Best time to dive PNG
Chris Bergquist
February to end of June
Recommendations on liveaboards? Peter Hughes? FeBrina? Golden Dawn? ???
Thanks in advace.
Daniel Kessler
excellent in terms of weather.
Chris Bergquist
push it out later but "stuff" got in the way.
Quick question. I used to hang out on this news group a lot 3-5 years ago
and there was a lot of activity. I was kind of surprised there has only
been one response to my question on PNG.
Chris
"Daniel Kessler" <dkes...@pop.cybernex.net> wrote in message
news:4B12707A...@pop.cybernex.net...
Greg Mossman
> Thanks Dan. Looks like we are going to have to go in March. I wanted to
> push it out later but "stuff" got in the way.
>
> Quick question. I used to hang out on this news group a lot 3-5 years ago
> and there was a lot of activity. I was kind of surprised there has only
> been one response to my question on PNG.
RSL sort of faded out in the past couple of years. Traffic is maybe
10 posts a month, with at least half of those being spam.
Even rec.scuba finally died this year. RIP rec.scuba.locations and
rec.scuba. I'm guessing that fewer people have newsgroup access
nowadays or have even heard of usenet.
I'd loved to have responded to your PNG question. Alas, I've never
been there. Looking forward to your report.
Chris Bergquist
Chilly, too. Don't see her posts either.
On rec.scuba drying up, I figured as much. I tried a couple SCUBA forums
and didn't have much luck there either.
I'll try to remember to come back and do a report...it will be a long one.
Since I retired last year we try to do a couple short trips and one big one
every year. This one will take us to Fiji for a week then to the Solomons
for a week and then finish off the trip in PNG for 10 days. Total trip with
layovers will be one day short of a month.
Chris
"Greg Mossman" <mos...@qnet.com> wrote in message
news:02e31cbb-ee3d-4115...@z4g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
Greg Mossman
> Hi Greg. I recognize your name from days past. I recall someone named
> Chilly, too. Don't see her posts either.
Unlike rec.scuba, chilly is still alive and well and probably getting
ready to leave for Belize yet again. Me, I'm staying dry until May.
Then Wakatobi here I come!
> On rec.scuba drying up, I figured as much. I tried a couple SCUBA forums
> and didn't have much luck there either.
I check out Scubaboard every once in a while, probably a better chance
of getting a response there though it's also not as popular as it used
to be. I wonder if people aren't diving/traveling as much, or if
they're just not posting as much.
> I'll try to remember to come back and do a report...it will be a long one.
> Since I retired last year we try to do a couple short trips and one big one
> every year. This one will take us to Fiji for a week then to the Solomons
> for a week and then finish off the trip in PNG for 10 days. Total trip with
> layovers will be one day short of a month.
Sounds amazing. I'm not sure if I could handle disappearing for that
long, but then I'm not retired yet either. I had been able to make a
big (14-18 day by my standards) trip annually plus a couple smaller
ones, but we're down to making just one big one for 2009 and so far
just the one planned for 2010 unless things pick up around here. I'm
ashamed to admit I only got in 10 dives in all of 2009 instead of the
60-80 I usually manage. At least I'll be able to get in around 40
dives at Wakatobi but that's still 5 months away :(
Have a great trip!
Daniel Kessler
the best time for diving in PNG...nothing to add to that...would like to return
to Max Benjamin's diving resort on the island of New Britten in PNG...if he is
still running it...some exquisite corals there...one dive site close to the
resort had everything you could want...eel garden on one side and purple
elephant ear...among other u/w glories that would do my heart good to see
again.
-hh
> "Chris Bergquist" <cbergqui...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > On rec.scuba drying up, I figured as much. I tried a couple SCUBA forums
> > and didn't have much luck there either.
>
> I check out Scubaboard every once in a while, probably a better chance
> of getting a response there though it's also not as popular as it used
> to be. I wonder if people aren't diving/traveling as much, or if
> they're just not posting as much.
Probably more the former, due to a combination of a couple of factors,
not the least of which is the current economy.
This also appears to have finally been the "straw that breaks the
camel's back" in terms of industry starting to rebel against the DEMA
Good Olde Boys Club - see:
<http://www.xray-mag.com/en/content/petition-dive-industry-
reunification>
and:
<http://unifieddiveindustry.com>
The basic response from DEMA's Board of Directors is to play games
with CYA from behind their lawyers, and denial over the members'
concerns of poor representation, poor communication, and a lack of
transparency. This is a deathknell for diveshops to receive
marketing support from the organization which they pay into - -
they're probably better off to drop their DEMA Membership ASAP and
buying local advertising...if nothing else, hitting DEMA in their own
pocketbook might finally send a message that they'll understand.
The second part of this is that ever since the Standards got watered
down (the latest phrase I've heard was: "so easy that a 10 year old
can do it in a weekend"), which destroys any niche appeal marketing of
the product. The result is that the 70s and 80s were the heyday of
diving, but OW certs have declined since the 90s, which means no
"fresh young blood" and that it is statistically inevitable for the
average diver age to methodically increase every year, as well as to
shrink in size due to age and attrition - - in a nutshell, the
demographic is going the way of your Father's Oldsmobile: in 10
years, the diver population will for the most part be 10 years older
and of course, also be smaller.
> > I'll try to remember to come back and do a report...it will be a long one.
> > Since I retired last year ...
(what a timely reminder of the aging demographic) Hope you're
enjoying retirement.
> ... I'm not sure if I could handle disappearing for that
> long, but then I'm not retired yet either. I had been able to make a
> big (14-18 day by my standards) trip annually plus a couple smaller
> ones, but we're down to making just one big one for 2009 and so far
> just the one planned for 2010 unless things pick up around here. I'm
> ashamed to admit I only got in 10 dives in all of 2009 instead of the
> 60-80 I usually manage. At least I'll be able to get in around 40
> dives at Wakatobi but that's still 5 months away :(
Plus there's also a lot of local diving that's in decline. This is a
consequence of DEMA shifting its focus to the travel industry years
ago, and the consequence is that the few new young divers aren't
necessarily equipped or interested.
-hh