5
September , 2010
Sunday
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As the official Shark Diving Jedi I want to welcome everyone to the most exciting ...
So… I’ve been on land for some time and I’m bored out of my skull. ...
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When using a drysuit divers will need to add air to their suit on descent ...
Getting my Instructor excited by opening the gas valve all the way, fast OR Adiabatic Compression, as ...

Scuba Articles for May, 2010

The Best Scuba Vacation in the World.

Posted by Gabriel On May - 31 - 2010 ADD COMMENTS

Scuba Jedi and Paradise In Fiji are happy to invite you to the best scuba vacation in the world…. you and your best friend / partner or dive buddy can enjoy the most amazing and luxurious holiday in the world.

7 Nights in the most amazing resort in Fiji – FREE…..
You and your friend / dive partner / boyfriend or girlfriend… staying in a 5 Start Fijian Bure:

Enjoying and relaxing here:

Eating the most fantastic Fijian Cuccine… feasting like Kings…
Relaxing from the 9 to 5…. with spa treatment….

Happy to cover ALL activities, ALL dives, ALL Spa treatments, ALL food, ALL non-alcoholic beverages, internet, laundry.
All they pay for is alcoholic drinks and gift shop items, plus tickets for 2 from Nadi to Taveuni !!!!

These are the rules of the Best Scuba Holiday

To get involved in the contest you need to loooove writing and Diving…
During your amazing stay at Taveuni, we expect you to blog your experiences and write about staying with us…. so mainly you need to be able to write about diving.

That’s why we want to be sure the winner of this amazing package can actually WRITE , DIVE and have the BEST time.

We want the winner to be someone with a great personality , generous enough to invite his best diving buddy…. and have a great, great personality.

So…

to be part of  the contest you need to write 2 Articles about Scuba Diving.

1 article about General diving … things you love about diving…
and 1 specific article about:

Why You deserve the win the Best Scuba Vacation in the world.

Each article needs to be unique, original and contain at least 400 words.
These articles need to be submitted to team@scubajedi.com

If you need ideas and inspiration about The Best Scuba Holiday in the World, check
www.paradiseinfiji.com and just imagine yourself enjoying the best

The Winner will be the best Writer… so don’t forget that to be part of this contest… you need to be write about it !


Bula from Allan & Terri in Paradise,

We want to let you know about the BEST holiday / vacation destination around.

Paradise Taveuni is our resort and it has the best of everything – great weather, excellent food, luxury bures, spectacular ocean views and water sports and the friendliest people in the world looking after you. Not only will you fall in love with Taveuni, you will fall in love with the people and their culture.

When we decided to build Paradise 3 years ago, we wanted our Guests to experience ‘Real Fiji’. So when you stay with us in Paradise, you will enjoy the ‘traditional Fijian’ ways of doing things. On arrival you will welcomed with a fresh salusaslu (floral lei) and big BULA from our team. Then you receive a chilled green coconut and refreshing towel to cool you down after your trip. Once you are checked in, we show you around the grounds and familiarize you with the resort facilities, so you don’t miss out on anything. Once you arrive at your Fiji Bure, our delightful massage girl will give you a welcome foot rub to ensure total relaxation. From then it’s up to you want you want from your holiday / vacation.

We built the 10 Fijian Bures with the Fijian architecture in mind and you will find thatched bure roofs with intricately woven ceilings. The local village of Vuna supplied the manpower and know-how for these, ensuring the bures are cool with plenty of airflow though the wooden louvers and stay cool with tiled floors throughout. With king beds in all private bedrooms, spacious lounge and modern bathroom, you cannot forget the Fiji essential – out door shower in a private tropical Garden. All Oceanfront Bures also have a Jacuzzi – perfect for Honeymooners or those who just want to relax. Each bure has a sun deck complete with Fiji Daybed to enjoy a good book or have an afternoon nap.

There is so much on offer – scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, fishing, jet skiing, boat trips, hiking tours, cultural walks, Waterfall day trips, village visits, rainforest hikes, mountain treks, wild boar hunting, horse riding, bird watching and of course there is the Oceanfront Spa, designed to relax and rejuvenate you. Don’t forget the countless deck chairs and hammocks for your enjoyment.

You will also experience ‘Fiji night’ during your stay which is a cultural day / night dedicated to the people of this island. Weave a basket with Maikeli, our local guide, which later we use to put the Fijian Feast in when it is taken from the ground. See our grounds team prepare the lovo (earth oven) and wrap the fresh meats and local vegetables and place them on the hot stones. This is then covered with leaves to lock in the heat to smoke and steam the food. During the day you can learn to speak Fijian, learn to tie your Sulu (colourful cloth) and later watch as we take the food from the lovo, were it is placed into the kitchen for service to your table. Join us for the Fijian Feast with our Guests and Managers on a long family table and get to know each other. During dinner, Maikelli will show you how to slice flesh from a coconut and tell you interesting facts about the preparation of the food.

After dinner you are invited to the Paradise Meke (dance) performance by our local staff and nearby villagers. This lively presentation gives you an insight into the culture of the Taveuni people. Family and friends of our will join you for the performance, singing and dancing. A Kava ceremony follows and you are again invited to try this local drink – if you dare.

The food is another highlight of your stay as Allan is an internationally trained Chef and insists that the menus include fresh, local, mostly organic produce. Incorporating the local styles of cooking into his more traditional methods has proved rewarding and Paradise is known to have one of the best Restaurants in the South Pacific. Dietary requirements are catered to and Allan will design a dish to meet you specifications, should you wish. Don’t forget about our Indulgent Seafood dinner! A 4 course seafood delight featuring fresh Taveuni Lobster for your mail course.

We know that your holiday / vacation in Paradise will be one of the best times you have had and once you discover the beauty of the land and it’s people, you will return again and again.

Looking forward to welcoming you to Paradise soon.

Vinaka,

Allan & Terri

PARADISE TAVEUNI

http://www.paradiseinfiji.com

Out of the way! Out of the ordinary!

Popularity: 14% [?]

What you get for what you earn

Posted by Samaka On May - 7 - 2010 4 COMMENTS

So… I’ve been on land for some time and I’m bored out of my skull. Obviously I don’t have much to write about since all I’ve done is recovering from my sinus infection. Anyways; I’ve had some time on my hands and a few thoughts has passed through my head even though I’ve been trying to avoid brain activity all together. One of those thoughts was of mathematic nature. Now, when I resort to philosophy in mathematical terms it’s normally a supreme sign that I need to get something to do, not to turn into something like John Nash in “A Beautiful Mind”.

Anyways; what was going through my mind was how much my income actually was compared to what I could earn elsewhere, or rather; what I would have to earn elsewhere to be able to get for my funds there, what I get for my funds here. And this is how I calculate. I divide the compared price with my salary and then I take the price for the same thing in Sweden and multiply that with the sum from the when I divided my Egyptian wages and badabim badaboom; I’ve got the salary I’d need in Sweden to get the same value for money as I do here. Now imagine doing the same calculations compared to London, Los Angeles, Paris or some place that is really expensive…

The dive industry is not making you rich. It won’t get you a fat number account on the Caymans… (Well it did get me the Cayman number account but it’s slimmer than the book listing successful peace-negotiations in the Middle East. And I don’t even remember the PIN-code to my Cayman bank-card so I can’t use the money anyway.) You don’t earn that much on diving. It puts bread and butter on the table, but there are no extra benefits like dental or retirement funds. However my life is richer than if I would earn twice or even five times the money sitting in an office or working the floor in any plant. I don’t work to be able to afford to do what I like during a few weeks holiday. I get paid to do what I love and for me that is more rewarding than all the money I’d potentially earn from a 9-5 job.

My basic salary is 900€ plus what I get in tip and commission; around 100€/week. This adds up to around 1.300€/month. For this money I can live like a prince in Egypt and I seldom have to say: “No I can’t afford that”. On top of this I eat for free on the boat 6 days a week. If I would have the same salary living in Sweden as I do here in Egypt I would probably consider myself fairly well-off. Though, how much that would be depends on how you count. Lets just for fun make a few calculations.

To get the same amount in my bank account after tax as I get in my hand here my salary before tax in Sweden would be around 2.000€. That’s not a lot of money so here comes a few additional calculations. All of these numbers are calculated salary after tax!

If I would spend the same percentage of my funds on food in Sweden my salary would have to be better. I can go out and get myself a whole BBQ chicken with rice, salad, a coke and a smile for 7 Egyptian pounds. That’s less than 1€. If I go to Mac Donald’s I get a large size menu for 25 Egyptian pounds. That’s less than 3:50€. I can go out and have a luxury dinner at a nice restaurant and the bill will not exceed 120 Egyptian pounds. That’s less than 17€. I made a quick calculation of the top of my head that I would have to earn about 4.000€ after tax in Sweden to use the same volume of my monthly wages compared with the food prices we have here.

To have the same sized part of my pay check go to accommodation/rent my salary would have to be even better. I have an 80m2 penthouse with 100m2 balcony/roof terrace, sea view, two bedrooms and living room in an absolute prime location. I’m not sure how much one of those would cost in Sweden and of course that would depend on location, but with an educated stab in the dark I’ll put a 1.000 € price tag on a equivalent accommodation along the coast in Sweden. And then I think I’m careful. This means that I would have to earn around 6.000€ after tax for that to be the same percentage of my income.

Popularity: 26% [?]