Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Dive travel in general, Philippines trip, & more
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Happy summer solstice . . .
SUMMER IS HERE - The summer solstice is when the sun is at its highest in the sky. It happened in L.A. on Friday NIGHT at 10:20PM. I'm still trying to wrap my head around "sun is highest in the sky" and "night."
LET'S ADDRESS THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: FALLOUT FROM BOMBING IRAN - In the wake of the U.S. air attacks on the Iranian targets, the U.S. State Department has issued a "worldwide alert" and Americans travelling abroad are urged "to exercise caution." What does this really mean and how does it affect dive travel?
Reef Seekers has a trip leaving for Roatan this coming Saturday. I'm no more concerned that I normally would be for any international flight. At this point in time, I personally have no inkling that I'll be changing travel plans or cancelling this trip. Despite the State Department's blanket caution, I don't think the Caribbean is any more dangerous than normal. That doesn't mean I might not be a bit more alert when going through Houston or landing in Roatan, but I think it will pretty much be business-as-usual.
If I had a trip to the Red Sea, I might be thinking twice about that. Any flight going into the Middle East right now obviously has a higher level of security concerns. On top of that, airspace in that region sometimes shuts down for periods of time for a variety of reasons. In my mind, there's no sense in flying into an area where you know things could go south at a moment's notice.
For anyone going to an Asian destination - Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives, etc. - look at your routing. Many times your flight will be going through Singapore and then to your final destination so that routing likely wouldn't be a problem. But some flights, especially those going to the Maldives, route through Istanbul, Doha, or Dubai. Once again, you're going to the general edge of the major trouble area so you might want to think about re-routing if possible.
Bear in mind that everything I've just said is opinion and simply from my perspective. Things could be more or less dangerous tomorrow than they appear today. One thing I feel is certain: This isn't going to simply blow over or simmer down in a day or two. So, as they used to say on Hill Street Blues, "Let's be careful out there."
HAPPY 50TH TO "JAWS" - Peter Benchley once said that if he realized the hysteria that "Jaws" would create, he'd have never written it in the first place. But he did and while the book was moderately successful, it was the movie that sent everything over the top. And it opened 50 years ago to relatively good reviews. If you're not doing anything on July 5th, the Hollywood Bowl is having a special screening of "Jaws" where they play the entire music score live to the dialogue in the film. I've seen it there once before like this and it's quite special to hear the score live while watching the movie. If you decide to go, make sure you take your eyes off the screen and glance at the orchestra every now and then to remind yourself that what seems seamless and pre-recorded is happening live before your eyes (and ears). Looks like there are ample seats left, including a few in the Pool Circle and boxes, as well as plenty in the less-expensive seats.
PHILIPPINES 2026 TRIP IS ALL SET - Bear in mind that this is a two-week trip. The first week will be on land at Atlantis Dumaguete Resort (which seems like the Frogfish Capital of the World). The second week will be on Atlantis' newer boat Infiniti (which will have come out of drydock two weeks prior to our trip). On top of that, airfare from Manila to Dumaguete and back (Philippines Air) is also included in our package price as is the generous crew tip. But also be aware that there are some incidentals NOT included in our package price such as park fees and boat fuel surcharge. Nitrox is also an extra charge each week should you choose to dive that. At the resort in Dumaguete (I was there last year on my own), we'll have opportunity to do as many as five dives a day. You can also do fewer if you like, since each dive is a 1-tank dive and you come back to the resort. (The sites are really close by.) It also means, especially if you're a photog, that you can swap lenses or make adjustments between dives before going out again. Dumaguete is known for macro and muck diving, but I enjoyed the reef there as well. So not everything is muck. (I prefer the term "muck-ish.") And many of the dives were muck with an adjacent reef so you could choose. The one exception to all of this will be the day we go over to Apo Island to explore the reefs there and will likely get inundated by turtles. Our last day at the resort, we should get in two morning dives and then we'll board the boat in the late afternoon and take off on a northern route, exploring the many reefs there as well as have a shot at seeing some Thresher Sharks. We are at the resort September 12-19 and on the boat September 19-26. So the overall dates including travel will be September 10-27. Cost of the trip to Reef Seekers is going to be $6,499 (remember, this is for TWO weeks). Airfare LAX-Manila looks to be running around $800 or so. Because we're on a boat, we're limited in the number of spots we have so we can only take 11 divers (plus me). A $1,000 deposit will hold your spot and we'll do on-going payments every other month or so. If you're interested, either e-mail me here or call us at 310/652-4990. If you'd like to see some of what I saw last September - and I was only there for four days - here's a peek: DIVING DUMAGUETE.
GET OUT AND DIVE!! - Go with us, go with someone else. Dive here, dive there, dive anywhere. Explore the magical underwater world. It will also help take your mind off the maniacal above-water world, even if only for a little while.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
