How To Get The Most From Your ‘Learn To Dive’ Holiday?

As part of my business, I get a lot of people looking to book up a diving holiday so they can learn to dive in the sunshine (usually Egypt). I’ve personally been diving in Egypt for years and consider it to be one of the best places in the world and as a PADI Divemaster, it’s a subject I’m always happy to talk about.

For the novice, Egypt is an excellent place to learn to dive. The weather is always great, the water is always warm, the visibility is always good and the sea is generally quite calm. However, the problem is that when you go off to nice warm destinations such as Egypt, your time there is limited. If you are learning to dive, you want as much time as possible in the water not spending time with your head stuck in a book.

So how do you get round this problem?  The answer is actually quite simple. When learning to dive, the initial course is essentially split into 3 parts; theory, confined water dives and open water dives. The theory part of the course involves reading a manual and understanding some basic concepts of the sport. The confined water dives are performed in a swimming pool where you learn a number of skills such as clearing your mask underwater (don’t worry, it’s not as bad as it sounds). These skills are completed over the course of a couple of dives and once they are to a sufficient standard, they are repeated in the open water (ie – the ocean).

Many people don’t realise that you don’t need to complete the whole course in a consecutive days and those wanting to learn to dive can use this to their advantage. I generally advise people that their best option is to complete the theory and confined water dives at a local dive centre. This means that once they arrive at their holiday destination, all that remains is to complete their open water dives and they are certified. In turn, this means they have an extra 3 days of their holiday left to enjoy their new found status as certified scuba divers which would otherwise be spent studying or in the swimming pool.

The way to do this is quite simple. The most popular entry level diving certification is the PADI Open Water Course so what you need to complete prior to travel is the Open Water Referral. This covers the 3 days of theory and confined water elements of the Open Water course. Once completed, all that remains is to complete the final 4 open water dives which is usually done over 2 days whilst you are in your holiday resort.

The way to do this is quite simple. 

1. Find your local dive centre which will be listed in the Yellow Pages and give them a call to tell them your situation. Explain that you want them to take the Open Water Referral (theory and confined water dives). This shouldn’t be a problem for any dive centre and they will discuss when you can complete this.
2. Contact the dive centre in your holiday resort to book the final part of your Open Water course which may also be called Open Water Referral. They will advise you what you need to bring along and the final 4 dives normally have to be completed no later than 12 months after the theory and confined water modules.
3. Complete the theory and confined water dives before heading off to your holiday resort.
4. At your resort, spend just 2 days instead of 5 completing the final 4 open water dives and congratulations, you are now a certified scuba diver with most of your holiday ahead of you.

 For more information about learning to dive in Egypt, contact Explorer Travel (http://www.redsea.explorertravel.co.uk/Diving/Intro.htm)

How To Get The Most From Your ‘Learn To Dive’ Holiday?

UK’s 3rd Largest Tour Operator Collapses But Where Do The Passengers Stand?

In the early hours of Friday, 12^th September 2008, XL Leisure Group based in Crawley, Sussex announced that they had called in the administrators. The group, who operated holidays to 50 destinations and employed 1,700 people world wide, collapsed with debts of around £143m stranding 67,000 passengers who were already overseas and will result in another 200,000 passengers with advanced bookings, to lose their holidays.

The following companies which make up the XL Leisure Group are all in administration:

XL Leisure Group Plc, XL Airways UK Limited, Excel Aviation Limited, Explorer House Limited, Aspire Holidays Limited, Freedom Flights Limited, Freedom Flights (Aviation) Limited, The Really Great Holiday Company plc, Medlife Hotels Limited, Travel City Flights Limited, Kosmar Villa Holidays plc.

The following companies held ATOL Licences:

The Really Great Holiday Company, Kosmar Villa Holidays PLC, Freedom Flights Ltd, Aspire Holidays Ltd.

Unfortunately, not all of the 67,000 passengers who are stranded abroad will receive help. For more details, XL customers should refer to the group’s website – www.xl.com

• Anyone who booked via an ATOL or ABTA bonded Travel Agent or Tour Operator will be covered by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) who will eventually get them home
• Anyone who has booked direct with XL Holidays will probably not be covered unless they have insurance or used their credit card.
• Anyone who paid by credit card will probably be covered but should check with their bank
• Anyone who has travel insurance will probably be covered by should check with their insurance company
• Anyone who has paid by debit card probably won’t be covered but should check with their bank.

Of the 67,000 passengers who are currently abroad, around 10,000 are not covered and will have to make their own way home. Under terms of the administration order, XL are not allowed to send their planes abroad to bring back their passengers. The CAA are working with Thomson and First Choice to bring home the passengers but as XL Group Chairman Phil Wyatt said at a press conference, bringing 67,000 passengers home is a huge task.

Now, there is no denying, when it comes to travel, we all love a bargain. Even saving a few pounds makes us feel somehow better about our travel. However, like people who don’t always see the need for fully comprehensive car insurance, when you come to need help, it’s usually a time for regret.

It is in unfortunate times like this that the true value of using an ATOL or ABTA bonded travel agent such as Explorer Travel comes to light. Consumer protection is often unclear and when booking out holidays, we are more concerned with facilities at the hotel or how far it is to the beach rather than thinking about what happens if the airline goes bust.

Around 26 airlines have gone bust in the last year or so and with oil prices still over $100 a barrel, it is unlikely that XL Group will be the last company to collapse. British Airways Chairman, Willie Walsh said that there are a lot of “weak” airlines struggling to remain in the business  and that some of them will not survive. With this thought in mind, people really should be paying more attention to the company or airline they are planning to travel with rather than getting the cheapest ticket possible. Going for the cheapest option may well turn out to be the most expensive option.

As I was writing this article, it was not lost on me that just 3 weeks ago, my family and I were on an XL flight coming back from Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt. I had booked the flights direct with XL using a debit card so it could well have been a bad experience for myself and my family.

UK’s 3rd Largest Tour Operator Collapses But Where Do The Passengers Stand?

Sharm el Sheikh - August 2008

I’ve been to Sharm a number of times and its always interesting to see how the place has changed. My last visit was two years ago so the first change I noticed when we arrived that the cost of your visa (on arrival) is down to US15. The visa itself has also changed from the previous 2 ‘postage stamps’ (1 orange, 1 blue) to a larger single sticker complete with hologram. The visa and immigration process, along with luggage collection did seem to be a lot quicker than last time and when we left the arrivals hall, I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the all the old style taxis had been replaced with newer cars. Presumably, the old taxis have been passed on to various science museums.

We spent our first full day in Sharm down on the beach at Na’ama Bay and it struck us that although there were a number of people around, the resort did seem a lot quieter than last time we had visited in August. Conversations with people who work in Sharm as well as other frequent visitors went along with our line of thought. The number of British visitors seems to be around the same and there did seem to be a slight increase in visitors from neighbouring Arab countries. The big difference in numbers seemed to be a drop in the number of Russian visitors. This may be due to the fact that in the past, Egypt has been an easy destination for Russian tourists due to they could just purchase their visas on arrival. Stricter visa application procedures in other countries had meant that it was harder for Russians to visit places in Europe but in the last 12 months or so, an agreement between Russia and many EU countries has meant that it is now easier for Russians to obtain Schengen visas so they may well be visiting different destinations.

After a few nights in Sharm, we took a trip to the Old Town which is a short taxi ride away. The official price is 15LE (around £1.50) but sometimes as a tourist, it can be tricky to persuade a taxi driver to take you for that. However, we managed it and we were soon in the Old Town. We headed for a Thai restaurant we’d used before and once again the food was excellent and good value for money. After the meal, we headed around the various shops to buy some fruit which is cheaper and more plentiful than in Na’ama Bay. As much as Na’ama Bay had seemed quieter, the Old Town was far busier than I remembered. There also seemed to be more shops than when I was last there 2 years earlier. We spent about 45 minutes wandering round and we bought 3 bags of fruit then headed back to Na’ama Bay.

In between my diving trips, we spent the days at the beach alternating between laying in the sun, snorkelling or just relaxing in the sea. From the beach, its hard to believe just how good the snorkelling can be but within a short time I had seen Parrotfish, Angelfish, Butterflyfish, Surgeonfish, Picasso Triggerfish, Clownfish (Nemos), Porcupinefish, Pipefish and a Yellow Edged Moray Eel.

I also saw two Scorpionfish having a bit of a fight. This is something quite unusual. I’ve never seen Scorpionfish behave like this out on the coral reefs, never mind in Na’ama Bay. There is a more serious angle to this though. Scorpionfish are very difficult to see as their primary defence is camouflage.  Their secondary defence is a row of poisonous spins which run along their spin and as a result people can step on them by mistake. You won’t find Scorpionfish in the sand but there are a couple of very small pieces of coral in Na’ama Bay where they like to hide so it is very important that you NEVER stand on the coral. There are a lot of creatures in there who can cause you a lot of pain and the Scorpionfish is one of them.

So our two week holiday soon came to an end. It has been two years since I was last in Sharm and the resort is expanding all the time. Among the new additions to the centre of Na’ama Bay is a new TGI Fridays and a number of hotels. New shopping malls are also being completed. Further south in the Old Town, the streets seemed busier than ever but the biggest area of growth was north of the airport in Nabq Bay. The evidence is there for all to see that Sharm is aiming to boost the number of visiting tourists and maintain its status as the number one resort in Egypt.

For more information about visiting Sharm el Sheikh or any of the other Red Sea resorts, please visit www.redseaexplorer.com

Sharm el Sheikh - August 2008