April 2003 issue:

General

Australia

Papua New Guinea

Micronesia

Other Topics

 

  

DIVERSION DIVE TRAVEL Newsletter / April 2003

Online HTML version (English)      |       Online HTML Version (deutsch)

G'day from Diversion Dive Travel,

In these uncertain times, we hope everyone is still convinced that the world "makes more sense underwater" and it is still the safest and most relaxing place to visit of all.

I know you all know, but just as a reminder, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Micronesia are still among the most secure places to visit in the world.

War, Killer Viruses and evil dictators are still "spooked" by our relaxed way of life and we heartily enjoy their absence from our region.
We look forward to hearing from you all soon.

Blowing big bubbles, no troubles………

General

Nitrox - Advantages of diving with Nitrox

Nitrox diving is becoming popular on our live-aboard dive cruisesBy diving with Nitrox rather than standard air you can extend your no decompression limits at depths shallower than 28 metres (95 feet). This means more time underwater & more fun & safety. For example, if you dive to 15 metres/50 feet on air, your no decompression limit is 80 minutes. But, diving on Nitrox 36% gets you 220 minutes of no decompression time - an increase of 140 minutes.

Naturally, absorbing less nitrogen provides a big energy boost at the end of the day as well as decreasing the odds of decompression sickness. However, remember to watch that oxygen intake!

Nitrox is finally starting to become more common with live-aboard operators in Australia, The Solomons & PNG. Recently, Supersport, Telita, Spirit of Freedom & Bilikiki have all begun operating with Nitrox. May the growing trend continue !

Our comments - Like some feedback on your desired destination ?

If you are interested to read some feedback on your favourite or desired destination for your next trip, please feel free to use the feedback section on our web-page as a resource tool.
For example, check out this comment on the Nimrod Explorer :

"Hello Dirk and Claudia,
We had a great trip on the Nimrod. The diving was spectacular - every dive seemed better than the last. The Nimrod is a great boat - good food, nice rooms. Everything you set up for us (boat, hotel, tour) went very smoothly. Thanks again.
Phil & Tina Lentini, USA "

For many more recommendations, please take a glance at our Feedback link
-->http://www.diversionoz.com/en/feedback.htm

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Australia

Chrisje's Trip Report on Scubapro

Chrisje Foster, Office Manager at DIVERSION DIVE TRAVELThe latest & greatest addition to our team at Diversion Dive Travel, Chrisje Foster, offers her thoughts on Scubapro, after a recent 3 Day/ 2 night excursion.

Welcome to the team, Chrisje !

Scubapro - the boat:
Staff very friendly and all guests we made to feel at home.
Scubapro is an excellent facility interesting with a good combination of theory and practical learning during the course. All equipment supplied & everybody catered for, no one left out.

Scubapro - Best value dive cruise to reefs closer to CairnsBoat trip to Flynn and Milln Reefs on Scubapro:
Early pick up, down to the shop to load our gear (great system with all our stuff in a tub). Down to the boat, tea, coffee, safety briefing, cabin allocation, orientation and dive briefing on the way to the reef.
We seemed to be on the reef in no time.
Scubapro II is an excellent dive vessel with a well planned dive deck and excellent access to and from the water.
A state of the art compressor system made tank filling an easy task for the crew.

Here's just an example of one day on the trip :

Dive 5
Gordons, Flynn Reef
Leisurely cruising to Mickey Mouse Bommies - because of the shape - feeding turtles, lots of friendly batfish.
Excellent swim through coral canyons, lot of anemone fish. Overswam the boat, but no problems, Prodive has excellent safety protocols and safe dive sites suitable for beginners and experienced alike.		 Dive 6
Little Tracy's Mooring Flynn Reef
A superb dive site with a max depth of 20m. Lots of what you would expect from the Barrier Reef.		 Dive 7
Coral Gardens, Flynn Reef
Prodive saved the best for last.
Beautiful coral formations, lots of finger coral, very colourful schools of fish and more canyons to swim through, not too deep and an excellent dive site for new divers. Saw a live spider cowrie shell !! Amazing experience and great value for money."

Scubapro and Prodive are our first recommendation for dive training and Reeftrips closer to Cairns.

Scubapro -> http://www.diversionoz.com/en/scubapro.htm
Dive Courses -->http://www.diversionoz.com/en/divetraining-ow.htm

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Mike Ball's Spoilsport - New Cabin configuration
SpoilsportMike Ball's MV Spoilsport has for a number of years been operating top quality, award winning 6 & 7 night Coral Sea Excursions taking in the best of Flinders Reef, the Great Barrier Reef and the spectacular Yongala Wreck.
Spoilsport has always prided itself with the high level of comfort available on board by offering guests a choice of four cabin categories, and now as a result of recent refurbishments all Standard cabins are fitted with private bathrooms. Trip costs remain the same, so this adds extra value to one of Australia's top live-aboard experiences.
http://www.diversionoz.com/en/spoilsport.htm

October/November 2003 - Book your Live-Aboard Dive Trip now ! -
Places limited as Rugby World Cup sells one-millionth ticket

And what exactly is Rugby, do you ask ? "The game played in heaven" is the standard reply of aficionados. To the uninitiated of you in parts of Europe, North America & Asia, you might think "So what ??"

The Rugby World Cup is the second largest-attended sporting event in the World after the Soccer World Cup, and the crowd numbers are larger than the Olympic Games. Australia hosts the Rugby World Cup in October/November 2003 and more overseas visitors are expected in Australia than visited to the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

As a result, places on live-aboards & accommodation during October/November 2003 throughout Australia are very limited, so you better book soon whilst there are still a few places available !!!

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Need a car during your stay in Australia ?
Did you know that North Queensland, in particular, is the ideal fly/drive destination, as many of its land-based attractions can be comfortably reached using the safe and uncongested highways.
Fuel is comparitively well-priced (approx 0.90c Australian) per litre and there's a great selection of accommodation available throughout the region to suit all tastes and budgets.
With this in mind, we have teamed up with EUROPCAR, one of the world's leading car hire companies, to offer an online booking facility that provides you with instant quotes and confirmations at extremely good rates, for example…AU$50 per day for a Toyota Echo or similar on a 1 to 6 day hire period with unlimited mileage and standard insurance included.
EUROPCAR has an extensive network throughout Australia offering a range of vehicles up to 4WD's & 12-seater buses !
http://www.diversionoz.com/en/carhire_europcar.htm

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Papua New Guinea

A little culture & adventure with your dive holiday ?

For those interested in a diving & adventure experience in PNG, Warren & Erin Salt from Colorado, USA visited the Milne Bay & Tufi regions in March 2003 and very kindly supplied the following feedback:

Coastal villagers in traditional outfits near Tufi Resort"Just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that we had a
MAGNIFICENT holiday, thanks to your help. All transfers went smoothly,
the hotels and dive resorts Tufi * Loloata Island) were exquisite with exceptionally friendly staff, and the live-aboard on Paradise Sport was phenomenal. We felt very well cared for everywhere we went and would highly recommend this trip to others. The exotic and bizarre reef life excited us time and again, and we had such fun visiting the villages and meeting the people there. The locals were tremendously friendly and welcomed us with open arms, eager to show us how they live. Some of our highlights:
Brisbane--very nice hotel right near the gardens; great location and view
from room. http://www.diversionoz.com/en/royalbrisbane.htm
Tufi--awesome atmosphere at the main guest house, nice accommodations,
highly memorable visits to the villages, great staff, interesting bush walk
with a local guide, and pleasant canoe trip, very good food, great muck diving off Tufi wharf, good reef diving, frequent and pleasant encounters with the locals. http://www.diversionoz.com/en/tufiresort.htm

Lion Fish in PNG's tropical reefLoloata Island--excellent accommodations, great staff, good reef and wreck
diving. Main guest house was not as nice as Tufi, but excellent food made
up for lack of atmosphere. http://www.diversionoz.com/en/loloataisland.htm
Paradise Sport Liveaboard--outstanding accommodations; this boat is
incredible! Excellent muck, reef, and wreck dives; multiple entertaining
encounters with locals; waited on hand and foot by the staff; very good
food. Lots of opportunities for learning, including reef ecology program
and photography lessons. http://www.diversionoz.com/en/paradisesport.htm

Sydney--First class hotel (Sir Stamford at Circular Quay) right in the heart
of all the perfect attractions."

Many thanks to Erin & Warren, your report says it all !

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Mike Ball's Paradise Sport - 30% discount Specials, new itineraries.
As well as operating 7 & 10 night Milne Bay & Kavieng Expeditions, MV Paradise Sport will now also be based in spectacular Kimbe Bay from 24 April to 06 June 2003 where it will be offering 7 night cruises out of the Walindi Plantation Resort to the many sites within Kimbe Bay and beyond to the Bismark Sea, Fathers Reef and the remote Witu Islands.
Kimbe Bay is regarded as one of the soft coral capitals of the world and recent marine surveys in the area have recorded over 350 species of reef building corals, and over 900 species of fish.

To celebrate its introduction to the region, Paradise Sport is offering a whopping 30% discount off her 9, 16 & 23 May departures on which we do still have some limited availability.
For more information on Paradise Sport and the Kimbe Bay region, please refer to the following links:
http://www.diversionoz.com/en/paradisesport.htm
http://www.diversionoz.com/en/png-kimbe.htm

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Telita/Golden Dawn back-to-back specials
Telita We are very pleased to report that MV Telita, PNG's original live-aboard, is very much alive and fin kicking. Last March we all paid a visit to Telita just after her recent re-fit in Cairns and she's is looking as beautiful as ever. With another one of the standard cabins now having been fitted with an ensuite bathroom, NITROX facilities and a maximum of 10 guests on board, Telita is one of the most personalised and comfortable ways to dive in the Milne Bay region.

Telita is now under the same ownership as MV Golden Dawn, PNG's premier adventure diving live-aboard, and their schedules compliment each other very well. Whilst Telita will be specialising in the Milne Bay region with 7 to 10 night cruises, Golden Dawn will be operating 10-14 night extended exploratory and adventure cruises all over PNG, including Milne Bay.
At certain times of the year Telita & Golden Dawn trips can be combined back to back for the ultimate PNG diving experience and discounted by USD$200.

All Oceanet members also receive a USD$200 discount off the cost of a cruise on board either vessel.
http://www.diversionoz.com/en/telita.htm
http://www.diversionoz.com/en/goldendawn.htm

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Micronesia

Big Blue Explorer in Palau - Great value & filling fast for remaining 2003 departures

Without doubt, Palau is one regarded as one the world's "hot-spots" and is on the must do list for many travellers. As many of the dive sites are between 60 to 90 minutes from the port of Koror, it does tend to make day trips to these spots long and sometimes a little arduous under certain conditions, so live-aboard diving is definitely the best option for most divers.

With the shelter provided by the beautiful Rock Islands, live-aboards offer divers a far more comfortable and adventurous option which enables them to dive more (4-5 dives per day) and to avoid the popular sites when they are being visited by the day boats.
Live-aboard diving also increases the range of sites that can be visited in the more remote and distant areas of Peleliu.

Over the past few years, MV BIG BLUE EXPLORER has been consistently receiving excellent feedback from clients who have been impressed with the vessel quality, the crew and the service offered on board.
Priced from USD$1699 per person for an ensuite twin/double cabin, Big Blue is Palau's big value live-aboard.
Needless to say, their weekly Saturday-Saturday trips are now very much in demand and there is limited space available throughout 2003, so we strongly recommend booking as early as you can to secure your place on board ! http://www.diversionoz.com/en/blueexplorer.htm

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Other topics

Rare "Prickly" encounter with a Strange Creature of the Deep

Do you have a fascination with some of the weird and wonderful creatures that live at depths we scuba divers can only dream of ?

If so, then you like me have watched the movie, "The Abyss" just once too often.
In a real-life story, the Australian Institute of Marine Science recently brought to the news the discovery in tropical waters of a rare "Prickly Shark ". It was previously thought these weird & wonderful only lived at depths of over 500 metres and in cold water, not our tropical seas.

For a detailed report, please click on the following link -à http://www.aims.gov.au/news/pages/media-release-20030402.html

World Wildlife's Fund New Worldwide Coral Reef Protection Program

The cute and trendy creatures of the sea such as turtles, dugongs, whales & dolphins usually dominate the thoughts and actions of conservation groups worldwide.

Whilst these cute creatures are understandably the pin-up stars of the conservation movement, it is nice to see one conservation group taking a different and more holistic approach to marine conservation. It is after all, a whole eco-system and what better place to start than protecting coral reefs.

Coral reefs are the lungs of the ocean, supplying critical oxygen to all marine creatures. The reefs supply about 10% of our oxygen too.

To learn more about protecting our critical Coral Reefs, please see the World Wildlife Fund's Coral Reef Protection link http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/marine/what_we_do/coral_reefs/index.cfm

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Specials
Please bookmark the following link for all the latest and greatest specials.
http://diversionOZ.com/en/specials.htm

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