Master Liveaboards has taken over the operation and bookings of the three Red Sea and Maldives diving vessels previously run by UK tour operator Blue O Two.
Describing itself as “very excited to announce three new vessels and two new destinations”, Master is now running the liveaboards Blue Horizon and Blue Melody in the Egyptian Red Sea and Blue Voyager in the Maldives, though retaining the existing crew and dive-teams.
Master says it will become the main booking hub for all the vessels in its enlarged fleet. It already operated 10 liveaboards, in the Bahamas, Bikini Atoll, Galapagos, Indonesia, Burma, Palau, the Philippines. the Solomon Islands, Thailand and Truk Lagoon.
The operation emerged from Worldwide Dive and Sail, established in South-east Asia in 2004 and for a time known as Siren Fleet. It started operating under the Master name in Galapagos in 2015 in partnership with Blue O Two, which later hit difficulties during the Covid pandemic.
That Plymouth-based business went into liquidation before part of it was sold to Scuba Tours Worldwide and resumed trading as Blue O Two.
Blue O Two has told its customers of the latest move: “Master Liveaboards will take responsibility for the ground operations, to bring you the best of both worlds… You will experience significant improvements next time you use the boats – Blue Horizon and Blue Melody will be having both a structural and cosmetic makeover.”
It added that as a tour operator it would continue to offer Red Sea and Maldives diving holidays, and that its loyalty membership benefits would now extend to all Master destinations.
Master Liveaboards is offering Red Sea dive trips from US $1,050pp (c£860) and Maldives holidays from $2,130 (c£1,750).
On your marks for Sardine Run
In other dive travel news, US-based Big Animals is booking now for the 2024 Sardine Run on South Africa’s Wild Coast in KwaZulu Natal Province. The photo-workshop trip runs for 14 days from 12 July using six expert guides led by ace cameraman Amos Nachoum.
The experience involves 10 days of daily outings on inflatables for both scuba divers and snorkellers to witness the parade of predators including sharks, whales, gannets and dolphins as they feast on the passing baitfish.
Accommodation at the N’taba River Lodge family resort, diving, transfers to and from Durban and all taxes are included in the price of US $9,600pp (c£7,900) for two sharing.
30% off at remote Astove
Astove Atoll, part of the remote Aldabra island group in the Indian Ocean, has reopened for its new season with a 30%-off “Astove Special” package, valid for divers on specified weeks throughout 2024.
More than 600 miles south-west of Mahé in Seychelles, Astove’s rich biodiversity has sustained “minimal human impact”, says eco-tourism company Blue Safari Seychelles.
It features the Wall, a 70m sheer drop featured by Jacques Cousteau in The Silent World, with everything from macro life to grouper, hammerhead and bull sharks, plus 11 other designated dive-sites taking from two to 45 minutes to reach by boat.
Marine species tend to be less wary of divers than at other locations, says Blue Safari Seychelles, and include turtles, Napoleon wrasse, grouper and giant sweetlips. Barracudas, wahoo, sailfish and bluefin trevally are also present – divers should note that Astove is also a sport-fishing destination.
Guests stay in the Astove Coral House, which has six en suite rooms, but being so exclusive this is another costly holiday, normally priced from $13,415pp (c£11,000) for seven nights. So the 30% discount might ease the pain – initial Astove Special diver weeks commence on 29 January, 4 and 11 March and 8 April.
It’s Socorro time!
All of which might make the spectacular Revillagigedo archipelago in the eastern Pacific seem like a relatively cheap choice. Mexico Liveaboards’ Socorro season begins this month (November) and runs through to early June. The remote islands feature not only giant Pacific manta rays but silky, blacktip, silvertip, whitetip, Galapagos, tiger and schooling hammerhead sharks, bottlenose dolphins, big schools of jack and barracuda, wahoo and tuna.
Whale sharks are present for the rest of the year, with giant bait-balls and pods of false orcas also around in May, and humpback whales from mid-February to mid-April. The liveaboards are the Rocio Del Mar and Quino El Guardian, with prices starting from US $3,500 (c£2,870) for 10-day trips.
Montserrat ferry option
Volcanic Montserrat offers a Caribbean diving experience with a difference – as Divernet can attest – though it is little visited by divers, partly because of its infrequent flight connections via neighbouring Antigua, averaging one a day.
Now it has announced a passenger ferry service between the two islands (and occasionally Nevis) with the introduction of the V2V Empress vessel, due to start during November. This will have a “flexible“ schedule, operating five days a week at off-peak times of year and six times a week from December to March to meet expected demand. The ferry takes about 90 minutes, compared to a 20-minute flight.
Atmospheric extremes
Atmosphere Resorts & Spa at Dauin on Negros Oriental in the Philippines has just introduced, alongside its scuba offerings, PADI freediving courses and guided freediving, and says that these go “very well with our yoga and meditation classes”.
At the other end of the spectrum, it has started building a two-storey technical-diving centre site to back up its increased ability to serve visiting technical divers.
Also on Divernet: 52 pro divers’ favourite local dive-sites, Dive Like A Pro: Packing gear for a dive trip, Travelling Light, Dive Like A Pro: Which safety gear to carry
