Sea Lions at Anacapa

Barbara and I had a great trip out to Anacapa on the Spectre about a week ago. After all the bad weather it was so good to see the sun again. The water was a little chilly (51) but the real attraction was the sea lions. We just stayed under the boat at about 20' watching 20-30 of them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsh8f-r1kHI

Cozumel trip balance due. One step closer to warm water.

Hi everyone,


Just a reminder that your Cozumel trip balance is due February 7. This is the date we need to start releasing airline seats and unused rooms. Of course if you really want to go even after this deadline, I'm sure we can arrange something, but we can't guarantee room availability. Also, after releasing the airline seats, we cannot guarantee the same price we originally got from Continental ($630.51).


We have reserved 20 rooms and 20 seats, so let me know as soon as you can.


Garden Room ppdo:$ 829.00
Garden Room single occupancy:$ 889.00
Ocean View Room ppdo: $ 973.00
Ocean View Room single occup: $1,043.00


http://kazillustration.com/solesearchers/cozumel_2011/cozumel2011main.html
Fiesta Americana Resort: 7 nights accommodation in a garden view room, 3 meals a day, drinks (local alcohol, top shelf and premium extra), round trip airport transfers, 5 days of 2 tank boat diving, all taxes.
$829. ppdo Non-divers deduct $375.
Airfare - Continental Round trip LAX-Houston- Cozumel: $630.51
Total:
$1459! This is before any club rebate!
Not included: Tips, other extra optional activities, $2 Cozumel marine park fee per diving day. Talk about a deal!
Diving services provided by DIVE HOUSE COZUMEL.
5 days of morning two tank boat diving. Includes tanks, weights and belt and unlimited shore diving from the resort.


Dates: Saturday May 21 to Saturday May 28

The week of diving fun starts on Saturday May 21 leaving LAX, and returning Saturday May 28 LAX.


Cenote diving (optional, but many divers rave about it as a must do dive)
We're planning on diving the Cenote for Friday, the 27th. Those who are interested in touring the mainland can go over with the cenote divers. The Cenote dive through Dive Aventurasis a 2 tank cenote dive for $140. Includes tanks, weights, and belts, transfer from the ferry dock in Playa del Carmen. Transfer to the ferry dock in Cozumel and the ferry ride (round trip about $21) is not included, so plan on adding that amount.
If you would like to join us for this "must do" dive, let me know as soon as possible so we can get the guided groups organized.
Airfare:
We have 20 seats held on Continental Airlines. You can travel with us, or if you have frequent flyer miles, or another favorite airline, please feel free to arrange your own airfare.
RT air on Continental $630.50 pp from LAX-Houston-Cozumel on the following schedule:

1. #CO 1094 K 21MAY SA LAX IAH 1230A 532A 738 S 0 @
2. #CO 1696 K 21MAY SA IAH CZM 920A 1133A 738 S 0 @
3. #CO 1498 G 28MAY SA CZM IAH 325P 541P 738 S 0 @
4. #CO 47 G 28MAY SA IAH LAX 710P 844P 738 D 0 @

Note:
Important Dates:
Jan 1, 2011 deposit deadline. 1/2 of your resort + 1/2 airfare.
Feb 7, 2011 Full balance due.
Space is limited, so if you would like to go to Cozumel with us in May, let me know as soon as possible!
Contact Kaz Aizawa for more info: KazVacation Package arranged by Gene at Scuba Travel Ventures www.scubatravelventures.com

This is a test

This is just a test. Think of it like testing your dive equipment before you take it underwater. Really we are having some issues with our Blog to Facebook link. This is only a test and not a real dive.

Squid Patrol Night Dive this saturday changed to Deadman's Reef dive during the day.

Swell… just swell, Is my response when the ocean swells get larger just as the weekend starts.  The CDIP site is predicting large swells coming from west to hit our area this coming Saturday, which means it'll make for a rough or dangerous beach entry/exit on west facing beaches... especially at night.  So, we're going to do a beach dive at a south facing beach in Laguna, Deadman's Reef.  "Don't snicker Sheree."  As long as there's no fog, I think we will find the reef no problem :-)

Meet at Crescent Bay (the beach just on the West side of Shaw's Cove) at 10 am.  

Deadman's is a bit of a swim, but if you relax and kick on your back, you'll get there before you know it.  This time we're bringing an SMB, reel with line.  I'll go down and locate the reef, then shoot the marker buoy up from.  Just follow the line down.  The last person down can deflate the buoy and bring it down to me so I can rewind the line and stow the SMB.  

http://www.lagunapages.com/beach/crescent/crescent.asp

http://www.lagunapages.com/beach/default.asp

2011-01-22  10:25 PST   5.77 feet  High Tide
2011-01-22  17:06 PST  -0.55 feet  Low Tide

Facebook!

Ok lots of changes lately. Our old newsletter Blog crashed due to a bug in the software. We managed to salvage all the newsletters and saved them in the Newsletter Archive. Kaz set up a new blog at Blogspot and I linked it into our homepage.

Due to either a brain fade or miscommunication in our huge organization, Sheree setup a Facebook Group last year and I set up a Facebook Page recently. Sorry for the confusion with being members in both for some of you. Pages being a somewhat newer system in Facebook we decided to keep the Page and migrate our content over from the Group. Big thanks to Sheree for getting our presence going on Facebook. Please feel free to contribute content just as you did in the group.

If everything works right, our newsletter should also automatically post to the Facebook Wall and those of you on FB will be up to date on happenings in the club without needing to look at the newsletter. I have also embedded our Facebook Page feed to the club's website. Visitors can instantly get a dynamic snap shot of the club.

Avalon Harbor Cleanup Dive

Feb 26, Avalon Harbor Cleanup day:

Early Registration (12/1/10 - 1/31/11) $35.00  
$50.00 per diver for online late registration from February 1-12 and on the day of the event*

Like every year, we're signing up for the "Casino Point" as our entry location.  This allows us to do a second dive at the underwater park if you choose to do another dive, and then if enough time remains you can still go catch the awards ceremony and the auction/raffle.  We'll go grab some pizza and brew after our last dive.  It's a fun day with friends, and all for a good cause.  It's no guilt scuba diving ;-)

Make your reservation to take the Catalina Express from downtown landing in Long Beach: 6:15 A.M. to Avalon, and return on 6:00 P.M.
$66.50 round trip
http://www.catalinaexpress.com/scheduleFaresLongBeach.php

Remember to sign up for the casino landing or casino point. and under the "Team", there should be our club name "Sole Searchers Dive Club." But if you can't find it, no big deal.  We're going to be there to contribute and to have fun day.

http://www.catalinaconservancy.org/index.php?s=join&p=catalina_conservancy_divers

Squid Patrol!

Squid Patrol night dive: Saturday January 22nd. at Redondo Canyon, or some call it Vet's Park.  We'll meet in the parking lot above the stairs around 4:00 pm. Sunset is at 5:14 pm. Bring lots of quarters for the parking lot.  Check out Shorediving.comhttp://www.shorediving.com/Earth/USA_West/CalM/Veterans_Park/index.htm for a good description of the site.

I like to remind people that this is a deep dive (can get to 100+) and a night dive, so you should have experiences in both.  Most of the years, the egg casing can be found starting about 60 fsw.  We may see some squid mating, or none at all.  Some years we get lucky. The good news is that the commercial squid season is now over, so no need to fear the big BOOM sound from the fishing boats throwing M80's to ward off hungry sealions.

2011-01-22  17:06 PST  -0.55 feet  Low Tide
2011-01-22  17:14 PST   Sunset
2011-01-22  20:54 PST   Moonrise
2011-01-22  23:35 PST   5.00 feet  High Tide

January club meeting raffle winners!

Great thanks goes out to Sport Chalet and Hollywood Divers for their generous contributions to our monthly raffle.

$50 gift card from Sport Chalet - Laura H Steckler
Weight bag - Jimmy Quan
Hollywood Divers Ball cap - Dave Gaines
Hollywood Divers T-Shirt - Jimmy Quan
Mini gear keeper - Rosa Gaiarsa
Storm Whistle - Tricia Knopf
Dry Pack - Lars Dennert
Hollywood Divers air card - Cesar P.
Hollywood Divers air card - Cecile & Glenn
Hollywood Divers Nitrox card - Dave Gaines
Buddy caller - Shawn Broes
Mask Strap - Dave Gaines
Markine Paine - Gary T.
Zipper Cleaner - Gary T.
Oder Eater (for wetsuit)- Bromley
Sea Drops - Bob James

And the mystery raffle prize goes to - Cecile!

January 10th Dale Sheckler at Sole Searchers

Let's get the year started right with a visit from one one Southern California's diving cornerstones! Dale & Kim Sheckler have been writting & publishing California Diving News for more than 25 years, as well as writting books on local diving, and taking great photographs!

Dale is a SoCal native who has worked around the world as a commercial deep-sea diver, mostly on deep-water oil field projects. He's also the producer of the annual Scuba Show, the largest of its type, in the world.

So let's put down those skis, and give Dale a big Sole Searchers welcome this Monday!

http://www.scubashow.com/

http://cadivingnews.com/

Cozumel trip! May 21-28, 2011

Our annual resort dive trip for 2011 is Cozumel! Cozumel… it’s good to go back, and for some, it’s good to go for the first time. So, here is what we’ve got for our package deal.  Fiesta Americana Resort: 7 nights accommodation in a garden view room, 3 meals a day, drinks (local alcohol, top shelf and premium extra), round trip airport transfers, 5 days of 2 tank boat diving, all taxes. $829. ppdo   Non-divers deduct $375.  Airfare - Continental Round trip LAX-Houston- Cozumel: $630.51


Total: $1459! This is before any club rebate!Some of us are going to dive the Cenotes also.
For more info.