SEE & SEA CLOSES

A problem became apparent when the company defaulted on payments due to NAI'A and the UNDERSEA HUNTER for full charters in May. We were not paid for those charters but, together with the owners of the HUNTERS, NAI'A pledged to honor all bookings paid to See & Sea. Our May charters ran successfully as planned and we are now contacting people who have made full or partial payments to See & Sea for future charters on NAI'A. Any outstanding payments should to be sent to us, rather than See & Sea. Please contact our office in Fiji for details. 

Obviously See & Sea's closure is a financial setback for us, but -- as with all things -- there is a silver lining. In the past year our Fiji office has received an increasing number of calls, faxes and E-mails seeking direct bookings or detailed information from the source best qualified to answer. Changing times and better communication technology inspired us, in January, to begin offering direct booking facilities to our clients and other dive travel agents and to change the way we promote NAI'A. Because we already have the infrastructure in place to handle direct bookings, we can easily take over the booking agent's role See & Sea once played. NAI'A is still the world-class live-aboard she's always been and Fiji's lush reefs continue to gain the international reputation they deserve. So, nothing has changed except the way you book a vacation aboard NAI'A. You folks - our passengers - have made us secure enough to weather this storm and sail boldly ahead. Now you will benefit from the convenience and efficiency of a direct line to our office in Fiji. 

The great majority of our passengers hear about us via the Internet or word-of-mouth. Divers talk. So long as we are doing our jobs well, we are our own best advertisement. We intend to concentrate our advertising effort and funds on upgrading our already popular website to include, among other things, direct hotlinks to those of you who are willing to share your NAI'A experience with potential new passengers. Since our good reputation is our most valuable asset, we'd like to capitalize on it. If we may use your name and fax or E-mail contacts in our website and advertising, please contact us. 

Now that we owner-operators must do our own booking, it makes sense for us to combine forces to spread the advertising load and offer mutual incentives to keep our clients diving among our select group of quality boats. At the moment we are nutting out details for an association of independent live-aboards to offer the same quality assurance and combined source of information that See & Sea Travel once provided. Check our website for further developments. 

Best fishes, 

Rob Barrel