READ ALL ABOUT OUR GREAT WHITE TRIP AND SPECTACULAR PICTURES HERE!
VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!! BRING A BUDDY AND GET A CHANCE TO WIN THIS TRIP FREE! BRING TWO AND GET TWO CHANCES TO WIN!!!
or
REFER A DIVER WHO SIGNS UP FOR THIS TRIP AND YOU CAN WILL A FREE SPOT FOR YOURSELF!!!
Two ways to WIN and two ways to help SingleDivers.com fill this trip!
Yes you read that right. If you are on this trip and you get someone to join this trip you'll have a chance to win this trip for free! If you get 2 people to go you'll have 2 chances to win this trip for free. If you are not on the trip but you get someone to go then you can win this trip for free and join them. Get 2 or 3 people to go and you'll have 2-3 chances to win a free spot for yourself!
So lets see who wants to dive for free???
Guadalupe Great White Sharks Cage Diving, All Inclusive Nautilus Explorer Liveaboard
SAVE $100 ON ANY VIP BOOKING BY
Oct 8th to Oct 13, 2007 (7 days/6 nites) 24 spots only...4 already booked. 3 levels of staterooms & $150 of each spot sold goes to SHARK PROTECTION & PRESERVATION!!
1. Executive VIP Suite Shared Occupancy - 1 King or 2 Twins (4 spots or 2 rooms) @ 3185.00 pp - Avail: (2 spots)
2. Stateroom Shared Occupancy (18) @ 2785.00 pp - Avail: (10)
3. Dorm Bunks (2) @ 2385.00 pp - Avail: (0)
Background:
STOP THE PRESSES! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!! Everyone, Kamala phoned me with some great news for those of us who want to see great white sharks! We don't have to wait until 2008! Thanks to the SingleDivers.com group's charm aboard the Nautilus Explorer recently, the captain and crew were so impressed with everyone on that trip that they've offered Kamala the only remaining itinerary for 2007 to Guadalupe! And so it happened that so many of you started telling people about this trip and its a reality!
I WANT TO GO! I WANT TO GO! I REALLY WANT TO GO!!! THIS IS MY DREAM DIVE! I REALLY WANT TO SEE GREAT WHITES BEFORE I DIE CAVE DIVING OR WHILE MOUNTAINEERING OR PERISHING IN A FREAK TOFU ACCIDENT! Who can do this??? Would this be the conical tooth challenge??? Trace
Who's Going:
1. Kamala aka Wreck Wench - TX - Stateroom (pd) - Waiver/Survey
2. William aka WRW - Stateroom d/o (pd - less early bird $50), Survey/Waiver
3. Rosa aka divegirl412 - VIP d/o (pd less $100 VIP disc)Survey/Waiver
4. Butch aka Cajun diver-tx -stateroom (pd) d/oSurvey/Waiver
5. Ray aka Latitude Adjustment - stateroom (pd) d/o Survey/Waiver
6. Adam aka adam12Diver - (pd) VIP d/o - Survey/Waiver
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FULL!
Check in the Mail:
1. Caroline aka Caroline Divine Bunk
2. Nick aka Nick Young Bunk
Interested in Going:
1. Moose
Chance to win a PREHISTORIC GREAT WHITE TOOTH:
We are going to make this trip a bit more fun...win a chance to own a prehistoric great white shark tooth! Several will be given away to the participants of this trip. OTWDiver of Off The Wall Diving Charters has found some prized Great White Shark's teeth in the Cooper River and has offered us several for members on our trip. To qualify anyone who books and deposits this trip before
Those in the running for the first one of these rare artifacts so far include:
1. Trace aka TraceMalin
2. William aka WRW
3. Rosa aka DiveGirl412
4. Larry aka Orcaman
Why is Guadalupe so special for the Great Whites?
This diving is simply too extraordinary to pass up and NE has been offering their own scheduled great white shark trips since September 2006. They use surface supplied air (hookah) rather than scuba which means you do not have to be an experienced scuba diver to get in the water with the sharks! The cages are large and uncrowded and very well suited for photography. Guests will be accommodated in (4) cages, each one 9' long and very comfortable for (3) divers. Each cage has wraparound bilevel viewing ports set up so that photographers can have the most unobstructed view possible (without corner posts) while either standing up or kneeling on the bottom of the cage. (2) of the cages float behind the Nautilus. The other (2) cages trail from a boom on each side of the ship offering a 360view of the shark action as well as the occasional startling moment when a great white appears from behind! Please remember that while past white shark sightings have been excellent and continuous all day long, these are wild animals and there is no guarantee that all future trips will have the same number of sightings. These trips are very photographer centric and you can absolutely and positively bring as much camera gear as you need - they ask that you hold your personal and dive gear (mask, snorkel and exposure suit) to one bag but it is no problem to bring multiple camera bags.
Advantages of diving with Mexican great whites vs. South African great whites:
1) The water is WARM not cold.
2) Airfare is $300.00 for the average traveler and a couple hours in flight to San Diego rather than $2000.00 and 15 or so hours in flight to Cape Town or Durban.
3) THE SHARKS ARE GUARANTEED COMPARED TO AFRICA!!!
4) We'll be on a luxury liveaboard rather than heading out from port each day.
5) I personally met a divemaster couple who did this trip while I was wreck diving this summer and they said it was the dive of a lifetime. - TraceMalin
6) The boat has a sparkling clear fresh water hot tub
7) 2 different sun decks with lots of deck chairs and really comfortable main salon
8) While I don't drink, the ships bar has 30 different microbrews, extensive wine list and a great selection of single malts for those who do.
What we'll see and a typical agenda for a Great White Gaudalupe Trip...WE"LL BE DIVING ON HOOKA SO EVEN NON-CERTIFIED DIVERS CAN ENJOY THIS GREAT ADVENTURE! (Final agenda set by the boat.) :
There will be 3 full days of cage diving on your trip. Our 4 cages are usually in the water by 6:30 a.m. and hopefully the sharks will show up shortly afterwards. We put a maximum of 3 divers in each cage -- 2 of the cages will be deployed off the transom and the other 2 cages will each be
trailed from an overside boom hence becoming "360-view". Divers will initially have the opportunity to rotate "1 hour in, 1 hour out" of the cages. Really keen divers are usually able to get additional cage time on Day 2 and 3 in addition to the 1 hour rotation. The cages will be pulled out of the water by 6:30 pm. on Day 1 and 2 and 5:00 pm. on Day 3 (unless there is an irresistable amount of action going on). You may not dive outside of the cage. Our cages were custom designed and built from smoothly welded 1 1/2" schedule 80 pipe to be as safe as possible as well as super photographer friendly and most importantly, not to allow cage incursions or other injury to these magnificent white sharks.
What's included:
• You get cozy staterooms with side-by-side beds, private heads with showers, central air conditioning that delivers three air changes every hour and an exceptionally clean and well maintained boat.
• Lower deck cabins are 88 square feet and have their own portholes, while the larger hot tub deck executive suites are 144 square feet and have large windows, wardrobe and desk and a door to the outside deck.
• Food is a cornerstone of life onboard and we feature 4 star fresh and interesting cuisine with a mix of western and mexican menu items, breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets with some sitdown meals, hearty snacks and tasty appetizers and maybe even a barbeque on the upper deck or onshore.
• All non-alchoholic beverages including juice and pop are included.
• Daily room service and nightly turndown.
• Towels, bathrobe and Holey Soles provided for your use.
• Marine ID classes, kayak and sailing lessons. (Use of kayaks limited to non-shark diving excursions)
• SD.com famous "Meet & Greet" Welcome Party
• Daily SD.com "H20" Happy Hours in the HOT TUB!!! Note: Alcohol is available on the boat and is extra.)
• White/Grey SD T-Shirt typically with funny saying on the back commemorating the trip!
• Diving Gifts and Giveaways from various SD Vendor Partners when available
• 2nd Annual ScubaToys and SingleDivers.com Photo Contest with exceptional prizes for the winners. (Full details to be posted separately.)
Optional services available for a very reasonable charge:
• Alcoholic beverages (we stock over 30 micro brews and a great selection of wines and single malts).
• Gift shop purchases
• SD T-Shirt Color Upgrade: The trip comes with a white SD t-shirt which can be upgraded to black or purple for $7, subject to availability.
Not Included:
• US $65 pp port fee
• Air to San Deigo Airport
Other Important Trip Details:
Transfers:
If you are staying in a hotel prior to boarding the vessel:
We kindly ask that guests remember to keep their suitcases zipped closed when not in use. We have found that even the nicest hotels have those pesky pests and they would probably love to jump in for a free ride to the Nautilus! Also, please do not bring any corrugated cardboard products onboard.
Airport to Ramada Inn:
The Ramada Inn offers courtesy transfers to/from the airport.
From Ramada Inn to Guadalupe:
Departure Date Mon Oct 8 2007. Divers will meet at Ramada Inn San Diego Airport (619-225-9461) no later than 6:30pm (The boat recommends grabbing an early dinner from one of excellent restaurants on the waterfront immediately across from the hotel.) Our chartered coach boards in San Diego at 7:00 pm for a 2 hr transfer to Ensenada, Mexico and the waiting Nautilus Explorer not to mention margaritas upon disembarking!
Pre- and Post- Departure Information:
1. Departure Date Mon Oct 8 2007. Divers will meet at Ramada Inn San Diego Airport (619-225-9461) no later than 6:30pm
2. The boat recommends grabbing an early dinner from one of excellent restaurants on the waterfront immediately across from the hotel.
3. Our chartered coach boards in San Diego at 7:00 pm for a 2 hr transfer to Ensenada, Mexico and the waiting Nautilus Explorer not to mention margaritas upon disembarking!
4. The ship will be ready for boarding at 9:30 pm. Transit time southbound to Isla Guadalupe is usually around 19 - 20 hours and the downhill ride should be pretty smooth.
5. Coach transfers returning to San Diego on Sat Oct 13 2007 at approx. 7:00 pm (Some will try for a
RedEye out that night and others will choose to stay over until the 14th.
6. Prices above do not include air but do include ALL taxes except US$65 pp port fee. (Note: There may be an add'l fuel surcharge if fuel skyrockets again.)
Water Temperatures in the Sea of Cortez:
You can expect water temps in the high 60's to low 70's and a number of our guests bring gloves and a hood as well. I find that I am fine in a 5 mm wetsuit (comment by Captain Mike).
Captain's Logs:
2006-09-19
Day 1 of our Guadalupe great white shark 06 season. Our new cages are working really well and are far more stable than the ones we used last year. I'm really pleased with them. Sturdy gangplanks, DUI weight harnesses and 25 foot whips on the 2nd stage regulators are all big improvements as well.. We started chumming at 0615 this morning and had a bit of a slow start with our first white shark sighting at 0830. But we have had a couple of great encounters since then and everybody onboard is very "buzzed" and excited. Captain Mike
2006-09-22
Saw 3 blue whales an hour ago!! Of course we stopped and watched them for a while. I thought that 40 ton humpback whales were big but these guys are enormous. Their bodies just seemed to go on and on as they prepared to "tail fluke" and do their deep dives. Also saw a mola mola or sunfish as we were drifting along with the blue whales. What a great ending to our first great white shark trip of the season.. Captain Mike
2006-10-09
Great sharking this morning!! We are back on station with the great white sharks of Guadalupe Island and conditions could not be more different than they were on our last trip. The seas are calm and winds are light and variable. We are anchored next to the Ocean Odyssey from San Diego, California and we have both been getting lots of great (no pun intended) shark action this morning. A 14.5 foot female has been especially cooperative and ducking and weaving back and forth and all around our cages for most of the morning. She doesn't have any tags and is remarkably free of scars or markings - I'm pretty sure that she is the great white shark known as Snow White. Captain Mike.
2006-10-10
Another beautiful day on station with the great white sharks of Guadalupe Island. We were joined this morning by another dive boat - the Ocean Odyssey from San Diego. It's always nice to have company out here. Mauricio Hoyes and Dr. John Kelly, 2 of our favourite shark research scientists, have been out in the inflatable with a rotating crew of guests chuming and tracking the great whites. They managed to place a telemetry tag on a 3 metre male shark today and have been tracking it ever since. This particular animal hung off the back of the Nautilus Explorer for 20 minutes after it was tagged and then went deep and has been circling around our anchorage ever since. It is absolutely fascinating to watch the track of the inflatable as Mauricio and John use their telemetry gear to stay on top of the shark. There is no doubt that we are anchored right at a "hot spot" for great white sharks.. Captain Mike.
2006-10-12
The conditions at sea are fantastic today. It has been absolutely calm since we left Guadalupe Island yesterday evening enroute to Ensenada, Mexico. The seas are so flat that it is like we are still in the harbour. Beautiful. We just finished drifting with a loose pod of blue whales off Ensenada. I'm pretty sure that one of them came over to check us out - there we were drifting along with the engines out of gear with an enormous (and these guys really are ENORMOUS) surfaced and blew 50 feet off the side of the boat. He suprised the heck out of all of us. It was great!!! Today is a wrap on the Light and Motion and Backscatter sponsored HD Odyssey (high defintion video). Our guests got some great footage of the Guadalupe great white sharks and I was blown away by the quality of the videos that were presented last night. Captain Mike
How to Book a Spot on this Trip:
1. Post in this thread that you plan to join us and your check or payment is in the mail or on it's way. We'll then put your name on the 'check's in the mail' list.
2. Fill out the Trip Rooming & Diving Survey plus the SingleDivers.com Medical Liability Release which you'll find under "Stuff you need to know for ALL SingleDivers.com trips & activities!" or click here to link to it. (Send a PM or an email to scubapunk@singledivers.com for the password.) Email your signed and scanned Release form, as well as your survey to Trips@singledivers.com. If you do not have access to a scanner then fax your Release form to Kamala. DO NOT FAX OR MAIL YOUR SURVEYS TO KAMALA.
3. Send your deposit for the trip and/or monies due based upon the payment schedule posted above and payment options. If you need to make special arrangements about payments with me please contact me and I'll gladly work with you.
Discounts:
1. SingleDiver.com Premier Membership Rebate <$25>
2. Early Bird Booking Discount if deposited by 2/01/07 <$50>
3. Add'l $100 off any VIP booking if deposited by 2/1/07
4. Note: Prices reflect a cash discount. If paying via paypal or credit card please add 3% processing fee.
5. Chance to win PREHISTORIC GREAT WHITE SHARK TEETH RARE ARTIFACTS! Book and deposit by April 1st for chance at first Great White Tooth and then when the trip is full we'll do a second drawing for another prehistoric Great White Shark Tooth!
Deposit Information:
1. $500 deposit required to hold a spot on this trip. (It will be opened up to other diving groups so the spots won't last long!)
2. Receipt of Deposit by 2/1/05 receives $50 off the trip price for early bird booking and payment and as always premier and charter members receive an additional $25 member discount.
3. To secure a spot on this limited availability trip either payment in full or a $500 deposit must be rec'd or the spot you hope to have may be taken by another diver. Unless arrangements are made prior with me, missing a deposit deadline can cause your spot to be released to another customer.
4. Deposit Schedule:
a. $500 due at booking to hold your reservation for trip
b. 33% of trip total due Mar 8, 2007
c. 33% of trip total due June 8, 2007
d. 33% of trip less $500 and member discounts Aug 8, 2007
Payment Information:
Please add 3% if paying via paypal or credit card.
If paying via credit card (Visa, MC, Diners) download the SD Credit Card Authorization Form, complete and fax to 214-350-2558. Click here for the form.
If paying via paypal go to www.PayPal.com and send payment to kamala@singledivers.com Be sure to include your address, contact number, screen name and trip name in the details section.
If paying via check or money order, please send payment to:
Kamala Shadduck
SingleDivers.com
3957 Gaspar Ste#200
Dallas, TX 75220
214-350-7003
kamala@singledivers.com
We must have your name, address, screen name and trip name in the memo section of the check to be credited properly for this trip
PLEASE obtain trip insurance ...it is VERY inexpensive and will protect your investment. You can purchase it right online as well as check quotes etc. It is very economical and averages about $ for this trip.
Click here for a free quote or to purchase online!
or
Click here for another provider that provides excellent rates and coverage!
Communication / Emergency contact info:
A handheld satellite phone is available onboard with airtime charges of USD3.00 per minute. If a family member, friend or business associate needs to urgently reach you, they can either send an e-mail to: info@nautilusexplorer with the following subject heading: e-mail for John Doe, guest onboard the Nautilus Explorer with plain text formatting of the e-mail. Html e-mails will be transferred to plain text and thus, some information and pictures may be lost. OR call our office, toll free 1-888-434-8322 and a message will be passed to the ship via Inmarsat C satellite telex. If our answering service picks up the phone (rather than someone in our office), the caller should state that it is urgent or an emergency and ask that our duty officer be contacted. Non urgent emails can be forwarded to the ship as well but USD5.00 per incoming email will be charged to the recipients onboard account.
Edited by WreckWench, 20 October 2007 - 02:28 PM.