News
Check out the latest diving holiday offers from Diverse Travel
Check out the latest special offers from our friends at UK-based Tour Operator Diverse Travel:
Best of Red Sea I Emperor Asmaa I 9 – 16 November 2017 I Save £75
Dive the best top three sites in this area: Big and Little Brothers, Daedalus Reef and Elphinstone. These islands offer stunning wall diving and attract a diverse array of marine species and large pelagics. Large tuna, jacks and snappers cruise in the blue, accompanied by occasional hammerheads, silvertips, silky and oceanic white tip sharks and mantas. Even the rare thresher shark can be found here.
7 nights from £1049 per person including flights from London – save £75!
Prices is per person based on sharing a twin cabin and includes:
- Return international flights – London Gatwick – Hurghada
- 20kg hold baggage allowance
- 7 nights in shared cabin (last night either on board or in a hotel)
- 6 day’s diving, guide, 12 litre tanks, weights
- Full board & soft drinks, red wine with dinner
- Environmental tax
- Marine Park fees and port departure fees
- Free Nitrox (subject to availability)
- Airport transfers
- Full ATOL protection
See all Diverse Travel special offers here
Indonesia I Manado + Lembeh Combo | Last Minute Offer
Eco Divers. From just £1850 with diving, flights and accommodation.
Dive two of the world’s greatest dive places with an award-winning dive centre and here’s your recipe for holiday happiness.
Home to a huge concentration of unusual marine species as well as reef sharks, turtles, eagle rays, Napoleon wrasse, even dugong and orca!
Most sites are within easy reach from your hotel and yet they’re never crowded. The reefs of Bunaken National Marine Park are rich and unspoilt with abundant soft coral and fish life whilst the Lembeh Strait is arguably the best place in the world for macro photography.
10 nights from £1850 per person including:
- International return flights – London Heathrow on Singapore Air/SilkAir via Singapore
- 30kg baggage allowance
- 5 nights’ sharing air-conditioned Superior Room, Mercure Manado Resort
- 5 days’ boat diving Bunaken (up to 2 guided day-dives per day*) with cylinders & weights
- 5 nights’ sharing air-conditioned room, Eco Divers Resort Lembeh
- 4 days’ boat diving Lembeh Strait (up to 3 guided day-dives per day) with cylinders & weights
- Full Board Meal Plan including mineral water
- All local transfers according to the itinerary
- Government taxes
- Full ATOL protection
* Upgrade to 3-dive package: £23/day
Valid for stays between 01 – 30 September and 24 October – 30 November 2017
See all Diverse Travel special offers here
South Africa I 9 nights I Aliwal Shoal Diving + Great White Cage Diving I Cape Town
The best of both worlds; diving the iconic Aliwal Shoal and then onto the great magnet of South Africa, cage diving with great whites!
Price: £1999 per person based on sharing a twin/double room, including:
- Return international flights to Durban return from Cape Town on Emirates (via Dubai)
- 6 nights’ Full Board in twin/double room, Blue Ocean Resort, Umkomaas
- 8 dives: 6 Aliwal Shoal reef dives (2-tank morning trips) + 2 Baited Shark Dives
- Round trip airport transfers from Durban King Shaka International Airport
- One-way domestic flight Durban to Cape Town
- 3 days’ Cape Town car hire (Avis VW Polo TSI B Plus + GPS)
- 3 nights’ B&B, Mountain Facing Room, Quayside Hotel, Simon’s Town (Cape Town)
- 2 Seal Island Cage Dive Trips
- Government taxes
- Full ATOL Protection
Price does not include daily conservation levy of R114 (approx. £7).
These offers must be booked before 30 September 2017.
Travel must take place before 31 December 2017.
See all Diverse Travel special offers here
Oman Red Dhow | 7 – 14 October | from £1565
Just 80 miles from Dubai is Oman’s little-known Musandam Peninsula – an area of outstanding natural beauty. Dramatic vertical cliffs in meandering bays plunge into the azure seas below, giving Musandam the affectionate nickname, ‘the fjords of the Gulf’. Deep and cool upwelling water provide a rich plankton soup attracting a huge variety of marine life; whale shark, sun fish, pilot whales, lobsters, hawksbill, green turtles, huge schools of snapper, barracuda and jacks. Critters galore are also in abundance making Musandam a macro-photographer’s delight.
Red Dhow is a 76ft boat with 6 standard double cabins (2 cabins sharing 1 bathroom) and two ensuite cabins. She takes no more than 14 guests.
Price from £1565 based on sharing standard twin cabin, including:
- Return economy class flights departing from London to Dubai (flights from other UK airports can be arranged)
- 7 nights’ onboard the Red Dhow in an en-suite cabin with Full Board (breakfast, lunch & dinner), water, tea & coffee, PADI Instructor and/or Divemaster on board (acting as a dive guide) with up to 3 guided day-dives per day and return airport transfers
- ATOL and full financial protection
See all Diverse Travel special offers here
Best of the Maldives | Emperor Serenity | 26 August – 03 September 2017
This is the Best of the Maldives – and it delivers exactly that. This is where you dive the best and most famous dive sites of the Maldives in a week of wonderful liveaboard diving across Male and Ari atolls. Awaiting you are channels, drifts and pinnacles where you have every chance of meeting mantas, whale sharks and mesmerising marine life of so many varieties. Dive site flexibility is the key, so no matter what time of the year you visit, this itinerary gives you a mix of big fish such as shark and manta dives as well as reef dives, reef fish, morays and the abundant macro life.
Price from £2065 including:
- Return economy class flights departing from London
- 7 nights onboard Emperor Serenity in a shared cabin with 3 meals a day, afternoon snacks, unlimited drinking water, tea & coffee, 6 days diving with a total of 17 dives (inc 1 night dive), guide, tanks & weights, free Nitrox, 1 BBQ dinner on uninhabited island (weather allowing), Male city tour (on request), all local taxes and return airport transfers
- ATOL and full financial protection
- Not included: Diving equipment, alcohol, soft drinks & juices.
See all Diverse Travel special offers here
Fiji Volivoli Offer | Book 7 nights, pay for only 5
- Volivoli Beach Resort | Fiji | 2 nights FREE
- PLUS 2 FREE dives
- PLUS FREE Nitrox*
Fiji has so very much to offer from the diving to nature, beautiful beaches and welcoming local people. Here lies a perfect blend of white sandy beaches, coral reef, a sunny year-round climate and that friendly Fijian hospitality and culture.
A pearl of Fiji, Volivoli Beach Resort is tucked away on the northernmost tip of Viti Levu and promises guests a welcoming relaxed indulgence. Being just a short boat ride from the enticing dive sites of Bligh Waters the Resort is family-run by the Darling family who have over 20 years’ experience of diving in these waters. Probably one of the best locations in Fiji for a diving holiday, Volivoli Beach is home to Ra Divers, a fully certified PADI and SSI Dive Resort with over 18 years’ experience.
Conditions of offer: Travel dates: Until 31st March 2018
See all Diverse Travel special offers here
Truk Lagoon Special Offer | Save up to £425pp* | SS Thorfinn
- Book a week onboard Thorfinn diving the wrecks of Truk Lagoon and save up to £425pp*.
- Book and pay your deposit before end of July 2017 for all travel dates until the end of 2018 (subject to availability).
*Discount based on a Tek Divers’ package.
Nestled in the South West Pacific, imagine sunshine days and a wondrous delight above and below the water. The journey’s end is well worth the time taken to get here. Once a WWII Japanese stronghold, the Americans’ destroyed more aircraft and ships in a two day attack than any other during the war.
For more information or to book, call Diverse Travel on Freephone 0800 915 4436, email info@diversetravel.co.uk or visit www.diversetravel.co.uk.
Marine Life & Conservation
Shark Trust launches Oceanic 31 Shark Art Auction
After a two-year tour of UK art galleries, community spaces and aquariums, the Shark Trust’s acclaimed Oceanic31 exhibition takes its final bow at the Royal Geographical Society later this month. And the unique collection of artwork, depicting 31 species of oceanic sharks and rays, donated by 31 artists, is now open for bids from art lovers and shark enthusiasts. The online auction, launched today, will close on the 7th December at 8pm (BST). The money raised will support the Shark Trust Oceanics Programme.
People can now bid on 27 of the artworks by visiting this website:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
It is a chance to own a beautiful piece of original art and to support the Shark Trust. The timing of the auction also means that these would make a very special Christmas gift for any shark-lover.
The diversity of pieces mirrors that of the sharks and rays they represent. You can bid on paintings, digital creations, sculptures, mixed media and more. You can pick your favourite artist or species of shark. Or you can select the perfect artwork to make a statement in your home or office. Whichever you choose, you will be supporting the work to protect these amazing animals.
One of the pieces of art has been selected to be auctioned live by Steve Backshall at the For the Love of Sharks event at the Royal Geographical Society in London on the 29th November. In addition to this, two further pieces will be raffled at this event, giving people a chance to win an incredible piece of shark art. For the Love of Sharks is the Shark Trust’s flagship evening. A night to celebrate sharks. Steve Backshall is the headline speaker at this event that will see other prominent shark advocates join him on stage.
Tickets for the event can be snapped up here:
https://thesharktrust.org.uk/Event/flos24
Those that would like to see the Oceanic 31 exhibition have one final chance. It is being displayed at the Pavilion at the Royal Geographic Society from 26th November until the 7th December. Entry is free.
Find out more here:
https://www.rgs.org/events/upcoming-events/oceanic-31
Paul Cox, Shark Trust CEO, Said “This exhibition has given us the opportunity to reach out to a new audience. And inspire more people with the wonderful sharks and rays on which our Big Shark Pledge campaign is based. We are immensely grateful to the 31 artists who have worked so hard to create these works.”
Bid for your favourite Oceanic 31 artwork here:
https://superstars-auctions.com/sharktrustauction
Banner Image: Smooth Hammerhead by Alicia Hayden
Gear News
Introducing the RS Series Drysuit from DYNAMICNORD
Cozy and warm in cold water.
It’s drysuit season all year round. With the new RS series premium drysuits from DYNAMICNORD, divers are perfectly equipped for all cold waters.
The sophisticated cut of the RS drysuits allows complete freedom of movement, providing maximum comfort. The high-quality 350 g/m² ripstop material with double ripstop zones on the elbows, knees, and crotch protect ensures extreme robustness as well as long life.
The suit’s features leave nothing to be desired: A high-quality TiZip zipper, easily adjustable inlet and outlet valves, upgradeable with electrically heated underwear, HP bottleneck cuffs made of high-strength latex on the wrists, a 3mm neoprene neck cuff for maximum comfort, a 7mm hood with air outlet and 3mm boots made of double-sided, cross-layered neoprene with ankle straps and fin strap stoppers and a protective but very flexible sole.
Noteworthy is the Molle fastening system, which can be used in a variable and compatible manner. This way, the two detachable leg pockets can be attached easily, safely and comfortably.
Alterations of boots to a different shoe size or adjustments to neck or wrist cuffs are done free of charge at the own DYNAMICNORD service centre in Germany in only a couple of days.
The matching Dynaskins made with high-quality Polartec® technology are available in various designs. As an undersuit under the drysuit, as a single suit in warm waters or as a two-piece suit. Polartec® technology’s main features are neutral buoyancy, breathablilty and quick-drying.
Dynaskins are made largely from recycled plastic bottles.
The drysuit RS-351 for men and RS-352 for women are now available at your DYNAMICNORD dealer and in the online store.
Colors men and women: Black-Blue and Black-Burgundy
Sizes men: XS-4XL incl. intermediate sizes MS, MT, MLS, MLT, LS, LT, XLS, XLT, 2XLS, 3XLS, 4XLS
Sizes Women: XS-XL incl. intermediate sizes MS, MT, LS, XLS
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