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Seaplane-Diving.com
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Please visit the informative Seaplane-diving.com site for answers to all your questions, they have an excellent FAQ page! Currently offering dive trips in Fiji, they are soon going to Australia and the Maldives as well. more...
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Dive Global talks to Rick Friedberger, founder of
Seaplane Dive Adventures Ltd., a British operator offering exciting scuba diving trips by sea planes in Fiji. This year, the company is expanding to the Maldives and Australia. Rick is also an experienced expedition leader and adventurer with a wealth of global diving experience.
Dive Global : What a fantastic initiative! I don't think trips like this existed before on a regular scheduled basis. How did you get the idea?
Rick: Hi!, thank you for your interest in seaplane diving and for promoting Seaplane Dive Adventures to your readers. Seaplane Dive Adventures came about as a means to gain easy access to remote reefs in countries we have worked in or visited during holidays. Initially I likened the idea to using a light aircraft to gain the best view on safari in Africa and wanted to witness the sheer scale of a mass animal migration; and then to heli-skiing which gives you the easiest access to the best ski areas in remote and unspoilt mountains.
It wasn’t until I was working in Fiji on coral reef conservation that I could really appreciate the potential of seaplane diving and then create some itineraries with local dive operators and seaplane companies.
Dive Global : What is so wonderful about seaplane diving?
Rick: Seaplane diving allows you to combine the very best elements of air, land and sea in one holiday experience. Being able to travel over thousands of square kilometres of reef to explore the best dive sites, while still being able to stay in comfortable hotels and experience the local culture, is a wonderful holiday experience.
Personally I love heading out for the day knowing you are going to have a truly unique adventure – even surveying the reef from the air builds the excitement - and listening to the pilot communicating with the dive boat creates anticipation. Each dive explores some of the most beautiful locations you can imagine and the region is chosen for its unique fauna – this means you can be diving a manta cleaning station one day and the next day flying out to dive a remote atoll famed for its reef diversity, in short you can be in the same area in under an hour that a yacht would take days to get to, and still do the same world class dives.
In this way it is also ideally suited to couples who holiday together but only one wishes to dive as they can both enjoy the country without having to compromise the dive experience. And that is not to mention the appeal to filming and photography enthusiasts who literally have the world at their feet and are free to enjoy the most spectacular vistas. It is exhilarating flying at low altitude over mile upon mile of coral reef looking for megafauna such as whales, rays, dolphins and tunas and knowing you have access to the finest dive sites in the shortest time period imaginable.
Dive Global : How come you've chosen Fiji, the Maldives and Australia as your first destinations on offer?
Rick: We have a lot of personal experience in these destinations and the huge geographical area the countries cover is ideally suited to seaplane diving. Fiji covers over 1.2 sq million kms of ocean and contains 10,020 sq km of coral reefs; the Great Barrier Reef in
Australia is over 2,300 km long and the wealth of diving opportunities to be found in these countries would take a lifetime and many visits to fully appreciate.
I also think these countries are known for having world class diving in their own right – it is just that you may not have the opportunity to reach the best dive sites from where you are staying. In Australia it often takes over 10 hours by boat in some pretty rough seas to reach the outer reef walls and then you will only see the smallest area of it. By seaplane one can fly to the ten best dive sites and you would probably have a lifetime of dive memories in one trip while also experiencing the enormous diversity found along the entire length of the reef.
There are many other tropical archipelagos and destinations I would like to see seaplane diving developed, for instance Palau, Indonesia, Canada, Indonesia, Philippines and there is already great potential for fly and dive holidays being realised in the Caribbean.
 Dive Global : Is it not dangerous? I've heard that take-offs and landings can be tricky in seaplanes?
Rick: No, seaplanes have a very good safety record and the pilots are some of calmest, most serene people I know – they just seemed fazed by nothing. That is not because it is dangerous, just because they know their environment and love exploring it. We tend to fly to designated rendezvous points where we can take off and land safely in sheltered areas and then transfer onto dive boats for their convenience and comfort. This means we also have extra surface support and the local dive centres bring their expertise and equipment along to reduce our weight load, not to mention a decent lunch!
Dive Global : Is it expensive in comparision to liveaboard diving?
Rick: It can be comparable if you are in a group of 6-8, even though our tours tend to be based on five star accommodation and facilities. Everything we do however can be tailor made to meet your requirements and there are some great dive lodges we know which can reduce the overall holiday costs considerably. If you are looking for hiring a plane on a private charter to reach the really remote locations or just for a day out, you should expect costs to start from around $600 per person.
Dive Global : Do you have to be very fit for these trips. Climbing in and out of the plane and all that?
Rick: For the group tours we are diving from dedicated dive boats so no more than usual, but if you are on a private charter then we often dive directly from the plane and I would advise you to be relatively fit!
Dive Global : You have an excellent website (seaplane-diving.com) that answered almost any questions I had about seaplane diving and the trips you have on offer. Anything else we should know?
Rick: I think it is important to mention the risks of being associated with flying after diving. DAN’s flying after diving guidelines (which were revised after extensive research in 2002) start at 610 meters / 2,000ft. We therefore fly at 170 metres / 500 ft or less to ensure there is added safety margin built into our operation. This is a wonderful altitude to fly at but if you have any concerns regarding your susceptibility to DCI then you should consult your diving physician before embarking on a trip.
 Dive Global : What type of diver would you typically encounter on these trips?
Rick: So far it has mostly been experienced and enthusiastic divers like ourselves who want to get the most out of their holiday, but may not have the time to see all of the country they want too or have heard about. Our ambition therefore is to open diving up to a wider audience by appealing to divers and non-divers alike.
For instance in Fiji there is an incredibly friendly population, award winning tourism infrastructure and services, a culture that has largely developed in harmony with the sea and so many great places to dive that it is hard to decide where to go. By seaplane diving we can still access the best dive sites and scenic areas in the archipelago, and still be free to enjoy far more besides.
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