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Don’t miss these dive holiday deals!
Check out the latest dive holiday deals from our friends at UK-based Tour Operator Scuba Travel:
Egypt Offer 1
Save £200 on this Daedalus Rocky and St. Johns trip. Join the experienced crew, on board the stable, steel-hulled Hurricane. Avoid long transfers with a direct flight to Marsa Alam. Dive the famous walls of Daedalus Reef and Rocky Island and enjoy the coral reefs of St John. Night diving is prohibited in some of these areas so expect around 18 -20 dives in total. All fees, 12lt. tank & weights and FREE NITROX are included in your package.
Flights are with Thomson from Gatwick and transfers are included. At the end of the week, a day use room and lunch at a hotel is included while you wait for your flight home. The only costs not included are the Egyptian entry visa, alcohol, additional kit hire and any onboard souvenirs.
Click here to book one of the last two places left
Egypt Offer
Roots Red Sea El Quesir 25th April 2019
Recharge your batteries in the peace and quiet of El Quesir, with the British-led team from Roots Red Sea. Your holiday includes 7 nights on a B&B basis in a deluxe chalet with a 5 day no limit house reef diving package. Flights from Gatwick to Hurghada or Marsa Alam with airport transfer. Excluded from your package are any meals or drinks outside of your above package, additional diving or local excursions.
You can upgrade your room type, board basis to either half board or soft all inclusive (no alcohol) – please speak to a travel consultant at the time of booking. A wide variety of different diving packages can also be offered at the time of booking. Night dives, nitrox, kit hire and courses are all paid for locally. There is a 5euro compulsory reef tax. You will need an Egyptian visa for entry – please speak to your travel consultant to see if you are able to use our Egyptian visa service or if this needs to be arranged in advance/on arrival.
Book your Roots Red Sea diving holiday here
Indonesia Offer
Save £400 per person!
Great value diving in Manado and Bunaken Indonesia. Over 20 boat dives, discover rich coral reefs and magical macro with the welcoming team from Murex Manado. Your holiday includes flights from Heathrow to Manado with Singapore Airlines, airport transfers and 10 nights deluxe cottage on a full board basis (two people sharing). Local taxes are prepaid. Water, tea, and coffee are available free of charge, To pay locally are any drinks not included in your board basis, laundry, land excursions, Diving extras such as special trips to Bangka, private guiding, kit hire, courses and nitrox will all be billed in-resort. UK passport holder can obtain and FOC visa on arrival.
Click here to book this amazing holiday
- NO SINGLE PERSON OFFER
- Minimum 10-night stay at Murex Manado and or Murex Bangka (can be 5 & 5 or any combination)
- This applies to June/July & August 2019 only
Philippines Offer
Experience the thresher sharks of Malapascua for only £1395
Save £300 1 FREE NIGHT PLUS 2 FREE DIVES
Thresher sharks are not the only great diving you will discover with Exotic Divers in Malapascua – reefs, sea snakes and macro life all await in these azure waters. Once you arrive in Cebu you will be picked up and taken by land and boat to Malapascua Island. Your holiday package includes 7 nights in a deluxe room (twin share) on full board basis – optional room grades available. As standard your package includes 10 dives.
Please do ask your travel consultant if you would like to prebook additional diving. The local marine park fees are 150php per day. Special day trips are organised and subject to a small supplemental charge paid locally. Flights are usually with Cathay Pacific, Singapore or Emirates Airlines On leaving Cebu airport there is a terminal tax of approx $10 – this must be paid in local currency at the airport.
Book your Malapascua adventure here
Galapagos Offer
Dive the incredible Galapagos this 1st of June and save an incredible £1780
Experience ocean views as you dive through the Galapagos on board the elegant and spacious Majestic Explorer. Your liveaboard holiday is based on a twin share cabin – twin or queen bed double options – and on a full board basis, including alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages, premium alcoholic beverages available for an additional charge. A 12lt tank, air fills and weights are included in your package with 18-20 dives on average. All trips are fully guided with expert guides. The last night Sunday dinner is not included in your cruise. The crew will help with reservations and recommendations. To pay locally are the departure tax, the Galapagos park fees ($100), chamber tax ($35), tourist card ($20), fuel surcharge ($150) and nitrox ($150) on board.
This holiday does not include any international flights to Ecuador or the Galapagos Islands. Scuba Travel strongly recommend you add a night in Ecuador before and possibly after your liveaboard, depending on your flight times. These can be added to your booking, with a wide range of airlines, including regional departures. Please ask your consultant for a competitive quote. Do not book any flights until your boat space is confirmed by Scuba Travel. Do be aware that if your flight routes through the USA you must have an ESTA prior to travel.
Click here to book your place onboard Majestic Explorer
Caribbean Offer
Explore the islands of Saba and St. Kitts and save £850 this 4th of May
A unique voyage through some of the most exclusive Caribbean islands onboard Caribbean Explorer 2 – dive St Kitts and the remarkable Saba Island with up to 5 dives a day! You have 7 nights on board on a full board basis (twin/double share cabin). Local, social servings of alcohol are included, along with soft drinks. A 12lt tank, air fills and weights are included in your package with up to 5 dives a day on offer (except first and last day). All trips are fully guided with expert guides.
The last night Friday dinner is not included in your cruise. The crew will help with reservations and recommendations. To pay locally are the departure tax, fuel surcharge $80, park fees $115, nitrox $150 per week, optional land tours, additional kit hire and any onboard souvenirs. Please let your travel consultant know if you would like to prebook any courses on board or have any dietary requirements.
This holiday excludes international flights to St Kitts SKB. At the end of your trip, you need to fly St Kitts from St Maarten. Scuba Travel is 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. Do not book any flights until your boat space is confirmed by Scuba Travel. Do be aware that if your flight routes through the USA you must have an ESTA prior to travel.
Don’t miss this great opportunity, click here to book your place
Aggressor Fleet Anniversary Offers
The Aggressor Fleet is world known for the immaculate service and quality liveaboards. From the Caribbean to Hawaii, Cocos Island, Palau or the Red Sea you can find an Aggressor boat in most of the best dive destinations worldwide. To celebrate their Anniversary, you can enjoy your Aggressor experience and their incredible offers (selected dates & liveaboards).
Click here to find out which amazing destination you will dive next!
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.
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
The second day’s diving was a day full of wreck diving at Abu Nuhas, which included the Chrisoula K, Carnatic, and Ghiannis D. The first dive of the day was onto the Chrisoula K, also known as the wreck of tiles. The 98m vessel remains largely intact where she was loaded with tiles which can be seen throughout the hold. The stern sits at 26m and the bow just below the surface. One of the highlights of the wreck is heading inside and seeing the workroom where the machinery used for cutting the tiles are perfectly intact. The bow provided some relaxing scenery as the bright sunlight highlighted the colours of the soft coral reef and the many reef fish.
Following breakfast, we then headed to the next wreck, which was the Carnatic. The Carnatic is an 89.9m sail steamer vessel that was built in Britain back in 1862. She ran aground on the reef back in 1869 and remains at 27m. At the time, she was carrying a range of items, including 40,000 sterling in gold. An impressive wreck where much of the superstructure remains, and the two large masts lay on the seafloor. The wooden ribs of the hull provide structures for lots of soft corals, and into the stern section, the light beams through, bouncing off the large shoals of glass fish that can be found using the structure as shelter from the larger predators that are found outside of the wreck.
The final wreck at Abu Nuhas was the Ghiannis D, originally called ‘Shoyo Maru,’ which was 99.5m long and built in Japan back in 1969 before becoming a Greek-registered cargo ship in 1980. The ship then ran aground on the reef on April 19th, 1983, and now sits at the bottom at a depth of 27m. Heading down the line, the stern of the ship remains in good condition compared to the rest of the hull. The highlight of the wreck, though, is heading into the stern section and down the flights of stairs to enter the engine room, which remains in good condition and is definitely worth exploring. After exploring the interior section of the ship, we then headed over to see the rest of the superstructure, where it’s particularly interesting to see the large table corals that have grown at the bow relatively quickly considering the date the ship sank. After surfacing and enjoying some afternoon snacks, we made sure everything was strapped down and secured as we would be heading north and crossing the Gulf of Suez, where the winds were still creating plenty of chop.
The next morning, it was a short hop to Ras Mohammed Nature Reserve for the next couple of days of diving. The 6am wake-up call came along with the briefing for the first site we would be diving, which was Shark & Yolanda. The low current conditions allowed us to start the dive at Anemone City, where we would drift along the steep, coral-filled wall. These dives involved drifts, as mooring in Ras Mohammed wasn’t allowed to protect the reefs. As a dive site, Shark & Yolanda is well-known and historically had a lot of sharks, but unfortunately not so many in recent years, especially not so early in the season. However, there was always a chance when looking out into the blue.
The gentle drift took us along the steep walls of the site, with plenty of anemone fish to be seen and a huge variety of corals. It wasn’t long into the dive before we were accompanied by a hawksbill turtle, who drifted with us between the two atolls before parting ways. Between the two reefs, the shallow patch with parts of coral heads surrounded by sand provided the chance to see a few blue-spotted stingrays that were mainly resting underneath the corals and are always a pleasure to see. With this being the morning dive, the early sunlight lit up the walls, providing tranquil moments. Looking out into the blue, there was very little to be seen, but a small shoal of batfish shimmering underneath the sunlight was a moment to capture as we watched them swim by as they watched us.
Towards the end of the dive, we stopped at the wreck of the Jolanda where the seafloor was scattered with toilets from the containers it was carrying. This provided a unique site to make a safety stop, which was also accompanied by a large barracuda slowly swimming by, along with a hawksbill turtle calmly swimming over the reef as the sun rays danced in the distance.
For the next dive, we headed north to the Strait of Tiran to explore the reefs situated between Tiran Island and Sharm El Sheik, which were named after the British divers who had found them. We started on Jackson before heading to Gordons Reef, where we also did the night dive. All the atolls at these sites provided stunning, bustling coral reefs close to the surface and steep walls to swim along, which always provided the opportunity to keep an eye out for some of the larger species that can be seen in the blue. Midwater around Jackson Reef was filled with red-toothed triggerfish and shoals of banner fish, which at times were so dense that you couldn’t see into the blue. Moments went by peacefully as we enjoyed the slow drift above the reef, watching these shoals swim around under the mid-afternoon sun.
The night dive at Gordon’s Reef was mainly among the stacks of corals surrounded by sand, which was great to explore under the darkness. After some time circling the corals, we came across what we were really hoping to find, and that was an octopus hunting on the reef. We spent the majority of the dive just watching it crawl among the reef, blending into its changing surroundings through changes in colour and skin texture. It’s always so fascinating and captivating to watch these incredibly intelligent animals, in awe of their ability to carry out these physical changes to perfectly blend into the reef. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the boat to enjoy a well-deserved tasty dinner prepared by the talented chefs onboard.
Check in for the 3rd and final part of this series from Jake tomorrow!
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
The Shark Trust is excited to announce that, for two more days only, all donations, large or small, will be doubled in the Big Give Green Match Fund!
Donate to Basking in Nature: Sighting Giants
The Shark Trust is hoping to raise £10k which will be doubled to £20k. This will go towards Basking in Nature: Sighting Giants. And they need YOUR help to reach they’re goal.
The Shark Trust’s citizen science project is to monitor and assess basking sharks through sightings; encouraging data collection, community engagement, and promoting nature accessibility. This initiative aims to enhance health and wellbeing by fostering a deeper connection with British Sharks.
Campaign Aims
- Increase citizen science reporting of Basking Sharks and other shark sightings to help inform shark and ray conservation.
- Provide educational talks about the diverse range of sharks and rays in British waters and accessible identification guides!
- Create engaging and fun information panels on how to ID the amazing sharks and rays we have on our doorstep! These can be used on coastal paths around the Southwest. With activities and information on how you can make a difference for sharks and rays!
- Promote mental wellbeing through increasing time in nature and discovering the wonders beneath the waves!
Donate, and double your impact. Click Here
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