Worldwide Dive and Sail

From: Worldwide Dive and Sail - Jul 22, 2004

A deaf divemaster and a graduate of marine and freshwater biology, Naomi Hayim is helping teach deaf, hard of hearing (HOH) and hearing people at Worldwide Dive and Sail. She speaks, lip-reads and signs and thus will be able to provide a unique service. Worldwide Dive and Sail is a sailing and dive liveaboard owned by Frank van der Linde. Naomi and Frank realised there was a lack of facilities specifically for deaf and HOH people who want to dive, so they decided to act on this.

From personal experience, Naomi who has been a diver for 9 years has found herself in many frustrating situations whereby she was not able to understand everything that was being said in dive clubs. Unfortunately, this scenario was repeated around the world. In addition, when she first took up diving, she had to have one-to-one lessons as she found it too difficult to follow the classes and had to pay more money for this service. Deaf and HOH people need to be in an environment whereby they know they are guaranteed to understand what is going on around them.

Naomi is determined to increase the level of access together with Frank who has also taught many deaf and HOH students. The mix of experience and expertise between them both makes them well equipped to cater for the deaf and HOH market.

A liveaboard is simply when you dive, sleep and eat off the boat. Some of the best dive sites in the world are in remote locations so it is not possible to make day trips. What is even more unique is that this is a sailing boat, so you will be able to hoist the sails and sit at the helm of the yacht, apart from kayaking, swimming, fishing and snorkelling! And since this will be your home for a week, laptop computers, DVDs, digital cameras and stereos will make your stay even more comfortable. Dive courses, whether it is open water, advanced, or rescue will be taught in the clearest manner possible. Naomi and Frank will give you as much time to ensure you complete your courses successfully. Hopefully this will give everyone the initiative to take up this wonderful sport, and not let their hearing loss stop them.

This is not only for deaf and HOH people, but for anyone who wishes to dive one of the best dive sites in the world – the Similan and Surin underwater world in Thailand. Its waters are frequented by manta rays, whale sharks, and leopard sharks amongst the many. Naomi will attend the next one-week liveaboard trips this Christmas 2004 – 24th to 31st December and next Easter 2005 – 20th to 27th March and 29th March to 5th April.

To take advantage of this unique service and for a holiday of a lifetime, let's go and dive! Please click on this website for full details: www.worldwidediveandsail.com

For more information, please e-mail Naomi at naomi@worldwidediveandsail.com

We are currently open for bookings so please book as early as possible to avoid disappointment!