OK, I'll start this one off.
How about Chris (& Dana) Reeve who used to frequent the Green Parrot. For those who may not know, Chris was the marvelous actor who portrayed "Superman" amongst some other great films which he starred in.

The obvious ... Capt. Don

Hmm, Vince -- Christopher Reeve died in 2004...

James Coburn & Gene Hackman have both been here.

Tom and Katie Cruise!

Jeff, I think Vince meant prior to his death.. The Green Parrot is an old reference...

Henny Huisman, Barry Hay, Rene Shuman & Angel Eye.

A lot of them. Harry Belafonte has been there too while I was away.

Kelly, you must be right...didn't think of that. It sounded present tense to me, but I hadn't had any caffeine yet.

The reference reminded me of the wonderful times we had at the old Green Parrot. It was a great place...

I was there. I'm a published author. So I'm famous... right?

e.

Gijs, The Secretary of The State, was there too. We were at the same time!

(Message edited by william on February 4, 2011)

Sharon Stone - '93 or '94 - white jeans, flimsy tank top, airport, kept it all quiet while on island about 2 years after Basic Instinct.

I was doing an airport survey and got to ask her questions. My mind was elsewhere of course and I have no clue of what she said.

Must say, as super as Capt Don is he never effected me that way...hahaha

We were staying at Sand Dollar in the late 80's. I remember these two divers vividly since the son who was with his father wore a tee shirt which read "Dive deep or go home". They were constantly gabbing/arguing (loudly)back & forth which is why they caught my attention as well as the T shirt. Both appeared to have forceful personalities. I thought to myself, "well you meet all types on dive boats".
.
Their names were Chris & Chrissy Rouse, who were the subject of Bernie Chowdhury's "The Last Dive".
A VERY interesting book for those who have never read it.

our first stay at the divi 1986 april. we had buzz aldron the astronaut on our dive boat.

neat

Alan Young "Wilbur Post" of Mr. Ed fame was at Divi with us one year. What a wonderful man and he had just taken up diving in his 70's! The Nick at Night shirt gave him away!

Vince, I've never read "The Last Dive" but I've read "Shadow Divers" and it was the absolute best book I've ever read. Such a sad story, sounds like father & son were the best of friends, I can't imagine the pain friends & family experienced at losing them both.

We've never seen anyone famous......yet!

Trish..Yea, if memory serves me correctly "Shadow Divers" by Rob Kurson was also written about two divers who were on the scene with Chrissie & Chris (Chatterton & Kohler)& also dove the same infamous sub off the coast of NJ. I do know that Rich Kohler made an appearance at the Beneath The Sea symposium in Secaucus NJ several years ago.

Between you & me, I am one of those "who just don't get it" why some folks would risk their lives going inside an old mangled German sub 230 feet below the surface in frigid water with 10 foot viz. Really, it's beyond me. By the way when Chrissie & Chris dove it, I believe they were breathing air!

Do yourself a favor & find the book. A great read. You'll enjoy it.

Oh back on topic, another famous personality visiting Bonaire was Paul Allen from Microsoft. Saw pics of his "little boat" which was offshore.

Glenn Close--saw her in the airport picking up luggage, then again having dinner at Richard's with her extended family, and then again on the tourist road driving a pick-up truck with her grandaughter in the passenger seat. Wanted so much to bump into her coming out of the water so I could say, "Bring me those puppies!" (i.e. her role as Cruella DaVille in 101 Dalmatians)

Don't forget Queen Beatrix!

Elaine, Buzz Aldron? That is insanely cool!

The fish don't care.........

Cause the fish are famous...

Decades ago, early 80's Stan Waterman at Divi. He was doing a slide show and I recognized his voice as before I saw him.
Amazingly he is still at it.
Mick

Buzz Aldron would have been AWESOME!

Vince, I have that book, "The Last Dive". I'm only about 2/3 of the way through it, though. It was stressing me out to read it... I'm with you, I just don't GET why you'd want to do that.

Hello BT'er-
In 1999 we met Latino singer sensation Celia Cruz. At that time we had no idea what an icon she was, especially in the Latino community.

We were there for a week staying at The Plaza and kept seeing posters of her all over the island. Plus we kept hearing radio commercials for her concert on the Saturday we were leaving.

So the Friday night before we leave we go to Flamingo airport to return our rental car and the place was packed. Looked like a Grateful Dead tailgating party. We didn't have any idea what was going on until my wife said, "I wonder if Celia's plane is landing?"

Sure enough that's what was going on. A plane lands, the flash of cameras going off, people cheering and stuff.

So we return our car, walk back The Plaza and you could feel there was a buzz about the place. Staff was all over the place. Running here, running there.

Finally my wife stops one of the housekeepers and says, "Is Celia staying here?"

The house keeper says, "Yes, she's walking right in front of you!"

So I grab our camera, run up to her and say, "Celia, Celia, can I take your picture?"

"No"

"Please?"

“No”

"Please?"

"No, I'm tired" she says.

I then say, "You know what, I'm tired too!"

See then turns around and laughs and says, "OK."

And with that I got a great picture with her smiling. She was a great sport and a fabulous singer.

When we got home we ended up purchasing her "Best of" CD.

So the following Spring we're unloading the car full of groceries and such. I put on the CD, crank it up, and open the kitchen windows.

We're jamming to the tunes, putting away stuff and there's a knock at the door. I open it and there's Latino couple standing out there, both holding what looks to be a holding a bible.

I say like, "can I help you?"

The both looked stunned and the guy says, "We're here recruiting folks for a new church we're starting. We heard Celia's music and knocked on your door because we thought you might both be Latino!"

(Oh, by the way, I’m Polish/Italian and my wife's Irish/German!!!)

Well Kelly, be sure to read the whole book! Can not imagine being trapped inside a cold dark sub, with cables & wires around my neck in zero viz under the intense influence of narcosis at that extreme depth.
Certainly, NOT a way I'd prefer to go. I'm sure you're quite excited with your upcoming trip. Do have fun (I'm sure you will)!

**Nick** Great story!

I'm just amazed they put themselves in that position. I'll make a point of finishing it, but probably not until AFTER I get back from Bonaire. lol. Yes, I'm getting verrrry excited!

I read the book some years ago. I think the disaster was the result of a Macho problem between the two men.
My 2cts

Other than getting stuck, the problem was that they were breathing air instead of tri-mix to save money. They were narced after exerting the effort to get out and couldn't relocate their deco bottles, which had been staged outside the wreck.

Kob..EXACTLY..Helluva way to economize! And yes Mickey...macho was a big problem. Below 200 feet on air in an extremely dangerous environment? C'mon. Get brain in gear.

Kelly, I believe Mr. Chowdhury explained the "why" very well towards the beginning of the book. Pushing the envelope can be inviting/addicting to those that are so inclined. Many dove deep (well past accepted limits) on air (some still do) - it just wasn't our time.

Some were also blending Nitrox in garages/basement when the major certification agencies and most equipment manufacturers wouldn't even consider it's use and even went as far as to forbid it's promotion in exhibits at DEMA conventions.

EVERY TYPE OF DIVING, EVERY PIECE OF DIVING GEAR, EVERY TYPE OF DIVING GAS, in use today, was made possible because someone pushed just a little further!

Trish, thank you for pointing out the obvious, the Rouses were, not only father and son but, they were also the best of friends. Chris Sr. died trying to save his son, Junior would have done the same. May they be Deep Diving wrecks or caves together in heaven, if there is such a place.

Sorry for the rant but, when I see a good man and his son's intelligence questioned I just want to ...

click

Tom -- excellent point. Many of the techniques and gear advances that are common today in rec scuba evolved from tec & cave.

I'm just such a baby when it comes to that type of thing. I like to keep it simple and easy! But you're right, we can be thankful to the pioneers of diving! Now I'm really going to have to finish that dang book!

Should I post the obvious?

Ned and Anna Deloach, every September at Buddy.

Tom..I assume your "rant" was in response to my posting and specific comment of "Get brain in gear". I believe you misunderstood what I was stating.

Having been involved in diving for a very long time, I have experienced first hand all the improvements which have taken place over the last 45 years.

But the improvements were not because someone "pushed just a little further", it was because of well reasoned intelligent thought. How can we make something safer? How can we improve upon what we've got. Make it better? It was done by making intelligent choices based upon good available data.

If you re read my posting you'll see I never commented upon their intelligence. Intelligent people can make dumb choices, it happens all the time.

But I certainly am (& remain) very critical of their decision making process, which was quite flawed.

And yes, rest assured I've made my share of bad decisions in the diving arena. But that's not to say I'm not intelligent, but it is to say I was lucky.

KOB, glad you understood.
Kelly, it is a great book.
Thom, thanks for getting us back on track.

New Years Eve 2010. I spotted Elvis leaving el Mundo around 11:30 pm. The bartender, told me later on that he'd ordered 2 sides of under cooked bacon and a few shots of Cadushy.

1984. Elle MacPherson. SI photo shoot.

Jerry you did NOT see Elle MacPherson!!! OMG she is stunning!!!! Did you see her up close? Is she just as pretty in person?

Not close at all, was driving by. One could not get close.

on 9/11 VP Dick Cheny's daughter was at Buddy dive..The send the US air force to to pick her and her partner up..

I do not know if they qualify as folks; but, I have felt everyones Gods while diving on Bonaire's reefs.

Santa Claus.

Somebody tried to tell me it was just a guy who ran a restaurant.

I know better.

Jane Krakowski from 30 Rock two years back...a sweet woman..