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 2 SPOTS LEFT ON THE BOAT SO DON'T DAWDLE)
Late May or early June - Bonaire or Cayman
July 2-14 - Indonesia
August 1-6 - Isla Guadalupe & Great White Sharks
August 20-27 - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues
November 3-16 - Maldives on the Manthiri
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
Still not a fan of darkness at 5 o'clock . . .
TWO RED SEA SPOTS HAVE OPENED UP - We've had two spots on our December 1-13 Red Sea trip on the Red Sea Aggressor open up over the weekend and they're available to anyone interested. The primary impetus for the people (a couple) who canceled was some personal stuff that they said had been building up, but that also the Russian plane crash in the Sinai sort of solidified their decision. To that end, there have been three Reef Seekers divers in the Red Sea area over the past couple of weeks. Ric Selber did a week on the Red Sea Aggressor and then went on to Cairo and Jerusalem and he says he hasn't noticed any heightened concerns beyond the normally-high security in those areas. (He also said the diving was pretty good.) Ric Aceves completed the first of his back-to-back weeks on the Aggressor and also isn't sounding any alarms. And Lisa Evans was on a different boat but flew into Cairo and toured the pyramids post-Russian crash, and also says there didn't seem to be any unusual measures in place and that security was tight already. Most of the press reports and speculation seem to indicate that (1) This was specifically targeted as retaliation against Russia for their role in Syria, (2) That security measures at the Sharm el Sheik airport were in place but not always followed, which (3) May have allowed someone who was an airport worker and aligned with ISIS to place a bomb in the cargo hold. The bottom line is that while this is a tragic event on all kinds of levels, I don't think it's going to directly impact any of our travel plans. That all being said . . .
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED - Full cost of the land and diving portions of the trip are $2850. This includes two days in Cairo touring the pyramids with a hotel, airport xfers, overnight hotel in Hurghada, bus from Hurghada down to Port Ghalib where we get the boat, seven days of diving on the Red Sea Aggressor (Southern route - includes a stop at a cove where wild dolphins are very human-friendly), crew tip, bus and xfers back to Hurghada and Cairo. Airfare is not included but is actually $300 cheaper now than it was when we originally booked this. LAX to Cairo (through Frankfurt on Lufthansa) is running around $600 and the EgyptianAir flight to Hurghada and back is around $200. What's open on the boat are both bunks in a deluxe stateroom so if there are two of you, that's perfect. But if you're a single, that's fine too. And it doesn't matter if you're a single male or female as we already have one room with a male/female share so we can split them up and make it all work out. But the point is if you're interested, call me ASAP (310/652-4990) so we can not only get the wheels in motion but so you'll have time to get your visa from the Egyptian Consulate and we can get paperwork to Port Ghalib so you'll be pre-cleared for the boat. We still think this is going to be a great trip and the reality is that Cairo will probably be a little less-crowded because of all of this as well as people in the area will likely be super-vigilant so this may end up being the best time to go. (You can also set this up just to do the boat and skip the Cairo tours.)
DEMA JUST ENDED - As you may know from years past DEMA (Dive Equipment Marketing Association) is the annual industry-only show for professional divers and shop and mfgs which this year was held in Orlando. It's the entire diving industry under one roof, much like the annual Scuba Show out here, only even larger. I did not attend this year but have been keeping tabs on some of the goings on. One of the issues always in the dive industry is that there's a lack of innovation. It's not that there aren't smart people working for various mfgs, but it's just how much better can you make a mask or a regulator to the point that it's leaps and bounds beyond what's available now? It's not like the camera industry where more megapixels, larger displays, and the like produce better images which makes photogs lust for the latest gear. In fact, it seems most of the new stuff I've read about involves camera housings and the like. (For those who'd like to read more abut the photo stuff, Wetpixel was doing daily live blogging which you can read here: Wetpixel reports live from DEMA 2015 :: Wetpixel.com .) So I wish there was something new and cool and wonderful that I could make you salivate over, but I haven't seen it yet.
WHAT ABOUT CUBA? - Some of you have asked me if I intend to book a group trip to Cuba now that it's been opened up for tourist travel. I do, but not in 2016. My thinking is that - like with any new venture - there are likely to be some logistical issues and bugs to work out with all of this and I'd rather let other people be the guinea pigs instead of Reef Seekers people. So my thought is that this is something more likely for 2017 because also by then, we'll have a much better idea of which operators are making a go at this and which ones fell by the wayside.
OTHER TRIPS IN 2016 - The spots are listed above and one thing I try to do is always keep a list of who has expressed an interest in which trip. This certainly doesn't mean you're committed, but even if you just say to me "I'm thinking about your fill-in-the-blank trip this year" I make a note of that so I know to keep you in the loop. One of the things that I like about the way we do our trips from a trip-leader standpoint, and hopefully you like as well from a participant standpoint, is that Reef Seekers specializes in relatively small, intimate groups. On our recent Guadalupe trip, we took three people. In fact, our Red Sea trip, with 20 people, is probably the largest group we've had in many years. (And that was only because there was such keen interest in that trip when it was first announced.) So the point is if there's a trip we've got planned that's gotten you to thinking you might want to join us, make sure you let me know so I can put you on our "interested" list.
ELUSIVE WHALE - The most elusive whale in the world is the Omura whale. It was only designated as a species in 2003 and last week was finally filmed for the first time in the wild. If you'd like to read more about the whale and see the video, use this link: Watch The First Ever Video Of The World's Most Elusive Whale | IFLScience .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week 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 2 SPOTS LEFT ON THE BOAT SO DON'T DAWDLE)
Late May or early June - Bonaire or Cayman
July 2-14 - Indonesia
August 1-6 - Isla Guadalupe & Great White Sharks
August 20-27 - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues
November 3-16 - Maldives on the Manthiri
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
Still not a fan of darkness at 5 o'clock . . .
TWO RED SEA SPOTS HAVE OPENED UP - We've had two spots on our December 1-13 Red Sea trip on the Red Sea Aggressor open up over the weekend and they're available to anyone interested. The primary impetus for the people (a couple) who canceled was some personal stuff that they said had been building up, but that also the Russian plane crash in the Sinai sort of solidified their decision. To that end, there have been three Reef Seekers divers in the Red Sea area over the past couple of weeks. Ric Selber did a week on the Red Sea Aggressor and then went on to Cairo and Jerusalem and he says he hasn't noticed any heightened concerns beyond the normally-high security in those areas. (He also said the diving was pretty good.) Ric Aceves completed the first of his back-to-back weeks on the Aggressor and also isn't sounding any alarms. And Lisa Evans was on a different boat but flew into Cairo and toured the pyramids post-Russian crash, and also says there didn't seem to be any unusual measures in place and that security was tight already. Most of the press reports and speculation seem to indicate that (1) This was specifically targeted as retaliation against Russia for their role in Syria, (2) That security measures at the Sharm el Sheik airport were in place but not always followed, which (3) May have allowed someone who was an airport worker and aligned with ISIS to place a bomb in the cargo hold. The bottom line is that while this is a tragic event on all kinds of levels, I don't think it's going to directly impact any of our travel plans. That all being said . . .
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED - Full cost of the land and diving portions of the trip are $2850. This includes two days in Cairo touring the pyramids with a hotel, airport xfers, overnight hotel in Hurghada, bus from Hurghada down to Port Ghalib where we get the boat, seven days of diving on the Red Sea Aggressor (Southern route - includes a stop at a cove where wild dolphins are very human-friendly), crew tip, bus and xfers back to Hurghada and Cairo. Airfare is not included but is actually $300 cheaper now than it was when we originally booked this. LAX to Cairo (through Frankfurt on Lufthansa) is running around $600 and the EgyptianAir flight to Hurghada and back is around $200. What's open on the boat are both bunks in a deluxe stateroom so if there are two of you, that's perfect. But if you're a single, that's fine too. And it doesn't matter if you're a single male or female as we already have one room with a male/female share so we can split them up and make it all work out. But the point is if you're interested, call me ASAP (310/652-4990) so we can not only get the wheels in motion but so you'll have time to get your visa from the Egyptian Consulate and we can get paperwork to Port Ghalib so you'll be pre-cleared for the boat. We still think this is going to be a great trip and the reality is that Cairo will probably be a little less-crowded because of all of this as well as people in the area will likely be super-vigilant so this may end up being the best time to go. (You can also set this up just to do the boat and skip the Cairo tours.)
DEMA JUST ENDED - As you may know from years past DEMA (Dive Equipment Marketing Association) is the annual industry-only show for professional divers and shop and mfgs which this year was held in Orlando. It's the entire diving industry under one roof, much like the annual Scuba Show out here, only even larger. I did not attend this year but have been keeping tabs on some of the goings on. One of the issues always in the dive industry is that there's a lack of innovation. It's not that there aren't smart people working for various mfgs, but it's just how much better can you make a mask or a regulator to the point that it's leaps and bounds beyond what's available now? It's not like the camera industry where more megapixels, larger displays, and the like produce better images which makes photogs lust for the latest gear. In fact, it seems most of the new stuff I've read about involves camera housings and the like. (For those who'd like to read more abut the photo stuff, Wetpixel was doing daily live blogging which you can read here: Wetpixel reports live from DEMA 2015 :: Wetpixel.com .) So I wish there was something new and cool and wonderful that I could make you salivate over, but I haven't seen it yet.
WHAT ABOUT CUBA? - Some of you have asked me if I intend to book a group trip to Cuba now that it's been opened up for tourist travel. I do, but not in 2016. My thinking is that - like with any new venture - there are likely to be some logistical issues and bugs to work out with all of this and I'd rather let other people be the guinea pigs instead of Reef Seekers people. So my thought is that this is something more likely for 2017 because also by then, we'll have a much better idea of which operators are making a go at this and which ones fell by the wayside.
OTHER TRIPS IN 2016 - The spots are listed above and one thing I try to do is always keep a list of who has expressed an interest in which trip. This certainly doesn't mean you're committed, but even if you just say to me "I'm thinking about your fill-in-the-blank trip this year" I make a note of that so I know to keep you in the loop. One of the things that I like about the way we do our trips from a trip-leader standpoint, and hopefully you like as well from a participant standpoint, is that Reef Seekers specializes in relatively small, intimate groups. On our recent Guadalupe trip, we took three people. In fact, our Red Sea trip, with 20 people, is probably the largest group we've had in many years. (And that was only because there was such keen interest in that trip when it was first announced.) So the point is if there's a trip we've got planned that's gotten you to thinking you might want to join us, make sure you let me know so I can put you on our "interested" list.
ELUSIVE WHALE - The most elusive whale in the world is the Omura whale. It was only designated as a species in 2003 and last week was finally filmed for the first time in the wild. If you'd like to read more about the whale and see the video, use this link: Watch The First Ever Video Of The World's Most Elusive Whale | IFLScience .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
