News
Book before 14 Feb for Scuba Travel’s great value I LOVE holiday offers
UK-based Tour Operator Scuba Travel has some wonderful offers for you and your buddy this February.
Book between 1-14 February with your partner, buddy or friend and save money on one of their I LOVE specials*:
Love Sharks I Hurricane – Red Sea Shark Quest – 1 March – £1045
Quote ‘I LOVE SHARKS’ when booking this trip with your buddy (and sharing a cabin) and save an extra £50 each!
Join the award-winning Hurricane liveaboard in the Southern Red Sea for the incredible Shark Quest itinerary.
Come face to face with pelagics in the Southern Red Sea with the most experienced team, on board the stable steel-hulled Hurricane. Avoid long transfers with a direct flight to Marsa Alam. Dive the famous Daedalus Reef, Brothers Islands, Rocky or Elphinstone, dependant on the best shark activity.
Includes return flights to Marsa Alam, 7 nights full board and fully guided diving.
Love Diving I Save £500 on the Bahamas Aggressor – 28 April to 11 August – Only £1495 (excl. flights)
Scuba Travel are delighted to now being able to offer you the Bahamas Aggressor.
Scuba divers travel to the Bahamas to find three things: dramatic walls, lush coral reefs and exciting animal encounters. Especially the big fish! Picture perfect, clear waters and drop-offs close to shore make these islands a mecca for divers of all abilities. Add into the mix blue holes, caverns and even wrecks and you have a recipe for a dream diving destination. It’s time to go exploring on the stable and welcoming Bahamas Aggressor.
This is a BOAT ONLY holiday. Scuba Travel are able to add flights with a wide range of airlines, including regional departures. Please ask your consultant for a competitive quote for any flight option. 7 nights full board including soft drinks and limited selection of local beer and wine, all boat diving, 12 ltr tanks and weights.
Love Diving I Save up to £600 on the Kona Aggressor – 28 April to 25 August – From £1695 (excl. flights)
From the historic seaside town on Kailua Kona, an exciting world underwater waits for you. The sites of west and south Kona extend past the range of day divers. Forget the world and say aloha to some of the islands best sites… Kona Aggressor II offers up to five dives a day of hassle-free diving along the western coast of the island Pinnacle, Tubestria Tunnel, The Hive, Turtle Pinnacle and Robs Reef, to name but a few of the highlights. There’s more than just manta to thrill in Hawaii.
This is a BOAT ONLY holiday. Scuba Travel are able to add flights with a wide range of airlines, including regional departures. Please ask your consultant for a competitive quote for any flight option. 7 nights full board including soft drinks and limited selection of local beer and wine, 5 dives a day on offer, 12 ltr tanks and weights.
Love Diving I Save up to £1000 on the Belize Aggressor – 5 May now only £1695
Belize is famous amongst scuba divers as it is home to the second largest barrier reef in the world, so you are guaranteed mind blowing diving on opulent walls. Famous father of scuba diving Jacques Cousteau declared Belize one of the top ten scuba diving destinations… what better recommendation could you need for your next scuba diving liveaboard holiday.
This is a BOAT ONLY holiday. Scuba Travel are able to add flights with a wide range of airlines, including regional departures. Please ask your consultant for a competitive quote for any flight option. 7 nights full board including soft drinks and limited selection of local beer and wine, 5 dives a day on offer, 12 ltr tanks and weights.
Love Critters I Join Martyn Guess on the Anilao Critter Hunt, book with your buddy and get an extra £100 per person off the special price of £2595
Quote ‘I LOVE PHOTO’ when booking a holiday to join Martyn Guess on an amazing Critter hunt in Anilao. Book with your buddy and get a further £100pp off the advertised special offer price!
Join photo pro Martyn Guess on this dedicated photo workshop in the heart of Anilao at Aiyanar Beach & Dive Resort with world class critter diving on your doorstep. Anilao has fast become one of the “must do” Macro destinations for underwater photographers. In Martyn’s view it is on a par with places like Lembeh and Ambon for macro critters. Anilao hosts annually one of the biggest global underwater shoot out competitions for macro photography for one reason – the wide range of resident critters! Enjoy 3 guided boat dives a day and 2 night dives, plus free nitrox and 8 nights full board.
Love Wrecks I Whirlwind – Red Sea – Brothers Wreck Special – 5 May
Quote ‘I LOVE WRECKS’ when booking this trip with your buddy (and sharing a cabin) and save an extra £50 each.
The Brothers’ Wreck Special takes wreck diving in the Northern Red Sea further. Wide ranging, this itinerary mixes up northern and southern destinations. Each iconic wreck follows another… the Thistlegorm one day… Numidia another. The Brothers’ Wreck Special is very much a journey through the ages, pausing at each moment in time. The Brothers’ Wreck Special really does combine unmissable wrecks and astounding diving for a more advanced itinerary that will delight.
Includes return flights, transfers, 7 nights full board, up to 18 fully guided dives, all marine park fees and 12 ltr tanks and weights.
To find out more about Scuba Travel and the dive holidays they offer call 0800 0728221, email dive@scubatravel.com or visit www.scubatravel.com.
*Available on new bookings only; no groups; terms and conditions apply. Loyalty discounts (if applicable) still apply.
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
Overnight, the wind picked up, making the planned morning dive a bit bumpy on the Zodiacs to the drop point on Thomas Reef. There, we would dive along the reef before descending through the canyon and then passing under the arch before ascending the wall with a gentle drift. The site provided great encounters with more pelagic species, including shoals of large barracuda, tuna, and bigeye trevally.
Once back on the boat, it was time to get everything tied down again as we would head back south. This time, with the wind behind us, heading to Ras Mohammed to dive Jackfish Alley for another great gentle drift wall dive before then heading up the coast towards the Gulf of Suez to moor up at the wreck of the Thistlegorm. This being the highlight wreck dive of the trip and for many onboard, including myself, it was the first time diving this iconic wreck. I had heard so much about the wreck from friends, and globally, this is a must on any diver’s list. Fortunately for us, there was only one other boat at the site, which was a rarity. A great briefing was delivered by Ahmed, who provided a detailed background about the wreck’s history along with all the required safety information as the currents and visibility at the site can be variable.
Kitting up, there was a lot of excitement on deck before entering the water and heading down the shoreline. Descending to the wreck, there was a light northerly current which reduced the visibility, making it feel more like the conditions that can be found off the Welsh coast. At 10m from the bottom, the outline of the wreck appeared as we reached the area of the wreck which had been bombed, as our mooring line was attached to part of the propeller shaft. Arriving on deck, instantly everywhere you looked there were many of the supplies which the ship was carrying, including Bren Carrier tanks and projectiles that instantly stood out.
We headed around the exterior, taking a look at the large propeller and guns mounted on deck before entering the wreck on the port side to take a look in the holds. It was incredible to see all the trucks, Norton 16H, and BSA motorcycles still perfectly stacked within, providing a real snapshot in time.
Overall, we had four dives on the Thistlegorm, where for all of the dives we were the only group in the water, and at times, there were just three of us on the whole wreck, which made it even more special, especially knowing that most days the wreck has hundreds of divers. Along with the history of the wreck, there was plenty of marine life on the wreck and around, from big green turtles to batfish, along with shoals of mackerel being hunted by trevally. Some unforgettable dives.
The final leg of the trip saw us cross back over the Suez Canal to the Gobal Islands where we planned to stay the night and do three dives at the Dolphin House for the potential of sharing the dive with dolphins. The site, which included a channel that was teeming with reef fish, especially large numbers of goatfish that swam in large shoals along the edge of the reef. These were nice relaxing dives to end the week. Unfortunately, the dolphins didn’t show up, which was okay as like all marine life they are difficult to predict and you can’t guarantee what’s going to be seen. With the last dive complete, we headed back to port for the final night where it was time to clean all the kit and pack before the departure flight the next day.
The whole week from start to finish on Ghazala Explorer was amazing; the boat had all the facilities you need for a comfortable week aboard. The crew were always there to help throughout the day and the chefs providing top quality food which was required after every dive. The itinerary providing some of the best diving with a nice mixture of wreck and reef dives. I would recommend the trip to anyone, whether it’s your first Red Sea liveaboard in the Red Sea or you’re revisiting. Hopefully, it’s not too long before I head back to explore more of the Red Sea onboard Ghazala Explorer.
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
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