Montserrat Hosts Second Annual Dive Festival

From June 26-July 2, 2010, dive enthusiasts will gather on the volcanic island of Montserrat for the second annual Montserrat Dive Festival. Held in conjunction with the destination’s bi-annual Reef Check Program, the week-long event is spearheaded by the Green Monkey Dive Shop with support from the Montserrat Tourist Board (MTB) and Scuba Montserrat.

The scheduled dive program includes a free Reef Check EcoDiver Certification course that combines classroom with field training and a two-tank dive trip to the ‘legendary isle of many kings,’ Redonda Island.

The Montserrat Dive Festival will also offer activities for adults, children and non-divers. Scenic boat tours with spectacular views of the Leeward coast of the island, the Soufrière Hills Volcano and the Pompeii-like former capital city of Plymouth, now covered in volcanic ash, will be available on June 30. Land tours are available on July 1 and include stops at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) to view the Soufrière Hills Volcano and Runaway Ghaut, where local folklore has it that visitors who drink from the spring will be drawn to the island again and again.

The eruption of the island’s Soufriere Hills Volcano in the mid-1990s created an accidental underwater nature park along the island’s more than 13 miles of coastline. As a result, sea life was given the chance to recover from the stresses of human interference and the island has become ideally suited to sustain dense and diverse marine life teaming with everything from colorful reef fish and sea plumes to stony ledges, spiny lobsters and copper sweepers. In addition, the waters surrounding Montserrat are home to playful dolphins, pipefish, eagle rays, green turtles and nurse sharks.