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Hot News & Dive Specials February 2009

Our New World 2009!

Happy New Year! A bit challenging may be a ‘kind’ way to describe our world NOW as we know it! I think this may be a good time to say ‘hello’ and give you some travel thoughts to ponder.

I have some exciting new boats to advise; ‘Cindi’s Fav’s’ updated, great land based dive resorts to share, Cindi’s escorted trips and Africa!

As you know for some many years now I have been traveling to all parts of Africa and escorting groups there. Why Africa? WHY NOT! Fulfill a long awaited dream, now is the time, Africa is on SALE!!! Yes it is, this year anyhow,,,, South African Rand has lost again against the USD, never a better time to go on Safari in the Kruger and do some diving with Great White Sharks, Ragged Tooth sharks, Tiger Sharks and Zambezi Bull sharks! All the camps are offering specials and my wonderful ground operators are offering ‘stay 7nts pay for 5 nights’ all over southern Africa. With the Rand and exchange rate in our favor, it really is something to consider for this year. Travel is great through mid Nov in all of Southern Africa and excellent in Kenya & Tanzania through the end of October. The season for this is coming up, May thru November is fantastic for animal game viewing and diving! Remember you cannot compare your favorite dive trip to Africa, it stands in a class all its own. It gets under your skin; seeps into your blood until you finally ‘GET IT”! There is NO place like Africa! ,,,,,, a brilliant cacophony of sound to pierce your soul and finally you get it, “I am in Africa’! Kenya and Tanzania are beyond beautiful; it is an enchanting place to be and VERY well priced for this year. Great camping pricing for Tanzania, sooo cheap! NOW IS THE TIME TO GO!!! www.africa-discovery.com

Thailand, Andamans & Komodo:
MY Siren & new sister ship MY Philippine Siren to start end of this year!
*** last minute space is 20% off if you want to dive the Andaman Islands, April trips open!!! Hurry lets plan this!

Indonesia:
The Arenui - a lovely new very luxury boutique live aboard set to begin plying all the waters of Indo mid 2009, max pax 16.

Dive Damai - for those of you that ONLY like small live aboards which lately is a thing of the past, here she is,, ready in fall of 2009- max pax 8! She will spend a lot of time sitting on sites in Triton Bay and you can come and go as you please, called Ala Carte, very clever concept! As well as other very unique dive areas in Indo, ask me about this later as she gets more advanced, she is still on land being built!

Madagascar!!!
Sea Star - Finally a new live aboard there, I visited there about 11 yrs ago now and we went diving after a most unique visit with all the lemurs on the island, the diving was very pristine and great vis, whale season was fantastic! I am very excited about this, and dying to go back!

Maldives:
Dream Catcher II - I will be escorting a group on this lovely new jewel Nov 25-30 after our India Tiger and Temple Safari, space available.

Cocos:
Argo the new top of the line boat with the UnderSea Hunter group! For those that have been there and love Cocos and want a bit more space and Luxury you will love the new addition! The Deep Sea Submersible will be stationed on this vessel for your deep diving pleasure!

Liveaboards:

Febrina- still one of my fav’s of all time, Al sold Star Dancer back to Peter Hughes and now has total focus on Febrina, by the end of 2009 she will be ALL ENSUITE, I cannot even imagine it! Congratulation Allan Raabe!! Still the best diving in PNG!

Galapagos- As you know only a handful of boats have permits to dive Wolf & Darwin: Deep Blue, Aggressor I & II, SkyDancer & Estrella del Mar. Check with me as odd dates become available, never give up.

Fiji & the Phoenix Islands, Kiribas! Nai’a is making a return trip to those amazing islands, untouched and far away. For those of you who have dived everyone at least 10 times, and love the Nai’a this is a must trip! Two 30 nt trips in August of 2010!

Cheng Ho- Indonesia, they are diving a volcano area they found near Alor, sounds pretty cool, that is one of those critter hot spots in Indo!!!

Seven Seas-Indonesia, has taken me 1.5 yrs to get my group a charter on this amazing boat, very well run operation, we will be diving Komodo end of July of 2009, yippee. Some dates open up so keep checking.

Sea Horse- Offers unique dive itins to eastern Kalimantan (Derawan, Sangalaki, Maratua) as well as Triton Bay/Fak Fak!

Dive Resorts:

Indonesia:

Gangga Island Resort- great diving and great luxury resort and spa! This resort is a wonderful combo to Lembeh Strait diving and Bunaken sea Gardens! For you land lubbers.

Siladen Island Resort- They offer a very lovely resort right on Bunaken, does not get any closer.

Kasawari Lembeh Dive Resort- a wonderful resort, the new favorite in Lembeh Strait with all the whacky wild creatures.

Misool Eco Resort- Just opened Oct of 2008, right in the middle of nowhere, literally a 5 hr boat ride from Sorong, Papua, I visited the resort last Nov when on Cheng Ho, a very beautiful gem in the heart of Misool, Raja Ampat,,,

Fiji:

Paradise Resort on Taveuni, a new lovely place to dive this area!

Moody’s Namena; great place and FANTASTIC diving, great combo with Paradise Resort, Taveuni.

** BALI** can be visited again and again as you know, from any of these great dive destinations, we have some new jewels in Ubud catering to your ‘spirit’; some lovely meditation places, yoga, quiet peace and solitude,,, ahhh I cannot wait, heading there after the Seven Seas in July~

Mozambique, Africa diving: finally we have an easier way to sell this amazing country north of South Africa, fly from Joburg to Inhambane, Vilancolous or Pemba & the amazing Quirimbas Archipelago in the very north, some very flash resorts have opened up all over. You can also fly to Pemba in the north of MOZ from Dar es Saalam, Tanzaqnia. The diving is very good; it is Indian Ocean diving with varied species endemic to this area.

*** great pre or post diving and beach R&R to an African Safari***

Shark Safaris, South Africa: Enjoy Shark Safaris, along the shark route where you will search for our famous ragged tooth sharks, hammerheads, tigers, black tips and zambezies/bull sharks. You may also encounter enormous brindle bass (grouper), elusive frog fish, numerous types of nudibranchs, with the occasional meeting of turtles, rays and dolphins.

Madagascar: east of South Africa – see new boats.

Rurutu, Astral Islands, Tahiti: who wants to see humpback whales up close and personal in very clear blue water? I am dying to get here and if the Euro stays lower for us, it will be worth it. A very expensive place to go due to the cost of Tahiti and then add a cost factor of the Euro,,,,,, but if you want Whales in your face. Lets make a plan.

Big Animals: Amos Nachoum: He has truly one of a kind amazing trips, he just sent me images of the Sailfish off of Isla Mujeres MEX, mama mia! What a wild show, this is the other Sardine Run, the sailfish follow the sardines here from January thru beginning to mid March. He has asked me if I would be willing to promote and sell his trips, after these amazing images I cannot say no!

2009:

2010:

2011:
*here are some ideas I have, let me know if you are interested*

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter, let’s go have some fun!

Many thanks to my valued friends and clients all over the USA and around the world for your continued support, it is very much appreciated!

Cindi LaRaia

www.divediscovery.com

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