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 All the holiday news...
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With the Zenobia wreck its main claim to fame, Cyprus could do with some new dive sites Ð but Cydive, its longest established dive centre, reckons it might have found a very old one. Some 800m out from the beach at Paphos, where Cydive is based, it has found among rocks an inverted boat, amphoras and anchors dating back more than 2000 years and lying in 17-31m of water. It believes the finds could indicate the remains of a harbour and temple associated with an ancient festival held to honour the goddess Aphrodite, and hopes that the site can be established as an archaeological park for suitably qualified divers to visit this summer.
Cydive, www.cydive.com
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The Sea of Cortez is world-famous for its prolific fish-life and marine mammal habitats. The uninhabited Cerralvo is its southernmost island, and 8.5 miles across the channel in Mexico's Baja California lies La Ventana. Palapas Ventana is the only dive centre there, and it offers PADI courses. After a full day's diving, guests can enjoy Mexican food and drink overlooking the sea before retiring to their comfortable casitas.
Palapas Ventana, www.palapasventana.com
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The UBS Dive Centre in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, has added a third boat to its dive-boat fleet. The 28ft Baha Cruiser is said to carry groups across the Sir Francis Drake Channel with speed and comfort and to be a pleasure to dive from, with its open transom doors, large platform and two deep ladders. UBS never mixes groups on its boats, so the boat is at your group's service for the day.
UBS Dive Centre, www.scubabvi.com
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The people at Harlequin Worldwide Travel tell us that, as professional and avid divers, they understand that it is attention to detail that makes your diving holiday a success. As such they offer destinations that include most of the Caribbean area and Bahamas, plus destinations as disparate as British Columbia in the west to Truk Lagoon in the east, both liveaboard and sleep-ashore. The brochure is luxuriously produced, which reflects the level of holiday the company offers.
Harlequin Worldwide Holidays, www.harlequinholidays.com
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A 17-day Indian Ocean diving holiday, combining the exclusive Quilálea Island in the Quirimbas Archipelago of Mozambique (voted one of the five best islands in the world in Tatler Travel 2005) with the Spice Islands of Zanzibar is on offer from Dive Worldwide. Highlights of remote Quilálea are said to include dugongs; nesting turtles; the big, well-populated walls of the Montepuez Channel; and St Lazarus Bank, which Dive Worldwide describes as offering the best unexplored diving in the world. The holiday costs from £3725, including all flights, transfers and accommodation (half-board in Zanzibar, all-inclusive in Quilálea).
Dive Worldwide, www.diveworldwide.com
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Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece: these are the divers' choices offered by Goldenjoy in its new 2005 diving supplement. Liveaboards such as the steel-hulled mv Tiger Lily and mv Snapdragon, and hotel-based holidays for those who like to touch terra firma every night, are both on offer, and technical divers will be interested to know that Goldenjoy is the booking agent for Diver's Lodge in Hurghada, too.
Goldenjoy, www.libraholidays.co.uk
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In conjunction with Dive Tours of Chester, Tony White, principal and photographer of Sea of Dreams, is leading underwater photographic workshops to the following places this year: Manado, Indonesia, in April (£1499); South Africa in May to dive with tiger sharks (£1900) and in June for the Sardine Run (£3025); and the Solomon Islands on a liveaboard in July (£3750). You can see some of his work in the current RNLI calendar.
Dive Tours, www.divetours.co.uk
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