November 2003:
Australia
Papua New Guinea
Micronesia
Webpage update
Other Topics
DIVERSION DIVE TRAVEL Newsletter / November 2003
Online HTML version (English) | Online HTML Version (deutsch)
G'day from Diversion Dive Travel,
It's
the time of year that we are all attempting to escape the DIVERSION office
and actually do some diving ourselves.
Take a look in this month's issue for great reports of Phil's trip to Tufi Dive Resort in PNG and Ken's discovery that there is more to Truk Lagoon than wrecks. Sybille recaptures the "bubble-blowing bug" with an excursion to Osprey Reef with Diversity.
Dirk & Claudia take some time out to attend the Sydney Dive Expo and catch up on all the latest gossip and product developments.
With the weather turning
sour in Europe & NorthAmerica, take advantage of diving conditions
at their best and come diving with us in November/December !
Australia
Diversity - Free Gear Hire & Free PADI Advanced Courses throughout the rest of 2003
For
all 'last minute' bookings, Diversity is now offering Free gear hire and
Free PADI Advanced Open Water courses for travel during November and December
2003.
This represents $219 of extra value on the 2 day Cod Hole trip and $264
on the 4 night Coral Sea trip.
Passengers wishing to take advantage of free Advanced courses must pre-book
the course.
The newest member of our reservations team, Sybille, (and recent addition to the rank and file of diving freaks everywhere) took advantage of the great offer recently to complete her PADI Advanced Open Water Diver Course. She reports back that Diversity service, staff & food is as fantastic as ever. Aside from the luxury of Sybille's favourite chocolate munchies onboard, it is a treat to have such a great live-aboard as Diversity visiting Australia's best dive sites with a maximum of only 12 guests on-board. http://diversionOZ.com/en/diversity.htm
Sydney Dive Expo - What's new in Australia?
The
Sydney Dive Expo in September was a unique gathering of everything "diving"
in our region.
The big booth of the Papua New Guinea Divers Association was a central meeting point. Lesley Rowland from Aquaventures in Madang was promoting her long established dive shop which has a new attraction: MV Kamai, an 8 person custom built live-aboard dive catamaran. Her regular weekly cruises to Bagabag, Karkar Island and to Long Island are so popular, that even in 2004 only a few spaces are available at this stage. http://diversionOZ.com/en/jaisaben.htm
On the PNG booth we also found Shanda from Walindi Plantation Resort showing of some exciting Orca footage recently filmed in Kimbe Bay of their live-aboard Febrina. There is never a dull moment while diving Kimbe Bay! http://diversionOZ.com/en/febrina.htm
Taka Dive, Cairns, showed glimpses of their exciting new liveaboard which is currently being built in Adelaide. The new Taka, will be more comfortable, with modern cabins, lots of space and still following the proven routes along the Ribbon Reefs and out to Coral Sea. Expect a report about the new boat soon. http://diversionOZ.com/en/taka.htm
Another Cairns company is quietly working on the third installment of the immensely popular SCUBAPRO boats. Pro-Dive Cairns hopes to launch their third vessel in April/May 2004 to allow this best value for money dive cruise to take off with six departures every week. http://diversionOZ.com/en/scubapro.htm
From Western Australia, "Kimberley Escape", based in Broome was promoting their limited season excursions to Rowley Shoals. This remote atoll, half way between Broome and Indonesia is rarely visited by divers and offers spectacular richness in terms of fish - especially of the pelagic kind. This year's cruises have only very few spaces left. If you are after something absolutely remote for 2004 (October - December is the diving season for the Rowley Shoals) check out: http://diversionOZ.com/en/kimberleyescape.htm
Papua New Guinea
Phil's
Trip Report -Tufi Dive Resort
Tufi is located in
one of the most remote regions of PNG, I thoroughly enjoyed the scenic
50 minute flight from Port Moresby - this is the only way it can be accessed.
The village and the resort itself are nestled on top of the fjords' edge
with sweeping 180 degree views. The colonial-style resort is very well
designed, constructed of traditional materials and decorated with local
artefacts. I found that the deluxe units offered the highest quality of
accommodation that I have come across in any PNG resort - all the "mod-cons"
you could expect and a stunning 180 degree view over the fjord from the
private verandah.
Most
of the outer reefs are located between 1 & 1.5 hours ride from the
the dive shop. The boat was spacious, well equipped and comfortable enough
for up to 8 divers. In this area, there are many reefs to choose from
- an underwater landscape of sea-mounts and saddles.
Commercial fishing is rare here so these reefs are in pristine condition
and the abundance of marine life was immediately evident with schools
of pelagics (jacks, barracuda, tuna, dolphins), plenty of shark activity
and a huge variety of healthy soft coral species with all the accompanying
macro-life you would expect. In particular, Mullaway Reef & Bev's
Bommie are worth a special mention.
As a contrast to outer reef diving, I also took an afternoon dive on the
house reef by the wharf at Tufi. This was very much a "muck dive",
with plenty of cool creatures - loads of pipe fish, stone-fish, ghost
pipe fish, nudibranch's, flat worms and even some resident mandarin fish
- plenty to keep the eyes peeled.
I was impressed with The Tufi Dive operation and the staff, the dive guides
didn't miss a trick and were very keen to please.
What
makes Tufi quite different from any other PNG resort I have visited is
its accessibility to the village and the local community which has retained
much of it's original lifestyle & culture. The resort itself forms
part of the village and its easy just to wander along the various tracks
and discover the neighbouring villages and enjoy this unique landscape.
Personal safety is just not an issue here - the locals are the most friendly
and approachable that I have had the fortune to come across anywhere in
PNG.
There are also some excellent escorted half and full day trips which offer
some great trekking, kayaking & cultural opportunities. Not to be
missed is a half-day visit to the beautiful Kofure Village where there's
also a clean & comfortable guest house in the village that makes for
a unique village stay experience.
For me, there's no doubt that for vistors to PNG who want to experience
a combination of great diving, trekking, kayaking and cultural activities
without spending valuable time flying all over over the place, Tufi Dive
Resort is a great self-contained option. http://www.diversionoz.com/en/tufiresort.htm
On this trip Phil also went diving on StarDancer, a special live-aboard experience in Kimbe Bay. Details in the January News . http://www.diversionOZ.com/en/stardancerpng.htm
Micronesia
"There
is more to Truk Lagoon than wrecks alone" - Ken's Report
"The
wrecks are not just for technical wreck-diving nerds & history buffs
(although it can be if you wish !), they are living, breathing fantastic
artificial reef systems as well. Truk Lagoon could well be considered
the soft coral capital of the world, as these wrecks are scarcely recognisable
buried beneath beautiful soft coral. I could not recommend it more highly.
The lagoon is full of freighters, destroyers etc loaded with interesting
stuff, tanks, planes, torpedoes, sake' bottles, china. To drop down into
the engine rooms of the wrecks is a really interesting thing to do too.
Most of the wrecks are "wreck-reefs" and some of the wrecks,
such as the Fujikawa, the Shinkoku and the Hanakawa are loaded with more
soft coral & soft coral critters, such as Nudibranchs, pipefish, Lionfish,
etc. than you can imagine. Huge schools of jacks, trevally's and bait
fish were circling the masts of each wreck - outstanding.
I even got out to the open side of the lagoon where there were plenty
of
sharks to look at, including the second time I've ever seen a Tiger shark
!
Visibility on the outside of the reef was 40m +, and inside the lagoon is less, about 15-25m, depending on the location of each dive.You needn't worry about seasickness at all. The lagoon is just that, and like glass at the surface each day and is rarely stirred up, hence why the visibility is a little less inside the Lagoon.
I
did about 28 dives all up. 4 with the excellent dive shop at the Truk
Stop
Hotel and 24 aboard the live-aboard Truk Odyssey (Voted the World's Best
Live-aboard the last 3 years - needless to say, it is great !).
Contrary to popular belief, the wrecks are not just masses of twisted
metal underwater, but amongst the most vibrant reef systems in the world.
They are easily dived, shallower and much easier than you think (no currents
inside the Lagoon at all !), making them easier diving than most reef
dives. After 2500 + Dives worldwide, working as a PADI Instructor, I now
wonder why I waited so long to dive Truk Lagoon.
If my word is not enough, I refer you to this article by world renown
underwater photographer, Michael Aw, also a previous "Truk sceptic",
who after a visit has had his skepticism blown away.
Take
a look at his article ----> http://content.miw.com.sg/LifeStyle/Leisure/ls_leisure_d_20030313.asp
http://www.diversionoz.com/en/micronesia-truk.htm
Webpage update
Thailand
and Indonesia Live-aboards new for 2004
"Dive The World" has long been a neglected section on our
webpage as we were concentrating on our core destinations. We get so many
enquiries about other destinations as well, that it is high time to expand
on this section and offer you a wider selection of premium dive experience.
A
quick look at -> http://www.diversionoz.com/en/divetheworld.htm
shows you the line
of dive destinations in preparation. The first recommendation in this
list are the two Mermaid Liveaboards which operate in two very good and
talked about dive regions. Burma banks and the Andaman Sea are their top
destinations in Thailand. A 5 night cruise to Burma Banks starts from
US$ 990.00 with a maximum of 11 participants. The reefs around Bali, Komodo
and Flores in southern Indonesia are visited in May - October. A 7 night
cruise to Komodo costs only US$ 1500.00/person.
Please look at http://www.diversionOZ.com/en/mermaid.htm
to find out more about their itineraries and services.
Other topics
"Finding Nemo" - Takes the big screen and Australian Tourism by storm, but is it all good news ?
It's
a smash hit as they call them in tinsel town, the animated flick "Finding
Nemo" from Pixar has become the highest grossing cartoon movie of
all time. A big animated movie about a little fish. Finding Nemo leaves
audiences feeling warm and fuzzy, so warm that they often want a clown
fish, just like the one in the movie. The demand in pet shops is now outstripping
supply. On the big screen, Nemo struggles to find his way home, but in
the real world there's not always a fairytale ending.
Buying a Nemo of your own will cost at least $550 for a basic saltwater aquarium and two fish. Kids are showing the most interest but maybe the parents will get scared off when they know the prices.
A lot of pet shops are keen to make money rather than make a happy customer and that's a big problem. There are a network of pet shops that are doing a really good job and making sure that the people are really keen and genuinely interested in keeping the fish, are educated before they buy them. On the downside, there are some pretty high figures of mortalities coming out of America.
Going one step further in your quest for a real-life Nemo means heading to the Great Barrier Reef and there are plenty of online resources to check on before heading to Far North Queensland. A cute little Flash animation from National Geographic is worth a look ( http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/reef/reef1_flash.html ), while the World Wildlife Fund's Great Barrier Reef Campaign pages give a succinct explanation of the threats facing the habitat of Nemo and his friends.Did you know that less than five percent of the reef is protected? This means there's every chance of finding Nemo or one of his colleagues on the end of a hook or in a net.
If you think this is an unacceptable state of affairs, you can even sign an online petition at the WWF site, demanding more of the reef be protected. http://www.gbr.wwf.org.au
Specials
Please bookmark the following link for all the latest and greatest specials.
http://diversionOZ.com/en/specials.htm
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