Six Senses
Bangkok – 26th April 2011:
A recognized innovator in environmental
sustainability, Six Senses Resorts & Spas will host Six Senses Watermen,
the
Maldives’ first gathering of water sports icons and the world’s leading
water conservationists, September 30th to October 4th, 2011.
Watermen, from legendary surfers, windsurfers and kite
surfers to divers and free divers will offer clinics to Six Senses Laamu guests
while renowned musicians jam on the sandbanks. Conservationists will lead
riveting dialogues and debates on the most pressing marine and drinking water
issues facing our planet today while chefs keep everyone sustained with
ethically sourced gourmet food, best enjoyed with biodynamic wines from
Australia’s Margaret River.
Palm fringed and postcard perfect, the Maldives boasts an
array of breaks that have lured international surfers for more than 35 years
and a rich, kaleidoscopic underwater eco-system. Global industrial growth, most
of it very far away, has brought the Maldives to the frontline in the battle
against rising sea levels. What happens to the Maldives and its 400,000
inhabitants may foretell the future of coastal regions around the globe.
For fifteen years, Six Senses has led the effort to
protect these precious 1,190 islands draped like a delicate necklace over the
equator.
From this year forward, Six Senses Watermen offers an
innovative, meaningful opportunity to play in the Indian Ocean among living
legends while playing a unique part to move our global community, in the words
of Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed and Time magazine Hero of the
Environment, “from apathy to action.”
This timely gathering will take place at the new Six
Senses Laamu, the only resort in remote Laamu Atoll, 150 km north of the
equator and famed for its ultrafine soft sand. The closest neighbours on
Olhuveli Island are frolicking dolphins and a full Technicolor spectrum of
tropical fish living along Laamu’s pristine coral reef.
Laamu’s ninety-seven responsibly luxurious villas sit back
on the beach nestled among the lush indigenous vegetation or over the clear
turquoise lagoon. Each offers complete privacy along with Six Senses signature
creature comforts. Using local, sustainable materials allowed Six Senses to
make only the lightest footprint on this otherwise untouched paradise.
Word has already spread around the world, luring
passionate legends and world leaders in conservation to become Six Senses
Watermen, including:
Pascal Bronnimann (SUI,
+H2O long time pro wind surfer and Diamond Head Pro-Am winner)
Levi Siver (USA, +H2O
windsurf wave riding champion and surfer)
Jake Miller (USA, +H2O
windsurf wave riding and freestyle rider)
Keith Teboul (MAD, +H2O
long time pro wind surfer)
Herbie Fletcher
(USA, Longboard surfing legend and artist)
Chris Garrett (AUS, Gold Coast
eco-surfer)
Archie Kalepa (USA,
Legendary watermen, Hawaiian lifeguard captain)
Buzzy Kerbox (USA,
World Cup surf winner, co-inventor of tow-in surfing with Laird Hamilton and
longtime face of Ralph Lauren Polo Sport)
Kai Lenny (USA, Maui born 17 year old
stand up paddling world champion and Naish protégé)
Takuji Masuda (JPN,
Kamakura born longboarder and surf documentarian)
Bob McTavish (AUS, Australian surfer,
storyteller and short board inventor)
Tripoli
Patterson (USA, surf champion and New York gallerist)
Terry Simms (USA, 25 year surf pro
and one of the finest surf coaches in the world)
Davey Blair (USA, Naish Team kite
surfer)
Alex Caizergues (FRA, Kite surf speed
world champion)
Sean and Jesse Richman (USA, Kite
surfing champion brothers)
Mark
Shinn (GBR, 2 times Kite surfing World champion)
Duncan
Zuur (NED, one of Europe’s most successful kite surfer and wake boarder)
Matt
Meola (USA, Innersection Award Winner, young surfing star)
Bernd Breymann
(GER, Catamaran world champion)
Sara Campbell (GBR, Free diving world
champion)
Fabien Cousteau (FRA,
Third generation French ocean explorer, aquatic filmmaker and Founder of Plant
A Fish)
Dr. Jacqueline Chan (USA,
Co-founder of Water Charity)
Carl Gustaf Lundin (SUI,
Director, Global Marine Programme, International Union for the Conservation of
Nature)
Dr. Callum Roberts (GBR,
Marine conversation biologist and oceanographer)
Jane Seymour
(GBR, Actress and environmentalist)
Averill Strasser (USA, Founder of
WaterCharity)
Charles
Clover (GBR, Author, The End of the Line, documentary about overfishing)
Prahlad Kakkar (IND,
Indian filmmaker, diver and Reef Watch Marine Conservation co-founder)
Shekhar Kapur (IND, Golden Globe
winning Indian filmmaker of the forthcoming Paani exploring Mumbai’s shrinking
water supply)
Jim Thebaut (USA, Documentary
filmmaker of Running Dry and hydro-philanthropist)
Christo Edwards (AUS, Margaret
River winemaker and surfer)
Mick
Scott (AUS, Australian winemaker and waterman)
Jason Mraz (USA. International chart topping
singer and surfer)
All these luminaries and more will gather at Six Senses
Laamu for seven days in support of the following international charities:
Blue Marine
Foundation
(
www.bluemarinefoundation.com
), created by
Chris Gorell Barnes, the producer of “The End of the Line”, the defining
documentary about over-fishing. This recent initiative works to place 10% of
the world’s oceans into secure marine reserves by 2020, beginning with Chagos
Islands, an area rich in marine biodiversity, south of the Maldives. Watermen
will help secure marine protected areas in the Maldives.
Plant A Fish
(
www.plantafish.org
) is a hands-on
marine education and restoration effort led by 3rd generation ocean explorer
Fabian Cousteau to engage local communities around the globe through schools,
businesses and government agencies to "re-plant" aquatic plants and
animals in environmentally stressed areas.
Water Charity
(www.watercharity.org), a top ranked non-profit that provides safe drinking
water, effective sanitation and health education to those in need. Since 2008,
Six Senses contributions and cooperation by banning the importation of plastic
water bottles from our properties has given over 350,000 people access to safe
drinking water.
When not in the water, Six Senses Watermen will host
diverse and stimulating events including a marine restoration in the Maldives
workshop with Fabien Cousteau,Chagos Islands marine conservation update by Blue Marine
Foundation and debates among the marine biologists & water sports legends
on our most pressing water issues and the challenges of raise global awareness.
Outdoor activities like beach cleanups and coral reef restorations will balance
out the intellectual while a mural painting workshop will engage the local
community alongside our legendary Watermen. After dark, the lights will shine
on our cinema under the stars, featuring groundbreaking environmental
documentaries Running Dry, The End of the Line and more.
Packages for likeminded water enthusiasts to participate
in this exciting, one-of-a-kind mind expanding gathering are available for four
nights (US$6,000 for two people or US$4,400 single) and seven nights (US$9,900
for two people or US$ 7,400 single) including all breakfasts and dinners, the
Barefoot Gala Dinner, a limited number of clinics or spa treatments and round
trip seaplane transfer flights.
Proceeds from guests’ stays will be donated to Blue Marine
Foundation, Plant A Fish and Water Charity and Six Senses Carbon Offset
Programme will offset international flights to the Maldives.
For
all further information and images please contact your regional Six Senses PR
representative or Steve Keeney, Six Senses PR Director
steve@sixsenses.com
.