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FYI. Flew into Manado this morning from Jakarta. No problems

FYI. My travel agent sent me an email saying the airport had re-opened. I wouldn’t treat it as gospel given language barriers and sometimes conflicting source information, but that is some positive news. Hopefully it is accurate and hopefully the airport stays open !

I guess airport closed another day [https://en.antaranews.com/amp/news/311316/manado-airport-extends-closure-until-monday-due-to-mt-ruang-eruption]

Me three. Headed that way in days , not weeks. I have bad feeling I am going to have a very extended layover somewhere along the way

While the Keys had both occasional super high water temps AND a long duration event, I think it was primarily the long duration that caught Cozumel. I think annual high water temp was probably only a degree or two above normal highs when using reliable sources , what really hurt was that the...

Believe me, I feel your pain. I think they were closed 4 out of 5 times I tried them at one point (5pm , 4pm, 3:30 pm 3:05 pm ). They got screwed over hard when the city put the bike lane down there and took out half the street parking. Parking situation went from not good to genuinely...

NOAA confirms 4th global coral bleaching event . This could probably be listed in 20 places on scubaboard , but clearly Cozumel was affected The world is currently experiencing a global coral bleaching event, according to NOAA scientists. This is the fourth global event on record and the...

FYI. Ernesto’s closes well before sunset these days. They usually bring up the ropes to keep out new customers sometime between 3:00 and 4:00

I had posted a link to this NASA page before, but it got deleted somehow . Coral triangle area appears to be in purple/blue , which is the low end of the salinity scale [https://salinity.oceansciences.org/images/maps/smap_RSS_SSS_monthly_2023_12_v5.0.png]

I kind of wonder if Cozumel is just very high in salinity. That is my home base so I have my weight very tightly dialed in for the waters there, but I seem to use less weight pretty much everywhere else I dive. EDIT: Another thought/question I have had is if some places are really using kilos...

Mostly just reiterating what @Shawn C said , but the risk of being delayed definitely is a function of the number of flights coming and going. While most people don’t have much flexibility due to work schedules , if you can avoid weekend travel to and from Cozumel you are generally better off...

Please note the standard Indonesia Visa is 30 days. I gather it is extendable to 60 days but I would have a good handle on the procedures etc (I think extension is often done in person, which could be logistically challenging ). I am definitely not an expert on this at all , just flagging...

Tomorrow should certainly be open (mild winds and the they will be coming from East/Southeast so dive sites will be mostly protected from wind anyway). Today’s forecast is borderline so I could see port captain going either way. (someone should have port captain report fairly soon I assume )...

The lack of customs forms is partly the fault of the airline. United normally gives the form out during the flight (and if they didn’t have the form on the plane they usually give it out right after landing.) I flew in today. I probably walked out the door within 30 minutes of landing . They...

I think this point has been almost beaten to death , but as background even two decades ago people used to joke that PADI stood for either “pay and dive immediately “ or “put another dollar in “. While PADI is still fine more or less , some shops have shifted to training via other agencies...

These guys haven’t even locked down the route ? I see more power cuts in our future

Very little in Pacific is particularly cheap, especially for a family of four. Off the beaten path , but Yap is a pretty quaint island. Manta Ray Bay isn’t particularly expensive from my recollection. Not as dense of marine life as Raja or even Palau but a nice place with nice people...

I was in R4 for a little over two weeks in February. I did a few days at Sorido Bay (didn’t dive much due to lingering sinus injury ) followed by 11 nights on the Blue Manta going from Misool area back up to Central Raja Ampat with @Dan and his friends. I was happy with both Sorido Bay (my...

It seems like a bunch of the heavy duty photographer groups /companies use them to host courses/trips. I had tried to make a a few dates work and they were either mostly full or totally full because they were hosting a group from ____[ (fill in the blank with well known photographer or photo...

They arranged for the transfer in their van. I think is was $240 round trip. Not too bad given it was a 2 1/2 hour drive. I assume they ordinarily prefer to do that with more than one guest .