102 replies to this topic

[WreckWench]

Its time to start thinking of 'What's Next'? With the economy the way it is some of our plans for 2010 have probably changed. Or perhaps you are still able to make that 'dream trip' but sadly others will not be able to join you.

So its time for SD to look into its crystal/muddy ball and see where we need to be going to dive in 2010!

And we NEED YOUR HELP!!!

Are you looking for value based trips? Are you looking to get in that "DREAM TRIP" just in case you can't do it in the future?

We've had a lot of suggestions that I will review and I will USE THIS NEW THREAD TO HELP ME SOLIDIFY what we are going to do for next year!

Also if you can ONLY travel certain times...please share that with us. Many of you have begged us to do more WINTER TRIPS from Jan to March....so I'm going to be focusing on those destinations first since they are coming up the soonest!

Kamala

p.s. We have had LOTS of suggestions to offer a trip that caters to our single diving parent with kids. We've also had some great input for a trip that we could take a parent(s) or say older relative with us to enjoy landbased activities while we were diving. The Red Sea was suggested as a great venue for this as was the St Lawrence Seaway. And we've also had some requests for a smaller say 'couples' trip for say 6-8 people. We have a limited number of couples but this could be great for them.

So let us know what you think we should do!

[Landlocked Dive Nut]

We've kicked around Thailand once or twice in discussion. The Red Sea is another dream trip, and the Maldives too. The farther I go, the longer I want to stay to make the long travel worthwhile.....

For planning, I can do one "dream trip" and two Caribbean trips each year, between Feb 1 and Sep 30.....as long as the job holds out! I don't mind diving the same places, because the reefs & sea life change constantly.

Just my 2psi!

[uwfan]

I have a rigid schedule when it comes to when I can dive and for obvious reasons (knowing I teach in a public school) summers are best for me for long trips. My summer for 2010 looks like it starts June 8th after I adjust for the "special" schedule I have as a librarian. It will run through July and possibly the first week of August, my crystal ball stops at the end of the 2009-2010 school year calendar. The 2009-2010 school year starts Aug 11 for me and it will be roughly the same for Aug 2010.

Other times I can dive are Dec 19, 2009- Jan 3, 2010 and March 27 - April 5, 2010. I might be able to use a personal day or two here or there, but not typically connected to any of these dates.

So, best dates for me....Dec 19, 2009 - Jan 3, 2010...March 27 - April 5... June 8th through about Aug 7....

I'll be looking for more value type trips (Caribbean, Cozumel, or Florida) versus dream trips ...

Cenotes and Holbox interest me.

[lynnlchan]

I love diving with SD and what I love even more is getting out of the cold for a week in the Dec. to March time frame. That would be me - so cold I'm blue... I'm all for a winter trip. The diving is great here in the summer. You've never seen so many shades of brown.

Couples trips sound fun but is there any reason they can't go on the regular trips? As part of a couple it doesn't matter if I'm socializing with singles or couples. The mix is interesting.

As a new-ish diver, there are so many cool places to see that I'd rather spend money doing multiple reasonable trips as opposed to one longer 'dream' trip.

[georoc01]

I'd like to see what the status is on doing Truk lagoon and what training I am going to continue to work on for that trip between now and then if its still on this point as that is going to be an expensive trip too.

[WreckWench]

I'd like to see what the status is on doing Truk lagoon and what training I am going to continue to work on for that trip between now and then if its still on this point as that is going to be an expensive trip too.

Truk is REALLY up in the air. It is a very expensive trip and we were going to split a boat with a group that are friends of mine. Currently they have cancelled their reservation and I have to decide if someone besides you and me want to go.

[TRINITY]

I think as the economy continues to slide into the depths, more local trips, <2000 miles from the US, might make the most sense. Difficult to plan out a couple years to the trip of a lifetime, if your job may be in question before you leave.
I have to take 2 of the 6 paid weeks of vaca. in the winter months, Dec.-Mar. and it is a nice break from the cold to go somewhere warm, heck we dive the cold of the Great Lakes all summer! I just got back from Cozy and I met more people from Northern US states that start with M,,, (Minn, Mich. Maine, Mont.) while in Mexico then ALL of the southern half of the US, combined.
Wander the streets of Cozy and you now see the boarded up shops, seems its true when the US sneezes, the rest of the world gets a cold. I've dove in the Galapagos and the diving there is dandy, but the trip is expensive, (I am but a simple tradesman) I would not sign up for it right now. I hope to see lots of the South Pacific someday, but unfortunately there may be 6 feet of dirt over my head before there's 6 feet of, "lots" of the South Pacific over it. I would prefer to go on two $1500 trips a year then one $3000.

[TRINITY]

OK it does appear I need to correct my own response, it would seem * that Wolf and Darwin and perhaps the remainder of the Galapagos, are within the 2000 miles of say, Brownsville, TX



* That's measured with a tape measure on a globe with a couple beers in me, (not a GPS) so lets change that to, air miles,,, smile,,,,,T

[georoc01]

I find myself in the same situation of debating one big trip vs smaller trips. And example has been the debate on doing Belize vs Fiji. It is almost exactly 2 to 1 in pricing with just about the same number of dives.

My thought was to plan one big trip two years out in Truk and then do smaller trips between now and then to get as much diving in as I could and prepare for it. However, if that trip is out, I may need to re-evaluate my plans.

Part of it is also scheduling. Beyond the May trips, I run into scheduling conflicts right up to Cozumel. I'd love to do Galapagos, but it doesn't look like I can get the time off. Maybe the Mona trip?

I know I enjoyed the liveaboard in Australia and would like to do another one of those. We will see.

[scubajunkie6]

Well fitting into the category of having a 10 year old son (almost 11), it does make dive trips tricky. I've always had some guilt in asking someone to watch him when I'm off in some tropical island. I would be interested in taking a trip that has access to a kidsseacamp type of deal, where he could get Jr. certified while hubby/Mark and I go out diving with SD.

We are interested in taking a trip to the Flower Gardens, as we've never done that. Having met many SD people, I'd prefer to go on a trip with SD then on a trip with nobody I know.

And yes, like the other posts, ditto on the pricing. I think getting a less expensive trip allows for (hopefully) more than one trip. Now having said that, Mark is interested in Red Sea, because only one of us could go, and I'm doing Fiji this year.

-Margaret

[WreckWench]

OK it does appear I need to correct my own response, it would seem * that Wolf and Darwin and perhaps the remainder of the Galapagos, are within the 2000 miles of say, Brownsville, TX



* That's measured with a tape measure on a globe with a couple beers in me, (not a GPS) so lets change that to, air miles,,, smile,,,,,T

I think I like your math! Me being and all!

[WreckWench]

I find myself in the same situation of debating one big trip vs smaller trips. And example has been the debate on doing Belize vs Fiji. It is almost exactly 2 to 1 in pricing with just about the same number of dives.

Time vs money...some only have one vacation so opt for the more expensive or luxurious trip. Also the Belize trip this year is a bit of an anomolie. Usually the Carribbean trips are $1200 range + air of $600 so easily $2k. The Fiji trip in this case includes air for $2995. Many people think diving in the other pond is worth the $900. Plus there is NO shore diving in Belize where we are going but excellent shorediving in Fiji.

My thought was to plan one big trip two years out in Truk and then do smaller trips between now and then to get as much diving in as I could and prepare for it. However, if that trip is out, I may need to re-evaluate my plans.

Part of why we are having this discussion now. So far only 2 people want to do Truk...you and me! People do not have the money or are still leary of spending it. Sadly Truk has not come down in price yet...I am asking if they will. It may be such a thing as we offer Truk as part of a "Deals" offering vs. a group trip offering. The entire industry is in change right now and we are working to see how we fit in and how to keep offering great trips for our members!

Part of it is also scheduling. Beyond the May trips, I run into scheduling conflicts right up to Cozumel. I'd love to do Galapagos, but it doesn't look like I can get the time off. Maybe the Mona trip?

Galapagos is worthy of trying to get the time off. Fewer and fewer boats are getting permits...and the few boats with them are JACKING PRICES SKYHIGH!!! It is now easily $1000 more to do the Galapagos than a little over a year ago. There is no end in sight to this trend.

I know I enjoyed the liveaboard in Australia and would like to do another one of those. We will see.

I LOVED diving there and one of our favorite vendors unexpectedly sold its boat to a world health organization so does not have a boat in Australia right now. With the economy they may pick up a good deal on one and have it ready to go again depending on what happens to the dive industry in general. In the meantime the only other options are a boat that carries 24/26 passengers and one that carries 36 passengers. Both of which are too large to charter the whole boat (ours was only 16 divers) and if you can't charter the whole boat then you do several 3/4 day itineraries back to back vs one 7 or 8 day itinerary like we did. What this means is you repeat most of what you are seeing and spend lots of time 'steaming' back and forth rather than diving like we did when we when WAY UP NORTH and dove almost continuously with very little steaming except for some in the beginning and the end.

[WreckWench]

Well fitting into the category of having a 10 year old son (almost 11), it does make dive trips tricky. I've always had some guilt in asking someone to watch him when I'm off in some tropical island. I would be interested in taking a trip that has access to a kidsseacamp type of deal, where he could get Jr. certified while hubby/Mark and I go out diving with SD.

Hey girl...I AM seeing what would happen if we offered in 2010 a trip for parents and kids...and I know the founder of KidsSeaCamp very well. We are looking at working together!

We are interested in taking a trip to the Flower Gardens, as we've never done that. Having met many SD people, I'd prefer to go on a trip with SD then on a trip with nobody I know.

The Flower Gardens is awesome...the only problem we have is now there is ONLY ONE boat in the FG and it may be for sale. The current owners usually book with dive shops and rarely dive clubs...even HUGE ONES LIKE US! If the boat is sold this may change. In the meantime even when she did offer us some dates (yes I kept working with her) it was for a two day Thursday-Friday option only and all of the dates for 09 that she had available overlapped a trip we had already. They will not open up their 2010 calendar until Nov/Dec of 2009 and I'm trying to get 2010 set up NOW.

And yes, like the other posts, ditto on the pricing. I think getting a less expensive trip allows for (hopefully) more than one trip. Now having said that, Mark is interested in Red Sea, because only one of us could go, and I'm doing Fiji this year.

-Margaret

To you and EVERYONE else who has commented so far...

[fairfield59]

I just read a trip report about El Galleon Resort and Asia Divers, Puerto Galera, in the Phillipines, and saw that a 10 day trip, lodging, meals and up to 4 dives a dive was running $1600 plus air. It's the "air" that kills me, because in this case it would double the price of the trip.

[WreckWench]

I just read a trip report about El Galleon Resort and Asia Divers, Puerto Galera, in the Phillipines, and saw that a 10 day trip, lodging, meals and up to 4 dives a dive was running $1600 plus air. It's the "air" that kills me, because in this case it would double the price of the trip.

Yes we can do two luxury resortsin Puerto Galara and Dumagette for almost 2 weeks including the air from LAX for $3k. But the air is almost as much as the trip.