Simiian (sles
@ tep-10 scuba
destination
danice Mucalov

Contributing Writer

: FIFTEEN metres
underwater, we
hover. motionless,

_ face-to-face. with a

. school of yellow- and
. black-striped

-angelfish.

Below, a scarlet) and
white lionfish — a beautiful
but deadly creature whose
.. poisonous dorsal fins can kill

°° @ person — flurzers baller-

_ like over a knot of brain
“coral. Nearby, -delicate soft

‘corals shaped like lace fans

tipple gracefully in the silky
_ Warm cusrent..

‘Our. son doesn’t know

how. lucky he is: We're div-
\ing in Hideaway Bay, just
-one of. many spectacular
: dive. . sites. found in

~“Thailand’s Similan Islands,

rated among the top ten
places in the world to scuba

- dive. For adults, fet alone a

12-year-old kid just learning

to dive, the Similans are a

“diver’s paradise — a cornu-

copia of underwater life

‘rivalling the : cropical forest

on land, *.

» Earlier; my husband, son

and I had joined my ‘brother
Jin phuket : in southern

i mas 100 ‘iloinetres northwest off the coast of

SPRINKLED 130 Kilometres northwest off ihe coast of Phuket, the Similan Islands are a group of nine uninhabited isiands that were’
‘Gesignated a national pzrk in 1982.

Phuket; the Similan Isiands are a group of nine uninhabited

islands ‘chat were designated a national park in'1982..Giant

granite boulders ring some of the world’s fairest Powdery.

THE’ inaugural voyage 2 of the :

Films to Sea Festival will set sail
ext year on an Alaskan cruise
‘August 4 to 11} the. festival’s
director. Hannah” Fisher
‘announced this week. .

The film cruise will be the

West coast version of the

Floating Film Festival, creat-

éd_by Toronto Film Festival

co-founder Dusty Cohl,  :
hich has set sail from

Florida on a bi- aninual basis |
Since 1990.

Fisher, also program diree-

tor for the Floating Film
Festival, says the Films to Sea

Festival will feature three _

components: premiere
screenings of films from
major studios and cutting:
edge independent producers;
a Tribute evening honouring |
the contributions of an

~ will be announced at 2 later

white beaches. But, of course, the real reason for coming
here is its magnificent underwater reefs.

A transfer boat takes us on the four-hour ride to the
Similans, where we hop aboard the M/V Scuba Cat,
anchored off Similand Island No. 1. One of two live-aboard
dive boats operated by Scuba Car, this will be our home for

_the next few days.

. It has ten simple cabins with an upper and lower bunk.
Between each cabin, the walls are open above and below to
allow cooling breezes to flow through the boat. There are
two shared combination roilet/shower stalls. It’s not the
Sheraton. But it’s clean and comfortable, and what’s under-
water promises to be fancier than any accommodation top-
side. Already, we’re mestnerized by the water’s brilliant

: shades of sapphire, turquoise and emerald.

exceptional person within the
industry; and a Master Class
taking a behind. the scenes
look at the production of a
prime-time TV series.

' Participants and guests for
the Tribute and Master Class

Brotherton’s Travel Agency,
Toronto, Ontario, 1-800-
772-4101, ext. 32. or <rose-
mary@brothertons.com>.

date. Joining Fisher as pro-
grammers are Tony Watts and
Jim Emerson.”

For more information

On sale | now!

September 2001 Departure.
: Escorted by foanne & Mark Bradley,
Private yacht {only 5 cabins available)

contact Rosemary Durham ‘at :

give an Alaska ¢

We arrive in time for lunch. A juggling act ensues as a
departing group gets off to take the transfer boat back to
Phuket. Then there’s a safety and dive briefing for the ten of
us that have bodided, before everyone gears up for their first
dive. Because my husband and son are learning, our family”
dives separately with our own divemaster.

For the uninitiated, no words can quite. describe the first
time you descend into the open water. An immediate rush
of panic strikes before you remember your: training and the
muscles relax. Moments later, the. eye begins to appreciate
the marvels of the mysteries undersea..

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