The turkey was stuffed, I got stuffed . . .
HOPE YOU HAD A HAPPY T-GIV - Let the Xmas shopping begin!!! (Not that the ads hadn't started flowing already.) Hopefully you had a good Turkey Day. And, in all seriousness about shopping, if there's a diver on your list in need of some holiday goodies, make sure you patronize your local dive shop. At Reef Seekers, we don't really do hard goods anymore so are happy to recommend another shop that we like. By the same token, a gift of a trip is always a wonderful thing as well and we can certainly help in that department. In fact, we're putting together the 2023 travel list as we speak (some details below) so you could either give someone a specific trip or we could do a gift certificate for a specified $$$ amount to apply to any future trip. Happy to work with you on any of this. Just give us a call or shoot us an e-mail.
OUR FIRST TRIP OF 2023 ISN'T A DIVE TRIP - Say what??? To be clear no diving is allowed in San Ignacio Lagoon when the whales are there so that 's why it's a non-diving trip. But this will be a fabulously unique experience. Want to hug a whale??? San Igancio Lagoon in Baja California is the place to do it.
For years - probably hundreds of years - Grey Whales have come down to this isolated lagoon to give birth to their calves and get them ready for the long journey back north. And over time, humans have realized that the whales hang out here and, quite amazingly, a bond has formed between the whales and people. You've probably heard stories about whales approaching small boats (pangas) to be petted and hugged. Well, this is the place where that happens. And if you'd like to experience it, you should come join us this coming February 6-10 (Monday-Friday).
We will be experiencing this with our friends at Nautilus Dive Adventures and we want to emphasize that there's no diving involved in this trip. It's strictly interacting while on the water in pangas so in reality, the whale is in control of what will or won't happen. We'll fly down to Cabo (SJD) and, after an overnight, will then fly in a small plane to the lagoon. We'll be there for four days (three nights) in the Nautilus "Glamping" camp and each day we'll go out 2-4 times to see if the whales want to play.
Cost of this trip is $3,195 and that includes overnight near the Cabo Airport, round-trip flight to San Ignacio, double-occupancy glamping tent with standard amenities (running water, toilet & shower, heat), 10-12 panga trips to see the whales, food and non-alcoholic drinks while at the lagoon, crew/staff tip. Airfare to SJD is not included.
This trip is filling fast as we only have FOUR of our twelve spots left at this point. If you're interested, get hold of us right away. This short video from Nautilus will give you an idea of what to expect:
https://youtu.be/SWYeDz7VMqs
LOCAL STUFF FOR 2023 TOO - I will send out a printable list with the December newsletter but if you want to take a look at the local sked for 2023 - Avalon trips, on-line classes, beach classes & dives - it's up on our
Reef Seekers website.
AMAZING SURVIVAL - It seems to me that falling overboard and then being lost at sea is about the scariest thing one can imagine. And falling from a cruise ship and no one knows about it for 13 hours . . . YIKES!!! The guy went to use the restroom around 11PM, didn't come back, and his sister didn't report him missing until Noon the next day. Amazingly, he was found alive and rescued. You can see the story from CNN - along with footage of the rescue - here:
MAN OVERBOARD.
WHALES DELAY CALIFORNIA COMMERCIAL CRAB SEASON - From Brightgram.com: "For the fourth year in a row, the start of the commercial Dungeness crab season in California will be delayed to protect humpback whales from becoming entangled in trap and buoy lines. Authorities first announced a delay late last month. The situation will be reassessed on or before December 7 and if conditions allow commercial crabbing could be permitted on December 16. The crab industry is one of California’s major fisheries and the shellfish is especially popular around the holidays, said Geoff Shester, California campaign director and senior scientist at the nonprofit conservation group Oceana."
BONAIRE 2023 - You may have noticed on our "Foreign Trips" page on the website that I've got Bonaire listed as May 19-27. I got a note from them today and that may not work, so I'm looking at alternate dates. Chamber Day (May 3) throws a bit of a monkey wrench into that planning but I'm going to see if there might be a late March or early April week that will work in terms of availability at Buddy Dive. We've never had a problem getting this date before so in some ways this is a good thing as it indicates that the diving vacation market is bouncing back. (On the other hand, I'd rather we get our first-choice week.) I'll keep you posted.
MATING TURTLES - I may have shared this with you before but it popped up in my feed again and it's pretty spectacular. It's a drone shot of what are estimated to be 64,000 turtles heading in to a beach to lay their eggs. Well worth the 85 seconds of your time that the video lasts:
64,000 MIGRATING TURTLES.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
