I've got a few spaces available on two Raja Ampat Liveabaord DIVE/PHOTO/VIDEO trips in November 2009.
Both are 11 night trips. $3755+.
Nov 12-23, 2009 (filling 3 cancellations)
Nov 26-Dec 7, 2009
I will consider a deal of some sort if 3 spaces are booked and paid together. The Nov 12 has a guaranteed single cabin available for a diver who prefers to have her/his own cabin (+cost) or all can be double occ. No single supplement if you are a single willing to share a cabin.
These will be the 5th and 6th trips I've run to Raja Ampat this year and I've lost count, but perhaps 23rd or 24th in total since '99. I've cut back to only 1 publicly available trip in 2010 (dates are Nov 11-22, 2010) so if you've thought about making one of my trips and can get away in November '09, these trips are some of the few chances to join us for a couple of years. I'll still be running some private trips with divers / video / photographers who have been with us before but basically, though I LOVE LOVE LOVE going to Raja Ampat, after 11 years I need some time for my own holidays (which these trips are NOT for me).
At the end of this post, I'll refer to one of my other trip postings for details. But basically we (guests and I) go for the DIVING, the PHOTOS, the VIDEO & the companionship of those who are going for the same reason.
I organize each trip so that we maximize our time underwater in the best spots for photo/video. We don't teach or do seminars; there is no time for it -- we are all in the water diving (though we, and our guests, are more than willing to offer the odd bit of advice now and again, if asked). I don't hold hands (although my guides may!). Though the ship is comfortable, it is not the top luxury live-aboard in the world; but for diving it works better than any one I know. Experienced divers who want to see a LOT, who want many chances to work on their photos/video, and who want to spend a lot of time observing marine life behavior will be happy on these trips. Those who want to sleep in and sip margaritas likely won't.
I work very VERY hard to be sure everyone arrives rested and gets to the ship with all their bags ready to board at 9am on day one; unlike most ships we start diving on arrival day. I'm bringing in a cruise director and divemasters I think are exceptional (as do former guests) -- a team I've worked with for several years. These trips will be with experienced crew, not newbies, and not expat divemasters that are working their way around the world -- no one that is learning the area. Our guests are always very impressed with the crew, the camera handling, and the personalities.
The photo ops don't go to big names, hot shots, or us.. they go to our guests. Between dives I will show some video from the previous dive so that everyone can get ideas of what they may want to photo or video on their next dive. I'm nearly always available to critique images and offer suggestions (assuming I'm not resolving some problem, arranging the next dive, or had one too many Bintang).
We spit the divers into 4 teams, alternate entries, drop in different spots to minimize butts and bubbles in photos and queues for a special photo op. Each team has a divemaster. Each trip is limited to 12 guests.
The Nov. 12-23 trip is mostly couples from the USA.
The Nov. 26 - Dec. 7 trip - mostly singles from all over the world.
The original post for these trips is http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=26483
I will help organize International flights for those who book -- recent prices range from $679 to $824 from USA to Indonesia. And I always organize the flights, necessary hotels and side trips within Indonesia.
These are my best trips, Sorong-Sorong round trip, so we are not doing long cruises each night and do have the opportunity to revisit a special site if conditions are not right in the beginning of the trip or if divers aboard fall in love with a site and want another chance at it (this happens frequently..)..
For more details you can visit my webpages at www.cityseahorse.com/rajaampat or better yet, send an email to tours@cityseahorse.com or call 817.626.0626 in Texas so we can see if this is the right trip for you.
Cheers!
DebF (Deb Fugitt)
www.cityseahorse.com/rajaampat
tours@cityseahorse.com
817.626.0626 in Texas
