Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2015-2016 vacation trips:
December 1-13 - Red Sea Aggressor (southern route - includes snorkeling with dolphins) plus 2 days in Cairo [ TWO SPOTS JUST OPENED UP ]
March 11-19 - Yap (can be combined with Palau)
March 20-27 - Palau on the Palau Aggressor II [ can be combined with Yap - WE ONLY HAVE 1 SPOT LEFT ON THE BOAT ]
Late May or early June - Bonaire or Cayman
July 2-14 - Indonesia
August 1-6 - Isla Guadalupe & Great White Sharks [ ONLY 6 SPOTS AVAILABLE ]
August 20-27 - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues
November 3-16 - Maldives on the Manthiri [ 4 SPOTS CONFIRMED - ONLY 8 STILL AVAILABLE ]
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
I thought winter means it gets colder, not warmer . . .
STILL GREAT CONDITIONS AT CATALINA - Heard a report from Saturday that there was 100-foot viz along the West End (Arrow Point to Land's End). It just goes to confirm what we've said all along about how good the diving in the fall really is. The water's still warm (TOO warm with the impending El Nino) and the viz can frequently be spectacular. Also heard from folks diving Farnsworth that they can still dive it wet and keep the drysuits packed away for a little while longer. Beach conditions have been a little hit and miss with the wind that blew last week but some people diving PV today (Sunday) reported fairly clear water and 50-foot visibility. So you never know unless you go out and look and hopefully you'll get some more diving in before the end of the year.
COUNTDOWN TO THE RED SEA - We leave for our Red Sea trip aboard the Red Sea Aggressor in about 10 days and the group's getting very excited. Many have even started packing. We're spending our first two days in Cairo where we'll definitely have a Wi-Fi signal so will post some pix of the pyramids and all the touristy stuff we'll be doing. There's supposed to be Wi-Fi on the boast as well but I'm not sure how reliable it will be. But hopefully good enough to get out a daily pix or two and keep you posted on the progress of the trip. Just keep checking our Facebook and SmugMug pages.
ONE SPOT LEFT ON THE PALAU TRIP - We have ONE male-share spot left remaining on our Palau Aggressor II trip March 20-27. This is the one that's combined with Yap (March 11-19) but because we only have seven spots on the boat, that becomes somewhat of a limiting factor. You can certainly do this as Yap & Palau, or you could do it as Palua-only, or you could even guy what Glenn Suhd will be doing which is to meet us in Palau first and then do Yap on the way back. Both Yap & Palau offer some incredible dive opportunites and unique marine life encounters. In Yap, we can count on Mantas, mandarinfish, and Sharks. In Palau, we'll get more sharks, big walls, healthy corals, and Napoleon Wrasses who will stare you in the face. Both places will help creat wonderful memeories for you and should be on your diving bucket list. Call me for more info if you're interested. BTW, airfare is running around $2300 right now although a little cheaper if you go back through Tokyo (long layover but you return on the 787 which is a really cool plane).
WHO'S UP FOR THE MALDIVES? - I've got the Manthiri reserved for November 5-14, 2016, so this is a 9-day trip (Maldives Liveaboards, Luxury Liveaboards in Maldives, Liveaboards Maldives). It ain't cheap but the nice thing is that we're taking the whole boat and that means only 12 divers. Most other boats are taking 20-25 people. I've also done two trips with Manthiri previously (1996 and 2002) and have stayed in touch with them over the years. If you'd like to read about that 2002 trip, here's the link to that trip report: Maldives, 2002 . Needless to say, I was delighted with the diving and the experience. It's a long trip to get there - literally halfway around the world from LA - but there are several options out of LAX which include Istanbul on Turkish Air, Dubai on Emirates, and a coupe of others. Air fare seems to be running $1100-1600-ish depending now how you route it. Although we can schedule it to arrive in the early morning, go right to the boat (9AM boarding), and then leave and go diving, I don't think that's a good idea for a number of reasons. While it does save us a hotel overnight, it's cutting it awfully close and being tired and getting off a plane and then a few hours later groggily diving while jet-lagged may not be the best idea. I think the general plan would be to arrive on November 4 (most of the flights seem to be morning arrivals), take the day and go to a hotel, relax and get a good sleep, and then board the boat 11/5 and start diving. We'd get off the morning of 11/14, go back to a hotel for the day and then fly out that evening towards midnight. Pricing with the boat (all diving and meals), tax on the boat (12%!!!), two hotel nights, crew tip, airport xfers in Maldives (Male - airport code is MLE), is $4,895. Like I said, not cheap but I think given my previous experience with the boat, the diving in general, and the size of the group, well worth the money. You can let me know one of two things: (1) Sign me/us up!!!! (A $1,000 deposit would be lovely but I could also live with $500 for right now.) . . . or . . . (2) I'm interested and thinking about it but not ready to commit yet. I've already got 4 people confirmed so there are 8 spots left. Also be aware (if it makes a difference to you) that the rooms left are all twins. There are only two doubles on the boat and those are claimed. But if you need more info about this, give us a call at 310/652-4990.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING (ALMOST) - Thursday's the big day (and hopefully you didn't think "Yea, the start of Christmas shopping season") and I hope you have something special planned. For those looking for something to do in the morning, or you just want to get out of the house to escape the pre-meal hubbub, give some thought to coming down to Long Beach and the Aquarium of the Pacific. Thursday's my normal day there anyhow and I always go in on Thanksgiving but the neat thing is that it's generally not a super-crowded day. We also beef up the diving staff that day to get a head start on holiday cleaning so you'll see a lot of diving activity in our exhibits above and beyond our normal feeds and presentations. Anyhow, if you're looking for something to do, give it some thought. The Aquarium opens at 9AM.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and Thanksgiving, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2015-2016 vacation trips:
December 1-13 - Red Sea Aggressor (southern route - includes snorkeling with dolphins) plus 2 days in Cairo [ TWO SPOTS JUST OPENED UP ]
March 11-19 - Yap (can be combined with Palau)
March 20-27 - Palau on the Palau Aggressor II [ can be combined with Yap - WE ONLY HAVE 1 SPOT LEFT ON THE BOAT ]
Late May or early June - Bonaire or Cayman
July 2-14 - Indonesia
August 1-6 - Isla Guadalupe & Great White Sharks [ ONLY 6 SPOTS AVAILABLE ]
August 20-27 - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues
November 3-16 - Maldives on the Manthiri [ 4 SPOTS CONFIRMED - ONLY 8 STILL AVAILABLE ]
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
I thought winter means it gets colder, not warmer . . .
STILL GREAT CONDITIONS AT CATALINA - Heard a report from Saturday that there was 100-foot viz along the West End (Arrow Point to Land's End). It just goes to confirm what we've said all along about how good the diving in the fall really is. The water's still warm (TOO warm with the impending El Nino) and the viz can frequently be spectacular. Also heard from folks diving Farnsworth that they can still dive it wet and keep the drysuits packed away for a little while longer. Beach conditions have been a little hit and miss with the wind that blew last week but some people diving PV today (Sunday) reported fairly clear water and 50-foot visibility. So you never know unless you go out and look and hopefully you'll get some more diving in before the end of the year.
COUNTDOWN TO THE RED SEA - We leave for our Red Sea trip aboard the Red Sea Aggressor in about 10 days and the group's getting very excited. Many have even started packing. We're spending our first two days in Cairo where we'll definitely have a Wi-Fi signal so will post some pix of the pyramids and all the touristy stuff we'll be doing. There's supposed to be Wi-Fi on the boast as well but I'm not sure how reliable it will be. But hopefully good enough to get out a daily pix or two and keep you posted on the progress of the trip. Just keep checking our Facebook and SmugMug pages.
ONE SPOT LEFT ON THE PALAU TRIP - We have ONE male-share spot left remaining on our Palau Aggressor II trip March 20-27. This is the one that's combined with Yap (March 11-19) but because we only have seven spots on the boat, that becomes somewhat of a limiting factor. You can certainly do this as Yap & Palau, or you could do it as Palua-only, or you could even guy what Glenn Suhd will be doing which is to meet us in Palau first and then do Yap on the way back. Both Yap & Palau offer some incredible dive opportunites and unique marine life encounters. In Yap, we can count on Mantas, mandarinfish, and Sharks. In Palau, we'll get more sharks, big walls, healthy corals, and Napoleon Wrasses who will stare you in the face. Both places will help creat wonderful memeories for you and should be on your diving bucket list. Call me for more info if you're interested. BTW, airfare is running around $2300 right now although a little cheaper if you go back through Tokyo (long layover but you return on the 787 which is a really cool plane).
WHO'S UP FOR THE MALDIVES? - I've got the Manthiri reserved for November 5-14, 2016, so this is a 9-day trip (Maldives Liveaboards, Luxury Liveaboards in Maldives, Liveaboards Maldives). It ain't cheap but the nice thing is that we're taking the whole boat and that means only 12 divers. Most other boats are taking 20-25 people. I've also done two trips with Manthiri previously (1996 and 2002) and have stayed in touch with them over the years. If you'd like to read about that 2002 trip, here's the link to that trip report: Maldives, 2002 . Needless to say, I was delighted with the diving and the experience. It's a long trip to get there - literally halfway around the world from LA - but there are several options out of LAX which include Istanbul on Turkish Air, Dubai on Emirates, and a coupe of others. Air fare seems to be running $1100-1600-ish depending now how you route it. Although we can schedule it to arrive in the early morning, go right to the boat (9AM boarding), and then leave and go diving, I don't think that's a good idea for a number of reasons. While it does save us a hotel overnight, it's cutting it awfully close and being tired and getting off a plane and then a few hours later groggily diving while jet-lagged may not be the best idea. I think the general plan would be to arrive on November 4 (most of the flights seem to be morning arrivals), take the day and go to a hotel, relax and get a good sleep, and then board the boat 11/5 and start diving. We'd get off the morning of 11/14, go back to a hotel for the day and then fly out that evening towards midnight. Pricing with the boat (all diving and meals), tax on the boat (12%!!!), two hotel nights, crew tip, airport xfers in Maldives (Male - airport code is MLE), is $4,895. Like I said, not cheap but I think given my previous experience with the boat, the diving in general, and the size of the group, well worth the money. You can let me know one of two things: (1) Sign me/us up!!!! (A $1,000 deposit would be lovely but I could also live with $500 for right now.) . . . or . . . (2) I'm interested and thinking about it but not ready to commit yet. I've already got 4 people confirmed so there are 8 spots left. Also be aware (if it makes a difference to you) that the rooms left are all twins. There are only two doubles on the boat and those are claimed. But if you need more info about this, give us a call at 310/652-4990.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING (ALMOST) - Thursday's the big day (and hopefully you didn't think "Yea, the start of Christmas shopping season") and I hope you have something special planned. For those looking for something to do in the morning, or you just want to get out of the house to escape the pre-meal hubbub, give some thought to coming down to Long Beach and the Aquarium of the Pacific. Thursday's my normal day there anyhow and I always go in on Thanksgiving but the neat thing is that it's generally not a super-crowded day. We also beef up the diving staff that day to get a head start on holiday cleaning so you'll see a lot of diving activity in our exhibits above and beyond our normal feeds and presentations. Anyhow, if you're looking for something to do, give it some thought. The Aquarium opens at 9AM.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and Thanksgiving, and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
