World News
Red Sea clean-up. Camel Dive Club clean-up. Simone celebrates. Dive boat capsizes. Tanzania's new destination. Soma Bay expands. Liveaboard specials.
Dive volunteers join beach clean-up
As part of their contribution to Dive for Earth Day on 22 April, one of the managers of Red Sea Waterworld organised an underwater clean-up.
Qualified divers were offered free dives in the morning and afternoon if they helped with the clean-up at the beautiful Middle-Garden site just beyond the Hyatt Regency beach, where Waterworld is based in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt.
Despite it being a popular snorkelling and dive site, only two small bags of rubbish were collected, one from each dive.
Far from been a failure, this indicates that the reef is generally in good condition and perhaps some of the local campaigns to ban plastic bags are beginning to have an impact.
All participants were handed a Project AWARE certificate by one of the centre managers Tamer Khazragui.
Sharm beach gets a spring clean
A public beach in Sharm el Sheikh was cleared of rubbish by Camel Dive Club staff and volunteers as part of Dive for Earth Day 2008.
Ras Katy, a public beach near old Sharm was cleared on 9 April of 70 bags of rubbish and debris, which is thrown daily from the cliff top to the beach. The rubbish blows into the water and onto the coral reef. There it can smother the coral and fish can eat it and die.
Camel is already scheduling other clean ups on the same beach and looking at ways to prevent the rubbish getting spread around the beaches and coral reefs, like increasing the number of rubbish bins around Sharm.
In its efforts to promote marine conservation Camel Dive Club is developing a series of programmes to help monitor the coral reefs and prevent more damage to the environment.
Camel dive guides already inform all their guests about safe diving practices from the first day they start their holidays. Divers and snorkellers can also get involved in other activities, such as the AWARE – Coral Reef Conservation Specialty together with Coral Watch, two programmes that can be done separately or combined.
With the support of Project AWARE the development of these activities will lead to more people respecting the environment and taking better care of it.
More pictures of the Beach Clean Up
Red Sea reef clean-up – get involved!
In support of Project AWARE and the International Year of the Reef, blue o two are running a unique non-profit liveaboard safari giving divers the chance to help clean ‘problem’ reefs.
Blue o two are hosting the first event of HEPCA’s new ‘Hyatt’ campaign, which is focused on preserving the Red Sea ecosystem.
The Northern Red Sea safari on Blue Melody from 9-16 May is available for just £549. Guests will experience a week of stunning liveaboard diving with the added purpose of looking after the reefs we love so much. All clean-up activities are optional.
Hyatt (pronounced heya, meaning ‘life’ in Arabic), also aims to highlight the importance of sustainable tourism and the lifestyle changes needed in order to achieve this.
Price includes return flights from London Gatwick to Hurghada, transfers, full board accomodation on liveaboard, soft drinks, diving, 12l cylinders and weights, marine park fees, and Egyptian entry visa.
www.blueotwo.com Tel: 01752 480808.
Simone becomes only active woman PADI Course Director in Spain
Simone Laemmle of Canary Island Divers in Lanzarote is celebrating completion of her PADI Course Director Training Course, which means she is now the only active woman Course Director in Spain.
Simone will be working alongside fellow PADI Course Director and co-owner Kev Turner, who is also a DSAT, TDI, EFR and DAN Instructor Trainer.
Having had an active role in supporting Kev during IDCs for several years, she will run her first IDC as Course Director in May 2008.
The six candidates will be well looked after – not just having one but two resident Course Directors supporting them!
Having two resident Course Directors who teach in English, Spanish and German means that Canary Island Divers is now the most international and highest qualified PADI IDC resort in Spain.
Congratulations and good luck to Simone on her first IDC!
Three dead as cage-dive boat capsizes
Three tourists have drowned after a cage-diving boat was capsized by a freak wave off the southern coast of South Africa on Sunday 13 April.
The victims – two Americans and one Norwegian – were on the Kleinbaai-based White Shark Project’s Shark Team catamaran along with seven other tourists and nine crew when the accident happened.
According to survivors, the boat had moored up and was in the process of putting its cage into the water when a massive wave came out of nowhere and violently flipped the boat upside down.
Other cage-diving boats raced to the stricken vessel, and by the time a rescue boat from the National Sea Rescue Institute had reached the scene, 17 people had been pulled out of the water.
Five of the rescued were taken to local doctors and hospital for treatment of various injuries, and one man was declared dead after extensive efforts by paramedics to resuscitate him failed. Local boats brought into the remaining two passengers, who were also declared dead by medics.
Mariette Hopley, head of the Great White Shark Protection Foundation, said: "The sea was flat and conditions were perfect to go out. Out of nowhere a freak wave washed up against the boat and made it capsize."
Hopley added that it was the first accident since the advent of shark cage diving in Gansbaai in 1991.
Tanzania's newest dive destination
Geo Dive is able to offer a new experience for divers in Tanzania looking for a place away from the tourist crowds.
Kilwa Bay and Kimibilio Lodge is a new opportunity for divers, and sun lovers in East Africa.
Diving in Kilwa is a great experience for divers of all levels, just a few hundred yards from Kimbilio Lodge. Kilwa offers great diversity with numerous options ranging from shallow dives, deep dives, caves, to drift dives and archaeological dives. Visibility is always above 20 metres.
The dive centre is the only one in a 200-mile radius, it offers brand new equipment, and diving in groups of up to six doing two dives in the morning and two dives in the afternoon.
The Kimbilio Lodge has been conceived to offer the visitor a unique sensation of peace and privacy, and you’ll feel the sense of tranquillity and comfort from the very moment you land in this corner of paradise.
Geo Dive Ltd: Tel 020 8538 3838, www.geo-dive.com
Dive lodge to open in expanding Red Sea resort
The luxurious Red Sea resort Soma Bay is opening its gates to a wider market this summer with the opening of The Breakers Diving and Surfing Lodge.
This exciting new development is scheduled to open in May and is designed to appeal to divers, windsurfers and kite-surfers looking for reasonably priced accommodation.
The hotel is directly opposite the magnificent Soma Bay house reef and adjacent to the well-equipped dive centre managed by Orca Dive Clubs.
General manager Stefan Reichl said: "The Breakers is really going to help put Soma Bay on the map for watersports. Here we have some of the best conditions for windsurfing, diving and kite-surfing in the world. The opening of The Breakers means that Soma Bay’s many unique attributes will be more accessible than ever before."
Blue O Two diver specials
Luxury Red Sea liveaboard operator Blue O Two have announced some special offers on summer itineraries. Visit their website for more details on these deals.
£899 - blue Horizon - 2 - 9 May: Brothers and Elphinstone
£899 - blue Fin - 9 - 16 May: Best of Wrecks
£899 - blue Melody - 16 - 23 May: Northern Wrecks and Reefs
£949 - blue Melody - 23 - 30 May: Simply the Best
£949 - blue Fin - 23 - 30 May: Simply the Best
£899 - blue Horizon - 30 May - 6 June: Deep South Safari
£899 - blue Fin - 30 May - 6 June: Brothers & Elphinstone
£899 - blue Melody - 30 May - 6 June: Brothers & Elphinstone
£1,049 - blue Fin - 25 July - 1 August: Best of Wrecks
£1,099 - blue Melody - 8 - 15 August: Simply the Best
£1,099 blue Horizon - 25 July - 1 August: Best of Wrecks
www.blueotwo.com
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