Lateral Lines Issue 4 :: February 2006
Lateral Lines is the newsletter of Maldives Scuba Tours,
MV Sea Queen, MV Sea Spirit and Scuba Tours Worldwide.

2006 AND WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING IN THE MALDIVES ?

We've had brilliant diving so far this season as well as an exciting special trip for the BBC and a number of other film production companies. The diving in the Maldives never seems to let us down with is fantastic variety, colour and big fish.

We were honoured in December last year to have a two week trip with Tanya Streeter, the Internationally renowned freediver. Under the direction of BBC producer James Honeybourne and award-winning underwater cameraman Bob Cranston, we were able to take Tanya to some wonderful manta ray sites. Making freedives up to two minutes long, Tanya was surrounded by more than a dozen manta rays at some points of the filming. We then went on to freedive with whalesharks, leopard sharks and shot sequences with large schools of reef-fish. The programme is due to be screened in the autumn of 2006 and we'll let you know when to watch out for it.

Take a look at our trip reports to see the sort of diving guests have enjoyed in early 2006. Guests have seen mantas on every trip so far this year and whales sharks on about 80% of trips.

SEA QUEST AVAILABILITY WITH MATT AND ANNE-MARIE

We have some space left on Sea queen and Sea Spirit towards the end of April, so please do call and ask for details. As we did not want to disappoint our many repeat customers we have a third boat running for this high season, the “MV Sea Quest” managed by Matt and Anne Marie who ran MV Sea Queen for us for 3 years. They certainly know the diving and are there to maintain the high standard of safety, diving, food and all that goes into making a great live aboard holiday.

It is our dedicated staff that we think make the difference to your holiday. Please call us for an update on availability. We can, of course, advise you on any island holidays or a combination of boat and island you may choose.

ST 4 - 19th Feb to 27th Feb
7 night full board & diving, EK flights 4 place available at £1395 plus taxes
book companion fare £100 pp discount)

ST 6- 12th March to 20th March
7 nights, full board & diving, EK flights 4 places available at £1395 plus taxes
(book companion fare £100 pp discount)

ST 7- 19th March to 27th March
7 nights, full board & diving, EK flights places available at £1395 plus taxes
(book companion fare £100 pp discount)

ST 8- 26th March to 3rd April
7 nights, full board & diving, EK flights places available at £1395 plus taxes
(book companion fare £100 pp discount)

For the above sailing and any other Maldives holidays thoughout March, May and June(not April), why not take advantage of the low season prices and also the double advantage of booking the discount “companion fare” on Emirates Airlines or Sir Lankan airlines. If two of you travel, you can save an additional £100 for the holiday cost (Conditions apply to this Emirates offer and it is subject to availability)

Seven night sailings on Sea Queen and Sea Spirit with flights in May and June are priced at £1325 plus taxes. Book the companion fare and save an additional £100 per person! Take a look at our liveaboards schedules to get an idea of itineraries, sailing dates and prices

LONDON DIVE SHOW 1st/2nd APRIL 2006

Come and see us at the London Dive show at the Docklands Excel Exhibition centre. We'll be on Stands 330 and 325.

This promises to be a great show and we always look forward to seeing old friends and making new friends ! We are running two seminars on each day at the show:-

11:45 - 12:15 - Cocos and Galapagos
14:00 - 14:30 - Maldives.

The show is open from 9:30am until 6:00pm on Saturday and 9:30am until 5:00pm on Sunday.

Tickets can be purchased on line at The Dive Show Web Site

AUGUST 2006 MARINE BIOLOGY TRIP

We still have some availability on our Marine Biology trip departing on 19th August aboard the Sea Spirit. The Marine Conservation Society have published their first report on the state of the Maldives reef post Tsunami and we are delighted to be able to say that their findings were very positive.

This will be the third Marine Biology safari run in conjunction with the Marine Conservation Society during which we have conducted consistent surveys for both coral coverage and species count on known reefs. This type of work is invaluable and if you would like to take part in actively surveying the reefs as well as enjoying some wonderful diving and having the opportunity to learn more about the underwater environment, then please give us a call.

Guests receive a free years membership to the MCS.

If you would like to book on this trip or if you would like to view the informative MCS report from July 2005, please contact us info@scubascuba.com

INDONESIAN CHARTER APRIL 2006

We have availability for one person sharing with a female in a standard cabin on our dedicated charter of the super motor vessel “Pelagian” which is running a special itinerary for us, taking in the very best of Komodo National Park, South Rinca and North Flores.

The pick up point is Bima and the drop-off is at Wakotobi using regional flights. This avoids any long distance sea travelling and keeps you around the best dive sites. It really promises to be a great trip ! The boat dates are 7th April to 18th April and we are recommending an itinerary that departs the UK on 4th April arriving in Bali 5th April. You can then enjoy two nights in a Bali Hotel before flying to Bima to join the boat. On 18th April you return to Bali for one night in a Hotel prior to return flights to the UK departing 19th April and arriving UK on 20th April.

The cost for the trip with local flights and three nights Bali hotel is £1898. This excludes international air travel - but as an indication, flights to Bali start at about £500. We can offer a 20 % discount on the boat price ! book now

Contact us on info@scubascuba.com for more information.

GALAPAGOS CHARTER JUNE 2006

Deep Blue, a fantastic motor yacht on exclusive charter is operating a 10 night Darwin and Wolf whaleshark and hammerhead special from 4th June to 17th June 2006 including one night either side on mainland Equador. We have 4 places remaining on this trip. The approximate cost with flights from London is £2900 plus taxes and local park fees.

In addition, our Deep Blue Oct 06 charter is fully booked, so we have taken an extra exclusive charter of the Vessel “MV Daphne” the sister ship to Deep Blue. The dates for this are 15th October to 27th October 2006 and the approximate cost is £2900 plus taxes and local park fees.

All our trips visit the many beach and land tours of the Galapagos islands, as well as diving with the hammerheads in Darwin and Wolf and the sea Lions, penguins and Iguanas of the southern islands.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA 2007

We are planning to run two exclusive charters on the Star Dancer from Walindi Resort to cruise the exciting area of Kimbe Bay, Witu Islands and Kavieng in Nov 2006. There will be two departures, the first boat dates are 30th November to 10th December 2006 and the boat will depart from Kavieng in New Ireland and explore the reefs and passes of the Fathers and Witu Islands returning to Walindi. Travel via Singapore and Port Moresby departs UK on 28th November returning to UK on 11th December.

The second departure boat dates are 7th May to 17th May 2007 departing from Kimbe Bay and returning to Walindi. Travel via Singapore and Port Moresby departs UK on 5th May returning to UK on 18th May.

The anticipated cost for these trips is £3,000. This includes International flights from UK, domestic flights, local taxes and 10 nights liveaboard.

Contact us at info@scubascuba.com for more information.