Bocce, the Italian bowling game increasingly popular around the world, will get a new twist with Eagle Ray Cove resort’s underwater bocce pitch. (photo courtesy of Lomrjyo)
Blacktip Island’s Eagle Ray Cove resort this week unveiled a new underwater bocce ball court near the Eagle Ray Divers boat dock, aiming to attract more visitors to the small Caribbean island.
“Bocce’s all the rage these days, and we thought we’d take the next logical step with it,” Eagle Ray Cove owner Rich Skerritt said. “If it’s that popular topside, underwater’ll make it even better. We built the court up in the hardpan, where the balls roll better. We tried it in the sand, but they just stopped wherever they landed.
“To make it work underwater, we melted lead weights and cast them into three-pound balls,” Skerritt said. “We also ground the limestone substrata smooth for the perfect court surface. There’s already been tons of interest in it, from locals and tourists.”
Some long-time residents were skeptical of the idea.
“It’s a fad, like everything else like this on Blacktip,” Donna Requin said. “It’ll be Flavor of the Month until people get bored and switch to something else. It’s like when half the island was training for the Boston Marathon. Or the sand sledding. Give it a few months and people will have forgotten it.”
Others were concerned about the activity’s environmental impact.
“There’s all sorts of fragile sea life on the hardpan,” Marine Parks spokesperson Val Schrader said. “Rich’s folks destroyed them all grinding down viable ecosystems to make a level court. And what damage did the silt from this atrocity do to the surrounding reefs?
“And on top of that, they’re going to have people walking on the sea bed,” Schrader said. “What the court construction didn’t kill, weighted boots will. And flying balls leeching lead into the ocean is an environmental nightmare.”
Skerritt brushed that criticism aside.
“People aren’t seeing how this is the future,” he said. “This is Blacktip’s chance to claim the global forefront in resort amenities. It’ll take our already-stellar tourism product to the next level. We’re on the cusp of becoming the epicenter of the underwater bocce world. Not even Tiperon has this.
“We’re looking at building a new, underwater bocce-centric resort down the coast,” Skerritt said. “We’ll have fresh- and salt-water courts, to appeal to everyone. The idea’s to eventually host an annual underwater bocce championship. The ball’s in our court, and we have to roll with it.”
The Blacktip Times 