Courtyard Marriott North Ft Lauderdale
2440 W. Cypress Creek Road
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309-1829

Feel free to join us for dinner @ 6:00 PM in The Bistro, food and beverage service provided, located in the Courtyard By Marriott North Fort Lauderdale/Cypress Creek.  Social Time begins around 7:00 PM in the Florida Room.  The general meeting starts at 7:30 PM with our guest speaker, who will tell us about diving in the Solomon Islands and the Bilikiki liveaboard. Then officers of the club will present current events, announcements of local dives, mini-trips, status of overseas trips, announcements of social activities, and the Lobster Pot!  Please come to one of our meetings the first Thursday of each month.  Visitors and guests are welcome.

Program

The Solomon Islands

By Daniela Tombion

First, the night's guest speaker, Daniela Tombion, will tell us about the Solomon Islands, its people, its culture, and the diving - especially the Diving from Bilikiki where she was a captain for four years. This should be of interest even if you are not considering signing up for the Solomon Islands trip. Later in the evening, Nils Jacobsen will give us the practical details of the planned trip to the Solomon Islands and the Bilikiki liveaboard.

Daniela was born in Caracas Venezuela. From the early days, she developed a passion for the underwater world from being able to snorkel from a young age in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean Sea. This same passion made her travel to Egypt to keep exploring and developing her scuba diving skills. That's when she made the decision to dedicate the next years of her life to teach, explore and serve as many divers as possible. She became a Dive Instructor in the Red Sea area. Daniela and her husband signed up as dive crew for Emperor Divers – a well renowned fleet in the Red Sea. Daniela recognized liveaboards as the best way to see most of the marine life and dive as much as possible. The couple became part of the Emperor Divers Fleet and guided 800 divers or more per year for the next four years. Covering most part of the Egyptian Red Sea including the fantastic wrecks, colorful reefs, and the adventures of the Brothers Islands.

From the Red Sea, the couple took a jump to the South Pacific and she and her husband became the Onboard Managers of the great Bilikiki Cruises located in the Solomon Islands. They ran that operation for four years in one of the most beautiful places they have been.  “The waters, marine life and the people of the Solomon Islands is one of those experiences that will stay in our hearts forever. It is one of those kinds of things you can't explain with words; it takes an experience to be able to express the quality of the dives and operation.”