Guest Comments

I have been on a few trips to Africa with Dive Discovery that featured Cindi as our personal escort. The first trip was to Madagascar in 1998 and included a few days of diving with Great White sharks in South Africa. The second trip, in 2000, was mostly a safari in Botswana and Zimbabwe, but once again it included a few days for diving with sharks. If you are looking for an exciting and interesting location, Africa is it. You can't really plan for everything you will see. In fact one of the best things about vacations involving wildlife is the unexpected things that do happen. I also felt fortunate to be part of a small group of friendly easy going people in both cases; having Cindi along too was an additional bonus. I think Dive Discovery did a good job planning the trips; these are definitely two of the best vacations I have ever had. -- John Lloyd

Our recent trip to South Africa could not have been better. My wife and I and another couple spent four days diving with great whites, three days in Capetown and four days on safari. The trip was set booked through Cindi LaRaia and her staff at Dive Discovery, who did a wonderful job planning every little detail. Everything from our excellent seats on the plane (That becomes very important when you're spending that much time in the air) to the best accommodations were the result of the years of experience that Dive Discovery has in planning and leading trips to this part of the world and to many other exotic destinations.

Our trip started off great with a stay at Grootbos Nature Preserve, a beautiful lodge with easy access to all the shark action. We then moved on to the Victoria and Alfred Hotel on the gorgeous Capetown waterfront. Our final stop was the Honeyguide tented safari camp on the outskirts of Kruger National Park, a wonderful place from which to base a safari. From the moment we stepped off of the plane to the time we left the country we were guided through our journey by Dive The Big Five, a South African Company which specializes in exotic African vacations. They were with us every step of the way, ensuring that every transfer and connection went smootly. Their friendly and courteous staff made contact with us frequently throughout our stay and even after we returned home to make sure that everything met with our satisfaction.

I cannot emphasize enough how much our entire party enjoyed this vacation. It was probably our best vacation, along with our Galapagos Islands trip from the previous year (also set up by Dive Discovery). We saw over thirty great whites, four of the "Big Five" safari animals (and a few other unusual sightings) and we got a chance to experience the beautiful Capetown scenery. I can't wait until our next adventure with Dive Discovery. Thanks for everything! -- Bob and Debbie Pecoraro, New York

Our combination safari, local touring of Cape Town and Great White Shark cage diving out of Gansbaai was the TOTAL PACKAGE. This was our first trip booked with Dive Discovery but we had met a couple on a Galapagos dive trip that had their arrangements made with Dive Discovery and highly recommended them. When we came back from there we contacted Dive Discovery and they put together one of the best organized trips we have been on. My wife and I have traveled extensively over the past 15 years and used many companies to make our arrangements. Cindi and her company delivered a first rate trip including everything from airlines schedules to pick ups, connections and even local tours on the lay over days. The in country arrangements were so tightly organized every step of the way, it gave us total confidence that even if a travel hitch developed, which often can, Cindi and her contacts would have been on it before we even knew there might be a problem. I would now take her recommendations without question since she is personally familiar with the trips she books, having blazed the trail and worked all the bugs out. She uses overseas companies that still have good old fashion pride in making sure you have a great time on your adventure holiday. I can strongly recommend the Great White Shark package she put together for us as a wonderfully diverse trip to South Africa. We may have been extremely lucky but the sharks are REALLY THERE and we had excellent encounters in the 4 days. We are definitely using Dive Discovery for our future adventures and are even working on the next one with Cindi at this time. Our new travel friends were right, " They book a great trip".-- Nancy Bushnell and Gerry Soifer