Diving Holidays

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How to Pick Your Next Diving Holiday

Deciding where to go for your next diving holiday can be a little tricky these days. Should you take the easy route and enjoy something closer to home, only to be swamped by hundreds of others at the dive site or go long haul, escape the masses and go in search of the garden or eden – only to find the visibility is poor and the flight times overbearing.

Egypt has long been the first port of call for today's traveling diver, and why not? It's just a four hour flight, almost guarantees good, sunny weather and generally the visibility is unsurpassed by anywhere in the world. Combine that with colorful coral reefs and a wide diversity or marine life and you pretty much have the perfect ingredients for a diving holiday. Trouble is so many others have the same idea, even traveling through the deep south on safari boat now won't mean you'll get the dive sites to yourself.

Divers who want to experience solitude at the sites now must face up to the fact that things aren't as they were and in order to recreate those experiences of adventure, travel and discovery you are going to have to travel. Dive holidays in Asia have the potential to reignite these feelings, here's my top three locations to fulfill your needs of an all round great diving holiday.

1. Sulawesi – Located east of Borneo and north of Bali. Fly Singapore Airlines London to Manado (with a short stop in Singapore). Then just 1-2 hours from the airport and you can be diving on a spectacular wall, surrounded by one of the most diverse marine systems on earth. Beautiful.

1. Komodo – Fly London to Bali. Various airlines. Dive holidays in Komodo can be spectacular and not too difficult to organise. Catch a safari boat from either Sanur or Benoa in Bali. The boat will travel overnight then, after a quick early morning breakfast its diving time.

1. Pulau Weh, Sumatra. Just a short flight from Kuala Lumpur you‘ll find the island of Pulau Weh. Offering truly superb dive sites far from the crowds.

There's a huge amount of information on dive holidays in Indonesia, on the web, through articles written by journalists and on forums. These days it's not so difficult to get off the beaten track, it just takes a little more effort, and more often than not you'll be rewarded.

About the Author

I am owner and tour leader for adventure travel company Dive Safari Asia. We create and lead a variety of expedition style holidays across SE Asia's most remote and exciting marine locations. For photos, video footage, destination guides and details of our tours visit Diving Asia.

Essex School of Diving Holidays


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Diving Holidays

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Diving Holidays in South East Asia

Crowned as playing host to the highest diversity of marine life found anywhere on the planet the continent of SE Asia must surely be on the wish list for any diver who likes to travel. Here we review our top 5 destinations, this list is however not comprehensive (it would take a lifetime to simply scratch the surface of this huge continent) and of course is down to own personal preference.

Similan Islands

A collective of 9 granite islands (Similan is derived from the Malay word for nine - Simbilan) that span the west coast of Thailand. Expect stunning shallows bays with sloping fringe reefs on the eastern sides, tranquil coral gardens with vibrantly coloured reefs are typical here. On the western facing coasts, towards the Indian Ocean, strong currents attract big fish such as leopard sharks, rays and jacks although in recent years numbers of sharks have began to dwindle. To the north of the Similan Islands the islands of Koh Bon and Koh Tachai play host to Manta Rays which come to feed, be cleaned and it is thought to reproduce. Best months are January and February. Richelieu Rock is also well worth a visit and is packed with marine life.

Sulawesi

A star shaped island located to the east of Borneo in central Indonesia. Since it lies in the heart of the coral triangle, a region of SE Asia which scientists believe holds the highest diveristy of marine life on earth, you'll find plenty to keep your interest below the surface, both large and small. Bunaken Island is characterised by plunging reef walls with densley packed hard and soft corals. Over 1000 species of reef fish are found here and almost twice the number of corals compared to the Carribbean. The Lembeh Strait is altogether different with black sand slopes and relatively little coral growth. However great muck diving can be found here with a staggering range and abundance of rare invertebrates. A diving holidays sulawesi can be made year round.

Raja Ampat

Moving further east, to the boarder of Papua New Guinea situates a region of north eastern Indonesia called Raja Ampat. Translated to 'Four Kings' which refers to the 4 largest islands, this region is true diversity hotspot. The area also has scientific importance because it has so far escaped the effects of El Nino. On a recent dive off cape Kri Dr Gerald Allen, a reknown classifier of reef fish recorded his highest number of fish species found on any one dive. Coral life, both hard and soft is incredibly diverse with a range of topographical features including reef walls, tranquil coral gardens and eerie mangrove passages.

Bali

Often overlooked compared with other Indonesian dive destination which more frequently apear in world wide diving publications. However Bali offers something for everyone, it's the complete diving package with a great range of accommodation, plenty of topside attractions on offer and a variety of dive sites from walls and wrecks to black sand slopes great for muck diving and photography. The US Liberty Wreck is 120m cargo ship bought down in the the Lombok Strait during the second world war. It was beached but Mt Agung (a nearby volcano) erupted in the 70's and forced it back below the surface. Now just a few fin kicks from the shore it's probably the most convienient wreck dive in the world and is completely packed with marine life.

Komodo

The legendary Komodo National Park is surely one of the finest diving destinations in SE Asia if not the world. Located to the east of Bali it's best visited by liveaboard. Boats leave from both Benoa in Bali and also Labuan Bajo. Expect plenty of high adrenaline diving with fast nutrient rich waters attracting plenty of marine life including sharks and rays. Both hard and soft corals are in abundance. Most boats will also stop off for face to face encounters with the Komodo Dragons as part of the experience.

For more information on diving holidays in Asia visit diving holidays Sulawesi.

 

About the Author

After ten years of worldwide dive travel and professional employment we created a travel company that seeks to enter Asia\'s most remote and exciting locations for experiences above and below the surface Dive Safari Asia. For photos, video footage, destination guides and details of our tours visit Diving Asia.

Scapa Flow Diving Holidays


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