Fiji Trip June 2011

Fiji is one of those magical places where the name itself is enough to get reactions. Just mention it to your fiends that you are thinking of going there and see what they say. Palm trees, beaches, friendly locals, soft corals, anemones and who can forget kava! Join us as we explore Taveuni and stay and dive at the Garden Island Resort.

The Garden Island Resort has long been a diver’s favorite. Fed by the nutrient-rich waters that flow through the Somosomo Straits, Taveuni's Rainbow Reef is home to one of the world's greatest displays of soft coral. Famous sites like the Great White Wall, The Ledge and Annie’s Bommie are a short boat ride away.

When you are not diving, the simple luxury of the rooms and grounds will entice you with a feeling of complete peace that is hard to find anywhere else.

When we are not diving, Taveuni offers many wonders to be seen. No trip to Taveuni would be complete without visiting the Bouma Falls and the International Dateline. Truly every beautiful day begins on Taveuni.
About a 30-minute walk takes you to the lovely old Catholic mission at Wairiki. The mission is set into the hillside and overlooks the site where Taveuni warriors turned back thousands of Tongans in a battle which was fought in canoes just off the beach. The warriors then celebrated by cooking the Tongans in a lovo (a traditional way of Fijian cooking) and eating them with breadfruit.

$2900* includes roundtrip air from LAX to Taveuni, lodging, meals, 5 days of diving (12 dives), transfers, taxes, pre and post trip parties and t-shirt. Air from SLC to LAX is NOT included.

*This is the cash/check discount price. Regular price is $2987. Price is subject to change and is based on Double Occupancy. Single supplement will be extra. Deposits may be non-refundable and cancellation charges may apply.

Hawaii Trip-February 2011

Hawaii. America’s paradise. The diving and experiences at each of the Hawaiian Islands is as varied as the colors you see below on their reefs. Each island has a signature dive and feel. Join us as we explore the best of Hawaii.

We start in Maui as we join our old friend and Dive Utah Instructor Eric as he shows us around his current island home. After a few days here, we fly to the big island of Hawaii to stay on the Kona Coast, home to the famous manta ray night dive. Our last stop will be the beautiful, unspoiled island of Kauai.
Each island will feature a day of diving and a free day to dive.

Our first dives will take place off Maui and Lanai as we explore the swim throughs of the Cathedrals. As light pours through the openings near the top of the swim throughs it reminds divers of stained glass.

The Kona area of the big island of Hawaii is famous for the manta ray night dive. Large lights are shown into the water to attract plankton which brings in huge mantas for dinner! Kneeling on the bottom at 20’ allows plenty of dive time to watch the mantas cart wheeling right over your head.

Diving around Kauai can only be described as fabulous. You may see
butterfly fish, green sea turtles and white tip reef sharks.

On your free days you can schedule more diving, explore the island or simply relax. You will have the opportunity to see volcanoes and bike down from their peaks, partake of a luau, hike through lush rainforests or thrill down a zip line. See the itinerary below for daily details.

$2350* includes 3 days of diving, roundtrip air from SLC including inter-island air, lodging, pre and post trip parties, taxes and t-shirt. Additional island activities are not included in the price.

*This is the cash/check discount price. Regular price is $2420. Price is subject to change and is based on Double Occupancy. Single supplement will be extra. Deposits may be non-refundable and cancellation charges may apply.



Best of Hawaii Trip Details

Saturday 19 February 2011-Depart SLC at 11:19am. Arrive San Francisco 12:36pm, change planes and depart at 4:30pm. Arrive Honolulu 7:51pm, change planes and depart 10:40pm. Arrive Maui at 10:17pm and transfer to Outrigger Aina Nalu Resort.

Sunday 20 February-Free day.
Activities may include- a trip to Hana, an undeveloped area on the coast of Maui. Zip line. Bike ride down from volcano. Enjoy the beach/pool at resort. Night dive off Lahaina pier.

Monday 21 February-2-tank morning dive to Cathedrals off Lanai. Hopefully see whales on boat ride to and from Lanai. Return to resort by approx. 1pm. Afternoon is free. See activities from Sunday.

Tuesday 22 February-Depart Maui between 8:40 and 9:45am. Arrive Big Island-Kona between 9:22 and 10:27am and transfer to Royal Kona Resort. Dive shop will pick up divers between 3-4pm for 2-tank late afternoon and night dive with manta rays.

Wednesday 23 February-Free day
Activities may include drive to lava flow. Hike to water falls. Enjoy the beach/pool at resort.

Thursday 24 February-Depart Big Island at 10:09am. Arrive Kauai 10:45am and transfer to Kauai Beach Resort. Rest of day is free.
Activities may include helicopter ride to Jurassic Falls or Grand Canyon. Hiking. Zip line. Enjoy the beach/pool at resort.

Friday 25 February-2-tank morning dive. Afternoon is free. We will plan an activity once we arrive. Most likely enjoy a luau that night.

Saturday 26 February-Day is free until 6pm. Check out of hotel and depart Kauai 7:55pm. Arrive Honolulu at 8:25pm, change planes and depart at 10pm.

Sunday 27 February-Arrive Los Angeles at 5:14am, change planes and depart 7:50am. Arrive SLC at 10:37am

Dive Travel

One of the best parts of being in the dive shop business is the ability to put together and lead divers and friends to exotic locations around the world. Here is the basic jist of how that happens.

We start with by looking at places we want to go and suggestions from our customers. Sometimes this is general (South Pacific) sometimes it is very specific (Garden Island Resort on Taveuni in Fiji).

At least a year out, we are talking about the trip and starting to get people interested. Sometimes we already have specific dates and a price, sometimes we are still trolling for interest.

At 8 months, we have a destination, a date, a price and 6-8 people already on board. We have information on our website, blog and Facebook page as well as having sent out at least 1 email to our mailing list to let them know about it.

At 6 months out, we have a firm number of people that we expect to take with us. We always start with a number in mind but that can change. By 6 months, we can still add or subtract rooms without penalty. If we have not had enough interest, we will cancel a trip at this point.

At 3 months out, we are starting to communicate more with our guests who are going, we are reminding them about passports and final payments. We might still be trying to fill the last few spots. We are finalizing flight info.

At 2 months out, final payments are due.

At 1 month, we have a pre-trip meeting to meet and greet and go over details. We take care of gear servicing and rentals. We take care of paperwork for any classes that may be happening on the trip.

And we're off!!

Update from Sand Hollow

We got back from the Sand Hollow trip safe and sound. It was great to really be able to make repetitive dives there and get a good feel for what is out there. We did all of our diving in the no-boating area to the right of the boat ramp. First off there is a small buoy attached to a platform at about 30'. It is about 75 yards from the shore. If you swim up to the left of that, you get some nice lake grass and some canyons as you get closer to the rock islands. To the right, it gets a little deeper but there is not the grass, more of just a muddy bottom without much to see. The thermocline was around 40' with temps in the mid 70's above it and the high 60's below it.

Coming off from the north side of the platform is a rope that stretches north and will take you to a direction sign. (St George that way, the plane this way, the dive shop the other way etc.) The sign is about 100' to the north.

After swimming along the first rope for about 30', you will see a second rope heading east. Following this rope for about 8 minutes will lead you to the buoyancy course. The course is located in a canyon and has about 5 hula hoops/diamonds to swim through as well as 2 larger diameter pipes. These are located at various depths of about 28-40'.

Now here is where it gets tricky. When you are in the canyon, toward the south end of the buoyancy course, hang a 90* turn and head up and out of the canyon heading toward the lake (not back to shore). You will go up and over a ridge, another canyon, another ridge and a third canyon. Keep your depth about 35' and you will pick up another rope that will lead you to the VW van. It is sitting about 25' deep. The van is fun as you can go in and out of the back, side door and driver's side door. Be careful not to get stuck.

Watch your air since at this point, you will be getting to about 1/2 a tank if not lower. Now it's going to get even more vague. If you continue to swim out toward the lake (not the shore) and keep the shallower side on your left and your depth about 40', you may eventually find the plane. It is a small single seat Cessna. Be forewarned, there is still a pilot in the cockpit! We found the plane by surface swimming out and then dropping down to 40' and dang near landing right on it. Next trip I want to double check finding the plane from the van but this is how it felt like it was laid out.

From the surface, the plane can be found by swimming out until you are just on the shallow side and to the left of the first large rock that is south of the island. It is a long swim to try and get out and back on 1 tank so be prepared for some surface swimming.

Sand Hollow Dive This Weekend!!

We have our second trip to Sand Hollow scheduled for this weekend. The weather forecast is hot and sunny so bring plenty of sunscreen and water. Talking to local dive shops, they say the water is about 76* with a thermocline at 30' where it drops to 72*. I am bringing my 3mm and 5mm just in case. We are looking forward to really exploring the lake. We are going to bring a few floats so we can really map out the bottom and get a good idea of where everything is. The air trailer will be there and fills will be $5 each. We are planning on meeting at 10am and hanging out pretty much all day into the evening. Sunday morning we will be back and plan on hanging around until about noon. If you miss out, we will be back there September 25 for our annual BBQ/Treasure Hunt. Details coming next week!!

New Lower Price on CompuMask

Aeris has just announced that they have lowered the suggested retail on their popular CompuMask. This unique mask features a fully air-integrated dive computer right in your mask. The readout tracking depth, time and air appears in the lower right corner of the mask. The CompuMask had retailed for $1495 but Aeris has lowered the price to $999.95. Take it for a test dive next time you are in the shop.

GoPro Night!!

We have a PADI GoPro night scheduled for next Friday July 23 at 6pm here at the shop. Have you every thought about taking your diving to the next level? Maybe even get paid to dive? Sounds crazy, getting paid to go diving!! This is the night to find out if that path is for you. Never say never, come down that night and hear my story about how I got into diving and where it lead me. I am pleased to be joined that night by two good friends, first our PADI Course Director Jon Rusho. Jon takes care of the Instructor Level Courses here at Dive Utah. We are also lucky enough to have the PADI Regional Manager for the Northwest United States, Barry Dunford, joining us for the evening. Come down and hear some great dive stories, learn more about becoming a PADI Pro and maybe take advantage of some great class packages we will be offering that night. See you there!!