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 All the holiday news...
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Go North! invites you to dive in the clear blue waters of Norway 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle on wrecks and reefs that only the company has dived before. It says marine life is bigger and brighter up there, as witness giant king crabs as wide from claw to claw as a diver is tall. Prices for a week's holiday based in Kongsfjord start at £990 and include five days' diving from a comfortable hardboat and bed & breakfast. Flights are not included, although if you book them through Go North!, the company says it can obtain increased baggage allowances - fares from Heathrow to Kirkenes start from £257.
www.arctic-diving.com
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Suddenly, with a number of sightings in the Red Sea, everyone's talking about tiger sharks - animals not to be underestimated. You can sign up for the Tiger Shark Experience at Aliwal Shoal in South Africa from January to June, when 3m-plus females are present, or at other times of year if smaller specimens will do for you. Dive The Big 5 chums the water from its boat and reports 100% success rates in sightings over recent years. Great white, hammerhead, Zambezi and blacktip sharks may also turn up, but this is not cage diving but drift-diving at 5m, or snorkelling from the boat. The daily rate of 800 rand (around £70) includes air, weights and snacks, and the boat carries four to eight divers.
www.divethebig5.com
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Balearic Discovery is based in Majorca and custom-designs trips to the Mediterranean island for visitors interested in all sorts of adventurous activities - including diving. Two hours' flight from the UK and served by budget airlines, Majorca is ideal for a long weekend's diving, says BD, which is offering a three-night diving break in Pollensa for £255. Based on two sharing, the price excludes flights but covers four dives around the rugged coast of northern Majorca, B&B accommodation, transfers and transport to and from dive sites. Another offer is for beginners seeking PADI Open Water certification - £530 (no flights) based on two sharing covers seven nights' B&B, all training, equipment and certification, dive-site transport and transfers.
www.balearicdiscovery.com
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Regaldive's brochure for 2005/06 features three new dive destinations, Bali, Komodo and Oman, along with new liveaboards in such parts of the world as Tobago, Djibouti, Pemba, the Maldives, Thailand and the Galapagos. There are also additional options in the Red Sea, including year-round flights to Marsa Alam, private transfers, and new accommodation including luxury hotels in Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada.
www.regaldive.co.uk
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Add another event to the international underwater photo competition circuit - Photo H2O in Mauritius, to be held at the Sugar Beach Resort and La Pirogue Hotel from 4-10 February next year. Open to any CMAS 2-Star or equivalent diver who is an amateur digital photographer, the competition involves five dives over five days. You have to bring a buddy and submit two shots in each of two categories - "the animals of the reef" and "the beauty of the sea" - to qualify for a variety of prizes. A room at Sugar Beach Resort for participants (two sharing) costs £1353 per head, including seven nights' half-board, transfers, dives, competition-related events and entry fees (no flights). You need to enter by 10 January.
www.sugarbeachresort.com
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Three-fifths of travellers fail to seek health advice before venturing abroad, and a quarter of those visiting high-risk malaria areas are unaware of the risk, according to a European Airport Study. Online medical service E-Med says this is a common reason for contracting the disease, along with taking anti-malarials inappropriate for the destination, or leaving it too late to obtain medication before departure. Now E-Med has launched a service to help travellers order the correct anti-malarials before visiting an affected area. It provides the latest information and advice, and you can order online with free next-day delivery anywhere in the UK.
www.e-med.co.uk
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Got £42,000 burning a hole in your pocket? Then you might want to blow it on a trip to the North Pole - not to a flag on the ice but to the "real" pole, 2.7 miles down in the deepest part of the Arctic Ocean. Wildwings can arrange for you to be part of the inaugural 17-day expedition in August 2006 and see it for yourself from one of two MIR submersibles diving from the icebreaker Yamal, which takes up to 100 passengers. There may not be much to see down there, but if you go on one of these nine-hour dives you'll be among the very first humans to see it!
0117 9658 333
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Werner Lau Diving Centres on the Maldivian islands of Eriyadu, Vilamendhoo, Filitheyo and Medhufushi (when it reopens) now offer "Kids Diving" for children aged from 10 up, providing suitably sized equipment, 7 litre aluminum tanks, and specially trained instructors.
www.wernerlau.net
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Maltaqua, the dive centre in St Paul's Bay, Malta is celebrating 36 years in business with a new-look dive centre, and says the Maltese government and EU has helped to fund the makeover. Its shop, school and classrooms have been thoroughly renovated and a new filling station set up outside the shop area, with new compressor and bank filling to 300 bar.
www.maltaqua.com
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