SCUBA News 220
(ISSN 1476-8011)

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SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011)
Issue 220 - October 2018
https://www.scubatravel.co.uk
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Welcome to SCUBA News. I hope you find it useful. We love hearing from you - any questions, or to tell us about a diving trip, email news@scubatravel.co.uk.

You can download a pdf version of SCUBA News here.


Contents:
What's new at SCUBA Travel?
Diving Komodo from the Duyung Baru
Diving news from around the World


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What's New at SCUBA Travel?

Rosalie Moeller

Wrecks Unlimited

Learn more about the many wrecks of the Egyptian Red Sea.
Read Now…

Eagle ray

Window on Honduras

Whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, eagle rays, turtles, giant lobster, coral - just some of the sea life in the Bay Islands of Honduras.
Read More…

Sardine Run

South Africa Contrasts

Atlantic and Indian Ocean, squid run, sardine run, white shark cage diving and coral reefs
Read More…


Diving Komodo from the Duyung Baru

Komodo has fabulous diving – from sharks to seahorses, walls, reefs and crazy drifts. The best way to dive around Komodo is by liveaboard, although you can take day boats from Labuan Bajo on Flores.

Duyung Baru Komodo liveaboard

Which liveaboard to choose? You can’t go wrong with the Duyung Baru. For a start this liveaboard takes just six divers in three cabins. With the co-owner and dive guide Vovo Korth taking a dim view of crowded dive sites, often the seven of you will be the only people in the water.

Manta Ray, Komodo

Vovo’s wife Yani is the captain and cook. Her food is delicious, created with care and love. She gets up at three in the morning to make fresh bread for breakfast – from loaves to croissants. Not only a great cook, she is most friendly and welcoming.

Yani Korth, Cook and Captain, Duyung Baru - food on the liveaboard
Yani Korth, Cook and Captain, Duyung Baru, Photo credit: Vovo Korth

Vovo bought his first boat in 1998 and called it the Duyung – Indonesian for mermaid. He has been sailing Indonesian waters ever since. When he and Yani started the liveaboard operation around Komodo only one other boat was operating, and Vovo made many exploratory dives. He has an intimate knowledge of the dive sites of Komodo with their wild currents, including a couple of “secret sites”.

The couple commissioned their current boat in 2011, calling it the Duyung Baru or New Mermaid.

Two double cabins and one twin cabin house the divers. There is plenty of storage space and ensuite shower and toilet. The beds are extremely comfortable. On the canopied deck are a sofa and chairs around a coffee table plus a sun terrace upstairs.

Turtle
Big Hawksbill Turtle in Manta Alley, Photo credit: Vovo Korth

The boat is 27 m long with two masts – a beautiful looking craft. Nitrox is available.

Finally to the diving. This is world-class. Sharks and turtles on nearly every dive. Eagle and manta rays. Many huge shoals of fish. Corals in excellent condition. There are also dive sites for those liking the smaller stuff – seahorses and frog fish. The boat doesn’t have a set routine of dives – it depends on the type of dives that the divers on board want to do. If you really want to see that seahorse and not another manta ray, then you’ll have to sell it to your fellow divers.

Nudibranch Nembrotha Kubaryana Komodo
Nembrotha kubaryana nudibranch, Photo credit: Vovo Korth

The boat is only for experienced divers. Vovo likes you to have at least 75 dives. I would go further and say that you need to have experience of currents. The diving in many sites is not easy – the currents are fierce, especially at full and new moon (which is why there are so many large fish there). It is assumed you know what you are doing. At the beginning of the trip is an easy dive or two to practice using a SMB (surface marker buoy or “safety sausage”). Not until Vovo is satisfied that you can use the SMB will he take you on one of the the more challenging dives. That way if you should get separated from the group the tender will easily see you and pick you up.

Vovo is also a freediving instructor and there is an opportunity to take a freediving course if you wish. Although we dived with Vovo, on many trips one of his two experienced divemasters takes his place.

A wonderful trip which I highly recommend.

Further Reading

Book the Duyung Baru
The dive sites of Komodo

If you would like any more information on the Duyung Baru, diving Komodo, getting there, where to stay etc, please contact Jill

There have recently been two tragic events in Indonesia: the earthquake on Lombok and the earthquake and tsunami on Sulawesi. Our thoughts go out to those affected. Indonesia is a huge country though, and the diving in Komodo and around other islands is untouched. If you would like to donate to the Indonesia Earthquake appeal you can do so via the Red Cross or Oxfam.


Diving News From Around the World

Our round up of the best underwater news stories of the past month. For breaking news see our Twitter page or RSS feed

Nudibranch winner of photo competition

Winners of Underwater Photography Shootout Announced
Some stunning underwater photographs were the winners of this year's SoCal shootout.

Historic shipwreck

Divers May Have Discovered the Oldest Shipwreck in Lake Erie
A team of divers have discovered the Lake Serpent, a 47-foot schooner last seen in 1829.

Cleaner wrasse

Are Cleaner Fish Self-Aware?
The cleaner wrasse appears to have passed the mirror test - a standard test of self-recognition. If the finding holds, this humble fish will join a very exclusive club.

Polar bear in arctic

Which tea bags are free from plastic?
t came as a surprise to most people to learn that even tea bags contained plastic. Discover which brands don't.

Polar bear in arctic

Many Arctic Pollutants Decrease After Market Removal and Regulation
Levels of some persistent organic pollutants (POPs) regulated by the Stockholm Convention are decreasing in the Arctic.

C02 trial extraction plant

Maybe we can afford to suck CO2 out of the sky after all
A new analysis shows that air capture could cost less than $100 a ton.

Bleached coral

There's one key takeaway from last week's IPCC report
Cut carbon pollution as much as possible, as fast as possible

The sea

Thirteen ocean solutions for climate change, ocean acidification and sea level rise
1. Ocean-based renewable energy 2. Reducing marine pollution 3. Stopping over-exploitation of marine resources and so on

Baltic Sea Harbor Porpoise

To Save the Baltic Sea Harbor Porpoise, Scientists Try Listening
By tracking the echolocation clicks of the endangered porpoise population, scientists have discovered a potential new breeding location.

Fewer divers in the Similans

Thailand limits number of divers visiting the Similans
Thailand has declared that no more than 525 divers can visit the Similans on any one day. Many tour operators opposed the move but the more responsible dive operators welcomed it. It means you will need to book early to dive the Similan Islands.


SCUBA News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. This means we are happy for you to reuse our material for both commercial and non-commercial use as long as you: credit the name of the author, link back to the SCUBA Travel website and say if you have made any changes. Some of the photos though, might be copyright the photographer. If in doubt please get in touch.

Photo credits: Tim Nicholson, Andrew Reay-Robinson

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CONTACTING THE EDITOR
Please send your letters or press releases to:
Jill Studholme
SCUBA News
The Cliff

DE6 2HR
UK
news@scubatravel.co.uk

PUBLISHER
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