Air Vanuatu Flying Direct to Santo!

In August, Air Vanuatu began its 737 service from Brisbane to Espiritu Santo. Every Sunday, you can fly direct from Brisbane to Santo, leaving at 10 AM and arrive in Santo in the early afternoon. Direct flights run from Santo back to Brisbane every Monday evening. Using the direct flights, you get 7 full days of Coolidge diving plus time for off-gassing and a few land tours! Air Vanuatu has also improved it’s service from Port Vila to Santo making easier connections and shorter layover times. Getting to Santo has never ben easier. Check it all out at www.airvanuatu.com.

Aquamarine’s New SDI/TDI Instructor Trainer

Congratulations to Brian Farrell, Aquamarine's Assistant Manager, for successful completion of his SDI/TDI Instructor Trainer course. Brian is a top instructor and has been teaching tec diving with Aquamarine for over 2 years. With his new credentials, Brian can now certify SDI and TDI Instructors. Aquamarine now has 2 full-time SDI/TDI Instructor Trainers, giving Coolidge divers even more opportunity to advance their tec training. And what better place than the Coolidge to go tec? With warm tropical waters and a massive wreck at depths up to 70 metres, the Coolidge is a tec divers dream. Visit our tec page for more information on tec training with Aquamarine.

Aquamarine Training More Ni-Vanuatu Guides

Congratulations to Dave Paterson and Freddy Woleg on becoming Open Water Divers! Dave and Freddy joined Aquamarine's dive team as deckies, filling and loading tanks, looking after dive gear and helping divers get in and out of the water. After a few months, Dave and Freddy decided to become divers themselves and started training to become dive guides on the Coolidge. They completed their Open Water certifications and have been diving regularly as they work towards the Advanced, Rescue and Divemaster training required of all Aquamarine dive guides. By the end of the year, Freddy and Dave should be guiding bringing our total number of Ni-Vanuatu guides to 7 and our ex-pat dive team to 5.

Shake, Rattle and Roll!

Espiritu Santo was rattled by a 7.2 earthquake in August. After the dust settled, the emails were pouring in. Everyone wanted to know if the the Coolidge had survived. The visiblity was naturally affected but after a few days, conditions were back to normal. After the quake, Aquamarine's dive team checked all of our dive sites on the Coolidge before opening them up to divers again. We're happy to report that the Coolidge is still in top condition with the earthquake giving her little more than a gentle shake -- just enough to uncover a slew of new artifacts. So, get yourself to Santo and check out all the new treasures to be found. And in case the earthquakes worry you, consider this. Not a single diver has ever been harmed due to an earthquake while diving the Coolidge. Plus, the dive team at Aquamarine always checks the wreck thoroughly after any shake before bringing divers back to the magnificent Coolidge.