ONLY WOMEN
NEED APPLY
divErNEt.com 69
HOLIDAY NEWS
The Scuba
Place realigns
When tour operator
The Holiday
Place ceased
trading at
the end of
May and
went into the
hands
of the Receivers, one
of its 16 offshoots and the best-
known to divers, The Scuba Place,
quickly relaunched itself as a limited
company.
Moving to retain ATOL and ABTA-
bonding protection by becoming an
independent partner of Major Travel
Ltd, a tour operator for 45 years, The
Scuba Place Ltd said it had been able
to assure customers that all bookings
remained fully protected.
“We will be honouring all of the
dive-holiday bookings we made prior
to the collapse of The Holiday Place
plc,” said The Scuba Place’s MD John
Spencer-Ades. He said that none of its
existing clients had cancelled a
booking, and thanked them and
“our partners in the many resorts we
operate in who have supported us
fully and without exception.
“We’re now well-situated as an
independent business to grow and
build on our success,” he said.
8 thescubaplace.com
KEN KIEFERUK-based Luna, which
describes itself as a “dive trip
organiser and community
creator”, has been set up by
divers Lucy Alfred and Ellie
D’Silva for women “seeking
a new adventure in an
inclusive, female-focused
group”.
It’s open to all levels of
diver from beginner to
experienced and was
conceived as a “safety net”,
say the founders, who
reckon that with many
existing barriers to
participation in diving,
they didn’t want “a lack of
buddies, body hang-ups or
the male gaze to make it
worse”.
Luna’s first guided trip
will be to Menorca for a
group of up to 10 thisSeptember. The price of
£630 covers five nights in
3* PortBlue Rafalat self-
catering apartments with
access to the PortBlue
Resort and next to S’Algar
Diving; eight dives, airport
transfers.
It is not covering flights
as it is not yet ATOL-rated.
“We’re always on the
look-out for dive-centresthat are interested in
supporting our mission
statement: to get more
women into, or returning
to diving,” says Alfred.
In prospect are more
European trips, Indonesia,
Galapagos, Mexico and,
unusually, “hidden gem”
Caribbean Colombia,
a founders’ favourite.
8 luna-dive.comBOOKINGNOW...
Maya Blue, a PADI 5* diving and
freediving centre, has been set up
in the small town of Xpu-Ha,
between Playa del Carmen and
Tulum in Mexico’s Yucatan, to help
scuba-divers at all levels as well as
freedivers and snorkellers to
explore the “Mayan Underworld”.
Complete with restaurant and
shop, it offers not only diving but
technical, cave and CCR training
through Chilam Group partner
facilities Dark Zone Diving and the
Rebreather Academy. Prices range
from a one-cenotesnorkel tour for
US $75pp to a five-day advanced
scuba cavern package, exploring
three cenoteswith a small group,
for $899pp.
8 mayabluedivecenter.com,
thechilamgroup.comOne-stop
cenotes
diving
with
Maya Blue
BIG IN BALI AND COCOS
Dive Worldwide says it has two hot
possibilities lined up for divers seeking
big pelagics. The first is in Bali, with
the chance to dive the reefs of Nusa
Lembongan, Ceningan and Penida.
Manta encounters happen there
year-round, though if you time it right
Mola molaare also a possibility. Eleven
days from £1425 covers return flights
from the UK, a night on the mainland,
seven nights’ B&B in Nusa Lembongan,transfers and 10 dives.
Across the Pacific is remote shark-
magnet Cocos, and the tour operator
has dedicated departures aboard the
liveaboard Argotimed for peak
hammerhead season. It has 10-night
itineraries departing 13 August and 8
September from £5095, including
flights from the UK, one night’s B&B in
San José and transfers.
8 thenaturaltravelcollection.com✹Pro Dive International, which runs a
chain of PADI 5* centres in the Caribbean,
has opened a new facility at the Westin
Hotel in Cozumel and says that competitive
stay & dive packages can be booked there.
8 prodiveinternational.com✹Caribbean Fun Travel says it has
launched a new website following “several
fact-finding visits to the Caribbean” to
develop local knowledge of
accommodation and diving and allow it to
tailor holidays to customers.
8 caribbeanfuntravel.co.uk✹Need to get kitted out for your next trip?
Aquanaut Scuba & Snorkelling Centre has
taken over long-established Amphibian
Sports in Norwood, south London.
8 aquanautscuba.co.uk✹Taj Hotels says it can enable diving
experiences in India’s Andaman Islands as
well as the Maldives. Diving season runs
from October to May and accommodation
at the Taj Exotica Resort & Spa on Havelock
Island allows access to “one of the world’s
richest coral reef eco-systems”.
8 tajhotels.comBRIEFLY...