Charlie Stewart recently returned from a week’s complimentary trip from Oonas Divers, and from what he’s told me he had a great time, and made new friends in the process. You’ll be able to read his trip report in the next newsletter.

Well, Oonasdivers are offering GLUG a second, similar trip, this time combining their “Eco villages” of Marsa Shagri / Marsa Nakari, with 3 days liveaboard on the Queen Juliana.

The package consists of:
Thu 16th June: Flight to Marsa Alam, transfer to accommodation at Marsa Shagra. Evening welcome and dinner with Hesham (Manager of Red Sea Diving Safaris)
Fri 17th June: Diving with RSDS Marsa Shagri/Nakari
Sat 18th June: Diving with RSDS Marsa Shagri/Nakari
Sun 19th June: Early transfer to Wadi Lahami. Diving with RSDS
Mon 20th June: Transfer to Queen Juliana. Full day diving
Tues 21st - Wed 22nd June: on board Queen Juliana. 2 Full days diving.
Thu 23rd June: Transfer to Marsa Alam for flight home.

Once again, the package is for one person, and includes flights (from Gatwick). You will need to pay for an Egyptian Visa on entry (£15), and Marine park fees of around 20 Euros. Meals and soft drinks are included. Alcohol is extra. Accommodation at Marsa Shagri will be either in Luxury Tents, or in the Guest House. Accommodation at Wadi Lahami is in Tents. See the Oonasdivers website for descriptions.

This is an excellent opportunity to experience the various non-Sharm options that Oonasdivers have to offer.

The trip is a promotional trip, so your fellow divers will be representatives of other dive clubs, shops, and schools. The majority of the other divers are qualified to Instructor level. You’ll be sharing a tent / cabin with one of the other trip members.

You need a PADI Advanced or equivalent qualification with at least 20 logged dives, or an OpenWater qualification with a minimum of 50 logged dives. A condition of going on this trip is that you write up the trip for the GLUG Newsletter within a month of returning!

Once again, in order to decide who should go, I’m going to hold a sealed-bids auction, with the proceeds going to The Food Chain. Charlie won the last trip with a donation of £250 (but he could have won with less - I’m not telling how much less!). Of course, this trip might go for a higher amount!

Oonasdivers don’t sell this trip as one of their normal packages - it’s been designed to give you a taste of several of their packages - but they tell me that if they did, it would retail for well over £800.

You need to email me with the amount that you’re prepared to donate to the Food Chain for this trip, to reach me no later than 11.00am on Thursday 26th May. The person with the highest bid at that time will win the trip, and will need to donate their bid amount before they go.

You can email me by logging in and clicking my name at the top of this post.

Neil.