Learning to scuba dive week in June

[Cll]

A friend wants to take his wife away for her 40th (for a week without the kids) and she's always wanted to learn to scuba dive. I recommended the Maldives but don't thin June's a great month to go. They're not rolling in it but want somewhere nice and warm wit good diving and good diving instruction - anyone any suggestions of places/websites I could direct him to?

[SofiaAmes]

My husband has been several times with Scuba Zone (shop in london that organizes tours) to the Red Sea (fly into egypt). You spend a week on board a ship. Their instructors are great and he's really enjoyed the trips. I think the weather there would be perfect in june.

[outofpractice]

I highly recommend Waterworld dive centre in Kerry, Ireland, which has nice accommodation and good food all on site, but I don't know how they would feel as beginners about learning in colder waters. It is obviously much cheaper in terms of travel and they do learn to dive packages which are good value. I have dived in far more exotic places, but really liked the wildlife and found the waters very clear.

[Tissy]

I learnt in cold water!! The North Sea off Newcasle is bldy freezing! Which is why I would recommend somewhere warm! Red Sea is great, but boat diving is not cheap as far as I recall.Also, if you're prone to seasickness you could have a miserable week if you never get off the boat. How about Malta? Weather should be fine in June, the water is warm, hotels are good,flights are cheap,everyone speaks english. I can highly recommend Meldives . Mel is a lovely bloke and an excellent instructor. There is a huge variety of dive sites around Malta, some of them stunning, and a lot can be accessed from the shore.

[hatter]

Egypt is great - try to look for somewhere where you do your training in the sea (there are places where you can train in a quiet lagoon) rather than in a swimming pool - we learnt like this in Dahab and it was fantastic from the very beginning. You can get pretty cheap flights to Egypt, the weather in June should be good, and if it's your thing you can combine it with some fantastic sight-seeing and culture

[EmilyD]

My husband and I both learned to dive in the maldives. Been three times and most wonderful place to learn and dive. We went to stay at island in north male atoll twice (now unfortunately not available to uk) last time went was 2000 (just before baby was conceived!!!) went to a dedicated small dive island in South Ari Atoll. However this island has also been taken over by italian company. Would highly recommend South Ari Atoll but for first holiday go to a medium sized island. Also another recommendation don't waste your money on full board, just go half board. June is heading into rainy season (August i think is the worst month to go) - best time to go is our winter time January - last time we went though was in rainy season and we hardly had any rain and when it did rain it chucked it down for a few minutes then sun came out. The maldives has the advantage of being soooo romantic and you completely chill out. Missing it already but with a 12 month old not a practical option anymore. :-( miss my diving days! Cost wise it cost us £850 for 2 weeks half board (exclusive of diving - cost dependent on whether doing course etc but a dive with all equipemtn was about $35 - 50 dollars a go for an hours dive trip) Diving in the south ari atoll you always see sharks and turtles - we also were priviledged to see a couple of manta rays and dolphins. the day before a whale shark had been spotted. I could wax lyrical for hours. Sorry if i have bored you all.

[StuartC]

Try these sites - regal diveguide explorers

[kiwicath]

Hi Cll. I'm a diving instructor and have been living/working in Sharm El Sheikh, Sinai, Egypt for the past 10 years. Can highly recommend Sharm in June (actually all year round) but it is the middle of summer and temps can get up to mid 40's early 50's. Dry heat though so bearable. I wouldn't recommend going straight onto a liveaboard boat to learn how to dive as the conditions are sometimes not ideal. Much better to go through a shore based school then progress to the more adventurous stuff on your next holiday. Got loads of links and info for you so feel free to email me anytime. Can recommend agents,hotels,pubs,diving schools and pre homework etc. Will even meet them for a few beers in Naama Bay Looking forward to hearing from you/them.

[lucycoldron]

We went to the Maldives with our 8 month old last year at the end of May to a resort called Bandos which has a dive shop, med facilities and a creche for kids 6 months up so you can dive twice a day and know they're well looked after. it turned out to be a fantastic time to go as the weather was perfect and the resort was only half full . the diving was also spectacular, reef sharks, manta rays and lots and lors of fish!