Planning a winter dive holiday ?

Sorry to burst your summer bubble, but if you want a dive holiday this winter and you want the best deal, you need to think about it NOW! The good resorts at the good dive destinations are already starting to fill up with diveshop groups from NZ and Australia over their prime winter diving time, and some are already full. We are not just saying this to get you to book: we're saying it now so you don't miss out on the good deals! Contact us sooner rather than later

Places we know will be very full: And you need to book early

• Tonga/Niue : during the humpback whale season July – Sept
• Fiji : Garden Island Resort: Taveuni & Wananavu Resort in July – Sept
• Solomon Islands: Premier wreck location: Tulagi, Plus Domestic flights that connect with international are very limited.

It is widely expected that the NZ dollar will drop further it is expected to drop by 10%, that will push your holiday up by 10% this year. By booking now you can also take advantage of the strong NZD as Dive Fish Snow Travel Buys forward exchange on your behalf thus locking in your winter holiday at today's exchange rate. You still pay a deposit as normal, balance 6 weeks prior to departure. Again booking early can give you even greater savings.

Act sooner, not later, to get what you want, and Save $$

We all know what Easter weather is like in NZ. The bottom line is that if you take 5 days annual leave you can get 10 days diving and relaxing with your family (school holidays coincide with Easter) on a tropical beach. See for yourself.

But get in touch with us soon to avoid the rush.

This is the most commonly asked question. The answer is, there are as many different types of dive holidays as there are divers looking for that "something special!"

Whether your ideal dive holiday is

• A romantic getaway with a little bit of diving
• Full on action packed adrenalin pumping diving
• Full on wreck or wreck and reef combo
• Technical diving or training
• A family resort with some casual diving
• An off the beaten track adventure to far flung reefs, atolls and islands.

We can customise that "something special" just for you.

Your Next Dive Adventure Starts Here

South Pacific's Dive Guide

View online or we can post you a copy 16 colour pages of

• Maps
• Latest wreck diving location: Kwajalein
• Shark feed dives
• Liveaboards
• Big fish action
• Photographic locations
• Non diving, family friendly resorts

Fiji, Vanuatu, Niue, Great Barrier Reef, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Truk Lagoon, Marshall Islands, Liveaboards

Click here to order or download now.

Here is a guide that will help you with your planning. Please use this as a guide only. Our specialist dive consultants, Christine, Steve, Amy and Mike will be only too happy to give you a firm quote.

Overseas domestic air NZ$150 - NZ$400 (US$ 95 - US$ 260)
(as most good dive locations are remote, you will need to add a domestic airfare within all countries except Niue and to Hideaway Island, Tulagi and Cairns)

Airport transfers (return) NZ$20 - NZ$100

Accommodation, per night, per person, share twin:

Dive Fish Snow Special:
At most resorts we can offer 1 or 2 nights FREE accommodation when you pay for 5 or 6 nights.

Diving: including tanks, weight belts, airfills and dive guide
6 dives NZ$350 - NZ$390 (US$230-US$260)
10 dives NZ$500 - NZ$600(US$330-US$395)
12 dives NZ$550 - NZ$650(US$360-US$430)

Liveaboard boats: includes all meals 4-5 dives daily, night diving, cabins cleaned daily, airport transfers, and fantastic service and the best dive sites.
4 share cabin NZ$250 - NZ$350 (US$165-US$230) per person per day
2 share cabin NZ$300 - NZ$400 (US$190-US$265) per person per day
2 share deluxe cabin NZ$350 - NZ$450 (US$230-US$295) per person per day

Most liveaboard trips are approximately 1 week long. In Cairns they are 3-7 days long, Solomons and PNG 7-10 days and Truk Lagoon/Palau 7 days

Truk Lagoon, Micronesia.
This has to be the ultimate for wreck diving. There are over 80 WWII shipwrecks, planes and submarines, so you just can’t dive this place out. For those of you who have dived the awesome “SS President Coolidge” in Vanuatu, or the “Toa Maru” or “Aaron Ward” in the Solomons, put these wrecks in one place and add 10 – 12 even more exciting wrecks with heaps of cargo still there to explore: tanks, jeeps, cannons, trucks, torpedos, fighter planes, bulldozers, graders, bombs, crates of ammo and guns, plus hospital ships with operating and surgical equipment, personal effects left behind as the battle raged around them….the list just goes on. Most of these wrecks are now very peaceful, smothered in beautiful soft coral and are home to thousands of colourful reef fish – a stark contrast to the violence of a bygone era.

The fantastic exchange rate we have against the USD has reduced the cost on average from $6500 to $4395 for an all inclusive liveaboard dive trip ex Auckland. This trip runs weekly so you can go any time, or you can join one of our small groups departing in September.

August – November is a good time to dive Truk.
Check out the SS Thornfinn Liveaboard of Truk Lagoon, Micronesia

Dive Fish Snow Travel Special Charter to Truk Lagoon on SS Thornfinn.

8 days diving - 24 Dives

Special Dive Fish Snow Travel Charter on "MV Big Blue Explorer"
29 June - 10 July 2006

Palau  is rated as one of the world's best diving destinations by scuba aficionados. And why not? ...Palau has unspoiled reefs, caves, and walls with the most amazing array of marine life you can ever imagine. Gardens of coral lie just beneath the clearest waters, there are lakes filled to the brim with "sting less" jellyfish.  Forests, waterfalls and caves that have never been ravaged by man, and hundreds of islands of the purest beauty abound all along the pristine archipelago.

It is common to see 30 - 50 gray reef and whitetip sharks, eagle rays, hundreds of schooling barracuda, thousands of blue trigger fish, moray eels, lion fish, schooling humphead parrotfish, nudibranchs, several turtles and a leaf fish all on one dive.

Ron and Christine Blake, directors of Dive Fish Snow Travel, have been keeping their eye on this new and very exciting dive location for three years now.

They were very tempted to go there in 2004 as the “In The Know” divers were coming back with rave reports of the diversity of these virgin undived reefs with over 3000 species of fish and over 300 species of untouched coral. Basically 3 major currents/seas meet at Raja Empat from the Celebes Sea (Philippines, Indonesia and Sipadan Islands), Papua New Guinea and the Timor Sea off the Australian coast where it supports an incredibly prolific assortment of marine life.

But calling on 19 years of dive travel experience, Ron knew it would take time and a lot of dives to work out where the best dive sites are, given the moon phase, currents, time of year and general weather conditions. It is now the right time, right place and the operator now has 3 seasons learning about the best dive sites, plus a brand new dive liveaboard built just for Raja Empat dive conditions.

Dive Fish Snow Travel have run charters with owner/skipper, Greg, for trips in the Komodo region. Greg now has a new boat with all the teething problems sorted out, so we see the next trip having everything going for it – better boat, 3 seasons experience of exploratory dives and lots of first hand diving knowledge.

Special 10 day Charter to Raja Empat 2006
Late October/November 2006

Join Ron and Christine and be among the first to dive this pristine area.

Approx. NZ $5500 to NZ$5800 ex New Zealand
or Approx. US$ 2750 for Boat and Domestic Airfare

Free Unbiased and Objective Advice on where to dive

Any one can look at the Dive resort website or a brochure. There are thousands of them and they all have one thing in common - they all claim to be the best! So how do you know if they really are as good as they claim ? Here at Dive Fish Snow Travel, we offer a lot of quality locations that we have personally checked out. If they don't meet our standards, we won't sell them. We will only offer what best suits your requirements and budget.

We have the expertise and first hand knowledge to give you truly unbiased and objective advice on where to go for your next dive holiday.

Join our 3 day off the beaten track trip to Poor Knights Island during Waitangi Weekend 3-6 Feb 2006. It's an ideal trip for photographers. Email: mike@divefishsnow.co.nz to book a place for you. Details in the beginning of this newsletter.

Click here to visit our Diving Photo Gallery

If you are reading this Tropical Dive Times, you are on our database and will automatically be in the draw to win a diving holiday to Vanuatu for 7 days in Hideaway Island traveling Air Vanuatu.

You are receiving this newsletter because either you or someone on your behalf has signed up at divefishsnow.co.nz. To Unsubscribe just 'Reply' to this email and type 'unsubscribe' in the Subject. To be in the Draw and win a trip to Vanuatu for 7 days in Hideaway Island traveling Air Vanuatu you need to be in our subscribers list at the time of the draw.

Regards - "THE DIVE TEAM" - Dive Fish Snow Travel Auckland
PHONE: (09) 479 2210 -
TOLL FREE: 0508 348 334
EMAIL: divetravel@divefishsnow.co.nz

©Dive Fish Snow Travel 2005 www.divefishsnow.co.nz - all rights reserved
Flag Graphics Courtesy of 3DFlags.com