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Lateral Lines Issue 2 :: January 2005
Lateral Lines is the newsletter of Maldives
Scuba Tours,
MV Sea Queen, MV Sea Spirit and Scuba Tours Worldwide.
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A message from Sam & Rob
2004 was a good year for us, but a year with a sad ending. On the one hand we feel so fortunate that the Maldives was spared the devastation that some of the other countries experienced, and on the other hand we were all so deeply affected by the massive loss of life that occured on Boxing Day.
On a more positive note we have already enjoyed some amazing diving this year with a large whaleshark count and, of course, superb manta rays. Some divers love the big beasties and others the wee critters but what makes the Maldives such a great dive destination is the wonderful variety of diving that we enjoy.
We have seen tremendous repeat business and we are very grateful to those clients who show great loyalty and choose to book with us again and again. We aim to recognise these customers through our repeat customer scheme where customers get a trip on one of the Maldives liveaboards Free !
Our 2006 worldwide charters are currently being planned. The programme will include Cocos, Galapagos, Indonesia and possibly Sudan. If there are any other destinations that you think we should be looking at, please give us a call (01449 780220) or contact Rob rob@scubascuba.com. You can take a look at our existing 2005/06 programme on our website and we will keep you informed by email as we put the other 2006 trips together.
Providing you with a great diving holiday and high level of service is of paramount importance to us. All at Maldives Scuba Tours and Scuba Tours Worldwide are dedicated to this cause and we thank you for your past support and hope that we can be of service to you in the future.
Kind regards,
Rob Bryning and Sam Harwood
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WHAT HAPPENED TO US IN THE TSUNAMI ?
Remarkably, the Maldives did not experience the same destruction that occurred in other countries, and it seems that it was the topography of the reefs that saved the day. The deep oceanic water close to the shore prevented the formation of the large destruction wave that caused so much damage elsewhere.
Instead, the Maldives saw more like a swell which caused a flood. This effected islands on the east sides of the atoll chain. The local population have suffered because their low lying homes were not built to withstand such a severe flood. Around 18 out of 88 resort islands were closed immediately after the tsunami and many of these have now re-opened.
MV Sea Spirit and MV Sea Queen were both on their Christmas safaris. Sea Queen was at anchor with guests enjoying a late breakfast after diving with the mantas in Ari Atoll. Divers from Sea Spirit were actually in the water at the moment the wave passed through but they all returned safe and sound. Three of our crew had their family homes destroyed and our company has financially helped them with rebuild and replacement costs.
In addition, many of you very generously asked if you could contribute to others in the Maldives who may need help. As a result we set up a Tsunami Fund which will be distributed to those Maldivians directly affected by the wave. If you wish to make a payment, please send a cheque to our address made payable to "Maldives Scuba Tours Tsunami Fund".
The Maldives has always been the place to see fish in great variety, size and number. Neither the ravaging of the reefs by El Nino, nor the destruction of the Tsunami have been able to change this in anyway. Since the Tsunami, guests on both our boats have enjoyed fantastic diving with whalesharks, mantas and hundreds of sharks together with a mass of reef critters.
There is no doubt that the diving in the Maldives remains some of the best diving in the world !
Take a look at our Trip Notes to see what sort of diving guests have enjoyed in early 2005. |
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REPEAT CUSTOMERS' SPECIAL OFFERS
We are always delighted to welcome repeat customers back onto the boats in the Maldives or to any of our worldwide destinations.
We offer an amazing repeat customer loyalty scheme whereby a free place on the MV Sea Spirit or Sea Queen is given when a customer has booked 10 or more holidays with us. (The offer excludes the flights and is not available during Christmas or Easter departure dates. Qualifying holidays must be more than £1000 in value)
We offer a booking service for all the major liveaboards and dive resorts around the world. We have expert knowledge on many of these resorts so please ask us for information or chase this link for details of our worldwide liveaboard departures. |
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REEF SURVEYS IN THE MALDIVES
Our annual marne biology trip has just returned to the UK with excited talk of ghost pipefish, frogfish, mantas and whalesharks (Click here to see the trip report). The trip was hosted by Chris Wood from the Marine Conservation Society. These departures are very popular and involve informal talks and presentations given my the marine biologist on board together with assistance in identifying those more unusual critters.
Chris has suggested that we work with the MCS to establish a Reef Monitoring Programme for the Maldives. This would mean selecting a small number of sites and carrying out a reef survey using an established survey method called ReefCheck. By doing this we would ensure a proper and consistent record that could be used for reef assessment in the future.
We continue to run our very popular marine bilogy trips in 2005/2006 with departures as follows:-
26 June - 9 July 2005 / MV Sea Queen 13 days £1770
15 January -28 January 2006 / MV Sea Spirit 13 days £1995
Please contact us for more details or to make a booking info@scubascuba.com |
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WHALE AND DOLPHIN TRIP
We still have some availability on our whale and dolphin trip departing 1 May aboard the MV Sea Spirit.
We know that during late April and early May,
when the sea temperature is at its warmest, regular
sightings of whales and large dolphin pods are
often seen by local fishermen working the inshore
coastal waters. This charter combines our diving
programme with the opportunity to explore for
whales and dolphins in the ocean channels between
the atolls. The species we would hope to see are
sperm whales, short finned pilot whales, melon
head whales and pygmy killer whales. We also hope
to encounter pods of bottlenose, spinner and risso’s
dolphins.
Contact us on info@scubascuba.com
for more information. |
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SEND A POSTCARD
If you have some digital images that you think would make brilliant e-postcards then send them to our webmaster to put on the website. Images should be 72dpi and no larger than 300k. Please send the photographers name, the date of your trip and the liveaboard or resort where you stayed.
And if you would like to send a postcard to a friend, then follow the postcards link
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JOHN BOYLES VIDEO TRIP
We are delighted to offer our customers a videographers course run in association with John Boil of Shark Bay Films. The course will give you a comprehensive understanding of using your video creatively to get the best results.
The trip will cover the planning of shots, scene setting, controlling white balance and lighting, macro and white angle videography and structuring the finished programme.
John Boyle is a film-maker who has won acclaim for his TV series Ocean Oases and The Shark Feeders. Two of his films, Critters and Night Critters, which chronicle the miniscule marine life in Indonesia's Lembeh Strait, won a double first prize at the Palme d'Or festival in Antibes, For sure there can be no better person to pass on advice on videography. So, now you've got the kit - come and learn how to use it !
11 Sept - 19 Sept 2005’/ MV Sea Queen 7 days £1,385 plus taxes
23 April - 01 May 2006 ’/ MV Sea Spirit 7 days £1,385 plus taxes
For more information, please contact us
page on our liveaboards
schedules |
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WORLDWIDE EXPEDITIONS
Throughout the year we arrange departures to a
range of exciting destinations offering some of
the best diving in the world. Here are some of
the dates we currently have planned:
Cocos Island Cost Rica – Island of the hammerheads
• 5th Oct – 18th Oct 2005
for £2,700 per person aboard Sea Hunter
• 18th Oct – 31st Oct 2005 for
£2,700 per person aboard Sea Hunter
Famous for it’s schools of hundreds of hammerheads,
Cocos is an ocean oasis – a unique destination
offering high adrenalin diving. Check out our
Worldwide
pages to download the PDF file on Cocos.
Galapagos
• 27th Oct – 9th Nov 2005 for
£2,800 per person aboard Deep Blue
• 4th June – 17 June 2006 for
£2,800 per person aboard Deep Blue
The diving in the Galapagos is truly phenomenal with a remarkable abundance of life. Located 600 miles west of Ecuador, most of the islands are surrounded by deep ocean.October and November are the dry season and our itinerary on this superb vessel will take us through the islands spending at least four days at Darwin and Wolf. Check out our Worldwide
pages to download the PDF file on Galapagos.
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Happy diving and we hope to hear from you
in 2005!
Maldives Scuba Tours
Ltd.
Finningham Barns, Finningham, Suffolk IP14 4JG
Tel: 01449 780220 | Fax: 01449 780221 |
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