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 All the holiday news...
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The folk at Maldives Liveaboards reckon that global weather shifts now offer diving visitors a far better chance of enjoying high-season weather during the May-October Maldives low season. The company has deals on holidays until the end of October - seven nights for the price of six, or 14 for 11 aboard the liveaboards Baani Explorer, Stingray and Baani Adventurer. Prices start from US $756 (around £420).
www.maldivesliveaboards.com
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Bali-based Indo Cruises, which runs liveaboard trips to exclusive eastern Indonesian reef-dive destinations such as Wakatobi, Flores Alor and Raja Ampat, has a new flagship vessel. The 38m schooner Seahorse can carry 16 passengers in air-conditioned en-suite cabins, and has two tenders. Prices for seven-day trips start from US $1974 (around £1100) for accommodation, meals and soft drinks, diving and transfers.
www.indocruises.com
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Rising Sun Dive Centre and Tanzanian charitable body Sea Sense have been collaborating to help protect turtles and dugongs around the island of Zanzibar. There are five identified turtle nests, one of which has already hatched 80 turtles this year. You can see the turtles - Dive Worldwide has packages to Zanzibar and Pemba islands starting from £1119, which includes flights and transfers, seven nights' half-board and a 10-dive pack at Breezes Beach Club.
www.diveworldwide.com
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East African diving is big news at the moment, and the Kairos Company has augmented its liveaboard programme from Tanzania with a new itinerary taking in Pemba Island, Manta Point, Fundu Gap, Mesali Island and Zanzibar. Technical diving equipment is available on-board, as are nitrox, rebreather and trimix courses, and mv Kairos has its own hyperbaric chamber. Prices for a 10-day trip start from around £1235 based on double occupancy, including meals, soft drinks and diving.
www.thekairoscompany.com
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Here's an easy way to track down local dive schools or clubs. SportsBase.co.uk is a new online directory of British and Irish sports clubs, venues and instructors, and already lists more than 35,000 names covering 1000-plus sports, including scuba-diving. Enter your postcode and the relevant contact details come up, with maps and even local weather. Try it - it works.
www.sportsbase.co.uk
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If you're travelling without a buddy on your diving holidays and fear being paired up with "the guy no-one wants to dive with" (who is this guy?), relax. The Dive Bus on Curaηao in the southern Caribbean is running Single Divers Weeks, aiming to provide friendly, hassle-free diving and plenty of other activities. Dive packs start from US $180 (£100) and nightly accommodation from $51 (£28).
www.the-dive-bus.com
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Coral Cay Conservation wants volunteers to help survey the coral reefs of Dravuni, in the southern island group of Kadavu in Fiji. CCC has unique access to Astrolabe Reef - offering what it says many regard as the best diving in Fiji.
The four-week trip in September costs £1050, including accommodation, food and training - you pay for travel on top of that.
www.coralcay.org
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Manta Ray Bay Hotel on the Pacific island of Yap is celebrating 20 years in business by offering 20% off its package prices for trips until the end of October. The operation boasts eight custom dive-boats, a digital photo centre and even an onsite brewery! Discounted seven-day packages start from US $855 (around £465)
for accommodation, diving, a half-day kayak tour, transfers and taxes.
www.mantaray.com
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Emperor Divers in Sharm El Sheikh is going all-out for the family market by giving divers the chance to do two dives in the morning or two in the afternoon on calm, colourful dive sites close to town. This leaves ample time for activities with family or non-diving partners - unless you choose to do all four dives each day, of course. Non-divers are welcome to come along for the ride or snorkel from the boat, too.
www.emperordivers.com
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It's always going to be a pricy trip, but parties of three or more divers hoping to visit Galapagos can save up to £1750 on normal prices this October, says Regaldive. Two pay, one goes half-price is the rule for departures between 27 September and 29 October on the liveaboard Tip Top III. A 17-night trip starts from £2949 for flights, accommodation, most meals and diving.
www.regaldive.co.uk
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- Preview a holiday - Travel Dive now enables you to watch underwater films using video-streaming to your PC or laptop, starting with John Boyle's Critters trilogy. www.travel-dive.com
- Feeling lazy? EDC Sharm promises "Hassle Free Diving" - it stores your dive kit in bags at the dive centre, you turn up on Prince Ashref, its new 24m launch, and everything's set up for you. www.europeandiving.co.uk
- Celtic Diving of Fishguard, west Wales, has a new charter boat called Wandrin' Star. It takes 12 divers. www.celticdiving.co.uk
- The Caribbean island of Curaçao holds its first annual dive festival from 20-27 May, with dives, workshops and seminars and plenty of evening entertainment. Twelve hotels are offering guests airfare credits of up to US $200. www.curacao-event.com
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