The winner of the DIVE 2016 Grand Prize Draw, open to visitors to the show held at the NEC last weekend, is a BSAC Ocean Diver who has dived only in the UK. And as good as that experience can be, Ant Bown knows he is in for a treat when he heads off to the Philippines for two weeks of some of the world’s best coral-reef diving!
“It was a bit of a shock,” agreed Ant, who needs only to complete some open-water dives to attain his Sport Diver qualification. “I’ve never won anything like this before. I’m a fairly new diver – I’ve done about 50 dives but I suppose I’d been making fairly slow progress in my diving career up to now.”
Ant is a self-employed electrical contractor, so is reasonably flexible about taking a total of 18 days off work, although he is not yet sure whether his partner, an occasional diver, will be able to accompany him.
The £8000 prize is sponsored by UKâtour operator Dive Worldwide in partnership with Atlantis Dive Resorts and Philippines Tourism.
The winners spend seven nights at the well-known Atlantis Puerto Galera resort on Sabang Beach, with its richly populated coral reefs, then fly south for a further week at Atlantis Dumaguete, close to Dauin Marine Sanctuary and Apo Island.
Included for the two divers will be all meals, flights, an overnight stay in Manila and unlimited diving in both resorts – which means up to five dives a day if required. At that rate, Ant’s dive-tally could double while he’s away!
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27-Oct-16
