If you cannot view this email, or its images, please read it at www.cityseahorse.com/newsletters/2008Aug18.html.
City Seahorse, Inc. - August 18, 2008
This newsletter contains:
- Day in the Trip Video
- Help with Critter ID
- 2009 Trips
- Summary of Trips
- Travel News
- Dec 2008, Jan 2009 spots available
"Day in the Trip"
First Video Online
After several trips shooting video I've finally made time to edit a bit of it and put it online.
I've started a series, "Day in the Trip". Each 1-5 minute video will be constructed from video shot during a single day of diving.
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| Day in the Trip - Blue Water Mangroves |
I've taught myself video editing by trial and error starting with the installation of the editing software in my cabin between dives on the last trip. If you have comments or constructive criticism, I'd love to hear from you.
My first 5 minute video is at http://www.cityseahorse.com/video/DayintheTrip-Mangroves.php It is presented with Flash and requires loads of bandwidth to view.
I hope to have a couple more "Days" ready to view this month... so stay tuned.
Write me at tours@cityseahorse.com
Trip Info: http://www.cityseahorse.com/rajaampat
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| Unknown Species |
Please Help Karen ID This Critter
Karen Goddard sent me a critter photo from our May Sorong-Halmahera-Lembeh trip to ID today. I can't do it.
Ideas anyone? At first I thought it was the broken tip of a crinoid.. but... now... a sea spider ???
The creature was found in shallow coral rubble in the daytime. Size is about 2 x 3 inches. Karen writes that she wishes she had delayed going on to see the mantas and had a better look at this unusual critter.
You must look at the large version:
www.cityseahorse.com/newsletters/images/KGoddard-unknown-species.jpg
If you recognize this thing, please email me at tours@cityseahorse.com
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| Canoes on the Beach - Halmahera |
What Raja Ampat trips are available in 2009?
April 22 - May 4: Sorong-Sorong. 12 nights. $4095+
May 08 - May 20: Sorong - Halmahera - Lembeh. 12 nights. $4095+
Oct 29 - Nov 9: FakFak/Triton Bay - Sorong/Raja Ampat. 11 nights. FULL
Nov 12 - Nov 23: Raja Ampat, Sorong-Sorong. 11 nights. $3895+
Nov 26 - Dec 7: Raja Ampat, Sorong-Sorong. 11 nights. $3755+
I still have a guaranteed single cabin available on most trips.
More info for our 2009 trips is available at http://www.cityseahorse.com/rajaampat
If you are interested, send me an email at tours@cityseahorse.com All 2008 trips are still full and fully paid.
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Sorong Halmahera Lembeh Trip |
Summary of trips
Raja Ampat - Halmahera - Lembeh
Bruce Yates and Mike Oelrich were on this trip in May/June 2008. See below for links to their images.
Bruce created an excellent & very colorful photo gallery and slideshow presentation of images from the trip on his Underwater Reflections website. Be sure to start with the first image. Bruce wrote a description for each of his images.
On our 12 day trip, we spend about 5 days diving Raja Ampat, 5 in straits alongside Halmahera or around tiny islands en route. The last days we spend in Lembeh Strait with some muck diving, finishing up about 6pm for those who are not flying the next day. Extending the trip at a resort on Lembeh Strait is simple. The ship can drop you at the resort. No surface interval, packing or drying required!
This is a fishy trip with loads of variety. Many days are spent on bountiful reefs with colorful soft corals of many species. Last trip we saw many sharks, an enormous school of over 1000 barracuda, many small things from tiny allied cowries to arrow squid, walking cuttlefish, all sorts of nudibranchs and the many weird muck critters of Lembeh Strait.
Mike Oelrich has a online gallery of images from the Lembeh portion of the trip on his website at http://www.mikeoelrich.net/Lembeh_2008 Play them as a slideshow.
Types of dives offered will be the straits in Raja Ampat, mangroves, piers (day and night), mantas, muck, around rock islands, pinnacles, in coral rubble, on reefs abundant with color and fish life. Photo ops will be many and various. Last trip some said this trip had the most colorful photo ops they'd seen. Most nights we will cruise 1-6 hours with about 3 long overnight cruises.
This was the best one-way itinerary I've done in 10 years and we will improve it in 2009 by dropping one day that was not above average.
More info for our 2009 trip is available at http://www.cityseahorse.com/raja-ampat-halmahera-lembeh-strait-liveaboard-diving.php
tours@cityseahorse.com
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Batfish in Mangroves |
Raja Ampat Start & End in Sorong
11 or 12 night trips that cover the best of Raja Ampat. We've logged over 1800 dives in Raja Ampat since '99 during our years of diving and taking groups to the area, so we have a very good idea of the areas our divers, photographers and video nuts will enjoy most.
We like this trip because of the close proximity of excellent dive sites eliminating the need for long cruises between dives (so more dives!), the ease of travel to the ship's departure and return point and the flexibility it gives us to choose sites based on current conditions.
You can expect about 50 dives, and 10.5 days diving on our 11 night trips. (subject to air flight schedules!)
The variety in the area is amazing. This is certainly the premier area for diving in Indonesia. We are always adding great new sites as we find them. It is becoming a struggle to decide which sites to miss and which to include in each year's itinerary.
SMY Ondina is expertly designed for diving and photography (the best we've seen), plus it is beautifully outfitted in traditional Phinisi style.
More info at http://www.cityseahorse.com/rajaampat
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| Dive tender waiting for divers to surface |
Travel News: Airlines
- Reconfirm your Flights
We are finding that airlines in the USA are canceling and rescheduling flights and reservations without informing the people who have already booked and paid for their tickets.
For your protection, you should contact the airline and reconfirm your flight reservations a week before you travel and again the day before and the day of travel.
- e-tickets
If you purchased a flight ticket online, be sure to take the credit card you used to purchase the ticket to the airport with you. The airline will check. If you do not have the credit card, they can decide not to let you fly, or require that you purchase another ticket if seats are available on the flight.
December 3-17, 2008, Jan 21-Feb 2, 2009 Trips
I JUST (5 min. ago) got word of some liveaboard space available on trips in Dec and Jan. If you were looking you know everything has been full. Write me ASAP to reserve a space. Both trips include Raja Ampat. The Dec trip is Ambon to Sorong. The other is Sorong-Sorong.
2008-09 Liveaboard Trips
There are spaces still available on the SMY Ondina 2009 schedule. The schedule is here:
http://www.cityseahorse.com/indonesia-liveaboard-schedule.php.
Contact me for individual or group bookings for 2009 or to start planning for your group for 2010.
If you do not want to receive news and trip notices like this, remove your address from our list by using the Unsubscribe info at the bottom of this note.
Happy Diving!
DebF
Deborah Fugitt, City Seahorse, Inc. tours@cityseahorse.com
6387B Camp Bowie, #308, Ft. Worth, Tx. 76116
Phone: (817) 626-0636
www.cityseahorse.com/rajaampat
www.cityseahorse.com/indonesia-liveaboard-schedule.php