Interested in a last minute diving holiday? Im going to stay at the Hilton Sharks Bay and diving with Sinai Divers, I booked this through Travelrepublic.com. Hilton Sharks Bay is AI and has its own very good reef Ras Nasrani, which can be snorkelled, or deep dive or drift dive, as it is deep and one end of it is subject to strong currents. The video below is from the reef there…

Trips to Ras Mohammed, Tiran Straits etc all bookable on site. If you are interested drop me an email.

Just realised that I didn’t actually say how much the deposit was in my previous post! It’s £100 per week. I’ve corrected this in the post below.

Neil.

Stripey Catfish in Dumaguete

Thanks to everyone who came to the GLUG meeting on Tuesday - it was great to see so many there, and I know that Paul from Atlantis Resorts was impressed to see such an Active club!

Encouraged by the show of Interest in the Philippines trip, I’m now taking deposits for the trip.  I need at least 4 deposits by the end of the month, to ensure that the trip is viable. The deposit is £100 for the 1-week trip, or £200 for the 2-week trip.

The trip will not be GLUG-exclusive - I plan to invite divers from other Gay & Lesbian Scuba clubs in the US, Canada, and Australia, but I would like to get at least half a dozen GLUG members on the trip, so that we’re not completely outnumbered!

I’m fixing the dates as March 6th - March 20th 2010, with the first week in Puerto Galera, and the second week in Dumaguete.  You can come for either or both weeks - when you’re going such a long way, it makes sense to go for 2 weeks, but I appreciate that some people may not have sufficient holiday to do both.

The price, assuming I get 6-10 divers for each week, will be £790 per week (this is roughly 10% discount on Atlantis’s normal rates), including transfers (bus/boat to Puerto Galera, internal flight to Dumaguete), all meals (but not drinks), accommodation, and up to 4 boat dives per day.  If I get more than 10 divers, then we will get an extra £50 or so discount on those prices.  Note: The price does not include International flights.

For more details, see my previous post.

These prices are for the standard rooms at each resort. Upgrades are available - please ask me for details. Non-diver prices are £150/week cheaper than those given above.

Stage Payments: The next payment will be £350 (1 week)/£700 (2 weeks), due on March 6th 2009, with the remaining Balance (£340/£680) due on December 1st 2009. However, if you prefer to make smaller, more frequent payments, contact me, and I’ll work something out.
All payments are non-refundable. You are strongly advised to take out Insurance cover.

To make life easier (especially for divers from Overseas clubs), I’m accepting card payments via PayPal, but if you’d rather send a cheque, or make a Bank transfer to me, just email me, and I’ll send you the details.

To pay with PayPal or a Credit/Debit card, please click on the appropriate button below:

P.S. If you want to see some photos from Dives in the area, have a look at these Scubaboard threads:  Puerto Galera,  Dumaguete

Just a reminder that Paul from Atlantis Resorts in the Philippines will be giving a short presentation following the club meeting tomorrow evening (Tues).  He’ll be bringing brochures, DVDs, etc.,  so if you’re interested in the trip I’m organising to the Philippines (see Events Page), then please come along!

Neil.

I’ve booked the Diving Cellar in Stromness for a Scapa Flow trip next year - 20-26 June.  Suitable for experienced UK divers with dry suits - currents and water temperature can make it rather challenging diving, but we’ll not be going deeper than 35m.  It’s the most fab diving and we’ve used this dive centre several times.  Accommodation is self-catering in two adjoining cottages, but someone comes in to cook breakfast each day.  The boat is the John L - a big tug, with a sheltered lounge inside.  See www.divescapaflow.co.uk for details.  There are 12 spaces, but there’s a lot of interest, so they’ll go quickly.  A £100 deposit sent to me, payable to GLUG, ensures a space.

If you missed my previous post, you may not be aware that I’m trying to organise a trip to the Philippines for early 2010.  Yes, it’s a long way in the future, but it means you’ll have plenty of time to Save for it!

Approximate price, assuming I get at least 6 people, will be £1550 for two weeks (Full board, including up to 4 boat dives per day), plus around £625 air fare.  There are also one-week options for £750 to £800.  We’re getting a nice discount from the resort, and if I can get 11 people for each week, then we get a further discount, which will reduce the price to around £1450 per person.  (Provided we get at least 6 GLUG members, I’ll open the trip up to other G&L clubs in the US and Australia).

Paul O’Toole of Atlantis Resorts will be giving a short presentation and Q&A session after the club meeting on 5th August, so if you’re at all interested in joining me on this trip, please come along.

Neil.

Hello Members,

Brighton Pride is next weekend and we need to rally more support in manning our stall on Saturday 2nd August at Preston Park. If you are going, a 30 min - 1hr stint will be gratefully appreciated. London Pride was a great event for Glug with several new members signed up and we hope Brighton will be even more successful. We expect the stall (as with London Pride) to get really busy so helping out by talking to people about diving and joining our club will be thankfully received.

Please contact Caroline if you can lend a hand (email address on GLUG Contacts page when you  log in. Tell me the times you can do and provide your mobile number.

Many thanks,

Caroline M

I’ve still got two places for this weekend - some of the best wreck diving in the UK.  Please contact me if you’re interested.  Suitable for BSAC Sports/PADI Advanced upwards with some UK diving experience.  Semi-dry suits OK.  We’re on a superb boat - Tango - and accommodation has been arranged in Weymouth.

Martin J. and I came back from a very enjoyable trip to Egypt almost a month ago. We were diving with the Pharaoh Dive Club located on the premises of the Fanadir Hotel just outside El Quseir.  We were joined by two ladies from Norwich (Pat & Ruth), who did their PADI OWD there and still managed to join us a half way through the trip. They loved the experience and they are going to join Glug soon.

We did four days of shore diving at various locations along the coast and two days of a hard boat diving. Martin is writing a trip report, so you can find more about that trip soon. I just want to add that on the second day I did my first night dive which was also my 50th dive in total. It was a fantastic experience but as a novice to night diving I did not use my camera, concentrating on the dive.

Nevertheless, I took plenty of pictures under and above water. A large selection of them you can see in the Gallery under El Quseir June 2008. For the identification of fish I have used Red Sea Reef Guide by Helmut Debelius but I had to make a few guesses as I could not find some of them.

Anna

I’m heading to Wraysbury Lake on Wednesday 16th July for some after work fun diving. For information on the dive centre see http://www.wraysbury.ws/ I’m going by train from London Waterloo which takes around 45 minutes. The dive centre is walking distance from the station.

Anyone want to join me?

Ian, PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor

I am organising a trip to Tenerife around the end of October or beginning of November 2008.

There are two options: one week trip or long weekend trip (flying there Thursday pm, diving Friday, Saturday, Sunday and flying back Monday eve). Both options available but depending on the number of divers.

Diving of a RIB with www.tenerifedive.com diving centre well known to many Glug members. 99% guarantee to see Sting rays. Water temperature 21-23 C. Accomodation in self-catering appartments.

The trip is intended for qualified divers but if anyone wants to learn diving there, PADI courses are available on request.

If anyone is interested please leave a comment or call me on 02089264135/07857223767 as my e-mail box is out of order at the moment.

Anna

I’ve updated this post, since I miscalculated the prices originally, and also the Resort has updated me with more information about the diving conditions…

I’m considering organising a trip to the Philippines for Feb/Mar 2010, and would like to gauge interest…

The trip would be a choice of 1 or 2 weeks, with the first week in Puerto Galera, and the second in Dumaguete, both staying at the Atlantis Resort in each area.

I’ve got 4 spaces on this 3 day diving weekend.  The Friday is optional though.  Great easy diving on splendid reefs - loads of marine life.  Suitable for PADI Advanced/BSAC Sports with no or little UK experience.  Will consider PADI Open/BSAC Open Water qualifications.  Semi-dry suits OK.  Please contact me asap if you’ll like to join us or would like more information.

I’ve now got a spare place for this 3-day dive over the August bank holiday.  Suitable for BSAC Sports/PADI Advanced.  Semi-dry suits OK and is also suitable for anyone new to UK diving - easy stuff!  It’s a great weekend and the diving is fab.  Please contact me asap if you can make it.

Due to lack of interest, I have cancelled this weekend.  It clashes with Pride and there’s a Jersey trip straight afterwards - the competition was too great!