News
Love diving with Scuba Travel
UK-based Tour Operator Scuba Travel has some wonderful offers for sea lovers in February.
Book between 1-14 February with your partner, buddy or friend and save extra £££’s on one of their I LOVE specials*:
Book a Bali Holiday with your Partner and Get a Free Ocean Villa Upgrade – from £1495 incl. flights
Quote I LOVE DIVING when you book on one of Scuba Travel’s special offers to Scuba Seraya with your partner and get a free upgrade to an Ocean Villa!
Scuba Seraya is a great resort for divers in Bali which specialises in critter dives, the Liberty wreck and house reef diving. Seraya is an intimate resort with only 12 rooms, set in lush gardens on the beach front. The Ocean View villas are a sumptuous, double bedded option – ideal for couples that want a bit more space or privacy. There is a kitchenette, sofa and even your very own private garden facing a plunge pool.
Includes flights, transfers, 7 nights full board in a maisonette, 10 boat dives and unlimited unguided house reef diving.
Book an Azores Holiday with you Buddy and get a free Whale Watching Trip – from £1045
Quote I LOVE DIVING when you book on of Scuba Travel’s Azores holidays and you and your buddy will get a free whale watching trip!
The Azores is one of the best destinations in the world to dive with Blue sharks and makos out in the blue, plus enjoy some amazing encounters with mobulas, devil rays and more at the stunning offshore banks. There is plentiful marine life throughout the year but June to October is best as that is when the pelagics come in due to the warm currents of the gulf stream.
From £1045 at Hotel Colombo incl. flights, transfers, 7 nights B&B and 10 boat dives.
Whirlwind Red Sea – Brothers Wreck Special 5 May or Get Wrecked 19 May
Quote I LOVE WRECKS when booking either of these trips with your buddy (and sharing a cabin) and save an extra £50 each!
Both these itineraries allow you to spend more time diving the Red Sea’s best wrecks. 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 really does combine unmissable wrecks and astounding diving for a more advanced itinerary that will delight. Get Wrecked covers the amazing quality and scope of wrecks in the Northern Red Sea and will not leave you disappointed. What more could any diver want? Over a week’s diving, the Red Sea’s shipping history is set before you for exploration.
Includes return flights, transfers, 7 nights full board, up to 18 fully guided dives, all marine park fees and 12 ltr tanks and weights.
Join Hurricane on a Shark Quest Adventure – from £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 our 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.
Voyager – Dive Sudan and get a free upgrade to a double cabin or Suite
Quote I LOVE SHARKS when booking Voyager with your partner and get a free room upgrade!
Sha’ab Rumi, the Con Shelf, Sanganeb and Wingate’s Umbria are some of Sudan’s finest dive sites and the Sudan North itinerary focuses on these undeniable highlights. The walls are deep and the plateaus make an ideal stage for shark watching. Add to this the beautiful wreck dives at the unique Umbria and Con Shelf II and you are guaranteed an incredible Sudan liveaboard, packed with excitement and variety. Voyager is operated by an experienced team who have made the Sudan their home and know each reef intimately – there is no one better to guide you through the Sudanese waters. With such an unparalleled knowledge of the dive sites, marine species and their seasonality, it is no wonder that divers flock back to this vessel year after year.
Includes return flights, 7 nights full board and fully guided diving.
Scubaspa – Luxury Maldives Liveaboard from £2195
Quote I LOVE LUXURY when booking a Scubaspa trip with your buddy (sharing a cabin) and save an extra £50 each!
Scubaspa takes Maldives liveaboards to a whole new level. She’s a classy lady with undeniable wow factor. Total relaxation is guaranteed with first class comfort and service. Whether you are there for the diving, spa and yoga or just to get away from it all, this is an unforgettable holiday of a lifetime onboard a genuinely luxurious vessel. Discover the divine world underwater or enjoy daily treatments in the sumptuous spa – this is your holiday to enjoy, your way! There’s no doubting that the Scubaspa experience will remain with you long after your journey home.
Includes International flights, 7 nights full board and Scuba Package.
Bunaken Oasis Luxury Resort – Indonesia
Quote I LOVE LUXURY when booking a holiday to Bunaken Oasis with your buddy (sharing a Villa) and save an extra £50 each!
Escape to this stunning 5 star luxury dive resort on Bunaken Island. There are only 12 large, traditionally built private villas. Each boasts its own unique vista out over the beach towards the mainland. The majority of the villas have king double beds, with an additional 2-bedroom family villa. Twin beds available on request. No detail – no matter how small or seemingly insignificant – has been overlooked in the building of Bunaken Oasis Dive Resort.
With easy access to over 50 superb dive sites, the variety of diving at Bunaken Oasis resort is incredible. This is a purpose-built dive resort and as such, everything you need is right here on site. Choose between 3 boat dives per day or 2 morning boat dives and an afternoon spent exploring the house reef (subject to conditions).
Includes International flights, transfers, 7 nights in a traditional cottage, 17 boat dives and free Nitrox & free house reef diving
Join Martyn Guess on the Anilao Critter Hunt – Book with your buddy and get an extra £100 off the special price per person
Quote I LOVE PHOTO when booking a holiday to join Martyn Guess on an amazing critter hunt in Anilao in the Philippines. 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. The workshop boasts 21 boat dives and 2 night dives, plus free nitrox over 8 nights in a casita room on a full board basis – optional room grades available.
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.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 3
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 2
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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