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.
News
Dived Up Publications announces the release of The Diver and the Cookby Lasse Spang Olsen
A ship lost. No survivors. A grim recovery mission begins, pushing a team of commercial divers well beyond their comfort zone.
Braving treacherous conditions, saturation diver Nico van Heerden single-handedly combs the cramped, debris-strewn, zero-visibility Jascon 4 shipwreck searching for any sign of the lost crew.
Then, in a scene akin to a horror movie, while exploring a small, isolated compartment, Nico feels a tap on his shoulder. Could someone have survived underwater for over sixty hours?
The Diver & the Cook is the incredible true story of a seemingly impossible underwater rescue. With first-hand accounts, authentic images and detailed reconstructions, author and documentary maker Lasse Spang Olsen brings this gripping tale to life. The book is the result of over four years of work, including intensive interviews, access to previously unknown material, and deep study of conversations and film recorded during the actual incident.
Witness the unwavering determination of the human spirit as Jascon 4 galley chef, Harrison Okene, fights for survival after his ship goes down. Meanwhile, rookie saturation diver Nico van Heerden faces a daunting challenge: spearheading the rescue mission in a perilous underwater environment. With time running out, what rules must the dive team break to save Harrison before it’s too late?
An unprecedented operation, this story provides a unique perspective on the dangers and challenges faced by divers, showing the importance of teamwork and communication in high-risk situations. An incredible survival story against all odds, with an equally surprising aftermath.
Quote from the author, documentary-maker Lasse Spang Olsen:
“There are a whole lot of different versions of this story out there. But I believe that by speaking directly to the key people involved, creating meticulous reconstructions and doing original research we have dug much deeper and got far closer to the truth about the rescue and the sinking than anyone has ever managed to before.”
About the author
Author and veteran filmmaker Lasse Spang Olsen – in a 40+ year career – has participated in stunts and FX on over 600 films, directed eleven features and filmed extensively underwater. He’s led expeditions uncovering historical mysteries like the Flying Enterprise wreck and documented adventures worldwide. He’s also a producer and lecturer. Originally published in Denmark as Dykkeren of Kokken (February 2024), this is his fourth book.
The Diver and the Cook (ISBN 978-1-909455-61-0) is released on 12 November 2024 in paperback and ebook. It is available via online retailers, bookstores, from DivedUp.com and to the dive trade via Nautilus UK.
Dived Up Publications website: www.DivedUp.com
Facebook @DivedUpPublications / Insta @diveduppubs / X @DivedUp / TikTok @divedup
News
Spooktacular Underwater Adventure: Oyster Diving’s First Halloween Scuba Party at Mercers Lake
Last Thursday, Oyster Diving transformed Mercers Lake into a hauntingly unforgettable underwater realm for their inaugural Halloween Scuba Party. Approximately 20 intrepid divers plunged into the darkness, weaving through a mesmerising scene of spectral decorations, glow sticks, and eerie underwater pumpkins.
After the thrilling night dive, participants gathered to feast on a ghoulish spread of pumpkin soup, chilli con carne, and decadent fudge brownies, perfect fuel for the frightful festivities.
With a resounding success, Oyster Diving is excited to announce plans for this event to become an annual tradition. Next year, look forward to a fully licensed bar and live music, promising an even spookier celebration under the moonlit waters.
Join us next Halloween for an experience that promises to be a haunting delight!
Find out more about Oyster Diving at oysterdiving.com.
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