News
Fabulous Autumn Sale diving from Diverse Travel – Book by Tuesday 31 October
There’s just a few days left to book your next diving escape in the great value Diverse Travel Autumn Sale. Check out just some of their special offers below:
Red Sea Day Diving: Marsa Alam and El Gouna – Just £40 a day
Book your Red Sea diving with the experts! Dive in with Emperor Divers for just £40 per day:
- Includes 2 dives a day, guide, tanks, weights, weight belt, transfers to/from your hotel, all port fees and surcharges.
ADD more value to your diving: add ‘All-In’ to 5 days’ boat diving for just £90:
- When you book a 5 day dive pack, add an ‘All-In’ package and your lunch and drinks on board, 3 x 3rd dives, the daily Environmental Tax and even included 12 litre Nitrox for FREE are included
Valid for diving: November 2017 to August 2018
Booking deadline: 31 October 2017
Call Diverse Travel on 01473 852002 or email info@diversetravel.co.uk.
Red Sea: 7 Nights Marsa Alam 5* Resort + Diving Special Offer
Marsa Alam is perfect for learning to dive and for the more experienced diver. Explore the shallow wreck near shore, enjoy the house reef, snorkel with dolphins, dive with turtles or even an occasional dugong. Combine this with a stay at the 5* Sunrise Marina Resort and you have the recipe for a perfect diving holiday!
© Sunrise Marina Resort
From just £645 per person based on sharing a twin/double room including:
- Return flights from London Gatwick to Marsa Alam
- 15kgs baggage allowance
- 7 nights’ accommodation at Sunrise Marina Resort
- All Inclusive meal plan
- 5 days’ boat diving, up to 2 guided day dives a day
- All transfers
- Full ATOL protection
Valid for travel on certain dates between December 2017 and May 2018
Booking deadline: 31 October 2017
Call Diverse Travel on 01473 852002 or email info@diversetravel.co.uk.
Red Sea: MV Emperor Echo Dive 2017 Offer
Jump on board the latest addition to the Emperor fleet and enjoy diving the famous sites of the Red Sea with this fantastic special offer. Great value for money and perfect for small groups of buddies with a ‘Book 5 and 1 dives for FREE’ offer all year round.
Price from just £945 per person based on sharing a twin cabin including:
- Return economy class flights from London to Hurghada
- 20kgs baggage
- 7 nights in shared cabin
- 3 meals a day, soft drinks, red wine with dinner
- 6 days’ diving, guide, 12ltr tank & weights, Marine Park fees and port departure fees
- Free Nitrox
- Return airport transfers
- Full ATOL protection
Valid for travel on certain dates in 2018
Booking deadline: 31 October 2017
Call Diverse Travel on 01473 852002 or email info@diversetravel.co.uk.
Red Sea: MV Emperor Elite – Dive 2017 Offer
Emperor Elite takes you to the most iconic of dive sites in the Red Sea in comfort. Dive the famous wrecks in the northern Red Sea, Fury Shoals and the remote St Johns, Big and Little Brothers, Daedalus Reef and Elphinstone.
From just £995 per person based on sharing a twin cabin including:
- Return economy class flights from London to Hurghada
- 20kgs baggage
- 7 nights in shared cabin
- 3 meals a day, soft drinks, red wine with dinner
- 6 days’ diving, guide, 12ltr tank & weights, Marine Park fees and port departure fees
- Free Nitrox
- Return airport transfers
- Full ATOL protection
Valid for travel on certain dates in 2018
Booking deadline: 31 October 2017
Call Diverse Travel on 01473 852002 or email info@diversetravel.co.uk.
Maldives: MV Emperor Atoll – Traditional Maldivian Diving
This traditional liveaboard is perfect for small groups of friends and families. Dive the famous sites and experience the majestic mantas, night dive with sharks and, if you’re lucky, a whale shark or two! Personal service with just 12 divers.
From just £1795 per person based on sharing a twin cabin including:
- Return economy class flights from London to Male
- 30kgs baggage
- 7 nights in shared cabin
- 3 meals a day, afternoon snacks, unlimited drinking water, tea & coffee
- 6 days’ diving – total of 17 dives (incl. 1 night dive), guide, cylinders & weights
- Free Nitrox
- 1 BBQ dinner on uninhabited island (weather allowing)
- Malé city tour (on request)
- Return airport transfers
- Full ATOL protection
Valid for travel on certain dates in 2018
Booking deadline: 31 October 2017
Call Diverse Travel on 01473 852002 or email info@diversetravel.co.uk.
Maldives: MV Emperor Voyager – spacious comfiness
A luxury modern, spacious liveaboard built to a high standard, Emperor Voyager takes you to the most iconic dive sites of the Maldives. Spend your days diving these wonderful atolls and your evenings relaxing with a cocktail watching the sun go down.
From just £1825 per person based on sharing a twin cabin including:
- Return economy class flights from London to Male
- 30kgs baggage
- 7 nights in shared cabin
- 3 meals a day, afternoon snacks, unlimited drinking water, tea & coffee
- 6 days’ diving – total of 17 dives (incl. 1 night dive), guide, cylinders & weights
- Free Nitrox
- 1 BBQ dinner on uninhabited island (weather allowing)
- Malé city tour (on request)
- Return airport transfers
- Full ATOL protection
Valid for travel on certain dates in 2018
Booking deadline: 31 October 2017
Call Diverse Travel on 01473 852002 or email info@diversetravel.co.uk.
Maldives: MV Emperor Orion – Fresh new look
Always a firm favourite with guests, she looks even more the part now with a ‘facelift’ both inside and out and is brighter, lighter, fresh and ready to sail those magical Maldives dive sites. Book your place now and take advantage of the special Dive 2017 offers.
Price from just £1975 per person based on sharing a twin cabin including:
- Return economy class flights from London to Male
- 30kgs baggage
- 7 nights in shared cabin
- 3 meals a day, afternoon snacks, free red wine with dinner, unlimited drinking water, tea & coffee
- 6 days’ diving – total of 17 dives (incl. 1 night dive), guide, cylinders & weights
- Free Nitrox
- 1 BBQ dinner on uninhabited island (weather allowing)
- Malé city tour (on request)
- Return airport transfers
- Full ATOL protection
Valid for travel on certain dates in 2018
Booking deadline: 31 October 2017
Call Diverse Travel on 01473 852002 or email info@diversetravel.co.uk.
Komodo | Beautiful traditional Dutch schooner-style yacht
Emperor Raja Laut sails the nutrient rich waters of Komodo between July and October, and offers opportunities to dive reefs, small islands and the Sangeang Volcano, with its critters and bubble flows, manta action in the south. Add to this the famous Komodo Dragon, beautiful beaches, look-outs to climb and you have a paradise both below and above the water.
Price from £2925 including:
- 9-night package to Komodo based on twin share
- Return international flights – London Heathrow to Bali
- Return domestic flights – Bali to Komodo
- Airline departure taxes
- 7 nights shared cabin, 3 meals a day, afternoon snacks, 1 cocktail party on a local island, unlimited drinking water, tea, coffee, guide, 12 litre air tanks, weights
- 2 nights with breakfast – Peneeda View Hotel
- All transfers according to itinerary
- Full ATOL Protection
Price based on August and October 2018 departures. Alternative dates are available.
Booking deadline: 31 October 2017
Call Diverse Travel on 01473 852002 or email info@diversetravel.co.uk.
Raja Ampat | Beautiful traditional Dutch schooner-style yacht
Emperor Raja Laut is a beautiful traditional Dutch schooner-style sailing yacht delivering divers to one of the most appealing and dreamed-of dive destinations in the world. Sailing the iconic diving areas of Raja Ampat, which in Indonesian means the Four Kings, you will dive the Marine Park world renowned for being the epicentre of marine biodiversity.
Price from £2725 including:
- 8-night package (also 9 & 14-nights available) to Raja Ampat based on twin share
- Return international flights – London Heathrow to Manado
- Return domestic flights – Manado to Sorong
- Airline departure taxes
- 6 nights shared cabin, 3 meals a day, afternoon snacks, 1 cocktail party on a local island, unlimited drinking water, tea, coffee, guide, 12 litre air tanks, weights
- 2 nights Half Board – Manado Novotel Airport Hotel
- All transfers according to itinerary
- Full ATOL Protection
Price based on 20th February 2018 departure. Alternative dates are available.
Booking deadline: 31 October 2017
Call Diverse Travel on 01473 852002 or email info@diversetravel.co.uk.
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.
Fire on Monroe Bravo is the latest book in the Jack Collier series by Fred Lockwood. Our story begins with our lead characters, Jack and Sandro, owners of Marine Salvage & Investigation Company, arriving on the Monroe Bravo Oil & Gas Platform in the North Sea. Having secured a contract for their vessel the MV Stavanger to act as support ship to the platform for TransGlobal Oil, our protagonists are on a celebratory visit.
However almost as soon as they arrive a series of explosions rock the platform, causing huge damage, loss of life and the very real danger of a massive human, ecological and financial disaster.
As the danger mounts for both our heroes and the surviving workers, Jack and Sandro will have to escape the inferno, all while trying to save the platform and the men still trapped unable to help themselves.
The disaster sets the scene for the unfolding story lines following the fate of the platform and our main characters, the police investigation into a suspected terrorist act and the actions of TransGlobal Oil as they attempt to navigate the pubic outcry and financial repercussions.
In his eighth book, Fire on Monroe Bravo, Fred Lockwood delivers an explosive thriller, with plenty of above and in-water drama, and our heroes fighting for survival, what more can you ask for?
We thoroughly recommend this read and look forward to the next in the series. For more information about his book series, you can check out the reviews of his previous books here on Scubaverse.
- Title: Fire On Monroe Bravo
- Author: Fred Lockwood
- ISBN: 979-8325324536
Available in a paperback version and for Kindle from Amazon and book stores.
In June we were incredibly fortunate to be invited to dive in Alonissos, a small Greek Island in the Sporades island chain located in the North Aegean Sea. While I have long been a big fan of the Greek Islands as a great holiday destination, I had not had the opportunity to do any diving on previous visits and Mike and I were extremely excited to see what Alonissos had to offer both above and below the surface!
The Sporades are easily accessible via the airport in Skiathos (the first island in the chain), which is served by Jet2 flights from all major UK airports from May through October. Numerous ferries and charter boats make island hopping from Skiathos Town a breeze. After an hour boat ride, the picturesque port of Patitiri was a wonderful introduction to Alonissos, where we were met by our gracious hosts Kostas of Albedo Travel and Dias of Alonissos Triton Dive Center. Mike and I were delighted to be staying at the Paradise Hotel, aptly named for its stunning views over the sea and great location for walking to the waterfront.
Alonissos is beautifully situated in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the Northern Sporades, the largest marine protected area in Europe. The surrounding seas offer fabulous marine life, including incredibly rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal. They boast deep walls covered in gorgonians and sponges, stunning topography with caverns, swimthroughs and pinnacles, and the first accessible ancient shipwreck from 500BC!
In locations where historical sites have been reported, the waters are largely restricted, but with collaboration between government, underwater archeologists and dive centres, incredible underwater museums are being created for a truly unique diving experience. Alonissos is home to the first of these, the Ancient Shipwreck of Peristera Accessible Underwater Archeological Site. The chance to dive into history (along with reports of healthy reef life and amazing underwater topography) meant Mike and I were keen to get in the water.
Our introduction to the diving around Alonissos was at the Agios Georgios Pinnacles, in the channel between Alonissos and Skopelos. This fantastic site was named “The Chimney,’ and proved to have a huge amount to see. We got to a decent depth here (over 25m), and marvelled at a colourful reef wall with a wonderful swim through whose rocky walls were absolutely covered with life. As well as brilliant topography there was no shortage of macro life here. We saw numerous nudibranchs, five different species in total. The second dive at Mourtias reef nearby was a shallower dive along a nice wall with lots of crevices. Several moray eels and grouper called this site home. We enjoyed looking in the crevices for lobster and smaller benthic life, such as cup corals and tunicates.
Our itinerary allowed us two dives a day with afternoons left to explore the island with our hire car and evenings to enjoy the famous Greek hospitality. This proved to be a lovely mix of in-water and land based diversions.
The next days diving to the Gorgonian Gardens and Triton’s Cave was to be even better! These two stunning sites are nothing short of fabulous. The Gorgonian Gardens was a deep wall near to the Agios Georgios islands. The ever-present currents in this deep channel meant that the sea life was amazing … the namesake Gorgonian sea fans dotted the wall at a depth of 30 to 50 meters, getting ever larger the deeper we went. Above 30m was by no means less beautiful, with sponges, corals, scorpionfish, moray eels and some rare and colourful nudibranchs.
The second shallower dive of the day was to Triton’s Cave or the Cavern of Skopelos, on the east side of that island. The spectacular rock formations had wild striations both above and below the water making a truly epic topography. The cavern entrance was at 14m, and big enough for a buddy pair, winding up to 6m and passing two beautiful windows out into the blue. Emerging from the cavern, the light at the shallower depths and the incredible rock formations made for a fantastic gentle swimming safety stop and we all surfaced by the boat with massive grins.
Check out our next blog :Alonissos: The complete diving destination (Part 2)” to hear about our amazing dive on the 2500 year old Peristera Wreck!
Thanks to:
Alonissos Triton Dive Center https://bestdivingingreece.com/
Albedo Travel https://alonissosholidays.com/activities/
Paradise Hotel https://paradise-hotel.gr/
Alonissos Municipality https://alonissos.gr/en/
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