DEMA Show is a place to meet cool divers from all over the world. One of the divers I met today was Henrik Enckell. Henrik is the dive leader for Oceanwide Expeditions, and we talked about his diving.
Talk about being cool, he leads dives to the Arctic and Antarctic! Oceanwide Expeditions has four expedition style ships that cruise both polar regions.
A fifth ship will be added to the fleet in 2019, the M/V Hondius. The M/V Hondius will be joining the M/V Plancius and M/V Ortelius in offering scuba diving on select sailings.
The Plancius and Ortelius each hold 116 guests in 53 cabins. The Hondas will be larger, holding 180 guest in 85 cabins.
However, the diving is held to small groups. There are only 24 divers on each of the selected sailings. Diving these destinations, though, are not for the inexperienced diver.
The company requires that potential divers are at least Advanced Open Water Divers and have dry suit experience with a minimum of 30 dry suit dives. Credentials and proof of dive experienced must be sent as part of the booking process. A check-out dive is done at the beginning of the cruise.
Each of the dive sailing is unique going on separate itineraries. They also range from nine to 22 nights. Antarctica sailings are in February and March while the Arctic diving is in September. While the divers are doing their things, the remaining guest are doing shore excursions.
The dive trips range from US$4,500 (~3,976 Euros) to $31,350 (~27,698 Euros), depending on the destination, length of trip and accommodation type.
You can find more information concerning these unique dive trips on their website at www.oceanwide-expeditions.com.
