Although the semester is coming to a close, and the majority of the students
are looking forward to returning home, we have all experienced many
adventures and collected many memories that will accompany us back home. It
is difficult to single out one experience that has been the most enjoyable,
because there have been so many. I enjoyed the gorgeous diving and
snorkeling in the South Caicos waters. Taking the group trip to Ambergris only
added to the beautiful coral reefs I have seen. Learning in the water hasn’t been
half bad either. My friends will be quite envious when I tell them that I took
tests underwater! Aside from all the adventures, the most fun that I have had
here on South Caicos is meeting 28 other students from all over the country.
Some of the friendships that I have made here will no doubt last a lifetime.
Is it a good idea for South Caicos to have a big tourist industry?
....Todd N., Miami, Florida, USA
by Sylvia Gill, 5/3/97, South Caicos Island
Personally, I feel that large-scale tourism would not be the best thing for South
Caicos Island. South Caicos has a wonderful and valuable ecology to it, and I
believe that large-scale development would only harm it. In terms of the local
economy, however, some small-scale development would be a good idea. This
two-sided opinion is typical when you have tourists coming to visit a pristine
area, yet their very presence can have serious impacts on the ecology of the
area. On South Caicos, increased tourism would require building hotels along
beaches such as East Bay or Bell Sound. These beaches are of great ecological
importance to island industries such as the conch and lobster fisheries. With
increased development you will get impacts on the local ecosystem such as
increased erosion, sedimentation of the reef, and destruction of underwater
nursery grounds. All of this leads to the degradation of the health of the reef,
which, in turn, will hurt tourism. This is a bad cycle. Would you like to go visit a
dead coral reef? I wouldn’t. It’s a tough call between healthy systems and
economic prosperity.
