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 All the holiday news...
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Divers booking a trip to the Malaysian island resort of Layang Layang this summer can take advantage of a special promotion which promises to give them a whole year of diving advice, information and inspiration for free. That's because Layang Layang Island Resort is offering 150 complimentary 12-month subscriptions to DIVER Magazine to the first 150 guests booking to stay with it for at least six nights during June, July or August.
Renowned for its manta rays, hammerhead sharks, pristine corals and wall-to-wall fish, Layang Layang is a coral atoll lying in the South China Sea. An hour's flight from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, it has earned an enviable reputation among divers looking for a full-on marine life experience.
A traditionally styled three-star resort offering air-conditioned rooms and east-meets-west cuisine, Layang Layang Island Resort's diving packages start at around US$600 for full-board accommodation plus three boat dives a day.
Existing DIVER subscribers based anywhere in the world will, of course, be able automatically to extend their subscription for a further 12 issues if they are one of the lucky 150.
www.layanglayang.com (Kuala Lumpur Sales/ Reservations Office: Block A, Ground Floor, A-0-3, Megan Ave ll, 12 Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, 50450 Kuala Lumpur, West Malaysia); tel 00 603 2162 2877; fax 00 603 2162 2908; email layang@pop.jaring.my)
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The first scheduled service flying direct from Manchester to Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt was due to start in May. Operated by Astraeus Airlines, it flies on Saturdays. Flight-only website Redseaflights says a seven-night package in Sharm including transfers and three-star accommodation starts at £303 when flying from Manchester. Redseaflights has also expanded its website to include direct flights from Gatwick to Marsa Alam, in addition to the current service to Sharm el Sheikh.
www.redseaflights.com
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XO holidays has launched weekly diving trips to Norway's wreck capital Narvik. One of WW2's biggest naval battles was fought there, with more than 40 ships sunk. The main season runs from March to October, with visibility up to 30m and depths from 10-30m. Six nights on the liveaboard ms Galten costs £450 excluding flights, with discounts for group bookings.
www.xoholidays.com
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Sail Croatia has three dive centres on the Dalmatian islands in Croatia and is offering 10% off the standard £50 for a day's diving if booked as part of a Sail Croatia holiday. The diving is typically Mediterranean, withimposing walls, drop-offs, caves, caverns, crevices and wrecks in clear waters. Prices start at £2075 a week per skippered boat - divide that between the six guests the boat will take, and see how it adds up for you.
0207 751 9988
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Here's one for early booking - non-profit conservation organisation Biosphere Expeditions has added a dive project to its portfolio. These expeditions in Honduras are to survey the Caribbean's Bay Island archipelago, the world's second largest coral reef system. Participants dive the reefs and help record the wildlife they find. The first trips run from 12-24 March and 26 March - 7 April 2006 and cost £1150 (excluding flights and transfers).
www.biosphere-expeditions.org/honduras
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If £15,000 is a mere bagatelle for you, take note that Wildwings is running expeditions to two of the world's most famous wrecks. The Akademik Keldysh will take you on a 12-day expedition to the wreck of the German battleship Bismarck, or you might prefer to visit RMS Titanic on 10- and 13-day expeditions this July. Diving is in a MIR submersible, and Bismarck costs from £15,999 per head, while a trip to the Titanic will set you back £20,899.
www.wildwings.co.uk
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Mark Warner has opened its first resort outside Europe, the 5-star Intercontinental Abu Soma Resort south of Hurghada, and says it will be its "best resort for diving". It has 450 rooms and will concentrate on providing a range of activities in a luxury setting, but at the lowest prices the chain offers anywhere - so a week's all-inclusive holiday starts at £725 per person.
www.markwarner.co.uk
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Two new expedition itineraries from the Kairos Company cover dive sites of Tanzania and, with the Shark Research Institute, whale sharks. Kairos says the trips are designed for divers looking for "real" expeditions as opposed to traditional liveaboard tours. Each expedition is divided into seven-day periods and you can book up for one or more and team up with specialists and scientists aboard a well-equipped oceanographic research vessel. Seven nights aboard costs 2350 euros.
www.thekairoscompany.com
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The 170ft freighter Hema is a new wreck in Grenada's waters. After taking on water and with a bilge pump not working as it should, she came to her final resting place three miles off the south coast of the Caribbean island in March this year, though all aboard were rescued. The German-built vessel is within recreational diving limits and has already attracted nurse and reef sharks. Aquanauts has dives starting at about £22 and accommodation on Grenada starts from about £45 per night.
www.aquanautsgrenada.com
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Far out in the Pacific, 260 miles south-west of Costa Rica, is the "kingdom of the Sharks", Cocos Island, where you can dive sheer pinnacles with swarms of scalloped hammerhead and whitetip reef sharks. From £2127 for eight-night or £2374 for 10-night cruises, you can join the Okeanos Aggressor including flights from London with Iberia (with free add-ons from Manchester) and overnight accommodation in San Jose. Call Divequest for details.
01254 826322
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One of Britain's longest-established dive centres has moved from Chesil Beach in Portland to merge with its sister-company Underwater Explorers in nearby Castletown, Dorset. Their facilities include classrooms, meeting rooms, gas-fill station offering fills up to 300bar, kit-rinsing and drying rooms, as well as a cafe with indoor and outdoor seating. The island's main diveboat jetty is only 30m away.
www.underwaterexplorers.co.uk
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If you want to improve your underwater photography, why not train with a name? Leading underwater photographer Kurt Amsler offers photo-workshops combined with Mediterranean diving every year. This includes the drop-offs of Ile Verte, the light-tower Balise, the cave of la Vierge and the wreck of the P38 fighter, and is with the Aquanaut Dive Centre in Les Lecques. In September Kurt runs his Super Plus wreck trip, and he is also offering a Fisheye Special course this year.
www.photoshop.com/workshop
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Families are being encouraged to take the plunge this summer with Regaldive's Learn to Dive Family Pack. Those who book two PADI Open Water courses can get a third course for their child free. A second child can also learn to dive for £30, so a family of four can save up to £380. The offer is available at the El Gouna resort in the Red Sea for children of 10 or more if a complete package is booked through Regaldive before departures from 3 June through to 2 September.
0870 2201 777
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Camel Dive Club says it is the newest centre in Sharm el Sheikh to establish a TDI training facility. Its new status will enable guests to take any of TDI's technical diving courses, or to do guided tek dives in the Red Sea's Straits of Tiran and Ras Mohammed National Park. The Egyptian law limiting maximum depth to 30m does not apply to divers registered with an authorised technical facility.
www.cameldive.com
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Red Sea Diving College in Sharm el Sheikh and sister-company Red Sea Waterworld (Sharm and Taba) are the first centres in PADI International's territory outside the UK to be awarded the new PADI National Geographic Dive Centre rating. (www.redseacollege.com, www.redseawaterworld.com)
The Dominica Watersports Association's 12th Annual Dive Fest, a series of activities focused on the waterside of the "nature island of the Caribbean", runs from 2-9 July. (www.dominica.com)
DiveMix Systems in Hurghada now offers a whole range of gas fills, starting from air supplied by DMX compressors, nitrox from 22%-99%, high-pressure oxygen up to 200bar and helium, pure or premixed. (nenad.grujic@DiveMix.com)
Sri Lankan Airlines, which offers the only non-stop service between Heathrow and the Maldives, with flights every Thursday, Friday and Sunday, is planning a fourth weekly flight later this year. Prices start at £350 plus tax. (020 8538 2000)
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