Hello from OZ

[Bob in Brisbane]

First time to the forums so thought best to say hello. Originally from sunny Brighouse moved to Oz 16 years ago. Now lucky enough to own a dive shop in Brisbane and in partnership with a dive resort in the Solomon Islands. Anyone wanting info on diving in any of the above places will be glad to assist... will now have a browse and see whats happening..

[Mr T.]

Welcome aboard YD Bob. Browse and enjoy mate.

Cheers,

PS: got a URL for your shop and shared-resort in the Solomons?

[Bob in Brisbane]

Hi Bren, managed to have a quick look around the boards this morning but been a bit busy today. Will get around to answering a question on the President Coolidge as been there heaps of times but it is certainly a well visited wreck so if someone has been pushing the line that it is not then there are a few porky's being told. Anyway heaps of tanks to fill, and being 36 deg sweating like a pig in the meantime. I have met quite a few divers from England when I opened the shop up in the Solomons. People think its hard to get there but not really being only a 3 hour flight from Brisbane.  I was hoping to get over to the UK dive show next month to do some promotion work for the Solomons but don't think I will get chance, although just heard my mum is sick in Brighouse ( yes I know anyone who lives in Brighouse probably deserves to be  sick) so maybe if I have to come back may get a chance to visit the show as well.... the URL's you requested are
www.bluezonescuba.com
www.divemunda.com
www.agneslodge.com

[John Gulliver]

Hi Bob,
Welcome to YD! Sorry to hear about your mum. Brisbane and the Solomons, eh? It sounds as though you made a good move. I moved (from London) to Gothenburg, Sweden 35 years ago. I love it here – lots of space and fantastic opportunities for outdoor pursuits, including diving – but you certainly chose a better climate.

[Bob in Brisbane]

Hi John, yes think I made a good choice. If you want space then I suppose Oz is the place to come. Certainly Brisbane's climate has to be one of the best in the world and the Solomon Islands are just a paradise. I have been fortunate enough in the past few years to dive in Palau, Truk Lagoon, Phillipines, Borneo, Malaysia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu etc etc and have been going to the Solomons since the early 90's and without a doubt the Solomons is indeed a divers mecca. Where we are based at Munda in the Western Province we have wall dives, some which are vertical drops from 5 metres to 12 kilometres, WW11 wrecks of boats and planes and the world renowned Custom Shark Cave  which starts in the middle of the jungle in a fresh water pool and comes out onto a reef wall at 25 metres. Absolutely mindblowing. Along with pristine coral reefs we are indeed blessed with what we believe to be the best diving in the world.

[John Gulliver]

Time for us all to start saving our pennies, methinks!

[Bob in Brisbane]

Mate the only problems we had in the past getting peopl there from the UK is that the people who sell the holidays in the UK do not seem to be interested. We have emailed several dive wholesalers looking for an agent and never received one reply. The last dozen or so UK divers that have gone up there over the last 12 or so months, I have actually sorted out their Solomons leg from over here. In fact with a couple of the trips I have personally gone with the groups to make sure they have a great time. LAst time I was in the UK last year think you could get flights to Brisbane for 459 pound return and a week in Munda with dives , accom and flights  will cost approx $1650 plus $115 taxes. So I guess thats about 650 pound..... food is dirt cheap ie full Lobster dinner is approx $60 Solomon which is $12 Australian which is approx 5 pound. So maybe you guys don't have to save for too long.

[ianwheeldon]

hi there bob. welcome aboard. i'll be heading over to oz next year so any advice on the best diving would be great. i've been told that the GBR is not all it's cracked up to be. any advice on the best way to go about getting a good few dives there? also you say you've been to fiji. i'll be heading there to, so again any advice or ideas will be much apreciated.

[John Gulliver]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Bob in Brisbane @ Oct. 29 2003,10:34)]LAst time I was in the UK last year think you could get flights to Brisbane for 459 pound return and a week in Munda with dives , accom and flights  will cost approx $1650 plus $115 taxes. So I guess thats about 650 pound..... food is dirt cheap ie full Lobster dinner is approx $60 Solomon which is $12 Australian which is approx 5 pound. So maybe you guys don't have to save for too long.

Do I understand you to mean that a one-week trip to Munda with divng and accommodation and return flight from the UK via Brisbane (but excluding food) would only cost about £1100, Bob? If so, that's amazing. It's only £100 more than a week on a good Red Sea liveaboard (including flights), though that admittedly includes all meals. I organise trips for a group of friends here in Sweden. As a group, we've been to Ireland, Mexico, British Columbia, Egypt and Indonesia and are going back to British Columbia next year. If I could put a trip to Munda together for around £1100 the year after (2005), I'd be very interested in looking at it more closely. I hope I haven't misunderstood you.
PS The Dive Munda link doesn't seem to be working, although the Agnes Lodge link works fine.

[Dave Crampton]

Hi Bob,

Brighouse is not that far from my folks place. Wecome aboard, you'll get lots of lovely tips and info here although I think you'll be more usefull to us than we are to you. My partner has relatives in Taz and I'd absolutely love to go over there in the near future to visit and get some dives in. I'll keep you in mind certainly if we're going over to OZ. I'll have to get the old atlas out to see where your talking about. I figure your on the south coast right between Melborne and the capital (name escaping me right now). Good luck getting over here to see your mum. a darne site closer than I have to travel to see my folks in Leeds.

Dave C