Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2016-2017 vacation trips:
• November 2-18 - Maldives on the Manthiri [ 1 FEMALE-SHARE SPOT LEFT ]
• March, 2017 - Bonaire (???)
• June, 2017 - Isla Mujeres (early in the Whale Shark Season)
• 2017 - July 7-19 - Yap Immersion #1 (special 13-day trip featuring all that Yap has to offer) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 5 SPOTS LEFT ]
• 2017 - July 21-August 2 - Yap Immersion #2 (week #2 - same sked as above) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 9 SPOTS LEFT ]
• Fall of 2017 - Ultimate Indonesia - A week at Murex in Manado, 10-days in Raja Ampat, 3 days in the Lembeh Straits
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
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Upcoming local dives:
• September 28 (Wednesday) - Vets Park night dive (single tank) - FREE!!!!
• October 22 (Saturday) - Avalon Underwater Park (3 dives - include tank rentals) - $150
• October 26 (Wednesday) - Vets Park night dive (single tank) - FREE!!!!
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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How about that weird marine layer Sunday . . . . . .
"FOGGY" DOESN'T REALLY DESCRIBE IT - That was one weird marine layer on Sunday. I headed down to Redondo (more on that in a moment) a little after 8AM and the foggy/wispy stuff hit right as I passed the 405/10 interchange. Really made it interesting for planes landing at LAX because it looked like they were muscling their way through the wispy clouds/fog as they came in. It was sort of spotty around Redondo (but we never got any strong sun) and then I went down to Terranea for the afternoon where it was pretty sunny. But coming home northbound on Hawthorne around 5PM, I got a good glimpse across Santa Monica Bay towards Malibu (and was higher than the marine layer at this point) and it was quite interesting seeing it still socked in. June Gloom in September.
VETS PARK DIVE - When I scheduled this originally I didn't realize it conflicted with California Coastal Cleanup Day and some of that would be happening at Vets. So we switched to Sunday instead. We were still greeted at 8:45AM by a nearly-full parking lot as there were a number of classes and groups there but also a very large contingent (maybe 50 or so) of Marines from Twentynine Palms who were doing various levels of scuba training. Our Reef Seekers ended up as a group of five (plus me) and we actually had a very pleasant dive. Viz was really good for Vets Park at about 25-30 feet. Water temps were around 70º over the shallows and (on my computer) 56º down in the canyon. You definitely felt it but it was tolerable. However, I didn't think there was as much life shallow or deep as we normally see. We had some Sanddabs and CO Turbot, along with some scattered fish (Senoritas and also a California Lizardfish). But the highlight came from Jeff Reimer who spotted about a 4-foot long Angel Shark in the sand at a depth of around 80 feet. We were all able to gather around it and I actually was able to brush the sand off his back and even was able to gently lift him out of the sand so the divers could get a good look, and then gently placed him back in the sand where he was previous laying. It was a very nice find and certainly makes you appreciate that you never know what you might run into on one of these dives. Surf was negligible so it made getting in and out a breeze and no one got a parking ticket (still wish they'd go to credit card meters instead of quarters-only) so that was good too.
ODD DUCK AT WOODLEY - I sometimes mention waterfowl creatures we spot at the Woodley Lakes golf course when I play there because we definitely see some unusual things. That whole area is a fairly major/active wildlife are and we routinely see hundreds of Canadian Geese all over the course. But I saw a small group of creatures on Saturday that I'd never seen before but which looked rather striking with their coloration, especially around their eyes. I thought from the beaks they were ducks of some sort but further investigation reveals they are actually called Egyptian Geese. Here's what they look like (They were around the 9th green if you're out there and want to see them):
WORKING ON ULTIMATE INDONESIA - I've started taking a closer look at our 2017 plans and specifically what I'm calling "Ultimate Indonesia." The general thought is that it will include a week (or so) in Manado with Murex, 7-12 days on a liveaboard in the Raja Ampat area, and then 3 days (or so) on the back end in the Lembeh Straits. Since Raja is a can't-get-there-from-here place, this seems to make sense to me. (Also, on the back end, we'll have to at least overnight in Singapore because the Manado-Singapore flight is late afternoon.) Because the first and third legs of this are land-based, that gives us a fair amount of flexibility in terms of timing. So it makes sense to me to build this around the boat. Because I deal with Aggressor a lot (and one of our divers recently came off the boat and said it was quite good), I'm starting there. I'm not married to this boat and am happy to accept other suggestions. But here are what the available options seem to be from the Aggressor. Dates listed are start/finish dates for the boat trips. Prices are strictly boat only and do not include crew tips (probably $300-500-ish) or marine park fees of $250-350.
• Sept. 29 - Oct. 11 (12 nights) - Raja Ampat/Halmahera/Lembeh - $5,400
• October 12-19 (7) - Raja Ampat - $3,150
• Oct. 31 - Nov. 10 (10) - Banda Sea/Triton Bay (note: no Raja Ampat itself) - $4,500
• November 11-21 (10) - Triton Bay/Raja Ampat - $4,500
• Nov. 30 - Dec. 10 - Raja Ampat (10) - $4,500
From a budgeting standpoint (and these are REALLY rough/guess numbers), figure $2-3K for all the airfare, another $2250-ish for Murex, and maybe $1500 for Lembeh. So all in for everything high-end number is around $13,000 per person. If you're interested in going, let me know what you think and we'll figure out how to proceed from there. Also bear in mind you wouldn't have to do all three legs. You could do only one leg, or two adjacent legs (Murex/boat or boat/Lembeh) as well as all three.
And that'll do it for now. (Long day and it's late.) Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!!
- Ken
• November 2-18 - Maldives on the Manthiri [ 1 FEMALE-SHARE SPOT LEFT ]
• March, 2017 - Bonaire (???)
• June, 2017 - Isla Mujeres (early in the Whale Shark Season)
• 2017 - July 7-19 - Yap Immersion #1 (special 13-day trip featuring all that Yap has to offer) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 5 SPOTS LEFT ]
• 2017 - July 21-August 2 - Yap Immersion #2 (week #2 - same sked as above) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 9 SPOTS LEFT ]
• Fall of 2017 - Ultimate Indonesia - A week at Murex in Manado, 10-days in Raja Ampat, 3 days in the Lembeh Straits
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives:
• September 28 (Wednesday) - Vets Park night dive (single tank) - FREE!!!!
• October 22 (Saturday) - Avalon Underwater Park (3 dives - include tank rentals) - $150
• October 26 (Wednesday) - Vets Park night dive (single tank) - FREE!!!!
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
—————————————————————————————————————————————
How about that weird marine layer Sunday . . . . . .
"FOGGY" DOESN'T REALLY DESCRIBE IT - That was one weird marine layer on Sunday. I headed down to Redondo (more on that in a moment) a little after 8AM and the foggy/wispy stuff hit right as I passed the 405/10 interchange. Really made it interesting for planes landing at LAX because it looked like they were muscling their way through the wispy clouds/fog as they came in. It was sort of spotty around Redondo (but we never got any strong sun) and then I went down to Terranea for the afternoon where it was pretty sunny. But coming home northbound on Hawthorne around 5PM, I got a good glimpse across Santa Monica Bay towards Malibu (and was higher than the marine layer at this point) and it was quite interesting seeing it still socked in. June Gloom in September.
VETS PARK DIVE - When I scheduled this originally I didn't realize it conflicted with California Coastal Cleanup Day and some of that would be happening at Vets. So we switched to Sunday instead. We were still greeted at 8:45AM by a nearly-full parking lot as there were a number of classes and groups there but also a very large contingent (maybe 50 or so) of Marines from Twentynine Palms who were doing various levels of scuba training. Our Reef Seekers ended up as a group of five (plus me) and we actually had a very pleasant dive. Viz was really good for Vets Park at about 25-30 feet. Water temps were around 70º over the shallows and (on my computer) 56º down in the canyon. You definitely felt it but it was tolerable. However, I didn't think there was as much life shallow or deep as we normally see. We had some Sanddabs and CO Turbot, along with some scattered fish (Senoritas and also a California Lizardfish). But the highlight came from Jeff Reimer who spotted about a 4-foot long Angel Shark in the sand at a depth of around 80 feet. We were all able to gather around it and I actually was able to brush the sand off his back and even was able to gently lift him out of the sand so the divers could get a good look, and then gently placed him back in the sand where he was previous laying. It was a very nice find and certainly makes you appreciate that you never know what you might run into on one of these dives. Surf was negligible so it made getting in and out a breeze and no one got a parking ticket (still wish they'd go to credit card meters instead of quarters-only) so that was good too.
ODD DUCK AT WOODLEY - I sometimes mention waterfowl creatures we spot at the Woodley Lakes golf course when I play there because we definitely see some unusual things. That whole area is a fairly major/active wildlife are and we routinely see hundreds of Canadian Geese all over the course. But I saw a small group of creatures on Saturday that I'd never seen before but which looked rather striking with their coloration, especially around their eyes. I thought from the beaks they were ducks of some sort but further investigation reveals they are actually called Egyptian Geese. Here's what they look like (They were around the 9th green if you're out there and want to see them):
WORKING ON ULTIMATE INDONESIA - I've started taking a closer look at our 2017 plans and specifically what I'm calling "Ultimate Indonesia." The general thought is that it will include a week (or so) in Manado with Murex, 7-12 days on a liveaboard in the Raja Ampat area, and then 3 days (or so) on the back end in the Lembeh Straits. Since Raja is a can't-get-there-from-here place, this seems to make sense to me. (Also, on the back end, we'll have to at least overnight in Singapore because the Manado-Singapore flight is late afternoon.) Because the first and third legs of this are land-based, that gives us a fair amount of flexibility in terms of timing. So it makes sense to me to build this around the boat. Because I deal with Aggressor a lot (and one of our divers recently came off the boat and said it was quite good), I'm starting there. I'm not married to this boat and am happy to accept other suggestions. But here are what the available options seem to be from the Aggressor. Dates listed are start/finish dates for the boat trips. Prices are strictly boat only and do not include crew tips (probably $300-500-ish) or marine park fees of $250-350.
• Sept. 29 - Oct. 11 (12 nights) - Raja Ampat/Halmahera/Lembeh - $5,400
• October 12-19 (7) - Raja Ampat - $3,150
• Oct. 31 - Nov. 10 (10) - Banda Sea/Triton Bay (note: no Raja Ampat itself) - $4,500
• November 11-21 (10) - Triton Bay/Raja Ampat - $4,500
• Nov. 30 - Dec. 10 - Raja Ampat (10) - $4,500
From a budgeting standpoint (and these are REALLY rough/guess numbers), figure $2-3K for all the airfare, another $2250-ish for Murex, and maybe $1500 for Lembeh. So all in for everything high-end number is around $13,000 per person. If you're interested in going, let me know what you think and we'll figure out how to proceed from there. Also bear in mind you wouldn't have to do all three legs. You could do only one leg, or two adjacent legs (Murex/boat or boat/Lembeh) as well as all three.
And that'll do it for now. (Long day and it's late.) Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!!
- Ken
