EASTER ISLAND PLAN (BOTH TRIPS) - This will be our third time there. I find the diving to be interesting because 25% of the fish there are endemic. And March is also their peak water temperature time (upper 70s) so you might even get away with a 3mm suit. There are small differences between the two trips but each group will get to do 11 dives over the course of the week and will do three half-day land tours. Generally, it's two dives in the morning, break for lunch and then either another dive in the afternoon or a land tour. And because sunset is around 8:30PM, we'll have plenty of time for the land portion. (Three half days is perfect to cover all the major moai sites.) Because almost half of this trip is on land, it's also a great trip to bring a non-diving partner along. Cost for all of this is $2,775 (non-diver is $1,945) and includes airport xfers, double-occupancy hotel (single supplement might be available), diving (tanks/weights - rental gear is extra), land tours, crew/staff tips. Economy airfare on LATAM is running around $2,000. Because we're limited in space for both the dives and the land tours, I can take no more than 7 divers and 4 non-divers for each of the weeks. If you're interested or need more info, send us an e-mail or give us a call at 310/652-4990. Easter Island (more correctly - Rapa Nui) is quite a unique place to visit from both a diving and touring perspective and this is a travel adventure you don't want to miss.
WORKING ON THE 2025 SKED - I'm starting to work on both the 2025 travel sked as well as the local classes/trips. For most of the local stuff, it only takes a couple of people who want to go to make a local trip happen. This applies to both the Avalon day trips and the various Redondo-based beach dives we schedule. As far as classes, we do most of those via Zoom and it's the same amount of work on my end to do it for one person as it is to do it for one hundred. So the number of people signed up for a class (Fish ID, Nitrox, Photo Workshop, Tables & Computers) generally don't matter. And those Zoom-based classes are some of the key things we think you need to know to make your dives more enjoyable and to make you more knowledgeable. I hope to have the full schedule for next year in place no later than December 1.
2025 VACATION TRIPS - As mentioned above, we've got the two back-to-back Easter Island trips in March, and we're also got two back-to-back Maldives trips in September. (Bothj Maldives trips are already sold out.) Since we generally do 5-6 trips/year, I'll add one more trip in, most likely in July. I haven't settled on a place yet but am leaning towards going back to Roatan as we feel Anthonys Key is a terrific operation and by going in July, we'll avoid the smoke/fire issues that affected us a bit this year in May. (But happy to take alternate destination suggestions as well.)
PUGILISTIC OCTOPUSES - This was too funny to pass up. Researchers studying some octopuses have found that they recruit other fish to help them hunt, and may reach out and punch some fish to keep the in line. You can read more about it here:
OCTOPUS PUNCHERS.
That'll do it for now. Have a great week and hopefully we can take YOU diving sometime soon!!!
- Ken
