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Splash Dive Centers commitment to our community and environment of Placencia Belize
On your vacation, we take care of you, our employees, the environment and the Belize barrier reef system
At Splash Dive Shop in Placencia, community commitment is more than a slogan. Patty Ramirez, co-owner of Splash, leads by example. Part of Splash’s Mission Statement is to raise higher awareness in the community and to create a working culture that develops and advocates sustainable tourism practices. Sustainable tourism is critical to the ongoing viability of Placencia as a vacation destination and to the health of the local ecosystem. Diving or doing adventure tours helps Splash support these programs. We also welcome the participation of our clients to support these programs.
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Patty started a program called Splash Kids Club where local Belizean kids whose parents cannot afford scuba diving lessons can learn to dive for free. Splash has done 50 certifications from open water to rescue diver to date. As these children reach the age of 18, she hopes she will be able to continue the program to develop some of them into dive masters and instructors so that they can have the opportunity careers in the dive industry. To date, this program has been sponsored entirely by Splash but contributions from others in the form of books or financial contributions would be welcome. Better yet, sponsor a child!
Patty is very committed to the many NGO’s that support the tourism business in Placencia and in Belize. Patty is also Vice Chairman of the Placencia Tour Guides Association, secretary of the Tour Operators Association and is as a member of the Whale Shark Day committee. Splash Dive Shop is an active participant in Whale Shark Day activities where we teach CPR to the school kids and anyone else who wants to be able to administer emergency care when needed.
Splash is very committed to the protection and preservation of the reef environment in Belize, and to protect the health of the Belize barrier reef. Patricia Ramirez is an active member of Placencia Mooring Masters, an organization that uses funds that it raises to install mooring buoys at the popular dive sites to protect our reef from anchor damage. Splash Dive Shop has sponsored one of these buoys at Laughing Bird Caye (National Park and World Heritage Site) on the very popular and appealing dive site known as Coral Gardens. Patty regularly goes out to the mooring buoy while on dive trips to personally clean the barnacles from the buoy and the anchor line.
In addition to protecting the environment and reef, programs like this benefit the community and the attitude of the community to support sustainable tourism so that future generations will be able to enjoy the beauty of Placencia and environs.
Splash Dive Center has and will continue to contribute to additional mooring buoys at popular dive sites in the Placencia area by providing dive boat time, scuba tanks and manpower. Mooring buoys are also required at popular mooring sites for the many sailing vessels that visit Placencia’s cayes as well as on dive sites on the reef. Any donations clients make to this important project to protect our marine environment will be greatly appreciated. You can get additional information by going to www.placenciabreeze.com and searching for Placencia Mooring Masters or you can find Placencia Mooring Masters on Facebook by going to Placencia Mooring Masters (PMM), Placencia, Belize, Facebook.
An NGO known as 'Southern Environmental Association' (SEA, formerly known as Friends of Nature in Placencia) manages whale shark tourism at Gladden Spit with active involvement of national stakeholders. Patty Ramirez, co-owner of Splash Dive Center, is an active member of the Whale Shark Working Group. A set of guidelines to ensure ecologically-sound practices has been developed and followed. All tour guides and boat captains must be Whale Shark certified and carry their Whale Shark ID in addition to their Tour Guide ID. The guidelines and other information on the Whale Shark Working Group can be found at www.seabelize.org. Visitors to Placencia are encouraged to make a donation to this very worthwhile NGO. Splash will be happy to personally guide you to their office.
If you are a Rotarian, please try to attend one of their meetings every Tuesday at 12:30 at Yoli’s. Ask for directions at Splash Dive Center. The Placencia Rotary Club has taken the lead to establish the very much needed Placencia Volunteer Fire Department and responds to the needs of our community and surrounding areas in so many other ways.
In November of 2010 Splash helped the Placencia Rotary Club with a program of doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists and educators from the USA for two days in Monkey River where over 300 people were examined, given medical information, referrals to specialists (where required), basic treatments, medications, and instruction on good dental practices and CPR. Splash Dive Shop provided boat transportation for all of the participants in this very helpful program.
A few months previously, Splash Dive Shop provided boat transport so that the Rotary Club could deliver dictionaries to the school at Monkey River.
Ralph Capeling, one of Splash Dive Centers co-owners, especially wanted to improve the medical facilities in Placencia, so in 2009 he donated $22 500.00 to the Placencia Rotary Club to buy equipment to upgrade the Placencia Medical Clinic. Ralph was able to get the assistance of two Canadian doctors who also contributed to this and purchased the equipment to make sure it was fit for purpose for the Placencia Medical Clinic. The Placencia Medical Clinic is open to all visitors as well as local people at no charge but donations paid directly to the Clinic would be very much appreciated.
