Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2016-2017 vacation trips:
• November 2-18 - Maldives on the Manthiri [ LEAVING NEXT WEEK!!!! ]
• March 18-25, 2017 - Bonaire
• June 10-17 - Isla Mujeres (early in the Whale Shark Season)
• July 7-19 - Yap Immersion #1 (special 13-day trip featuring all that Yap has to offer) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 2 SPOTS LEFT ]
• July 21-August 2 - Yap Immersion #2 (week #2 - same sked as above) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 7 SPOTS LEFT ]
• Nov. 20 - Dec. 16 (dates can be trimmed) - Ultimate Indonesia (A week at Murex in Manado, 10 days in Raja Ampat on the Aggressor, 4 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:
• October 26 (Wednesday) - Vets Park night dive (single tank) - FREE!!!!
• In the Maldives so you're on your own . . .
• December - TBA
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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Go Dodgers, I mean Cubs . . .
NIGHT DIVE THIS WEDNESDAY - Conditions permitting, we're scheduled for a night dive this Wednesday evening at Vets Park in Redondo. It's a bit early for the squid to be coming in but it's not like they run on a precision calendar. On our previous night dive a few weeks ago, there were THOUSANDS (not an exaggeration) of Target Shrimp out and about so you never know. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 if you ant to join up. Single tank dive (40 minutes or so UW), meet in the parking lot around 7PM (unless we agree on a different time), and we're usually done by 10PM.
ULTIMATE INDONESIA UPDATE - I've come up with two different itineraries for the trip, both built around the boat (Raja Ampat Aggressor). These are based on what the Aggressor is showing currently as available, as well as our Reef Seekers sked in terms of what we've already committed to. You could do boat-only, Murex & boat, boat & Lembeh, or (ideally) all three legs (ergo, the "Ultimate" tag). But the key thing for us to get this to work is the boat. We need to end up with at least 7 people committed to the boat. The other legs, because they're land-based, we don't necessarily need a specific number of people. So far, people seem to be leaning towards the Nov/Dec version, which includes 10 days in Raja Ampat. One of the reasons we want to break this up into three segments is that you can't fly directly into Sorong (where we'll get the boat) but must overnight either in Bali or in Manado. And if we're being forced to overnight, to me it makes sense to try to get some more diving in as well, which gives you better bang for your airline buck. And because you can't fly in and out of Manado every day of the week, some of this is dictated by the air sked. The full Nov/Dec trip involves leaving L.A. on Monday, November 20 and returning on Saturday, December 16. That would give you a week in Manado at Murex, 10 days in Raja Ampat on the Aggressor, and 4 days in Lembeh. It's a total of 19 diving days but it means you're away for Thanksgiving (if that's an issue). But you could also leave the day after T-Giv (Friday, November 24), or leave on Monday, November 27 (which means you skip Murex entirely), and you could shorten the back end to do just 2 days in Lembeh or skip Lembeh altogether. The one part of this that's locked in is the boat which departs Sorong on December 1 and off-loads on December 10. Outside of that, the sked is flexible. If you were not on my targeted e-mail list for this, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you all the specifics to review. It'll be a great trip no matter how we shape it.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR - Thursday, January 5, to be specific. I truly don't think there's a connection between this and the two shark incidents we discussed last week but I've been asked to give a talk about diving with Great Whites at the Aquarium of the Pacific. The title will be "My, What Big Teeth You Have: Diving With Great White Sharks" and it'll be in the Honda Theater at the Aquarium starting around 7PM. It's open to the public. (And I'm sure I'll remind you one or two other times between now and then.)
MAKE YOUR GOPRO FLY - There's a new GoPro accessory out called "The Birdie." It's basically a combination of a badminton shuttlecock and hang glider for your GoPro. The idea is that you mount the GoPro in it, toss it up in the air (or drop it from a height) and the Birdie gives you a fairly stable aerial shot as the contraption descends. It also floats so if you plop it in the drink, you won't lose it. Here's the website for it: Birdie is a Shuttlecock-style Accessory for Tossing Your GoPro Into the Air. And if you're really interested in getting one, they're being sold on Amazon as of Monday for $49: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J5YK8V...0c-20&linkId=5a2ea8bd3ecc7e570b922d32abab416f.
Short one this week so I think that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon.
- Ken
• November 2-18 - Maldives on the Manthiri [ LEAVING NEXT WEEK!!!! ]
• March 18-25, 2017 - Bonaire
• June 10-17 - Isla Mujeres (early in the Whale Shark Season)
• July 7-19 - Yap Immersion #1 (special 13-day trip featuring all that Yap has to offer) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 2 SPOTS LEFT ]
• July 21-August 2 - Yap Immersion #2 (week #2 - same sked as above) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 7 SPOTS LEFT ]
• Nov. 20 - Dec. 16 (dates can be trimmed) - Ultimate Indonesia (A week at Murex in Manado, 10 days in Raja Ampat on the Aggressor, 4 days in the Lembeh Straits)
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
———————————————————————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives:
• October 26 (Wednesday) - Vets Park night dive (single tank) - FREE!!!!
• In the Maldives so you're on your own . . .
• December - TBA
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
———————————————————————————————————————————
Go Dodgers, I mean Cubs . . .
NIGHT DIVE THIS WEDNESDAY - Conditions permitting, we're scheduled for a night dive this Wednesday evening at Vets Park in Redondo. It's a bit early for the squid to be coming in but it's not like they run on a precision calendar. On our previous night dive a few weeks ago, there were THOUSANDS (not an exaggeration) of Target Shrimp out and about so you never know. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 if you ant to join up. Single tank dive (40 minutes or so UW), meet in the parking lot around 7PM (unless we agree on a different time), and we're usually done by 10PM.
ULTIMATE INDONESIA UPDATE - I've come up with two different itineraries for the trip, both built around the boat (Raja Ampat Aggressor). These are based on what the Aggressor is showing currently as available, as well as our Reef Seekers sked in terms of what we've already committed to. You could do boat-only, Murex & boat, boat & Lembeh, or (ideally) all three legs (ergo, the "Ultimate" tag). But the key thing for us to get this to work is the boat. We need to end up with at least 7 people committed to the boat. The other legs, because they're land-based, we don't necessarily need a specific number of people. So far, people seem to be leaning towards the Nov/Dec version, which includes 10 days in Raja Ampat. One of the reasons we want to break this up into three segments is that you can't fly directly into Sorong (where we'll get the boat) but must overnight either in Bali or in Manado. And if we're being forced to overnight, to me it makes sense to try to get some more diving in as well, which gives you better bang for your airline buck. And because you can't fly in and out of Manado every day of the week, some of this is dictated by the air sked. The full Nov/Dec trip involves leaving L.A. on Monday, November 20 and returning on Saturday, December 16. That would give you a week in Manado at Murex, 10 days in Raja Ampat on the Aggressor, and 4 days in Lembeh. It's a total of 19 diving days but it means you're away for Thanksgiving (if that's an issue). But you could also leave the day after T-Giv (Friday, November 24), or leave on Monday, November 27 (which means you skip Murex entirely), and you could shorten the back end to do just 2 days in Lembeh or skip Lembeh altogether. The one part of this that's locked in is the boat which departs Sorong on December 1 and off-loads on December 10. Outside of that, the sked is flexible. If you were not on my targeted e-mail list for this, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you all the specifics to review. It'll be a great trip no matter how we shape it.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR - Thursday, January 5, to be specific. I truly don't think there's a connection between this and the two shark incidents we discussed last week but I've been asked to give a talk about diving with Great Whites at the Aquarium of the Pacific. The title will be "My, What Big Teeth You Have: Diving With Great White Sharks" and it'll be in the Honda Theater at the Aquarium starting around 7PM. It's open to the public. (And I'm sure I'll remind you one or two other times between now and then.)
MAKE YOUR GOPRO FLY - There's a new GoPro accessory out called "The Birdie." It's basically a combination of a badminton shuttlecock and hang glider for your GoPro. The idea is that you mount the GoPro in it, toss it up in the air (or drop it from a height) and the Birdie gives you a fairly stable aerial shot as the contraption descends. It also floats so if you plop it in the drink, you won't lose it. Here's the website for it: Birdie is a Shuttlecock-style Accessory for Tossing Your GoPro Into the Air. And if you're really interested in getting one, they're being sold on Amazon as of Monday for $49: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J5YK8V...0c-20&linkId=5a2ea8bd3ecc7e570b922d32abab416f.
Short one this week so I think that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon.
- Ken
