Destination 2000

DESTINATION
2000

Where will you be when the Year 2000 dawns? Everyone wants to see in the new millennium in style, and many divers see it as the time to plan that dream trip. What are the chances of your dreams coming true, asks Gavin Anderson

On the eve of the Third Millennium AD, divers are thinking big and digging deep into their pockets to mark the momentous occasion with a dive trip to remember - if not over New Year itself, at least during what they call Y2K.
Travel agents report being inundated with requests for special trips, and it is exotic "desert islands" and the Pacific generally that are topping your wish-lists.
If you fancy getting away to one of these hotspots for the 31 December/1 January celebrations, you might already be too late, however. Booking the holiday of choice over the New Year is proving difficult, expensive and often frustrating for many people.
The travel and tourism industry, not entirely surprisingly, has gone millennium-mad. Hotel rates have gone up by as much as 50 per cent, and while it is reasonable to expect increases to cover the costs of paying staff to work over the holiday period, and to reflect the undoubted demand, there does seem to be a big element of cashing in on the event. Jim Breackell of Scuba Safaris, which specialises in far-off destinations such as Papua New Guinea, goes so far as to say: "It's all a big con."
Some major airlines such as Singapore Airlines and KLM blocked off all their seats early in the year, and those airlines that are still offering flights are asking sky-high prices.
Trailfinders told me that airline prices had gone "through the roof", with a typical fare of £700 now costing £1200. "Lack of availability is staggering, especially to Australia and New Zealand," I was told. "The period for the increased prices starts in mid-December and continues right through to mid-January. There is virtually no availability as of now."
Some divers who started looking early have been successful in booking their millennium trip, and at reasonable prices. Sport Abroad's Christmas and New Year holiday in the Maldives seems to have proved very popular, despite the poor condition of the coral reefs. Prices have been kept to sensible levels, with a two-week trip costing around £1150, including a reasonable £200 millennium flight supplement.
According to Daniel Le Merle, Sport Abroad's diving co-ordinator, the Maldives are sold out over the Christmas holiday period. Some people were put off going away because of the double-whammy effect of Christmas and millennium supplements combined, he said, but this had simply pushed up bookings for October and November.
While Le Merle was pleased with bookings for the Maldives, he said he had not had much joy in fixing people up with other requested destinations. Early in the year he had tried to book flights for a group wanting to stay on a live-aboard in Kenya over the Christmas/New Year period, and said he had been quoted "ridiculous" prices by British Airways, while other airlines were unable to quote fares at all with the millennium so far ahead. He also reported big problems with the availability and prices of flights to the Pacific.
This is compounded by the concern shown by many airlines about the possibility of millennium bugs. Some have decided not to operate during the millennium date change period, and are generously giving their staff time off to celebrate. The biggest concern has been with air traffic control systems, especially in less developed areas such as South America and Africa.
If you are willing to stay closer to home - if you consider the Red Sea close to home - the picture changes. There is still availability to Sharm el Sheikh and Hurghada over Christmas and New Year, for example, and prices are not prohibitive. Most hotels seem to have increased their prices by no more than 15 per cent.
New Year's Eve falls on a Friday, and as some airlines are not flying on 31 December or 1 January, quite a few of the trips offered are for a fortnight. If you fancy welcoming in the new millennium under water, the northern Red Sea could be the solution for you - some of the packages on offer are shown in the accompanying panel.
You might just pick up a last-minute bargain to a destination further afield, if airlines hold on to their tickets just a little too long or change their minds about scheduling normal flights, but it is risky. If it's the trip of a lifetime you're after, it might be a sensible option to stay at home over New Year itself, avoid all the travel headaches and put the money you save to good use later in 2000.
Many divers seem to be doing just that. Enquiries about dream trips are at an all time high, according to Explorers Tours, which says it has already taken several large group bookings. Truk Lagoon, seen by many as the wreck capital of the world, seems to be high on most people's lists, and most of Explorers' groups have booked for the February-March period, a good time for Truk in terms of both weather and prices. Expect to pay around £1500 for a 10-day trip including flights, accommodation and diving.
Sure Dive also reports tremendous interest for the year 2000, with Truk again proving a major draw. The company did however say it was struggling to put trips together for people wanting to go later in the year: "It's just too soon to be booking trips for November 2000," says Jan Minchinton, Sure Dive's director. But she is arranging some real holiday-of-a-lifetime combinations, with clients looking to combine trips to the likes of the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Hawaii.
Other destinations on the agenda included Bikini Atoll, regarded by some as superior to Truk, and Australia.
My own dream trip combination would be a tour of the Pacific taking in islands such as Vanuatu, the Solomons and Papua New Guinea, though I admit that the cost would be frightening. For value for money, a trip to Micronesia combining Truk, Palau and Yap would be hard to beat. The combination of wrecks, walls and mantas is a mouth-watering temptation.
Check out my top ten and see if any of these ideas takes your fancy. My club is considering a bigger trip than usual during the Year 2000 but one that will not cost the earth. Cuba or Mozambique are favourites at present, and I would encourage them to try Mozambique because it is very different from their normal destinations.
That, after all, is what a Year 2000 trip should be about - trying something a bit different.

GAVIN ANDERSON'S Y2K DREAM TRIPS

1. Twenty-one days in Truk Lagoon, Palau and Yap, Ł2700
2. Fourteen days in Manado/Kungkungan Bay, Indonesia, Ł2500
3. Fourteen days in Sipadan/Layang Layang, Malaysia, Ł2000
4. Twenty-one days in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, Ł3750
5. One week live-aboard in the Galapagos Islands, Ł2500
6. Fourteen days in the southern Red Sea, Ł1600
7. Twenty-one days in South Africa/Mozambique, Ł2000
8. Fourteen days in Australia, combining north and south, Ł1700
9. Fourteen days Bahamas, Ł1750
10. Ten days on a live-aboard in the Cocos Islands, £3200
Prices will vary depending on agent and time of year.

SEE IN 2000 IN THE
NORTHERN RED SEA

At the upper end of the price scale, the luxury live-aboard Oyster, formerly Moondancer, sails from Hurghada on 24 December for a two-week cruise around the Red Sea with dinner on the Brothers on New Year's Eve. Price is Ł2100. Or you could book a one-week live-aboard trip, departing 26 December, which offers four dives a day for Ł989 all-in - including your final dinner of this millennium, served on a deserted island! (Goldenjoy 0171 794 9767)

A week on the Sea Queen Two live-aboard visiting sites such as Ras Mohammed and the Straits of Tiran costs Ł800, including flights and six days' diving. You depart on Boxing Day. If you fancy visiting dive-sites accessible only by 4 x 4s, you might prefer a one-week drive-dive safari on the west coast of Sinai. Sleep under canvas in the desert and watch the millennium dawn over Mount Sinai. Price is Ł680 including flights, diving, transport, meals and sleeping bag! (Crusader Travel 0181 744 0474)

Regal is offering two-week live-aboard trips from Sharm or Hurghada with flights, full accommodation and up to 35 dives for Ł1399, or you might opt for a split one-week live-aboard/one-week hotel combination, also based on either Sharm or Hurghada. Guests will be treated to a Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve gala dinner at their hotel, and prices start at Ł1009. (Regal Holidays 01353 778096)

Covering Christmas and the New Year, Oonasdivers is offering a fortnight at the Southern Safari Village near Marsa Alam, either in a tent (Ł1080) or, for Ł160 more, in a stone, dome-roofed house. You get full board, 12 days' unlimited diving and a party on millennium night. A week at the Oonas Club in Na'ama Bay over the New Year period costs Ł610 for bed and breakfast accommodation. Diving is included and group discounts available. (Oonasdivers 01323 648924)

Appeared in DIVER - July 1999