Club meeting notes 2-Nov-2018

We had a good group including some new members attend our club meeting! Welcome Patrick!

November meeting

Our next dive club meeting will be Nov 2nd at 6:30pm at Below H20 in Naperville.  Hope a lot of our members can attend.  Anyone interested in joining club please feel free to attend.

Club meeting notes 12-Oct-2018

Here are some notes from the dive club meeting on 12-Oct-2018. Thanks to everyone who attended and shared the pizzas together!

Please review the slides, especially the end ones regarding Blue Herron Bridge. If you’d like to help, consider adding your name to the petition: https://www.change.org/p/end-collection-removal-of-marine-life-from-phil-foster-park-by-tropical-fish-collectors

Club Calendar

2019

January 12th  Club party(Dan & Anne’s house)

Club meeting notes 14-Sep-2018

Here are the notes from the club meeting on 14-Sep-2018.

Club meeting notes: 3-Aug-2018

Here are the meeting notes from 3-Aug-2018. We reviewed the “Socorro” trip from June 2018 and introduced *two* new liveaboard trips we’re planning for 2020!

Next meeting: 14-Sep-2018

Bottom Breathers Liveaboard: 31-Jul-*2020* – Guadalupe White Shark Cage Dives

Updated: 23-Jul-2018, 28 berths remaining!

We are going to see great white sharks from underwater cages. This boat runs 5 cages–some at the surface and some submersible. This isn’t normal scuba diving as you won’t have scuba gear (no BCD, no fins, no tank). Instead, you’ll wear an exposure suit, some weight and stand in a cage while breathing from a 2nd stage regulator supplied from surface via long hoses. There’s no chum in the water (that’s not allowed by law), but they do bait the sharks using fish heads on ropes that they throw into the water to draw the sharks in for viewing.

This trip will be on board the Nautilus Belle Amie for 5 days. The trip departs from San Diego, CA (airport: SAN) on 31-Jul-2020 and returns on 5-Aug-2020. We’ll have one day of transit each direction and 3 full days of cage diving at Guadalupe.

Where: Guadalupe Island (Mexico), departing from and returning to Ensanada, Mexico (private bus transportation from/to San Diego, CA – about 2h ride)
When: Depart Ensenada on 31-Jul-2020, return 5-Aug-2020
Who: Bottom Breathers Dive Club has the whole boat reserved for now – up to 32 (cage) divers!!
Boat: Nautilus Belle Amie (video about the boat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EZD04hwxtg)

Cost (per person – availability as of 23-Jul-2018):

• Premium Suite – $4,295 – main deck
• Superior Suite – $3,695 – upper deck
• Stateroom – $3,195 – lower deck
• Single Stateroom – $3,994 – lower deck rooms for single diver
• Triple Stateroom – $2,895 – lower deck room with 3 bunks (only 2 occupants allowed)

Every room has a private bathroom in the room. Each room has two bunks (except for triple room). The Superior Suite rooms can be rearranged so that the two bunks are pushed together into a queen sized bed.

Payment:

• $100 deposit to reserve a spot (per diver, non-refundable)
• 10% due 31-Jan-2019 (18 months from trip)
• 10% due 31-Oct-2019 (9 months from trip)
• 20% due 31-Jan-2020 (6 months from trip)
• balance due (about 60%) 1-Jun-2020 (2 months from trip)

Cancelation policy:

• $100 deposit is non-refundable
• 18-9 months prior to departure, 10% of the trip price is forfeit
• 9-6 months prior to departure, 20% of the trip price is forfeit
• 6-2 months prior to departure, 40% of the trip price is forfeit
• 2 months or less prior to departure, 100% of the trip price is forfeit

Of course, we will likely stay in San Diego for a day or two before and after the trip and would love for more to join us. You can’t book flights this far in advance, but a quick look at flights from ORD (to SAN) shows airfares less than $400 per person (rt).

First come, first served!

Look forward to another great trip with Bottom Breathers!

Contact info@bottombreathers.org for more information or to reserve a spot on the trip!

Dan & Anne

Bottom Breathers Liveaboard: 29-Jan-*2020* – Socorro

Updated: 14-Sep-2018, 9 berths remaining!

As many of you know, our planned Socorro trip in June 2018 didn’t go as planned due to hurricanes. We ended up diving in the Sea of Cortez instead of Socorro. So, we’re going to do it again, but for real this time! To avoid the bad weather time, we’re going in a different season…humpback whale season!

We’ll see mantas, sharks, sharks, sharks, maybe dolphins, mantas, sharks, puffers, octopus, and lots more (did I say sharks?)! This trip will be on board the Nautilus Belle Amie for 9 days. The trip departs from Cabo San Lucas (airport: SJD) on 29-Jan-2020 and returns on 6-Feb-2020.

Found some great videos from other folks who have been on this boat and itinerary:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG84Qkua6qQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Xr8lQ8jME
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsty2RDyrRo

Where: Socorro Islands (Mexico), departing from and returning to Cabo San Lucas
When: Depart Cabo San Lucas on 29-Jan-2020, return 6-Feb-2020
Who: Bottom Breathers Dive Club has the whole boat reserved for now – up to 30 divers!!
Boat: Nautilus Belle Amie (video about the boat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EZD04hwxtg)

Cost (per person – availability as of 14-Sep-2018):

• Premium Suite – $4,695 – main deck, 1 berth available (male)
• Superior Suite – $4,095 – upper deck, SOLD OUT
• Stateroom – $3,595 – lower deck, 8 berths available
• Single Stateroom – $4,494 – lower deck rooms for single diver, SOLD OUT
• We will not use the triple/quad occupancy stateroom shown in boat layout.

Every room has a private bathroom in the room. Each room has two bunks (except for single rooms). The Superior Suite rooms can be rearranged so that the two bunks are pushed together into a queen sized bed.

Since this trip is a little more expensive than our past trips (but it’s worth the money), we’re starting even earlier to give everyone time to save and budget for this great opportunity to dive a spectacular site.

Payment:

• $100 deposit to reserve a spot (per diver, non-refundable)
• 10% due 29-Jul-2018 (18 months from trip) upon reservation
• 10% due 29-Apr-2019 (9 months from trip)
• 20% due 29-Jul-2019 (6 months from trip)
• balance due (about 60%) 30-Nov-2019 (2 months from trip)

Cancelation policy:

• $100 deposit is non-refundable
• 18-9 months prior to departure, 10% of the trip price is forfeit
• 9-6 months prior to departure, 20% of the trip price is forfeit
• 6-2 months prior to departure, 40% of the trip price is forfeit
• 2 months or less prior to departure, 100% of the trip price is forfeit

Of course, we will likely stay in Cabo San Lucas for a day or two before and after the trip and would love for more to join us. You can’t book flights this far in advance, but a quick look at flights from ORD (to SJD) shows airfares less than $400 per person (rt).

First come, first served!

Look forward to another great trip with Bottom Breathers!

Contact info@bottombreathers.org for more information or to reserve a spot on the trip!

Dan & Anne

Meeting notes 4-May-2018

In case you missed our meeting, here’s what we covered. Note the dates also have been updated for some events.

Club meeting 2-Mar-2018

Thanks to all those who attended our monthly meeting on 2-Mar-2018. Welcome to new member Harold!

Joe & Helen shared their Bonaire trip report and we talked a little more about tips for shore diving. Hope to see lots of you at next month’s meeting too!