Diver Holiday Guide 97


Holiday Briefs
From Gosport to the Indian Ocean, Diver finds out what's new on the holiday front for 1997, and offers a few tips on what you will need to pack.

Beauty of the Med.
There is plenty of good diving to be found in the Mediterranean. You just need to know where to look.

Weather for diving?
A comprehebsive weather guide to help you find the best conditions for your next diving holiday abroad.

Another Ireland
The Irish north coast has more to offer divers than you might think. Simon Williams and Jamie Stevens go exploring on a liveabord.

Colourful Caribbean - Cuba
Colourful Caribbean - St Lucia
Diver correspondents check out the exotic delights of the Caribbean. Simon Volpe visits Cuba, and Martin Gough heads for St Lucia.

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HOLIDAY BRIEF

Don't leave home without ...
THE SECRET of packing for a holiday abroad is to take exactly what you need and nothing more. This is particularly true when travelling by air for aircraft baggage is normally restricted to 20kg, and check-in stf may even weigh your hand luggage.
Before you go, find out what is likely to be available at your destination. Do not take consumable items like suntan lotion to a busy holiday resort, as you can buy these when you get there. However, do take a suitable sun hat.
You can hire a full set of equipment from most dive centres, but naturally most divers prefer to take their own. Once you have packed wetsuit, boots, BC, regulator, mask, weightbelt (without lead), fins, and snorkel, you will find that space is at a premium.
In a warm climate you can wash clothes by hand and they will dry quickly, and do not forget that divers have never been known to "dress for dinner". If you think fresh water may be scarce, take some sea soap to aid washing in salt water.
In some parts of the world, you may need to carry blood plasma substitute, hypodermic syringes and antibiotics, but thankfully this is not normally so. It is worth carrying decongestants, indigestion pills and headache pills just in case you need them. In some parts of the world, water purification tablets can come in handy too.
A simple first aid kit with sticking plasters and greasy dressings will help deal with minor injuries, and petroleum jelly is useful for abrasions. A thick layer of jelly will keep water out and prevent infection from the planktonic soup.
Mosquitoes are annoying even at the best of times, so cover up after sunset. If necessary, take anti-malaria pills (see page 23), and take them well in advance of travelling. Use insect repellents and consider carrying your own mosquito net to sleep under.
If travelling by air, carry warm clothes for the journey, as air-conditioned airports and planes tend to be cool, but be prepared to peel off a layer. It is best to carry electrical or electronic items as hand luggage, including lamps, cameras, flashguns, computers and even batteries. You could otherwise waste a lot of time seeing your hold baggage put through a special inspection before the airline will accept it.
Do not have your regulator serviced immediately before departure, but try it before you go to make sure it is working. It may even be an idea to take an additional first stage with you. It is also worth taking a spare computer, a box of assorted O-rings, a set of tools and a tube of silicone grease (avoid the spray).
Photographers have more of a problem deciding what to omit than what to take. Spare batteries, spare O-rings and plenty of rolls of film are essential. The painful decision as to how many cameras and flashguns to take is a personal one, but always pack a spare synchro lead.
A phrase book is often very useful in Europe, but in many other parts of the world English is spoken. Major credit cards are widely accepted, even in some of the remotest spots. If you want to spend cash, you will need local money in Europe. Elsewhere the US dollar is readily accepted.
Be aware that not all foreign currency is internationally accepted, so don't buy more than you might need. If, for example, you come back from the Yemen with a bag full of rials, it may be good for use as wallpaper but not much else, unless you plan to go back.
Don't overlook visa requirements. If you are going on a liveaboard, you will need the required number of entry and re-entry visas before you start. Generally speaking, your passport should have at least six months' validity, and remember that some countries may be funny about the stamps of certain other countries being in your passport.
Finally, get any necessary vaccinations done before you go, or you might be obliged to have them on arrival. Don't forget to carry your international vaccination certificate alongside your passport and your travel insurance.

Can you be more Pacific?
DID YOU KNOW that you can now get to Fiji for as little as £625 return? British divers tend to think that their wallets will not stretch as far as the South Pacific, but they are about to be proved wrong. The Tourism Council of the South Pacific is determined to make the pelagic waters of the Pacific islands - including Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga and Tahiti - more accessible to the British public. As part of a grand strategy leading into the year 2000, nine airlines have joined forces to offer a Visit South Pacific Air Pass, giving up to 50% saving off normal fares. This means a range of affordable dive packages will soon be on offer.
"Air fares to the South Pacific have dropped considerably over the past few years, so now, pound for pound, a holiday in the South Pacific can be better value than a trip to Paris," says Andrew Chapman, Marketing Director for Austravel, which specialises in South Pacific holidays.
Depending where you go, accommodation is reasonably priced, but if you do want to splash out, do not overlook the small and exclusive islands surrounding the more well-known destinations. Consider the 240-acre island of Matagi, just off Fiji, which is privately owned and offers seven nights of secluded luxury from US$850 full board (not including diving). Sounds indulgent, but owners Nigel and Carol Douglas promise you the holiday of a lifetime.
For more details on diving in the South Pacific, you can trawl through 800 pages of information on the internet site SPICE. (http//www.infocentre.com/stp.)

Fly-drive-dive
ENGLISH DIVERS are beginning to cotton on to the underwater delights of Ireland's Atlantic coast. With fast ferries running from Fishguard and Holyhead in Wales, "drive-'n-dive" holidays have already proved popular with Brits who want quality diving and don't mind the cold. Now Irish dive centres are branching out into the "fly-dive" market.
Scubadive West, located amid breathtaking scenery in Connemara, Co Galway, is offering all-year round fly-drive packages for £260 a week or £160 for a long weekend. Leaving London at 11am, you arrive in Knock in Co Mayo, hop in a car for an hour, and can be in the water by 3pm for your first dive in 20m visibility.
The centre is fairly remote, which adds an element of adventure for divers, but is not ideal for non-diving partners looking for alternative entertainment! Prices include flights, car rental, bed and breakfast, diving, tanks and weights.

Life study
YOU DO NOT need to be a marine biologist to study the deep. So if you want a holiday with a difference this year, how about a visit to the Institut fur Marine Biologie on the island of Giglio, off Italy's Tuscan coast? The German-run centre is well-frequented by study groups from German universities, but it is now keen to encourage British divers to take part in its marine identification and biology courses (writes Reg Vallintine).
A few days here will prove to any sceptic that the Med is "anything but dead". The place is buzzing with professional and amateur marine biologists, using the latest technology to inspect samples brought up from the deep. Hundreds of specimens are held on show alongside an extensive library of collated information.
The centre is ideal for divers wanting to combine a course with a moderately-priced holiday. It is based near the beach in the picturesque Campese village, and close to the bars and restaurants of Giglio port. Accommodation is arranged in comfortable self-catering apartments. The centre is open from March to November but it is best to avoid the crowded summer months. A five-day course in Marine Biology, with five boat dives and accommodation will cost 340. Special offers apply for marine biology students.


Fantasy Isles
HOW ABOUT escaping the English winter for a week of tropical island-hopping? From January 1997, Fantasea Cruises is offering its 35m Fantasea II diving yacht for week-long tours of the Granatic Islands in the Seychelles. Facilities on board include air-conditioned en-suite cabins and a fully equipped business centre. Tours will include the islands of Mahe, Praslin, Ladigue, Aride, Cousin, Fregate and any other interesting reef encountered. Cost: from US$250 a day with a 10% discount if you mention Diver Magazine.

Touch of Thai
THAILAND is fast becoming a hotspot for diving, and British operators are rushing across to fulfil the demand. Oonasdivers' 19m clipper Stressbreaker, previously resident in the Red Sea, has migrated to Thailand to tour the Similan Islands and Surin for the next two years. Charters for a minimum of seven days will run from Phuket, at a cost of £595 full board for six days of unlimited diving.
Meanwhile, Goldenjoy is offering a new all-inclusive Thai liveaboard package for £999, including flights and six nights on board the Andaman Seafarer. It can accommodate 16 divers in four air-conditioned cabins. The Similan and Surin islands form a national marine park reputed to offer some of the best diving in Asia.

Ocean king
"WITHOUT a doubt, it is the most well-equipped dive boat in the world," boasts John Ellis, describing the 53m diving super-vessel he is about to launch in Zanzibar, East Africa. Seaking, a former North Sea rescue vessel, has been kitted out with high-tech navigational and communication equipment, air compressors, a photo lab, a medical centre with a two-man recompression chamber, and even a few shark cages for the daring.
Starting in 1997, Seaking will run seven and ten-day tours around the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, Latham and Mafia, with occasional 28-day long-haul trips to Aldabra Attol, Illes Glorieuse, Comoros and northwestern Madagascar. BSAC instruction will be available for those who want to take advantage of 27-28*C temperatures and 50m visibility to get some training under their belts. Cost: between £1300 and £1500 for seven or ten days, including flights. Discounts for club group bookings.

In your dreams
FOR THOSE who want the quality of diving on a liveaboard without the cramped conditions of a boat, how about a trip to a five-star diving resort on the atoll of Layang Layang, 300km off the north coast of Borneo in the South China Sea? Shore-diving here is so varied it's like being on a "liveaboard on land", according to operator Divequest. You will find 13 coral reefs covering 14 square kilometres, with guaranteed pelagic encounters.
If Divequest holidays are anything like its 1997 brochure suggests, then they are well worth the money. Some divers have said the glossy brochure, including 60 pages of text and illustrations, and covering exotic destinations worldwide, is so good it makes for perfect bedtime reading, even if you plan to do little more than dream about a holiday in paradise.
Eleven days on Layang Layang will cost from £1750.
Rent-a-buddy
YOU HAVE the kit, the time, and the inclination to go abroad, but you have no one to dive with. Well, no need to rattle around in a double room or cabin while being penalised with a single person
supplement. Aquatours has set up a Lone Rangers program to help single divers find a buddy to travel and share costs with. Alternatively, you can find a buddy with the help of Diver Magazine's Buddy Line on the Divernet.

Hols with Nelly
Nelly DIVING with elephants? For the experience of a lifetime, book a holiday with the Port Blair Underwater Centre in the Andaman Islands. The centre has just opened, and has been given special permission to dive in the waters around the islands, which are otherwise closed to tourism. Not only will you be diving pristine and unexplored reefs, but you will be sharing the waters with the resident elephants which swim between the islands using their trunks as snorkels. Cost from £300 for 5 days accommodation and diving.

Ahoy Grenada
SHORE-BASED divers to Grenada will now be able to widen their underwater horizons with the help of a new passenger service linking the islands of Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique. The Osprey Express hovercraft ferry takes just 90 minutes to hop between the islands. It can take 150 passengers and travels twice daily for 10 per person.
Spain for all
HAVE YOU BEEN known to take your family on holiday, only to abandon them as soon as you find the nearest reef? Then Spain's Costa Brava is for you. A new British-run watersports centre at Cala Llevado will service the main tourist areas including Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar. While you go off diving, Kevin McDonald and a team of instructors will come to your hotel pool to give the rest of your family a try-dive session. Those who don't like the idea can have lessons in sailing, wind-surfing, canoeing or water-skiing. Excursions to the nearby waterslides at WaterWorld park or the dolphin displays at Marineland can also be arranged.
Meanwhile, divers can seek out some of Spain's best diving around the Medas and Formigas Islands. Special package deals are available for club bookings.

What a wreck
TAKE NOTE all pioneering wreck divers! The 33m Sea Surveyor, designed for serious divers on long range charters, has obtained special permission to dive six new wartime wrecks in Sudan for two weeks in March and April 1997. The wrecks - Mazzini, Prometeo, Urania, Bottego, Sauro, Panaria - were part of the Italian fleet trapped and bombed by the allies in 1940 in the Dahlak archipelago. Six nights with five days diving will cost £1575 including flights.

Gosport glory
DON'T FANCY the hassle of all those visas, vaccinations and flights, and don't mind the cold? Then Portsmouth harbour could be a good place for your next dive trip. Scuba Doo, a 10m Lochin based at Gosport marina, is back in business after a complete refit, with a new navigational centre including sonar, fishfinders and radar. Skipper Peter Webb, with a little help from his new equipment, promises to take divers to sites that only he knows. Clubs, groups and individuals are welcome throughout the year. Cost: £25 a day for two dives.

Double deal
DITHERING over whether to opt for the palm-fringed delights of Cuba or the exotic spice of Mexico for your next spot of diving? Why not do both? Cuban diving specialist Scuba en Cuba is offering a new package including five nights/eight dives on Cuba's Isle of Youth, followed by six nights/ten dives in Cozumel, Mexico. The trip will cost around £770, including accommodation, flight transfers between the islands, and two nights in Havana (but excluding flights from the UK).
Appeared in DIVER - January 1997
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