Archives: Travel

Remember that notebook I talked about you getting? Now is the fun part, from here on in it’s all research and narrowing down the perfect location and itinerary for you! Get your multi-coloured pens, magazine cut-outs and graphs ready NOW!

The Weather – The tropics are divided into the wet and dry season, La Nina and El Nino. And no, they aren’t some Spanish travel duo you think you’ve heard of…

Essentially when diving, rain isn’t a problem, though it can dampen (oh snap) your spirits if you were planning on laying in the sun between dives and instead are trapped in a humid cabin while mosquito larvae thrives and prepares to – well you get the idea. Similarly, cyclones are going to make things potentially problematic. Finding out ‘the best time to travel in (insert country here)’ is one of the first entries on your graph. Global warming has made this a little more difficult to determine, and tropical rain is just a thing that happens. Sometimes there is no avoiding it. So embrace it!

 

The Water – While low water temperatures may not be a deal-breaker, poor visability is. If you have established a diveshop/divesites you are interested in, their website should have a chart listing the monthly temps and viz. From there you can judge the months that will be most suitable to travel in and dive in. Alternatively, divers will review if they have had a great experience somewhere, so take note.

 

The Tourist Season – School holidays or the best time of year will amp up the prices in some more touristy locations. Avoiding these peak periods will not only enhance your experience with less crowds, but also keep money in your pocket for dives and other adventures! This will be less of a problem off the tourist trail.

 

The Price – Snoop around before you purchase air tickets. Some sites are guaranteed to find you the best deal, while other flight centres often post great deals that you may blink and are gone. With all these so-called deals though, remember to read the fineprint, as a great ticket price is useless if it doesn’t include baggage.

 

The Events – If you are planning on things to do other than diving, checking the events schedule for your holiday destination is a must. It will be worth your while if you can correspond with local markets, festivals, shows or events like whale migration, within your timeframe.

 

Final Thought – It can be so exciting planning a trip, it is one of the lovely things to look forward to when your current holiday is sadly drawing to an end. Keep your little notebook handy, it can be useful to have a wishlist, or travel locations on hold for a later time. For instance if one has worked out to be too expensive yet, wait a while, choose something small and achievable for this trip. Weekenders or even making the effort to drive an extra couple of hours North for a new divesite close to home is still listed as travel in my world! As I said before, take what you can get and make the most of your time and money.

And all that research and information on another place can wait until next time. Then it’s just a matter of getting to tick it off.

 

Missed the first bit? Click here to read ‘How To Plan A Dive Trip Part I – What Do You Want?’

Hi guys! Sorry I have been AWOL for ages, but this time of year is also known as ‘The time of year when I work heaps to save money for my next trip.’ Yay! Though hospitality is fun, active and full of interesting people, the best part of working is knowing that I am working towards a new adventure! I read a quote somewhere recently that said,

‘Invest in travel. Experiences are worth more than money.’

While I do not endorse a lifestyle of not saving for future endeavours, I do strongly recommend travelling as often as is possible for you. Aim for what you can. Set a goal, and work towards it.

This article will be broken into two. This one will aim to get you to specify what you want out of a dive trip and where to start. The follow-up will include what information is most important to consider before you press ‘buy’ on your plane tickets.

 

On Packages – My last two trips were diving based, but were both completely different in the way they were booked and also what they entailed.

For instance; Trip One was booked through an agent that specialised in dive packages, and was with a like-minded group. Trip Two was organised by myself and a friend, with only a few dives booked, and plenty of other things to see and/or do.

 

On Relaxing – Now, depending on your definition of relaxing, either of these dive trips may suit you. Trip One, was all meals, accommodation, laundry etc. included. I just had to be at the dock with my gear ready at the right time. Lots of lolling around between dives and reading trashy novels (like ‘Fifty Shades of I Shamefully Left My Copy at the Resort’).

Trip Two, had very little booked, so if we felt like eggs on toast with baked beans for dinner, we’d have that. If we felt like a day trip to a beach? That. A dive? That. A sleep in? That. A trivia night at the local pub? That.

 

On Money – You need to have a budget. It’s that simple. Without dwelling on money, the main points of concern are to know what you are working with. Work out exactly how much you have to spend on a trip before even Googling ‘Diving in the Maldives.’

Once that’s done, I prefer to divide it into three categories.

1. Initial cost of trip.
2. Extra money to spend while on trip (this may include food if not on a package, or souvenirs, or anything that may not have been paid in advance but you intend to do, etc).
3. Re-entry fund. This is money to be used at home when you get back, to get you back on your feet. This way you will be able to estimate a more accurate trip budget.

Remember that package deals are essentially an agent, who will need their cut for helping you book. Therefore the cost will be inflated for this service.

 

On Safety – I strongly urge getting Dive Insurance. For pure piece of mind for you and your buddy. A lot of dive shops will be very safety orientated, but always check yourself what their protocols are, especially in some remote locations. Generally, it can feel safer booking the whole thing, especially dives, though a big company. It can feel more secure to know that someone has done the groundwork and the diveshop is part of a reputable company. But always check these things yourself. Google it, and read reviews. It is a good idea to ask around at your local dive centres, find people who have visited the place you are thinking about going to, and get advice or recommendations. Generally people will love to share their experience, even with a relative stranger. Or even via email if you know of a cousin of a friend of a friend of a friend that might be willing to share info on a destination.

 

On Other Activities – This is where you ask yourself if you want just dives, or some other activities too. Remember that diving twice a day every day for a week can be exhausting if you aren’t used to it. And also, that some places, (if you intend on ticking off one country at a time) boast other unmissable, and unforgettable experiences that you might kick yourself later if you missed out on.

 

On Gear – Gear is a toughie. On Trip One I took everything (except weights or tank). This was mandatory. And yes, I felt comfy in my gear, gear that I am used to, fits perfectly, never fails, and never fogs. But some airlines have low weight limits and packing was a strict and meticulous affair. On the trip home the gear was also, how can I put this…. moist.

On Trip Two, I took mask, fins and my wettie. And hired the rest there. As the trip included only a few dives, this was a sacrifice I made (think ill-fittting BCD). These few items also meant that snorkelling could still be enjoyed on other days without the hassle of hiring stuff.

 

Final Thought – The easiest way to determine what will suit you, is to gather as much information as possible. Both ways can be perfectly apt to plan an enjoyable holiday.

Write lists! Develop the pros and cons of both types of booking plans. And decide which you will personally get the most out of. This may involve compromise if you aren’t travelling alone, but remember that this is your money and your adventure too, so if there is something you feel you will never get the chance to do again, voice it.

Alternatively, talk with a package agent. Some will be happy to include other perks. It’s all a part of their job to develop a package that suits the client. This may include stopovers or other things specific to location. And finally, don’t rush into it! Perhaps invest in a notebook that you can include lots of different information in. A bucket list of many dive places that you can tick off over the course of your divelife. Good planning and timing make all the difference.

(Pic – Magnetic Island Palms, Aus.)

 

 

Want more? Next article : ‘How To Plan A Dive Trip Part II – When Is The Wet Season?’

Click here to read!

 

 

 

Bananas are banned on boats. For new divers, this can be an embarrassing lesson to learn. Bananas are a healthy snack of choice, so it is all too easy to just chuck one in your pack for later.

But no, imagine the look of fear and horror on my fellow divers’ faces, and the captain – visibly shaking, when I produced my between-dive-snack and began to peel that mother. Then I saw the sign, a little yellow banana with a red line through it, much like a ‘no-smoking’ sign but obviously much more detrimental to your health…

There are many superstitions relating to bananas on boats, dating back centuries. The story told to me (amid frantic headcounts and with darting eyes) was that trade-ships that sunk were left with only the bananas floating in their place. Of these flotillas, the only ones to sink in the storm were the ones with bananas on board.

Further research revealed a more likely scenario, of venomous spiders hiding amongst the banana cargo, which inevitably made their way out of the hold and poisoned the crew by biting them. Yet bananas in any form can anger the Sea Gods. Banana bread, logos on sunscreen (maybe even wearing a yellow outfit with a black hat… who knows?), even saying the word is frowned upon.

These days, bananas can be deemed responsible for many events. Fish going off the bite, seeing a shark, or a random storm whipping up will generally entice the captain to check bags and toss the offending fruit overboard. For them to take this so seriously is testimony to every fiction being based on fact. Though the times of extreme superstitious behaviour has now long passed, no one in ready to change the game. It’s safer that way. I know I now believe in the myth, because when that yellow devil was ripped from my hand that day, the sun went behind a cloud, a cool wind swung from the north, and a bird screeched overhead that sounded like a soul in hell…

 

I just found out that I was conceived on a tropical island during the coral spawning… Too Much Information?

But it explains a lot, as well as raising the question of who is my actual father (“Don’t ‘No, Dad’ me, I’m your polyp!”) …

But seriously, there has to be a link between my love and connection with the ocean to that particular… ‘event’. But then I would have to say my silliness is from Dad getting a crab on the INSIDE of his mask while snorkelling (how does that even happen??) that week. Or my bad luck, as their towels got stolen. Or my accident-prone-ness, from Mum hurting her toe on the first day of the trip. Or my randomness, the sock she had to wear over that toe (Which apparently went quite well with her bikinis).

I’ll stick with the coral spawning story, but either way I’m glad. The ocean soothes and heals me, excites and amazes me, and I feel that connection when I am diving and I appreciate it. I have since been to that island, and although it has changed since the 80′s (don’t try and guess my age), it is a beautiful place, a home away from home. I didn’t see the coral spawning though, ‘coz who wants to be reminded of their parents having sex?! Not me.

 

(Pic – Coral Polyps, Great Barrier Reef, Aus.)

Yes, I lived through an earthquake.

A minor one. Tiny, in fact. Though it didn’t feel very tiny while I was lying in my tiny trundle bed on a tiny island in the Solomons. And the one tiny thought that did pop into my head, was that, ‘What follows an earthquake is a…’ So in sweat-dampened pj’s my buddy and I run out into the night, to find Malachi, grinning white toothed, his encouragement not matching his smile. ‘Maybe tsunami, probably not. You go back sleep now ladies.’ Sure. Very reassuring.

But now I am being beckoned again, to other diving locations with new gifts of incident to give. Unpredictable experiences, the kind that make the trip, stories that I will tell with hands gestures and graphic impersonation. And perfect diving of course!

Maybe to Palau? I’ve heard that there is a lagoon full of jellyfish there, that evolution has bred the sting out of. That to dive through is like a different space and dimension. Like their soft, transparent bodies make up a new element. But no stingers? Really? A chancy statement considering!

But then there is Antarctica. So far from tropical dive stereotype. And maybe with more training I could brave a dive there underneath that quiet, frozen harshness, in an underwater glasshouse, where the water burns with cold and reflects its blue depths in bruises on tilting icebergs that look like the underside of angry clouds. I‘m actually not some kind of adrenalin junkie. Although I can see that scuba diving puts me immediately at the bottom of the foodchain. Especially in my sleek, black, seal-like apparel… so appealing to orcas.

But diving is a risk… a wonderful, wonderful risk! I can’t imagine never taking a good risk again. So when I dived in the water of Niue Island, and watched as hundreds of sea snakes coiled skywards around me to take a breath of that air that I myself was defying, their tiny jaws full of some of the strongest poison on Earth… yes I felt a little fear.

But it felt great.

(Pic – DM a bit too comfy with a sea snake, Niue Island)