We like - We hate...

This page isn't finished yet... excuse the mess. After coming back from trips we sometimes think that we should share the pro’s and con’s of the places we have tried with the world and write the trips up but its hard work to extract the pith so here is a digest of some of the setups we have used and a snap verdict on them. We’ve avoided anything too close to home so that we can’t be accused or bribed (hint, hint)… We like (Places where the people and the service are “I’d go back there” good) Dive Tutakaka – Tutakaka, NZ Efficient and Jury is a star. Cathederal Cove Dive – Hahei, NZ Laid back  Malibu Mals Divestay – Tutakaka, NZ Can’t do enough to help West Wales Divers – Hasguards Cross, Wales Thanks Amanda Colona V – Phuket, Thailand Safe and comfortable, a bit noisy Nautica - Phuket, Thailand Cool boat and crew, excellent food Nature House – Khoa Sok, Thailand Best place to stay in the park Pigeons Lodge – Great Barrier Island, NZ Super human helpful MV Maureen – Dartmouth, UK Best food onboard – bar none Gozo Aqua Sports – Marsalforn, Gozo Gail has it all under control! Oban Tours – Stewart Island, NZ More than helpful Aquaventures – Baltimore, Ireland Friendly, efficient Sovereign III – Seahouses, UK Best site briefs – ever! Durdle Door Caravan Site – Dorset, UK Clean, helpful Karamana – Marsa Alam, Egypt Rare Red Sea good taste Under Pressure (Cornish Divers) – Falmouth, UK Like diving with (good) relatives Miss Pattie (John) – Lyme Regis, UK A gentleman skipper and effortless overnight fills MY King Mina – Sharm El Sheik Cheerful crew Barnaway Farm Campsite, Thornage Handy, friendly and small Kapilai Sipadan Resort Well organised, good diving, a little military, due to expand hugely Hillrise Cottage B&B Lyme Regis Friendly, convenient and good value De Kabellaar, Zeeland Holland Convenient divers hotel in a great area for diving MV Shakti, Raja Ampat, Indonesia Cool, comfortable and picturesque Papua Diving, Kri Island, Raja Ampat, Indonesia Basic, great diving, entertaining personnel We’ve used (Fine but not outstanding) Billy Shiel – Seahouses, UK Very flexible, suspect boat (GTII) Foxhills Camp site – Weybourne, UK Unbookable but convenient JBC – Portland Good bench Top Gun – Portland Fast Aquasport Hotel – Portland Convenient Big A Resort – Chalong, Thailand Helpful Red Sea College – Sharm El Sheik, Egypt Very busy, too busy to be good Explorers – Travel Agents OK MY Sodfa - Sharm El Sheik, Egypt Cramped Symbiosis - Travel Agents Talk a good game but not thorough enough   We don’t like (Reasons to avoid returning) Dive Kiakoura – Kiakoura , UK Woeful and dim, why fail once when you can fail again? Aggressive lady parking attendant - Lyme Regis, UK Makes a point of being unpleasant Prison Lodge – Portland, UK Unhelpful Coral Coast Dive – Exmouth, Australia Poor dive guides Puffin Dive Centre – Oban, Scotland Aggressive, poor Nitrox Murex Diving and Symphony liveaboard – Manado, Sulawesi Good diving, boat hugely over staffed, painful food poisoning Sunstar Sub Aqua BSAC, Branch Ipswich A rather short sighted committee obessed with their own importance Changed too much to be worth rating or no longer operating Scuba Discovery - Agents Steve Angus was great, now left. Services now simple package stuff Sidewinder and Stella – Swanage Pier, UK (Now under new management) Sardinia Scuba Tours – Cannigione, Sardinia (Now under new management) Wey Chieftan (Graham Knott) – Weymouth, UK Best boat out of Weymouth? (Boat now sold :-(  ) Wavedancer (Colin Rutter) – Seahouses, UK Friendly and easy going (Sadly no longer sailing) Pending (yet to use, advice welcome) Twofish Divers, Bunaken Indonesia Odessea Liveaboard, Indonesia Found yourself on the wrong bits of these lists and feeling aggrieved? Write to us we’ll justify why we feel this way, perhaps we can start afresh? If you’re on the good list, thanks for making our lives better and we’ll hopefully see you again. Feel free to link to this page.