Project Calypso

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 ...

Grenada is an island country of the West Indies at the south end of Grenadines islands chain. Independent since 1974,  after being initially part of the Commonwealth, Grenada went through a decade of  coups and revolutionary governments which end with the invasion of U.S. forces. Since then the island returned within the Commonwealth with a relatively stable political situation. The territory is les than 350 SqrKm with a population of less than 125,000 people. The economy is mainly based on tourism and nutmeg export. Nutmeg is so much part of Grenada's culture and life that is it even depicted on the national flag Tourism is the largest source of foreign exchange mainly coming from North America and U.K., instead the amount of European tourists is very limited but that could represent an opportunity for our project. Diving tourism is considered an important part and the Grenada Tourism authority believe in the potential and it is investing and promoting it and supports project...

The Dominican Republic is the sovereign country shearing the famous Hispaniola island with Haiti. It is the second larger country in the Antilles by area after Cuba and the third by population with more than 10 millions habitants speaking Spanish as official language. Santo Domingo is the well known capital. Dominican Republic is the most visited country of all the Caribbean thanks to its climate and the natural diversity. In the recent years, ecotourism has grown significantly bringing excellent progress in energy efficiency and waste recycling. Tourism together with agriculture contributed to develop the larger economy of the Caribbean which created a significant immigration flow from other Caribbean countries especially from the closed Haiti. Traditionally, Dominican Republic is not a scuba diving destination, the diving spots are relatively limited not because of poor marine life but mainly because traditionally the tourism industry focused on white beaches, resorts and...

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...

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...