News
Save 32% on Aggressor’s Anniversary Sale with Dive Worldwide
Celebrate the anniversary of the Aggressor Fleet and enjoy a huge 32% discount on any boat trip taken in 2016 – but be quick as this deal is only applicable on bookings made before 2 March 2016. Savings are applicable to the boat only and range from up to £1,175pp aboard the Okeanos Aggressor I to Cocos Island and up to £465pp aboard the Bahamas Aggressor to the Exumas.
The Aggressor Fleet has been in operation since 1984 and would like to share their 32nd anniversary with divers throughout the world. Choose from 30 thrilling itineraries combined with some of the best diving experiences across the globe. Among the available destinations are: Belize, Fiji, Indonesia, Palau and, the latest destination to join the programme, Sri Lanka.
Sample trip: The Bahamas Aggressor is a 30-metre monohull yacht that departs Nassau each Saturday for a week-long diving adventure to the Exumas. The first of its kind in the world, Exumas National Park is famous for its pristine beauty, outstanding anchorages and breathtaking marine environment. A strictly ‘no take’ zone, the ‘no fishing, conching, shelling or lobstering’ rules, where nothing living or dead may be removed from within the Park boundaries, means that it is one of the finest natural marine reserves in the world.
The intimate Bahamas Aggressor vessel can accommodate up to 14 passengers in five deluxe cabins and one unique quadruple bunk room. All cabins have en-suite bathrooms and are fully air-conditioned. The comfortable salon is the hub of the boat, with plenty of room to relax after a day of diving. Up to five dives a day are available over five and a half diving days. Expect to encounter caves, pinnacles, magnificent walls, coral heads, drift dives, schools of colourful fish, rays, sharks and plenty of critters hiding in the crevices. Water temperatures over the summer months are approximately 26C and conditions are calm, while winter water temperatures are still warm at 24C on average, with occasional strong winds.
Offer details
- Valid for travel throughout 2016.
- Discount applicable to boat only.
- Offer valid on new bookings only. Non-combineable.
- Book by 2 March 2016.
Special Offer Price: from £2,095pp based on a quad share cabin (saving £465pp), including international flights, 7 nights’ full board liveaboard accommodation and 2 nights’ hotel accommodation with Dive Worldwide (01962 302087, www.diveworldwide.com).
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.
Blogs
TRAVEL BLOG: Jeff Goodman Dives SOMABAY, Part 1
For a week at the end of February I was invited to sample the diving with Orca Dive Club based at the Breakers Diving and Surfing Lodge by courtesy of SOMABAY.
Somabay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds. Somabay caters for scuba diving as well as many other sports, including windsurfing, golf, sailing, go-carting, horse riding and many other activities.
All the activities are of a world-class standard and any or all of these can be booked directly from The Breakers.
I took Easyjet from Bristol (UK) to Hurghada. Easyjet are not by any means my favourite airline but the flight was cheap and direct (except for the surprise extra £48 I was charged at the gate for my carry-on bag).
I was met at Hurghada airport by a driver and car and taken to the Breakers 28 miles (45Kilomaters) south along the coast. Once at the hotel I was too late for an evening meal and so a basic meal was delivered to my room. That and a beer from the fridge and I was fast asleep.
Early the next morning after breakfast I arrived for my rep meeting at the Orca Dive Center for 8.00am. I was immediately made to feel welcome, and after brief introductions I got some dive gear from the store, had a chat with my dive guide Mohamed and got ready to try the house reef situated at the end of a very long wooded pier where all diving gear and divers are taken out by buggies.
Once at the end of the pier, a helping hand from staff makes sure your gear is set and then it’s a short walk to the very end where you can either climb down a ladder of simply jump in the water next to the reef. The house reef extends both north and south giving a very easy and safe dive with plenty to see. At this time of the year the water temperature was a constant 22 degrees Centigrade and there was little or no current, so there were no issues in swimming back to the pier.
Quite a few divers were in dry or semi-dry suits, but being from the UK and used to the cold I found a 3mm wetsuit with a 3mm neoprene vest quite comfortable. Even after 50 years of diving I still find that first dive of a trip slightly nerving until I am actually underwater and then all becomes relaxed and I ease into auto diving mode. There was plenty to see with many of the Red Sea favourites along the way.
After the dive and a buggy ride back to the hotel for a very good buffet lunch I was back in the water, once again on the house reef for an afternoon dive.
Check in for part 2 tomorrow when Jeff gets on a day boat and dives a few of the off-shore reefs.
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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