Project Calypso

This project started as an answer to our need of change but at the beginning it wasn’t really clear which direction we wanted to take. The reasons for such a need were pretty unclear and so were the expectations, in fact what we had was nothing more than the feeling that something was not correct, somehow. But there was actually nothing we could say we were missing because we actually had and still have everything. Things started clearing up few years ago after a short swim in the wonderful crystal-clear sea waters of one Elba island’s beach, when I got my hand full of tiny small pieces of plastic. By looking at the sea from the beach, the Mediterranean water was appearing to be one of the cleanest on hearth, but the reality was different: it was a soup of tiny pieces of plastic garbage, almost unnoticeable. That hand covered in plastic was for us a punch in the face. As ocean lover, we were quite familiar with everything endangering our oceans, and more extensively our planet, but su

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, effortable re

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.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is the island country of the Lesser Antilles laying between Saint Lucia on the North and Grenada on the South. The territory is composed by the main island of Saint Vincent with the capital Kingstown and a chain of 32 smaller islands many of which are inhabitated by a total population of 110,000 people. After an intial period when the islands were under French control, they has been maintly a British colony till the 1979 when they gained full indipendency. Nowadays Saint Vincent is a parlamentary democarcy and a constututional monarchy with Elizabeth II as Queen. Since its indipendance, the state had political stability without any major issues. Saint Vincent is a volcanic island with moist forest while southern islands has dryer forest ecosystems. In April 2021 the main volcano La Soufriere erupted, 16,000 people had to be evaquated and ashes covered part of the island. Climate is the typical tropical one, hot and humid with dry season from December to

  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 are o

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 a c

  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 positive trend

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 the f

Officially "Commonwealth of ", Dominica is an island country of the Windwards island in the Lesser Antilles archipelago. Independent republic since 1978, the island has a past of French first and British later colony.  Main activity is cultivation and export of bananas, the economy is not well developed resulting in low GDP, one of the lowest in the Caribbean. The island natural environment is well preserved and in the recent years its rain forests, hot springs, waterfall and underwater life started to become attractive and the ecotourism has been growing while the absence of typical tropical beaches has kept traditional tourism low. Unfortunately the island is often hit by hurricanes which in the latest years have been increasing in frequency and force causing massive damages to the island with loss of human lives and destruction of infrastructures and economy. As positive consequence the Government is now determined to make Dominica the first "hurricanes proof" co

 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 the oppo