Alcudia, Majorca
21 April 2010 Leeds / Bradford to Palma de Mallorca
3 star Hotetur Club Bellevue Apartments, Alcudia
7 nights self catering based on 2 adults and two children sharing from £749 per family
Transfers and 22kgs baggage included

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Lead in Prices

Algarve
17 April 2010, Blackpool to Faro
7nts 3 star Balaia Sol Apartments SC, Albufeira
Lead in price of £199
Based on 2 people sharing
Including resort transfers & 22kgs luggage

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Costa del Sol
15 April 2010, Manchester to Malaga
7nts 3 star Hotel Villasol BB, Benalmadena
Lead in price of £199
Based on 2 people sharing
Including resort transfers & 22kgs luggage

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Lanzarote
9 May 2010, Manchester to Alicante
7nts 3 star Oasis Apartments SC, Puerto Del Carmen
Lead in price of £199
Based on 3 people sharing
Including resort transfers & 22kgs luggage

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Majorca

21 April 2010, Leeds / Bradford to Palma de Mallorca
7nts 3 star Holiday Centre Apartments SC, Santa Ponsa
Lead in price of £199
Based on 2 people sharing
Including resort transfers & 22kgs luggage

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Great Value Destinations

Cyprus
18 April 2010, Leeds / Bradford to Paphos
7nts 3 star Kefalonitis Hotel Apartments SC, Paphos
Lead in price of £299
Based on 4 people sharing
Including resort transfers & 22kgs luggage

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Ibiza
8 May 2010, Manchester to Ibiza
7nts 3 star Club Monterrey Aparthotel SC, San Antonio Bay
Lead in price of £299
Based on 4 people sharing
Including resort transfers & 22kgs luggage

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Tunisia
20 June 2010, Leeds / Bradford to Monastir
7nts 4 star Med Dreams Miramar Golf Hotel HB, Port El Kantaoui
Lead in price of £329
Based on 2 people sharing
Including resort transfers & 22kgs luggage

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Tenerife
19 June 2010, Manchester to Tenerife South
7nts 4 star Paradise Park HB, Los Cristianos
Lead in price of £399
Based on 2 people sharing
Including resort transfers & 22kgs luggage

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Turkey
7 May 2010, Newcastle to Dalaman
7nts 5 star Green Nature Resort & Spa AI, Marmaris
Lead in price of £369
Based on 2 people sharing
Including resort transfers & 22kgs luggage

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Sharm El Shiekh, Egypt
12 June 2010, East Midlands to Sharm el Sheikh
7nts 5 star Rehana Resort AI, Sharm El Sheikh
Lead in price of £499
Based on 2 people sharing
Includes 22kgs luggage and FREE resort transfers

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Winter

Majorca

Departs Newcastle
28^th Mar 3*HB
Hotel Hawaii Mallorca, Palma Nova
£279 (3 sharing including transfers & 22kgs luggage)
Book Now>>

Lanzarote

Departs Manchester
21^st Mar 3*SC
Oasis Apartments, Puerto del Carmen
£259 (3 sharing including transfers & 22kgs luggage)
Book Now>>

Faro, Portugal

Departs Leeds/Bradford
18^th Mar 4*SC
Paraiso de Albufeira Apartments, Albufeira
£289 (2 sharing including transfers & 22kgs luggage)
Book Now>>

Malaga, Spain

Departs Leeds/Bradford
4^th Mar 3*HB
Hotel Griego Mar, Torremolinos
£289 (2 sharing including transfers)
Book Now>>

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt

Departs Manchester
13^th Mar 3*AI Sharm Elysees, Naama Bay
£389 (2 sharing including transfers & 22kgs luggage)
Book Now>>

Summer

Las Palmas, Gran Canaria

Departs Newcastle
8^th May 3*HB
Hotel Dunas Mirador Maspalomas, Maspalomas
£349 (2 sharing including transfers & 22kgs luggage)
Book Now>>

Sardinia

Departs Edinburgh
22^nd May 3*SC
Residence Club S’Incantu, Villasimius
£319 (2 sharing including 22kgs luggage)
Book Now>>

Paphos, Cyprus

Departs Newcastle
23^rd May 4*SC
Eleni Holiday Village, Paphos
£379 (2 sharing including 22kgs luggage)
Book Now>>

Majorca

Departs Leeds/Bradford
13^th May 3*HB
Hotel Sol Calas De Majorca, Calas de Mallorca
£299 (3 sharing including transfers & 22kgs luggage)
Book Now>>

Dalaman, Turkey

Departs Manchester
14^th May 4*SC
Perdikia Hill Apartments, Hisaronu
£319 (4 sharing including transfers & 22kgs luggage)
Book Now>>

For years, Sharm el Sheikh has been a popular destination for scuba divers. Its beautifully clear, warm waters are home at some spectacular marine life.

I’ve dived in Sharm many times and its taken me a while to pick my top 5 dive sites as there are so many to choose from. However, I’ve come up with a list and in no particular order, my top 5 dive sites of Sharm el Sheikh are as follows:

Jackson Reef

Jackson is probably the most popular of the four reefs in the Straits of Tiran with divers and snorkelers alike. Boats are moored on the sheltered southern side of the reef and divers either head off east or west. To south west side of the reef has some stunning coral gardens and a bright red anemone at 28m. In the summer, it is also possible to dive on the north (or back) of the reef in search of Hammerhead sharks.

Ras Za’atar

Ras Za’atar is located in Ras Mohammed at the southern side of Marsa Bareika. There are no moorings so your drift dive starts to the south and your travel north towards the entrance to Marsa Bareika with the reef on your left shoulder. It is a wall dive that slopes off into the blue but you can easily stay at less than 20m for this dive. After a few minutes into the dive you come across a spectacular table coral with a gorgonian fan underneath. There are usually some glass fish sheltering here and you quite often see Napoleon Wrasse and turtles here. It was also the first place I saw dolphin while I was under the water.

Ras Ghamila

Just to the south of the 4 main reef in Tiran is Ras Ghamila and the end point of the dive is marked by the Ras Ghamila beacon. The entry point for the drift dive is to the south of the beacon is near the Conrad Resort. The real beauty of Ras Ghamila are when you head out from the reef to see the numerous gorgonian fans. If the current is right, you can literally glide past these stunning coral formations. Its not a particularly deep dive and another plus point is that not many dive boats stop here.

SS Dunraven (wreck)

A bit further round the tip of the Sinai lies the wreck of the SS Dunraven. Dating back to 1876, the Dunraven is lying on its back with its bow pointing at the reef. One of the propeller blades is missing so there is a good photo opportunity by the rudder. It is also possible to penetrate the wreck. Its a relatively easy dive and much less crowded that the more prestigious Thistlegorm.

Shark and Yolanda

Probably the most famous site in the Sinai, Shark and Yolanda is right at the very tip of the Sinai peninsula in the Ras Mohammed National Park. Currents can be strong here and often dictate which part of the reefs you have to dive. There are two main reef pinnacles; Shark and Yolanda. Dives normally start at Shark and you drift round either the back or front towards to Yolanda. This was a cargo ship which struck the reef and spilled it’s cargo of bathroom fittings many of which are still clearly visible. Its location means that the reefs are teeming with life and the remains of Yolanda’s cargo just add to the dive. It is also possible to identify the remains of the captain’s BMW if you know where to look. The downside is that there are always plenty of dive boats here but nonetheless, its still a good dive.

Despite the numbers of divers, diving in Sharm is still excellent with a wide range of dive sites to suit all levels of ability. The weather also makes it a year round destination so its popularity with divers looks set to continue as strong as it ever has.

Located at the tip of the Sinai peninsula, the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh is a popular destination for scuba divers. The warm, clear waters make for relatively easy diving and compared to some places in the world, the prices are reasonable.

The diving around Sharm el Sheikh is ideal for all levels of divers from those learning to dive up to experienced divers. To the north of Sharm el Sheikh are the Tiran straights with their wonderful coral gardens and in certain months, it is possible to go looking for Hammerhead Sharks.

To the south of Sharm el Sheikh lies the Ras Mohammed National Park where you will find the areas most popular dive site, Shark and Yolanda. As this dive site is at the southern most point of the Sinai, currents and visibility can vary but it is definitely one of the best dive sites in Egypt.

However, closer to Sharm el Sheikh are a number of local dive sites to both the north and south of the resort. Immediately north of Na’ama Bay are the Gardens; Near Garden, Middle Garden, Fiddle Garden and Far Garden. These dive sites are located either at or very close to some of the 5* hotels in Sharm and every day, boats from the various dive centres in Sharm will moor here and their divers will enter the water here.

To the south of Na’ama Bay are more dive sites along the coast of the Sinai including Ras Katy, Temple, Ras Umm Sid, Paradise, Turtle Bay, Amphoras, Pinky Wall, Tower and Sodfa.

Despite not having the prestige of the dive sites of Ras Mohammed and Tiran, my own dive log shows that there is no shortage of fantastic marine life to be found at the local dive sites including Napoleon Wrasse, Torpedo Rays, Octopus, Devil Rays as well as an abundance of smaller marine life.

It was at Middle Garden on 30th July 2008 that one of the most amazing sites at Sharm in recent memory was spotted. About 300m off the shore at the Hyatt Regency Hotel a massive baitball of fish stretching from 5m to 22m deep was spotted. It was being attacked by 4 whale sharks. Small fish such as sardines form bait balls when threatened and is more commonly associated with the “Sardine Run” which occurs annually off the KwaZulu Natal coast in South Africa.

The whale sharks were first spotted at around 8.30am and it wasn’t long before dive boats from all over were heading to the area to see this spectacle of nature. Many experienced dive instructors can’t remember seeing anything like it in the area and those who were lucky enough to see it, will never forget it.

Tiran and Ras Mohammed remain the focal points for Sharm el Sheikh diving but the local sites should not be ignored as you are just as likely to have a memorable dive there too.

Chilly Bradfordians are making a last-minute dash for some sun.

Passenger numbers at Leeds-Bradford Airport are climbing as temperatures here are plunging.

In the last few days between Christmas and the New Year more than 30,000 passengers passed through the airport, said its commercial director Tony Hallwood. The top hot spots for people seeking winter sunshine are the Canary Island resorts of Tenerife and Lanzarote and Egypt’s Sharm El Sheikh resort, he said. Snow-sport enthusiasts are heading for the French Alps, taking advantage of heavy snow.

Mr Hallwood said: “We’re not quite as busy as just before Christmas but people are still heading off for a well-earned break before going back to work. There’s no doubt the bad weather we’ve been having here has driven lots of that demand.”

He also said post-festive short-break flights to Paris and Amsterdam had taken off with people booking last-minute escape destinations before getting back to work.

According to Travelsupermarket.com internet inquiries have soared in the past few days as fed-up Britons look for a way out from the big freeze.

Meanwhile, holiday companies are competing for hard-to-bag early bookings for 2010 summer holidays with some slashing prices by up to 50 per cent.

“If you are stuck on dates and you are fairly certain where you want to go, then sniff out the good deal now and book,” said a spokesman for Travelsupermarket.

Source: Telegraph and Argus (http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/4827831.Passengers_take_off_for_winter_sun/)

]]> http://redsealiveaboards.net/358/leeds-bradford-airport-busy-over-festive-period/feed/ 0 http://redsealiveaboards.net/357/new-route-from-exeter-to-sharm-el-sheikh/ http://redsealiveaboards.net/357/new-route-from-exeter-to-sharm-el-sheikh/#comments Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:19:06 +0000 Red Sea Liveaboards http://flightspecials.wordpress.com/?p=251 ]]>

A prestige new winter destination has been announced for South West travellers seeking guaranteed sunshine. In a deal with Thomson and First Choice, Exeter International Airport will offer flights to Sharm El Sheikh and holidays in Red Sea resorts from November 2010.

The series of flights to Egypt, which are the first in the airport’s history, will depart weekly on a Thursday from November until April next winter and South West customers will have all the benefits of departing from their nearby local airport.

This new destination for the airport was agreed with Thomson and First Choice whose airline, Thomson Airways, operates from Exeter. As well as offering land-based package holidays on the Sinai Peninsula, Thomson will also offer Red Sea cruises from Sharm El Sheikh so that passengers will be able to gain easy access to the Thomson winter cruise fleet.

Commenting on the launch of the new route, Exeter International Airport’s managing director, Jamie Christon said: “This has been on the wish-list for some time. For sun-seekers and water-lovers this is a must-do destination. The incredible coral reefs and marine life make this one of the world’s blockbuster scuba spots and as someone who is particularly interested in this water sport, I am especially pleased about the new flights. There is however something to suit every mood and holiday style and the ‘Red Sea Riviera’ caters for a vast array of tastes.”

Mr Christon continued: “The Red Sea cruise ship bookings may be made from today (17 December) and from mid-February the full 2010/11 winter programme will be on sale. We feel that this new Sharm El Sheikh destination will be a great success especially throughout the winter months when spirits may be low.”

Neil Morris, Planning Director for Thomson and First Choice, said: “We are delighted to be operating an additional route from Exeter to Sharm El Sheikh next winter and this decision demonstrates our commitment to the local airport.”

He added: “This new route reflects the high level of demand from those wishing to fly from a regional airport and will offer our customers a wider range of destinations from Exeter.”

Source: Exeter Airport (http://www.exeter-airport.co.uk/airport-news?item=226)

]]> http://redsealiveaboards.net/357/new-route-from-exeter-to-sharm-el-sheikh/feed/ 0 http://redsealiveaboards.net/356/red-sea-liveaboard-emperor-fraser-sinks/ http://redsealiveaboards.net/356/red-sea-liveaboard-emperor-fraser-sinks/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:37:08 +0000 Red Sea Liveaboards http://emperordiversliveaboards.wordpress.com/?p=23 ]]> At approximately 16:30 hrs on 16th December Red Sea liveaboard, Emperor Fraser, was moored at Dunraven near Sharm el Sheikh. While the 11 guests on board, from the UK, Australia, Finland and Holland, were doing their second dive of the day the wind direction changed suddenly causing the rear mooring lines to break free. With divers underwater the captain was unable to start the engines in order to prevent the boat from colliding with the reef, causing a breach in the hull.

The crew immediately recalled the divers and attempted to plug the rupture. However, this proved impossible and the captain took the decision to abandon ship onto the zodiacs.

Emperor Fleet headquarters helped coordinated the rescue, which included the Egyptian Navy and other dive boats. All guests, guides and crew were picked up by the Egyptian Navy and taken to the nearest port, Sharm el Sheikh, where they were met by Emperor staff, provided with new clothes and taken to the Hilton Dreams Hotel.

Emperor Divers would like to express their thanks to the Egyptian Navy and CDWS for their assistance.

Emperor Divers is deeply regretful that this unfortunate accident has affected our guests’ holiday and is doing everything possible to provide them with diving in the Sharm and Hurghada areas before they fly home. Sadly the Emperor Fraser, a favoured boat for many divers over the past few years, is unsalvageable. Guests with a forward booking on Fraser will be contacted by Emperor Reservations to discuss alternatives.

Source: Emperor Divers (http://www.emperordivers.com/blog/2009/12/red-sea-liveaboard-emperor-fraser-sinks.html)

Emperor Divers is always looking at the quality of the service provided to their guests and it could not miss the opportunity to give their guides the chance to gain precious extra knowledge. The expanding and ever changing market requires dive centres to broaden their horizons, services offered and special needs for experienced divers and new professionals.

DAY DIVING ONE:
Dive one: Check dive at Poseidon Gardens, Shaab El Erg. Excellent schools of banner fish, masked butterfly fish, really nice, and large crocodile fish great!
Dive two: Carnatic at Abu Nuhas, not too much light on it, because late, but very beautiful soft corals and everybody happy. Very large moray eel at stern.
Night dive: Abu Nuhas ergs, very large Spanish dancer, everybody happy with it.
Weather: sunny
Wind: Indicate force and direction: 15 knots from north
Water Temperature and Visibility: 20-30m and 26C

DAY DIVING TWO:
Dive one: Chrisoula K with excellent visibility; really beautiful dive; all the garden eels far out, lots of Nemos and free-swimming lionfish, three large tuna, awesome.
Dive two: Giannis D, many batfish, Napoleon fish, beautiful light inside going through engine room and adjacent rooms up to bridge. Many glassfish and copper sweepers in the engine room; beautiful. The bow mast and ropes covered in soft corals, very large moray eel.
Dive three: Dunraven with gorgeous visibility; school of 20 batfish by wreck, large Napoleon fish, hugest and very old moray eel, schooling goatfish, schooling sweetlips, cruising schools of jackfish, anthias mating by the reef, large barracuda getting cleaned by the reef and turtle cruising by, absolutely awesome dive and everybody loved it!
Night dive: Beacon rock with Spanish Dancer and moray eels
Weather: sunny
Wind: Indicate force and direction: 10-15 knots from north, good weather
Water Temperature and Visibility: 20-30m and 16C

DAY DIVING THREE:
Dive one: Shark Reef and Yolanda with very gentle current, which made for a stunning dive, with all the soft corals puffed up and clouds of anthias. Especially Yolanda was gorgeous, with schools of batfish, trumpet fish and Emperor fish, and tons of anthias as well as a huge amount of blue spotted stingrays and several monster moray eels. We toured around shark reef and around the whole of Yolanda, and had a turtle at the end, beautiful!
Dive two: Another stunning dive was on Anemone City as we slowly made our way around the pillars covered in soft corals, the huge table corals and admired the huge amount of baby black damselfish who inhabit the anemones with the anemone fish. We also visited the deep pinnacle, which is covered in glassfish chased around by a resident school of jackfish. Superb dive!
Dive three: Thistlegorm with no current again made for a very leisurely visit of the forward holds with all the goodies. The highlight was a large school of about 100 batfish hovering above the wreck, fantastic!
Night dive: Thistlegorm with large turtle, lots of lionfish, scorpionfish
Weather: sunny
Wind: Indicate force and direction: 10 knots from north, flat calm seas
Water Temperature and Visibility: 26C and 30m

DAY DIVING FOUR:
Dive one: Thistlegorm, school of batfish still hovering above the wreck, lots of other divers unfortunately but still nice as no current and good visibility, did stern this time.
Dive two: Kingston wreck at Shag Rock, good visibility and no current, really nice dive and lots of anthias and some goat fish, no yellow snapper schools. A turtle with us for the whole dive from the wreck and along the reef.
Dive three: Bluff Point, absolutely fantastic dive with 15 bottlenose dolphins coming in and playing with us for at least 5 minutes, including mothers and calves, awesome. Also spotted multibar pipefish and a comet fish, as well as scorpion fish and many lionfish.
Night dive: Barge with torpedo ray, crocodile fish, monster scorpionfish, giant moray eels and clouds of sergeant majors and rabbit fish.
Weather: sunny
Wind: Indicate force and direction: North 15 knots
Water Temperature and Visibility: 26C and 20-30m

DAY DIVING FIVE:
Dive one: Rosalie Moller
Dive two: Rosalie Moller with good visibility and lots of fish and predators chasing the little ones around. Many groupers and lionfish, and lots of cleaning action by cleaner shrimps in the anemones and in the vents around the ship, also small peppered and marble moray eels, plenty pajama nudibranchs and yellow striped dottybacks, beautiful dives!
Dive three: Siyul Kebir, WOW, the famous pinnacle was even better than normal today… as beside the usual fantastic inhabitants (yellowmouth morays, broad-banded and multibar pipefish, many different cleaner shrimp, anemones, clouds of glassfish, blennies, scorpionfish and pepper moray eel) we saw a giant painted frogfish…fantastic! What a dive…
Night dive: Um Qammar and everybody loved it. Saw red stonefish, moray eel eating a fish, lionfish eating fish, a cuttlefish, a crocodile fish, and 2 Spanish dancers and, of course, tons of shrimps and crabs…awesome!
Weather: sunny
Wind: Indicate force and direction: 15-20 knots from North
Water Temperature and Visibility: 23 – 26C and 20 to 30m

DAY DIVING SIX:
Dive one: Um Qammar Island, beautiful pinnacle with lots of soft corals and gorgonians fans, many fish, beautiful dive.
Dive two: Wreck of Belinda, many schooling fish, lots of nudibranchs, ideal for guests as flying next morning.
Weather: sunny