Travel

Bahamas Weekend – December 5 – 8
I know that as I write this the spots are disappearing for this trip. Waiting to the last minute is getting more and more difficult (and expensive). The price of these seats has gone up over $200 since we started booking this trip. Again, if you are making a last minute decision and want us to check for you, let us know and we will do the best we can.

Carnivale in Bonaire – February 22 – 29
Now we are talking to those of you planning in advance (although not too far in advance). Bonaire is great anytime of year, but a few years ago we scheduled a trip that just happened to coincide with Carnivale. It is like Mardi Gras. Okay, not really. It is Bonaire equivalent of Mardi Gras. They have a parade with floats and street vendors and bands. It is a lot of fun to see how small countries celebrate their holidays. And besides that, there is the great diving that Bonaire has to offer. Bonaire and Little Cayman are my favorite places in the Caribbean. Rich Mampe will be leading this trip and you will find that his expertise as a trip leader will make your trip memorable. The trip includes airfare, condos, 6 boat dives and unlimited beach diving as well as a vehicle for every four people. This will allow you to take advantage of the great beach diving that Bonaire has to offer. The cost of the trip is $1650.00 Get your deposit in now.

Blackbeard’s Cruise — $100 Off --February 21 - 27
Here is the best diving for the money. A week aboard a Blackbeard sailboat. With meals, diving and accommodations included, this is the best deal in diving. Sailing from Miami to the Bahamas (with one night in Bimini), you will get to follow the routes of the old pirate ships. With four to five dives a day and plenty of food, you will want for nothing. And the best part is that the trip is normally $819 plus airfare, but we got a special that will save you $100 off that price. There is also a $55.00 Bahamian Port Tax and airport transfers. So figure $795 plus airfare. Airfare is available for about $165 on Air Trans out of Philadelphia and we can set that up for you. And look below to see how you can spend the week with us at no charge.

Little Cayman – April 24 – May 1
If you were paying attention (see Bonaire), I said that LC is one of my favorite Caribbean locations. And Little Cayman Beach Resort is one of my favorite dive operations. It is really first class. And the food…. wear loose clothes. The Jamaican Chef is great. Now is there anything I didn’t cover. Oh, yes. The diving. Bloody Bay Wall, Jackson Reef, the wreck of the Captain Tibbets off the Brac. Great stuff. LC should be on your must-do list. The trip includes airfare, accommodations, meals, 3 boat dives daily, and transfers (although the plane stops only about 150 yards from the resort). The cost of the trip is $2195 and with everything included it is a good deal and a great trip.

Cozumel – May 1 – 8 (or just a long weekend)
If you are looking for a Springtime vacation. Try our May Cozumel trip. As you may know, we always run an October Cozumel trip, but we have decided that there may be many of our customers for whom October is not the best time. So we are offering both a May and an October trip. We will be staying at Reef Club, an all-inclusive resort, on both of these trips and both trips will be led by our most experienced Cozumel hand – Rich Mampe. We will also be giving you the opportunity to just make this trip a long weekend. You could leave Philadelphia with our group and spend 3 days diving, then depart for home on Wednesday. The cost of the trip is $1450 for the week long trip and $995 for the long weekend.

Belize Aboard The Sun Dancer II
Classy living is the keynote of Peter Hughes boats and the Sun Dancer II is a great example of this. In recent years it has been operated in the waters of Palau. We have chartered half the Sun Dancer for the week of May 8 - 15 for some fabulous diving off the coast of Belize. You will be exploring the second largest barrier reef in the world. (If that is not good enough for you, see below.) The diving offered off the live-aboard is the stuff that the day boats do not easily reach. You will have some great photo opportunities with some excellent macro dives; and this time of year it is not unusual to run into schools of eagle rays and possibly even whale sharks. The trip includes up to 5 dives daily, all your meals, beverages including local alcoholic drinks, and transfers and taxes. The cost is only $1995 plus airfare. Sign up now. There are only 10 spaces.

Diving with the Minke Whales
Australia and Papau New Guinea in July. This is the trip of a lifetime. (Okay, I have a number of those for you to go on, but you have to start somewhere.) Here is the plan. We fly out on July 10th and head for Australia. After an overnight in Cairns we will fly to Lizard Island and board Mike Ball’s Supersport. Starting with a visit to the Cod Hole, we will then head south along the Great Barrier Reef hoping to encounter some migrating Minke whales along the way. This is some great diving (but the best is yet to come). After spending another night in Cairns, we will fly through Port Moresby to Kaveing in Northern PNG. This is on the Bismark Sea where Al lived and worked for 9 months last year. After listening to his descriptions, our mouths were watering. The area has both the big pelagics and the strangest macro creatures that you ever imagined. We will be living aboard and diving off Mike Ball’s Paradise Sport, the nicest liveaboard I have ever been on. Then it is back to Australia and a couple of days to explore the outback or go rafting or just zone out. Following this you have some choices to make. Go home, spend a little more time in Australia, or stopover in Hawaii to make the trip home more enjoyable. All great stuff, I can assure you. If you are interested give me a call. You can do this trip for as little as $5695. It is a great deal but space is limited by the size of the boat.

Bonaire – A Family Adventure
Here is the perfect trip for your family. Or it is a great trip if you want to leave your family home. We have run our August Bonaire trip for 15 years. Here is why it is so popular. August in Bonaire is Family Month. This means that it may be possible for your children 15 and under to stay for free. That makes it a deal. It can be cheaper than renting a house down the shore or in the Outer Banks. And it is a lot more exciting. We use the condos at Lion’s Dive, so you have full kitchens as well as a living room and dining room. That means you can keep some cereal or peanut butter in the fridge to feed the kids and it could seriously trim your food budget. There is great snorkeling right off the beach so the non-divers have something to do. There are some other activities available as well, such as a mangrove kayaking trip that is excellent. You can give your kids memories that they will carry with them forever. The shore will be passé.

Travel Notes
It is important to remember that all prices are based on double occupancy and on current airfares. Unfortunately airfares can change up until we actually purchase the tickets. (Then, of course, the airlines charge a penalty for any changes, if they allow changes). This is usually not a problem, but it can happen. Remember that on most trips you can supply your own airfare. Many people today think that they can find cheaper airfares on the web, and that works fine for us. (See the following article). Also please note that if you are signing up alone, we will try to line up a roommate for you, however, if we cannot there will be an additional charge for a single supplement. Again, this is not something under our control and we must pass this charge along. We also recommend trip cancellation insurance. If you do need to cancel the trip, there may be penalties that are not under our control.