Want to see pristine waters with unspoiled scenery, big animals and new species of macro critters waiting to be discovered? Then Papua New Guinea’s got to be at the top of your “must-visit” destinations. It certainly is for everyone at FiNS Magazine.

And if you’re contemplating a trip to this treasure of the Asia-Pacific region, you’re in luck!

If you’re a subscriber to our e-Newsletter, you will have already received an email from us with links to fantastic travel packages to some of PNG’s hottest destinations, as well as a chance to win one of three fabulous free trips! Just click the links in our e-Newsletter for more details.

And if you’re not a subscriber to our e-Newsletter yet, see the banners on the FiNS homepage for more details. But seriously, it’s much easier to subscribe to the e-Newsletter and have great opportunities like this delivered directly to your inbox!

A group of 14 divers from Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan recently visited Loloata Island Resort in PNG. The common bond? Dive instructor and trip organiser Maritta Maferbure (front, center, who’s logged more than 20,000 dives!), who worked in the Phuket dive industry years ago, and has maintained and grown many of the friendships she made with divers and guests.

Each year, she gets a group of divers from around the world to travel together and have fun. Irrespective of the mish-mash of languages and their different backgrounds, this year’s participants had a great time at Loloata, and will also be visiting Milne Bay and Tufi.

This is what diving should be about — good friends, good fun.

Sam’s Tours in Palau is announcing a new website, devoted entirely to Wreck Diving. The new website will soon have lots of information for wreck enthusiasts, and feature specials on Sam’s Tours Wreck Diving. So bookmark the site now and stay in touch!

FiNS Magazine Associate Editors Andrea and Antonella Ferrari had an incredibly lucky trip to Kapalai and Sipadan recently, finding and identifying quite a few rare fish species, including an unusual parrotfish. Here’s their report:

Read more…

Since the IWC meeting concluded, the news has been filled with stories criticising pro-whaling nations. Here’s a different analysis of the situation by an Australian working in Japan. Read more…

FiNS Magazine contributor Jez Tryner is currently on his virgin trip to North Sulawesi. He’ll be visiting several resorts in the popular dive haven for the next few weeks, and will be sending us updates from location. Read more…

A TV programme that aired recently on Mediacorp’s TV 8 in Singapore featured spearfishing and dining on endangered Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus), with the programme hosts proclaiming that the endangered fish are “great tasting”.

Napoleon wrasse are listed on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species, as well as being listed for protection on Appendix II of the CITES convention.

Mediacorp is Singapore’s sole provider of non-cable television programming, and also publishes a number of magazines, including one on scuba diving. Read more…

* Mention the FiNS Blog when you reserve your spot aboard Voyager’s Komodo itinerary, and get 2 nights free at Tauch Terminal’s luxury villas…worth US$570!

Dive the very best of Komodo National Park in style this July with two special cruises aboard the Voyager, part of Tauch Terminal Bali’s Liveaboard Service. Read more…

Scubapro has introduced its latest front-adjustable BCD, the T-Black, which is the top of the 2006 T-line. Outfitted with advanced design and engineered with sophisticated technology, the T-Black is suited for all types of diving.

This cutting-edge product features Scubapro’s innovative new AirFlex Technology System with a high capacity bladder that provides ultra-high buoyancy and lift capacity (up to 22 kg for a medium-size BCD) while remaining compact and streamline. Read more…

The annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission has just concluded with mixed results. Under the auspices of the IWC, an international moratorium on commercial whaling has been in place since 1986. Many people are aware that a few nations, including Japan, Norway and Iceland, have continued to hunt whales. While much of the debates centres on these nations, particularly Japan, less well known is that continued hunting of whales takes place in many other nations as well, including the United States, where next year’s IWC meeting will be held, Russia, Greenland, Grenada, Dominica, St. Lucia and Canada. Read more…