Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2017 vacation trips:
• March 18-25 - Bonaire [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 5 SPOTS LEFT ]
• June 10-17 - Isla Mujeres (early in the Whale Shark Season)
• July 7-19 - Yap Immersion #1 (special 13-day trip featuring all that Yap has to offer) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 2 SPOTS LEFT ]
• July 21-August 2 - Yap Immersion #2 (week #2 - same sked as above) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 6 SPOTS LEFT ]
• September 1-6 - Great White Sharks of Guadalupe on the Nautilus Belle Amie [ WE'VE ONLY GOT 6 SPOTS - ONLY 2 SPOTS LEFT ]
• November 2-12 - Fiji (SW area near Suva) on the Fiji Aggressor [ 10 SPOTS TOTAL - ONLY 3 LEFT ]
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
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Upcoming local dives & classes:
• DIVE - Thu., 2/2 - Squid night dive at Redondo (6PM - FREE!!)
• CLASS & DIVE - Sat., 2/11 - Navigation with one daytime dive at Redondo (9AM - $25)
• DIVE - Wed., 2/15 - Squid night dive at Redondo (6PM - FREE!!)
• DIVE - Sat., 2/25 - 36th Annual Avalon Underwater Cleanup (6:15AM - $150 w/event, boat, & taxi)
• DIVE - Wed., 3/1 - Squid night dive at Redondo (6PM - FREE!!)
• CLASS - Wed., 3/15 - Photo Workshop (7PM in Westwood - $25)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
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Pretty wild last few days . . .
THE TRAVEL BAN AND DIVING - Regardless of where you are politically or what you think specifically about the travel restrictions announced on Friday, this will likely have some effect on some dive destinations - or places through which you must transit to get to those destinations - and you need to be aware. I can tell you from a tour leader standpoint, given that we took a group to Egypt at the end of the 2015 and a group to Turkey following our Maldives trip a little over a month ago, and even though those two countries (Egypt & Turkey) were not among the seven countries named, I'd be a little leery of taking a group of Americans now for fear we'd be a tempting target. I assume there will be some pushback from some of the named countries and allies of the countries named. Not that there's any diving in Iran (well, there might be since they have a coastline) but they've anounced a ban on Americans in retaliation. And again, not that there are that many Americans vacationing in Tehran, but it's important to view this in a larger global context and see how it might impact any travel you have planned to or through the affected regions. On top of that, especially if you have any trips planned for the next week, you may encounter demonstrations at American airports and should plan that it'll take longer than usual to get through. (There were thousands of people at LAX over the weekend, traffic was blocked, and the Bradley International Terminal was specifically a point of protest.) Those of you who know me well - and maybe even not so well - know that I'm fairly liberal and one of these touchy-feely people who endorses the idea of "Can't we all just get along?" Plus my maternal grandfather fled Tsarist Russia in 1905 to find a better life in America, so maybe that factors in as well. Whatever factors are in play, I find this whole thing a bit personally distressing even though it may not be directly impacting me at the moment. Given the initial international reaction, not to mention the reaction on our own soil, I don't think this is going to settle down quickly. So to circle back to where I started this paragraph, if your diving plans call for you to go to or through the directly-affected areas, be vigilant, be alert, and just be careful.
That all being said, let me get your mind off of this stuff . . .
HOW COOL IS THIS? - Thanks to Jayne Osborne for discovering this and posting it to her Facebook page. It's a pufferfish skeleton. Is that an amazing feat of engineering or what?
LET'S GO TO FIJI - You may recall that we were originally going to try to put together what I termed "Ultimate Indonesia" which was going to be a three-week trip revolving around boat diving in Raja Ampat. For a variety of reasons (having nothing to do with the travel ban comments above), it's not going to happen. So we've shifted our sights a bit eastward and will be going to Fiji. In fact, we've already signed the contracts and confirmed the Fiji Aggressor for November 4-11. In the 90s, we ran a number of trips to Fiji but haven't been back there in a while so it's high time we did. And the Fiji Aggressor is the perfect vessel from which to do it. It's 101 feet long, 22 feet wide, and accommodates 10 divers in five staterooms. Best of all, we've got the entire vessel so it'll only be us on-board. One thing I remember most distinctly about when I dove Fiji way back when, was that there was more "red" than I had even seen before. There were clouds of red fish, there were fields of red hard corals, and forests of red soft coral. There were plenty of other colors too, but given that red is the first color that tends to fade underwater, it left an impression on me. When I was there previously, we dove at Matagi, which is in the NE portion of Fiji. This time, we'll be out of Suva, which is more in the SW area, and which includes the mighty Astrolab Reef, which we didn't dive before. So this is shaping up to be a very exciting trip and one that's already filling. I gave the folks interested in Ultimate Indo a right-of-first-refusal over the weekend so we already have 7 of our 10 spots filled. Here's the way everything will work: We're leaving LA late evening Thursday, November 2 (11:59PM actually - on Fiji Airways), which puts us into Nadi, Fiji, early Saturday morning. We'll then transfer overland to the boat in Suva (about a 3-hour drive along the coast) and off we'll go. We'll get in roughly 6 days of diving and then will transfer back to Nadi on the back-end, where we'll overnight and then spend most of the next day since the flight home isn't until that evening. We're back in LA on Sunday, November 12, around Noon. So basically this is a 10-day trip. Cost of this adventure will be $3,990, which includes all the diving and meals on-board the Fiji Aggressor, crew tip, the overland transfers both ways, and the hotel overnight in Nadi. Not included are airfare ($1200-ish) and port fees (about another $400, payable on the boat). So if you're interested, get hold of me ASAP. I have a full stateroom available right now, along with a male-share spot (or it can be female if you're both comfortable with that). But this is going to be a wonderful trip and you'll want to be part of it.
AVALON CLEANUP IS A MONTH AWAY - February 25 is the date and the Green Pier will be the place to be. If you've never done this event before, it's a lot of fun and, right behind Chamber Day, is the second-largest event benefiting the Chamber and the local diving community. It's also a great way to give back to the City of Avalon which you'll have to admit is pretty diver-friendly. On top of that, it's a fun way to dive some areas of Avalon that are normally off-limits as well as you might find some really cool things. Over the years we've found watches, rings, credit cards, a homing pigeon skeleton with an ID tag still attached (we called to report the bird's fate), and all kinds of goodies. There are prizes to be won (including the coveted "Ken Kurtis Silver-Tongued Devil Award" for the best BS story about what you found - think short, and funny) and it's a great way to mingle with hundreds of your fellow divers. If you'd like to come with us, we do a full package that includes the event, the boat, transport to the Green Pier, gear storage or more diving, and loads of fun. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 to get signed up. Hope to see you there!!!
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and . . . hey, it's not raining!!! . . . let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
• March 18-25 - Bonaire [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 5 SPOTS LEFT ]
• June 10-17 - Isla Mujeres (early in the Whale Shark Season)
• July 7-19 - Yap Immersion #1 (special 13-day trip featuring all that Yap has to offer) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 2 SPOTS LEFT ]
• July 21-August 2 - Yap Immersion #2 (week #2 - same sked as above) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 6 SPOTS LEFT ]
• September 1-6 - Great White Sharks of Guadalupe on the Nautilus Belle Amie [ WE'VE ONLY GOT 6 SPOTS - ONLY 2 SPOTS LEFT ]
• November 2-12 - Fiji (SW area near Suva) on the Fiji Aggressor [ 10 SPOTS TOTAL - ONLY 3 LEFT ]
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
————————————————————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives & classes:
• DIVE - Thu., 2/2 - Squid night dive at Redondo (6PM - FREE!!)
• CLASS & DIVE - Sat., 2/11 - Navigation with one daytime dive at Redondo (9AM - $25)
• DIVE - Wed., 2/15 - Squid night dive at Redondo (6PM - FREE!!)
• DIVE - Sat., 2/25 - 36th Annual Avalon Underwater Cleanup (6:15AM - $150 w/event, boat, & taxi)
• DIVE - Wed., 3/1 - Squid night dive at Redondo (6PM - FREE!!)
• CLASS - Wed., 3/15 - Photo Workshop (7PM in Westwood - $25)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
————————————————————————————————————————
Pretty wild last few days . . .
THE TRAVEL BAN AND DIVING - Regardless of where you are politically or what you think specifically about the travel restrictions announced on Friday, this will likely have some effect on some dive destinations - or places through which you must transit to get to those destinations - and you need to be aware. I can tell you from a tour leader standpoint, given that we took a group to Egypt at the end of the 2015 and a group to Turkey following our Maldives trip a little over a month ago, and even though those two countries (Egypt & Turkey) were not among the seven countries named, I'd be a little leery of taking a group of Americans now for fear we'd be a tempting target. I assume there will be some pushback from some of the named countries and allies of the countries named. Not that there's any diving in Iran (well, there might be since they have a coastline) but they've anounced a ban on Americans in retaliation. And again, not that there are that many Americans vacationing in Tehran, but it's important to view this in a larger global context and see how it might impact any travel you have planned to or through the affected regions. On top of that, especially if you have any trips planned for the next week, you may encounter demonstrations at American airports and should plan that it'll take longer than usual to get through. (There were thousands of people at LAX over the weekend, traffic was blocked, and the Bradley International Terminal was specifically a point of protest.) Those of you who know me well - and maybe even not so well - know that I'm fairly liberal and one of these touchy-feely people who endorses the idea of "Can't we all just get along?" Plus my maternal grandfather fled Tsarist Russia in 1905 to find a better life in America, so maybe that factors in as well. Whatever factors are in play, I find this whole thing a bit personally distressing even though it may not be directly impacting me at the moment. Given the initial international reaction, not to mention the reaction on our own soil, I don't think this is going to settle down quickly. So to circle back to where I started this paragraph, if your diving plans call for you to go to or through the directly-affected areas, be vigilant, be alert, and just be careful.
That all being said, let me get your mind off of this stuff . . .
HOW COOL IS THIS? - Thanks to Jayne Osborne for discovering this and posting it to her Facebook page. It's a pufferfish skeleton. Is that an amazing feat of engineering or what?
LET'S GO TO FIJI - You may recall that we were originally going to try to put together what I termed "Ultimate Indonesia" which was going to be a three-week trip revolving around boat diving in Raja Ampat. For a variety of reasons (having nothing to do with the travel ban comments above), it's not going to happen. So we've shifted our sights a bit eastward and will be going to Fiji. In fact, we've already signed the contracts and confirmed the Fiji Aggressor for November 4-11. In the 90s, we ran a number of trips to Fiji but haven't been back there in a while so it's high time we did. And the Fiji Aggressor is the perfect vessel from which to do it. It's 101 feet long, 22 feet wide, and accommodates 10 divers in five staterooms. Best of all, we've got the entire vessel so it'll only be us on-board. One thing I remember most distinctly about when I dove Fiji way back when, was that there was more "red" than I had even seen before. There were clouds of red fish, there were fields of red hard corals, and forests of red soft coral. There were plenty of other colors too, but given that red is the first color that tends to fade underwater, it left an impression on me. When I was there previously, we dove at Matagi, which is in the NE portion of Fiji. This time, we'll be out of Suva, which is more in the SW area, and which includes the mighty Astrolab Reef, which we didn't dive before. So this is shaping up to be a very exciting trip and one that's already filling. I gave the folks interested in Ultimate Indo a right-of-first-refusal over the weekend so we already have 7 of our 10 spots filled. Here's the way everything will work: We're leaving LA late evening Thursday, November 2 (11:59PM actually - on Fiji Airways), which puts us into Nadi, Fiji, early Saturday morning. We'll then transfer overland to the boat in Suva (about a 3-hour drive along the coast) and off we'll go. We'll get in roughly 6 days of diving and then will transfer back to Nadi on the back-end, where we'll overnight and then spend most of the next day since the flight home isn't until that evening. We're back in LA on Sunday, November 12, around Noon. So basically this is a 10-day trip. Cost of this adventure will be $3,990, which includes all the diving and meals on-board the Fiji Aggressor, crew tip, the overland transfers both ways, and the hotel overnight in Nadi. Not included are airfare ($1200-ish) and port fees (about another $400, payable on the boat). So if you're interested, get hold of me ASAP. I have a full stateroom available right now, along with a male-share spot (or it can be female if you're both comfortable with that). But this is going to be a wonderful trip and you'll want to be part of it.
AVALON CLEANUP IS A MONTH AWAY - February 25 is the date and the Green Pier will be the place to be. If you've never done this event before, it's a lot of fun and, right behind Chamber Day, is the second-largest event benefiting the Chamber and the local diving community. It's also a great way to give back to the City of Avalon which you'll have to admit is pretty diver-friendly. On top of that, it's a fun way to dive some areas of Avalon that are normally off-limits as well as you might find some really cool things. Over the years we've found watches, rings, credit cards, a homing pigeon skeleton with an ID tag still attached (we called to report the bird's fate), and all kinds of goodies. There are prizes to be won (including the coveted "Ken Kurtis Silver-Tongued Devil Award" for the best BS story about what you found - think short, and funny) and it's a great way to mingle with hundreds of your fellow divers. If you'd like to come with us, we do a full package that includes the event, the boat, transport to the Green Pier, gear storage or more diving, and loads of fun. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 to get signed up. Hope to see you there!!!
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and . . . hey, it's not raining!!! . . . let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
