Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2018 vacation trips:
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (7 going - room for a few more)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (3 SPOTS LEFT)
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: http://www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
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Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Sat., May 19 - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
• Thu., May 24 - CLASS - NAUI Nitrox ($25)
• Sat., June 2 - Redondo (Vets Park) - Beach dive (single tank - $25)
• Sat., June 30 - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
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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Hopefully you had a lovely Mother's Day . . .
MIXED REPORTS THIS WEEKEND - I heard of 10-15' viz up around Leo Carrillo and 5' viz at White's Point. Plus the live cam at Redondo looked rather choppy and uninviting. Might not have been the best weekend to do shore diving. That's why . . .
AVALON THIS COMING SATURDAY - . . . this should look rather appealing. A great feature about diving Avalon's Underwater Park is that 90% of the time, you get fairly benign and reliable conditions and sometimes (especially later in the summer), they're downright spectacular. It may be a little early in the season for the Black Sea Bass to reappear (we'll take a peek at their "usual" spot anyhow) but the plan will be for three dives with a break for lunch. We'll leave out of San Pedro on the 8AM boat and will take the 5:30PM boat back. As of now, the weather forecast looks quite favorable. And, since I've also got three people confirmed/committed, this is a definite go. If you'd like to join us, either e-mail me here or call 310/652-4990.
THE WHIMS OF AIRFARE PRICING - As you may be aware, we're going to Roatan October 27 - November 3 of this year. Because the trip's so far out still, I haven't been making a big push to book airfare or anything like that. Generally, it's been running just under $800 the few times I checked. I popped on to the United website this week and was pleasantly surprised to see that Economy had dropped to $604, and there was even a Business/First itinerary available for $1,062. So I sent out an e-mail to the troops and we started snapping those up. The lesson in why it pays to act fast is that 24 hours later the good Economy price is still there, but the Business/First is now just a shade over $1,500. But the point is that, when you're traveling, it pays to do some shopping. Sometimes it pays to wait and sometimes it pays to pounce.
SAME PRINCIPLE APPLIES TO RENTAL CARS - We don't often need to rent cars but the same principle applies. (BTW, I've been getting GREAT rates through the Costco Travel website, for those of you who are Costco members.) I'm going to be in New York for a few days over the Memorial Day Weekend and needed a rental car. A month or two ago, the rate for a compact was around $450. It didn't seem like it was budging so I took it. Unlike with air tickets, I can cancel the rental reservation at no penalty if a better price shows up. Sure enough, a month later I happened to check and the price had not only dropped to $300, but it also now included an upgrade to an SUV. So I grabbed that. And checking today, that very same SUV would now cost $683. So it pays to be vigilant and shop around.
POOR PELICANS - There was an article over the weekend about the plight of west coast Brown Pelicans, who seem to suddenly be getting sick and a number of them are dying. The cause is a mystery. According to the International Bird Rescue folks in San Pedro (they got 25 birds recently), the sick pelicans are emaciated and don't seem to want to fly. It's like they're just exhausted. Although in the past, pelican sicknesses have been tied to domoic acid (a toxin produced by algae which then enters the food chain), they don't think that's the cause this time. If you spot any of the sick birds (or any others for that matter), you can call the rescue center at 310/514-2573. Here are also more detailed instructions on how to help a bird in need: https://www.bird-rescue.org/…/helping-a-debilitated-bird.as… .
ONE MORE THING ON ROATAN - Due to a couple of cancellations, we've got some spots open on our trip, specifically for one male-share room, and one room that's currently unclaimed. Especially with the great airfare, and that this trip includes 3 dives/day plus your meals, its a really good deal as we have the land portion priced at $2,195. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 if you're interested in snagging any of those remaining spots.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (7 going - room for a few more)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (3 SPOTS LEFT)
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: http://www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
—————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Sat., May 19 - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
• Thu., May 24 - CLASS - NAUI Nitrox ($25)
• Sat., June 2 - Redondo (Vets Park) - Beach dive (single tank - $25)
• Sat., June 30 - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
——————————————————————————
Hopefully you had a lovely Mother's Day . . .
MIXED REPORTS THIS WEEKEND - I heard of 10-15' viz up around Leo Carrillo and 5' viz at White's Point. Plus the live cam at Redondo looked rather choppy and uninviting. Might not have been the best weekend to do shore diving. That's why . . .
AVALON THIS COMING SATURDAY - . . . this should look rather appealing. A great feature about diving Avalon's Underwater Park is that 90% of the time, you get fairly benign and reliable conditions and sometimes (especially later in the summer), they're downright spectacular. It may be a little early in the season for the Black Sea Bass to reappear (we'll take a peek at their "usual" spot anyhow) but the plan will be for three dives with a break for lunch. We'll leave out of San Pedro on the 8AM boat and will take the 5:30PM boat back. As of now, the weather forecast looks quite favorable. And, since I've also got three people confirmed/committed, this is a definite go. If you'd like to join us, either e-mail me here or call 310/652-4990.
THE WHIMS OF AIRFARE PRICING - As you may be aware, we're going to Roatan October 27 - November 3 of this year. Because the trip's so far out still, I haven't been making a big push to book airfare or anything like that. Generally, it's been running just under $800 the few times I checked. I popped on to the United website this week and was pleasantly surprised to see that Economy had dropped to $604, and there was even a Business/First itinerary available for $1,062. So I sent out an e-mail to the troops and we started snapping those up. The lesson in why it pays to act fast is that 24 hours later the good Economy price is still there, but the Business/First is now just a shade over $1,500. But the point is that, when you're traveling, it pays to do some shopping. Sometimes it pays to wait and sometimes it pays to pounce.
SAME PRINCIPLE APPLIES TO RENTAL CARS - We don't often need to rent cars but the same principle applies. (BTW, I've been getting GREAT rates through the Costco Travel website, for those of you who are Costco members.) I'm going to be in New York for a few days over the Memorial Day Weekend and needed a rental car. A month or two ago, the rate for a compact was around $450. It didn't seem like it was budging so I took it. Unlike with air tickets, I can cancel the rental reservation at no penalty if a better price shows up. Sure enough, a month later I happened to check and the price had not only dropped to $300, but it also now included an upgrade to an SUV. So I grabbed that. And checking today, that very same SUV would now cost $683. So it pays to be vigilant and shop around.
POOR PELICANS - There was an article over the weekend about the plight of west coast Brown Pelicans, who seem to suddenly be getting sick and a number of them are dying. The cause is a mystery. According to the International Bird Rescue folks in San Pedro (they got 25 birds recently), the sick pelicans are emaciated and don't seem to want to fly. It's like they're just exhausted. Although in the past, pelican sicknesses have been tied to domoic acid (a toxin produced by algae which then enters the food chain), they don't think that's the cause this time. If you spot any of the sick birds (or any others for that matter), you can call the rescue center at 310/514-2573. Here are also more detailed instructions on how to help a bird in need: https://www.bird-rescue.org/…/helping-a-debilitated-bird.as… .
ONE MORE THING ON ROATAN - Due to a couple of cancellations, we've got some spots open on our trip, specifically for one male-share room, and one room that's currently unclaimed. Especially with the great airfare, and that this trip includes 3 dives/day plus your meals, its a really good deal as we have the land portion priced at $2,195. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 if you're interested in snagging any of those remaining spots.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
