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 All the holiday news...
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The European Diving Centre has built up a solid following at its Turkish bases but for those supporters who want more diving choice than the Med provides, it has responded to demand and opened a Red Sea branch, in Sharm el Sheikh. Based in the Ras Um Sid area, the centre offers access to all the usual northern Egyptian reef and wreck attractions, and also has onsite bed & breakfast accommodation (from only £15 a night). A PADI 5 Star instructor development centre, it has a training pool, changing rooms, classroom and snack bar.
www.europeandiving.co.uk
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If you want to learn about underwater videography, learn from proven practitioners Shark Bay Films. Based in Porthleven, west Cornwall, John Boyle and Fionn Crow Howieson are leading an Underwater Video Masterclass in June - basking shark season! You dive with them from their 7m RIB, film and review footage together. Included in the £750 full-week course fees are tuition, two dives a day, tanks and air, or you can opt for three days' filming for £350 or two days' editing for £200. Those taking the editing add-on will be shown how to produce a short film from their footage.
01326 563 811
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Cãno is an uninhabited island off the Pacific south-west coast of Costa Rica and, so we are told by tour operator Dive Worldwide, it is fast becoming a diving hot-spot. Protected as a marine reserve by the Costa Rican government, its surrounding water is said to be clean, clear and teeming with marine life, including giant bull sharks and nesting leatherback turtles. An £1199 package includes scheduled flights and airport taxes, transfers, fuel surcharges, seven nights' hotel and lodge accommodation plus six dives to get you going.
0845 1306980
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Fancy combining diving on tourist magnet Tenerife with some dives on the wilder side? Tenerife's long-established British-run centre Island Divers is now offering week-long trips to the island of El Hierro, the most westerly of the Canary Islands. It is rural and largely untouched by tourism, so if you're looking for wild nightlife, forget it! But the underwater life is rich and varied and the nearby marine reserve offers a variety of caves, arches and volcanic tunnels. The price for a seven-night stay on El Hierro is 599 euros (about £410), including ferry from Tenerife, transfers, accommodation in self-catering apartments and 10 dives.
www.island-divers.com
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According to Longwood Holidays it can be complicated getting to Jordan, which is why it says it is offering winter flights to Ovda, with a 90-minute transfer to Aqaba. You can dive a variety of reef and wreck sites suitable for all levels of diver, including the well-known Cedar Pride, and stay at the 3-star Alcazar Hotel for seven nights' half board, plus flights and transfers, for £355. Diving can be booked through the hotel's Seastar dive centre, with a 10-dive package costing £105.
020 8418 2550
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It's been all about liveaboard diving in Sudan in the past, but now we have Sudan Divers, a new centre set up about 15 miles from Port Sudan and able to cater for 40 divers. It offers fast dayboat one-tank trips to famous dive sites such as Sanganeb, Sha'ab Rumi and the Umbria and Bluebell wrecks. The centre caters for visitors staying at the Port Sudan Hilton, where it hopes to open another branch. For 400 euros (about £275) you can book seven days' unlimited shore diving, 10 boat dives, tank, weights, dive guide and hotel transfers.
www.sudandiversonline.com
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Kuoni's 2006 brochure is out, and new offerings include liveaboards the Nooraanee Queen in the Maldives and The Junk, which cruises the Similan and Surin Islands of Thailand. The Nooraanee Queen costs from £1195 a week including flights, full-board and 18 dives, while The Junk starts from £1143.
01306 747 006
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If you join Maria Munn (right) and Mark Walker for a seven-night photo workshop aboard an Emperor Gold Fleet liveaboard, you get the chance to dive famous southern Red Sea sites, good for developing your underwater photographic skills. You can download and enhance shots straight away in the digital photo lab, and tips and tricks on such issues as lighting or approaching your subjects are aimed at improving technique for all levels of photographer. Prices for all trips are 1095 euros (around £700), which includes seven nights' full board, marine park fees, six days' diving, transfers, snacks and soft drinks. www.emperorfleet.com
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Another option for divers wishing to improve their underwater photography, whether digital or film, is to join one of leading underwater photographer Mark Webster's liveaboard photo workshops. There will be three dates in 2006 - two in the Red Sea in June and October and one in Thailand in November/December. The week-long Red Sea workshops cost £1130 and Thailand is £1395, including flights, transfers, full board, diving and workshop.
www.oonasdivers.com
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Want a relaxed sailing holiday with a little diving on the side? From the end of January to early April, Tall Ships Adventures is running 10-night sailing trips around the Windward Islands, starting in Barbados, with up to three days' diving. Dives are arranged with local centres based around the marine reserves of Bequia, Grenada and St Lucia and cost from £35 each. The 10-night Òwinter sunshineÓ voyage costs £899 per person, including full board. Return flights to Barbados cost from around £400.
www.tallships.org
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The new Coco Palm Resort in St Lucia offers divers the benefits of staying in a mega-resort without actually being in one, says tour operator Barefoot Traveller. Based in Rodney Bay, the entertainment capital of St Lucia, it gives divers access to the reefs of the Soufriere marine reserve, and three purposely sunk wrecks, including the freighter Lesleen M. Seven nights' B&B at the Coco Palm costs £1049 per person, including flights, dive package and transfers.
0208 741 4319
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Thailand's colourful coral reefs, World War 2 wrecks in Truk Lagoon, the reefs and mangroves of the Seychelles Islands and the coral reefs of Belize are four diving projects being launched by environmental charity Earthwatch this year. Divers are invited to join its research teams for two-week periods to monitor the health of reefs and determine the effects of destructive fishing practices, the aquarium trade, and pollution. Prices range from £1000-£1500, excluding flights, and Earthwatch says this all goes to cover costs and funding the research.
www.earthwatch.org
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Dive tour operator Divequest, which offers tailor-made, long-haul diving holidays, is known for its large and lavishly illustrated brochures, which make for a bedtime read in their own right. Every year it seems to get bigger and better - and the 2006 edition, out now, is no exception. It's well worth a browse.
01254 826322
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After 26 years of sailing from Miami, Blackbeard's Cruises is moving its liveaboard fleet to Freeport in the Bahamas to give its guests more time diving. Week-long trips from Freeport depart every Saturday and cost $879 (about £515) plus port tax.
www.blackbeard-cruises.com
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