Project Calypso

Every serious project has a contingency plan to ensure irs successful completion also in case of unavoidable problems and since our Calypso is far too important, we need our own plan B.  Relocating to the Caribbean is not a simple task with a lot of aspects which has to fit together at the right time and sometime one single unexpected issue may be enough to stop the all plan. The geographical and cultural distance from Europe are positive aspects of the Caribbean but they may become problems in case of changes in our families or in the political and or economical status of countries. Similar porblems may prevent or make extremy difficult our relocation outside Europe. As divers we learned to accept the unexpected and therefore we are prepared to continue with the Calypso project witout changing its principles just the place, somwehere closer, an European destination. We looked at the map of Europe to find places which are warm through all the year, with great diving site, effortabl...

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is the southernmost island country of the Caribbean. It consists of 2 main islands, Trinidad and Tobago and several smaller ones. Trinidad is only 11 km north of Venezuela coast. As many Caribbean islands, also Trinidad and Tobago changed hands several times during the colonial period till becoming independent by the British in 1962. One of the peculiarity of the islands is that 35% of the population has indian origins becasue of the labor immigration which was established after the end of slavery to work in the plantations. Nowadays, Trinidad and Tobago has the third GDP pro capita of the American continent after USA and Canada. Unlike most of the Caribbean countries, tourism does not have a significant contribution to the economy which is mainly based on the oil & gas business. Only in the recent years, the local government has started to develop some interest in boosting the tourism industry with is mainly confined to the island of Tobago....

Sint Maarten is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherland located on the south of a Caribbean Island shared with France. The Dutch territory covers the 40% of the island where lives little more than 40,000 people. The island was divided by the Treaty of Condordia in 1648 and despite the border changed sixteen times due to fights, the sharing is still in place till today. Cotton, tobacco and sugar plantation had been the main island income till after the WWII, when in the 50s the iconic International Airport was opened and the tourism business took off. Today the island economy is based on tourism, employing 80% of the population. Cruise ships and luxurious hotel resorts are the main type of tourism sources. The island location is exposed to the hurricanes season and it has been hit more then ones with the last in 2017 causing extensive damages to 70% of the houses and loss of lives. The real estate opportunities are almost exclusively top high end villas and th...

Sint Eustatius, also known as Statia, is an island of the Caribbean West Indies and it is a special municipality of The Netherlands, like Saba and Bonaire. Statia is located in between Saba in the North and Saint Kitts in the south and has of only 21 square Km where lives little more than 3,000 people. In its history, from the 17th century the island changed hands 21 times between the Netherlands, France and Britain but most of the time it was under Dutch ruling. In the 18th century, Sint Eustatius was the most important and richest settlement in the Carribean; The Golden Rock was its nickname and the population reached 30,000. The main and most profitable business was the selling of weapons and ammunitions to any interested party, and at the that time countries were almost continuously fighting each other.   The island has also a place in the American history thanks to the “First Salute”: in 1776 the American ship Andrew Doria was approaching Sint Eustatius to purchase munitions...

  Saint Lucia is an island country in the easter Caribbean where the Atlantic Ocean starts. The island surface is 617 square Kilometers where lives a population of around 180,000 people. The French were the first European to live and rule on the island till 1663, when England took it over for few years. After that there was a continuous change of power between the two counties, in total there were 14 changes in 150 years. In 1814, the British gain the definitive control which lasted until the island obtained the independence in 1979. Nowadays Saint Lucia is a two parties parliamentary democracy part of the Commonwealth real with the Elizabeth II as Queen of Saint Lucia. Geographically it is a volcanic island, one of the most mountainous of all the Caribbean, with tropical rainforest climate and the consequent two typical seasons: wet from June to December and dry from January to May. Qualibou is the name of the volcanic area where there are active sulfur springs which a...

The official name of Saint Kitts and Nevis island country is Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis. The territory consists of two main islands located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. With a population slightly over 50,000 people and a surface of 261 square kilometres , Saint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest sovereign stated in the Western hemisphere. The islands were among the first to be colonized by Europeans and has been for long time a English and French settlement with a short period under Spain, until the 18th century when France renounced the control on the islands which became part of the British Kingdom. Saint Kitts and Nevis gain the full independence in 1983 and today it is a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as head of State. Basseterre is the capital. Both the islands are of volcanic origin and are covered by tropical rainforest, the costs are mostly flat which is where the vast majority of the population lives. Since  1970s, tourism saw...

  Saba is the smallest special municipality of The Netherlands and a small Caribbean island of 13 square kilometres where less than 2000 people are living permanently. Located in the northern Leeward islands of the West Indies, Saba is essentially composed by the potentially active volcano Mount Scenery which reaches 887 meters of altitude. Historically since the 17 th century, the island has always been under Dutch dominion apart from a period of 150 years under the British Kingdom which ended at the beginning of the 19 th century. During the British period, Saba was a hideout for Jamaican pirates often joined by English people who were send to the island because considered “undesirable” by the homeland authorities. After the Dutch regain control of the island in the 1816, the legitimate trading and sailing become the main activities till when stating in the 1960s tourism was steadily growing importance also thanks to the construction of an airport and a vessel pear. Nowadays to...

  Jamaica is one of the most famous island countries in the Caribbean thanks to its history, nature, rum and lifestyle but also to popular Jamaicans such as Bob Marley and Usain Bolt. The Island is located 145 km south of Cuba and 191 Km west of Hispaniola and after them, it is the third largest one of the Caribbean Under Spanish domain till 1655 when the island was conquered by British who renamed it Jamaica. During the English period, Jamaica was leading the sugar export with its plantations.  Independent since 1962, today Jamaica has a population of almost 3 million people, a stable democratic government with a constitutional monarchy headed by Elizabeth II as Queen of Jamaica. In the last decade, the island saw an important economic growth and a general improvement of life quality. Mining, agriculture and tourism are the main pillars of the Jamaican economy. With an average of 4,3 millions visitors a year, in 2019 tourism accounted for 20% of the Country GDP with a positi...

Haiti shears Hispaniola island with the Dominican Republic but unfortunately it didn't share the same fate. In fact, the history of Haiti has been particularly troubled in many ways. Since its independence, Haiti went through several authoritarian regimes including 20 years of  American occupation. Till today, the political unrest is a constant of the country history. In addition to the political instability, Haiti has been signed by continues  natural catastrophes such as hurricanes and earthquakes devastating the land, the economy and the life of Haitians. As result, today Haiti has a underdeveloped economy, social unrest and an uncertain future. The tourism industry may be one of the best option for the country development but at the moment very little has been done about it. Hopefully Haiti will be able to gain stability, to grow an healthy economy and to have a florid tourism industry but it will take several years. All the present criticalities and the uncertainties for ...

 Curacao, the C of the ABC islands, is where this project actually started.  We spent two wonderful weeks there and we met several people who emigrated there because tired of ordinary life and they all inspired us to look for an alternative way of living. The island is a former Dutch colony with an independent Government but still part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The fact that Curacao is independent but with a strong link with Europe represents an advantage because for us immigration procedures would be simpler than other Caribbean countries and at the same time we would enjoy the Caribbean relaxed management stile (including of course the issues). In addition to that, the positive aspects are great scuba diving sites, mostly shore dive, reasonably priced real estate, away from hurricanes area, increasing support to sustainability and ocean conservation policies, good potential for environmentally conscious tourism coming from Europe. So while we will keep exploring all...

Bonaire is the B of the well known ABC islands which are the three Leeward Antilles islands former Dutch colonies. Actually Bonaire is formally a special municipality of country of The Netherlands. The island is consider one of the top dive destination worldwide and in particular Bonaire is famous for being THE location for shore diving since no other place has so many dive sites reachable by shore. All the island is basically dedicated to diving tourism. mostly coming from North America, in fact beside the cruises tourists, almost all staying-over tourists are linked to diving. Compared with Curacao, Bonaire is smaller and offer not much more beside diving which is an aspect to consider well because it could be too limiting for a long period living. Additionally the island is in fact The Netherlands and this is not matching the idea to live in another country. Real estate prices are relative more expensive than the other two ABC islands, possibly due to the fact that the amount of acc...

Barbados is an independent island Country of 432 sq Km in the Lesser Antilles with a population of less than 300,000 people, part of the Commonwealth.  Independent since 1966, Barbados is expected to remove the Queen and to become a republic  by November 2021. The capital of this former British colony is Bridgetown. The economy is mixed and well developed. Historically, the local economy was based on sugar cane cultivation but gradually tourism and finance became the main drivers. In the recent years, Barbados attracted an average of 1,2M tourists equally divided between cruises and stayovers. Almost 90% of the tourists came from UK and North America, very few from Europe and almost exclusively from Germany. Due to hurricanes season, the tourism peaks between December and April and in July. Stayovers accommodation is mainly in hotels and resort even though the offer of houses and apartment is growing. The prices of real estate properties are middle-high but it seem...

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Caribbean and consists of more than 700 islands. A former British colony, independent since 1973, and a very well known tourist destination. More than half of its GDP is coming from tourism which employ as well more than 50% of Bahamas population. Quite some years ago, we had our first Caribbean holiday there in a Club Med resort which does not exist anymore and it was fantastic. Despite Bahamas is a wonderful place with excellent diving opportunities, it will not be one of our project potential destination since its tourism is based for more than 70% on cruise ships and the rest on luxurious resorts. The real estate choice is limited to very expensive high end residences. The present Bahamas economical model of tourism is a bit too far from our idea of sustainable and personally tailored vacation experience...so let's move on.  

We all have our own dreams and most of them remain what they are. We need dreams because they provide us hopes, motivation and sometimes comfort. No, this blog is not about a dream.  It is about a project, our project. Because the project resembles one of the most common and obvious dreams, someone may think a dream was how this all began. In reality the project origin is very much more rational. We have reached the middle of our life and have realized that we are ready for a different one. Our life is great but somehow its meaning is ending, we have changed, the world has changed and so our life has to change as well. Changing life for us doesn't mean better life, it simply means a different life. We are not in search of happiness because we already have it and in any case changing life would not make us happier. Actually, the aim is to live a simpler and more sustainable life, with human contact to transfer our passion. We are passionate about the ocean and its underwater world. ...