of the storm and did lose some sponge life- the hard corals, sea fans and other marine life were not effected in anyway. Now 3 years after, much of the sponge life (much faster growing than coral) has reestablished with new sponges growing out of the old root of the ones that were lost.

East End is well known for the blooms of Silver Sides that crowd dive sites such as Snapper Hole, Grouper Grotto and Iron Shore Gardens in our summer months. Even more happy than the divers, are the Tarpon and Jacks that wait year long for this feast.

One of the first questions people ask when they here that the Cayman Diving Lodge is getting rebuilt – “Are you still going to call it…. Cayman Diving Lodge?”. Of course we are, the CDL was The Original Diving Lodge and the legend will live on. The new lodge is to be built on the exact same site (+ on the new land we acquired next door) and will be run with the same commitment to making your stay with us the best possible experience.

But a new building did mean a new logo to represent the fresh beginning and a bright future. We hope you like the new style and if you look closely, you may even see something that is not completely obvious at first glance.

Once the new architectural drawings were approved by the CI Planning Department, it was time to demolish what was left of the old buildings. Although it was sad to see them go, it marked the start of the long awaited road to re-opening this legendary Diving Lodge.

According to an ecotourism survey recently conducted by TripAdvisor.com, 40% of travelers are environmentally concerned. The survey, which included more than 1,000 travelers worldwide, also found that 11% of respondents have taken an ecotourism trip, 25% are considering going on an ecotourism trip, and 38% said that environmentally friendly tourism is a consideration when traveling. When asked what qualities are most important to making a hotel eco-friendly, conserving energy ranked No. 1, followed by conserving water and using recycled paper. In addition, 78% of travelers said they decline to have their sheets and towels changed, when provided the option by hoteliers.
In terms of air travel, 38% would pay more to take an eco-friendly flight and 26% would pay a 5-10% premium yet only 3% of travelers surveyed have purchased carbon credits. For more information, please visit TripAdvisor.com

http://www.tripadvisor.com/PressCenter-i134-c1-Press_Releases.html

This blog post is for those new to the Cayman Diving Lodge and have never visited before.

In late 2004 the Original Cayman Diving Lodge was hit hard by Hurricane Ivan and damaged beyond repair. Until recently the site sat dormant, waiting for the island to recover and get back on their feet. While the site lay quiet, plans behind the scenes were getting made for the re-birth of the legendary Diving Lodge- the Lodge that started it all by the man himself, Mr. Bob Soto.

However, only the buildings were beyond repair. Everything else was as nature intended- the white sand beach and pristine coral reefs remained in all their glory.

All that was left of the dock were a 5 pilings and thankfully 7 large 30ft coconut trees.

looking back 3 years later- although hard to say it, the old lodge that we all knew and loved was ready for a clean start and the opportunity to rebuild from scratch and build a green certified resort is a blessing and has guaranteed the continuation of the legacy of the original Cayman Diving Lodge.