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Philadelphia region dive shop
495 Easton Rd - Route 611 - Horsham PA 19044 - (215) 672-4180
STORE HOURS: Monday - Friday 1:00 - 9:00 · Saturday 10:00 - 6:00

Underwater World Newsletter

November, 2003

Click here to see past newsletters and informative articles

HOLIDAY SALE

Tis the Season


Check Out These
Regulator Deals

Apex Black Pearl Regulator
So cool looking I got one for myself !!

Aqualung Legend Regulator
High Performance And A Free Reg Bag

Oceanic Zeta CDX Regulator
Save $175 Off List Price


Buoyancy Compensators
Huge Discounts

Aqualung Passport BC
Only $315.00
The Perfect New Travel BC

Oceanic Flex or OceanPro BC
Only $299.00

Sea Quest Pro QD BC
$125 Off List Price


Computer Deals

Aeris Atmos 2 Console -- $549.95 (was $699.00)
With Compass & Integrated Knife

Aeris Atmos AI -- $639.95
Air Integrated & $100.00 Off

Oceanic VersaPro Navcon Computer -- $499.00
Nitrox Compatible With A Compass


Wetsuits Specials

Scubapro Everflex Int Jumpsuits -- $149.00
40 % Off List

Deep See Jumpsuits 3mm
$99.00

Assorted Shorties
$75.00


Holiday Party !!

November 29, 2003
Everyone Welcome !
10:00 - 6:00
Come Check Out Our Unadvertised Specials! Up to 60% Off !


Travel

Well, it has been a quiet year for me, travel-wise but the future looks bright. Besides trips that I will be leading to Little Cayman, Australia and Papua New Guinea, and possibly Grand Cayman, we also have trips going to Bonaire (2), Cancun, the Bahamas, Belize and Cozumel. If you are not on at least one of them, you are missing out. This is the year to make it happen. Check out the details.

Bahamas Weekend – December 5 – 8
I know that as I write this the spots are disappearing for this trip. Waiting to the last minute is getting more and more difficult (and expensive). The price of these seats has gone up over $200 since we started booking this trip. Again, if you are making a last minute decision and want us to check for you, let us know and we will do the best we can.

Carnivale in Bonaire – February 22 – 29
Now we are talking to those of you planning in advance (although not too far in advance). Bonaire is great anytime of year, but a few years ago we scheduled a trip that just happened to coincide with Carnivale. It is like Mardi Gras. Okay, not really. It is Bonaire equivalent of Mardi Gras. They have a parade with floats and street vendors and bands. It is a lot of fun to see how small countries celebrate their holidays. And besides that, there is the great diving that Bonaire has to offer. Bonaire and Little Cayman are my favorite places in the Caribbean. Rich Mampe will be leading this trip and you will find that his expertise as a trip leader will make your trip memorable. The trip includes airfare, condos, 6 boat dives and unlimited beach diving as well as a vehicle for every four people. This will allow you to take advantage of the great beach diving that Bonaire has to offer. The cost of the trip is $1650.00 Get your deposit in now.

Blackbeard’s Cruise — $100 Off --February 21 - 27
Here is the best diving for the money. A week aboard a Blackbeard sailboat. With meals, diving and accommodations included, this is the best deal in diving. Sailing from Miami to the Bahamas (with one night in Bimini), you will get to follow the routes of the old pirate ships. With four to five dives a day and plenty of food, you will want for nothing. And the best part is that the trip is normally $819 plus airfare, but we got a special that will save you $100 off that price. There is also a $55.00 Bahamian Port Tax and airport transfers. So figure $795 plus airfare. Airfare is available for about $165 on Air Trans out of Philadelphia and we can set that up for you. And look below to see how you can spend the week with us at no charge.

Little Cayman – April 24 – May 1
If you were paying attention (see Bonaire), I said that LC is one of my favorite Caribbean locations. And Little Cayman Beach Resort is one of my favorite dive operations. It is really first class. And the food…. wear loose clothes. The Jamaican Chef is great. Now is there anything I didn’t cover. Oh, yes. The diving. Bloody Bay Wall, Jackson Reef, the wreck of the Captain Tibbets off the Brac. Great stuff. LC should be on your must-do list. The trip includes airfare, accommodations, meals, 3 boat dives daily, and transfers (although the plane stops only about 150 yards from the resort). The cost of the trip is $2195 and with everything included it is a good deal and a great trip.

Cozumel – May 1 – 8 (or just a long weekend)
If you are looking for a Springtime vacation. Try our May Cozumel trip. As you may know, we always run an October Cozumel trip, but we have decided that there may be many of our customers for whom October is not the best time. So we are offering both a May and an October trip. We will be staying at Reef Club, an all-inclusive resort, on both of these trips and both trips will be led by our most experienced Cozumel hand – Rich Mampe. We will also be giving you the opportunity to just make this trip a long weekend. You could leave Philadelphia with our group and spend 3 days diving, then depart for home on Wednesday. The cost of the trip is $1450 for the week long trip and $995 for the long weekend.

Belize Aboard The Sun Dancer II
Classy living is the keynote of Peter Hughes boats and the Sun Dancer II is a great example of this. In recent years it has been operated in the waters of Palau. We have chartered half the Sun Dancer for the week of May 8 - 15 for some fabulous diving off the coast of Belize. You will be exploring the second largest barrier reef in the world. (If that is not good enough for you, see below.) The diving offered off the live-aboard is the stuff that the day boats do not easily reach. You will have some great photo opportunities with some excellent macro dives; and this time of year it is not unusual to run into schools of eagle rays and possibly even whale sharks. The trip includes up to 5 dives daily, all your meals, beverages including local alcoholic drinks, and transfers and taxes. The cost is only $1995 plus airfare. Sign up now. There are only 10 spaces.

Diving with the Minke Whales
Australia and Papau New Guinea in July. This is the trip of a lifetime. (Okay, I have a number of those for you to go on, but you have to start somewhere.) Here is the plan. We fly out on July 10th and head for Australia. After an overnight in Cairns we will fly to Lizard Island and board Mike Ball’s Supersport. Starting with a visit to the Cod Hole, we will then head south along the Great Barrier Reef hoping to encounter some migrating Minke whales along the way. This is some great diving (but the best is yet to come). After spending another night in Cairns, we will fly through Port Moresby to Kaveing in Northern PNG. This is on the Bismark Sea where Al lived and worked for 9 months last year. After listening to his descriptions, our mouths were watering. The area has both the big pelagics and the strangest macro creatures that you ever imagined. We will be living aboard and diving off Mike Ball’s Paradise Sport, the nicest liveaboard I have ever been on. Then it is back to Australia and a couple of days to explore the outback or go rafting or just zone out. Following this you have some choices to make. Go home, spend a little more time in Australia, or stopover in Hawaii to make the trip home more enjoyable. All great stuff, I can assure you. If you are interested give me a call. You can do this trip for as little as $5695. It is a great deal but space is limited by the size of the boat.

Bonaire – A Family Adventure
Here is the perfect trip for your family. Or it is a great trip if you want to leave your family home. We have run our August Bonaire trip for 15 years. Here is why it is so popular. August in Bonaire is Family Month. This means that it may be possible for your children 15 and under to stay for free. That makes it a deal. It can be cheaper than renting a house down the shore or in the Outer Banks. And it is a lot more exciting. We use the condos at Lion’s Dive, so you have full kitchens as well as a living room and dining room. That means you can keep some cereal or peanut butter in the fridge to feed the kids and it could seriously trim your food budget. There is great snorkeling right off the beach so the non-divers have something to do. There are some other activities available as well, such as a mangrove kayaking trip that is excellent. You can give your kids memories that they will carry with them forever. The shore will be passé.

Travel Notes
It is important to remember that all prices are based on double occupancy and on current airfares. Unfortunately airfares can change up until we actually purchase the tickets. (Then, of course, the airlines charge a penalty for any changes, if they allow changes). This is usually not a problem, but it can happen. Remember that on most trips you can supply your own airfare. Many people today think that they can find cheaper airfares on the web, and that works fine for us. (See the following article). Also please note that if you are signing up alone, we will try to line up a roommate for you, however, if we cannot there will be an additional charge for a single supplement. Again, this is not something under our control and we must pass this charge along. We also recommend trip cancellation insurance. If you do need to cancel the trip, there may be penalties that are not under our control.


HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

ISC Mini-Quest Dive Slate -- $24.95 Aeris Atmos Wrist Computer -- $189.00
Reefmaster Digital DC-200 Camera -- $299.00Olympus 5mp Digital Camera & Housing -- $725.00
Citizen Aqualand Watches -- 35% OffReef Fish Identification -- $39.95
Oceanic Titanium Knife -- 40% OffICS Toolmaster Multi-tool -- $28.95
Seamaster MotorMarine II 35mm Camera - $295.00Underwater Kinetics Pro-Pak (2 lites & Knife) -- $89.95
Underwater Kinetics HID Light - 30% Off - $189.00Aluminum 80 Cubic Foot Tanks -- $149.00
All Bronze Sculptures -- 40 % OffAqualung V-Tek Split Fin -- $99.00


Savin’ $$$$$$

Here is another money saving idea for you. If you have a DAN Mastercard, you can save up to 3% off your purchases at Underwater World. All you have to do is make your purchases at Underwater World and when the bill comes in circle the charges and fax it to MNBA and they will apply the rebate to you account. And you can save up to $250 a year this way. If you don’t have a DAN card, you can apply at www.DiversAlertNetwork.org. Do it today and save on your Christmas purchases or your next trip. p

Courses

Scuba Diver
Great Christmas Gifts. Our Scuba Diver courses start again right after the first of the year. So a gift certificate for your friends or loved ones is perfect. It solves two problems. Your shopping is taken care of and you have a new dive buddy. Call us for the schedule or check our website at www.diveunderwaterworld.com. We have courses starting in Doylestown, Abington, Ambler, Hatboro, Fairless Hills, Southampton, and more. Do it now.

SPECIALITY COURSES

First Aid / CPR -- January 14 & 21
Not just for diving. If it has been a long time (or never) since you took a first aid/cpr course, you have no excuse. We make it easy for you. It also allows you to get it out of the way so when you take our Rescue Course in June you are ready. Size of the class is limited so sign up now.

Equipment Specialist -- January 14
What makes your equipment tick? Or maybe a better question is what is that ticking sound my equipment is making. Take the Equipment Specialist Course and you will be the expert. Okay, maybe not an expert, but you will be able to diagnose the problem and determine whether it is something that you can repair in the field or if it has to come back to us. This is a fun course and it can be very helpful the next rime you make the mistake of traveling without us.

Dry Suit
This is a great way to extend your diving season or just make yourself more comfortable any time of year. We will spend a night in the classroom, a night in the pool, and then go diving. the cost of the course is $125.00 and we will credit that towards the purchase of a drysuit if you purchase one within 60 days. That makes it a free course. We will be starting the next one on December 3rd.

Nitrox -- December 2 & 9
Another way to get some learnin’ done over that winter months is to take our Nitrox Course. Two nights at the shop are all you need to make you a Nitrox Diver. If you are not familiar with Nitrox, it is a great way to improve the safety of your dives, allowing more bottom time and a greater margin of safety. If you plan on doing a live-aboard or just doing multiple dives on consecutive days, this could be for you. And it is only $75 plus books. If you check around, you will see that is half the price most places charge.

Underwater Photography -- February 11
The world of u/w photography is really changing. The Nikonos is no longer made and digital cameras are rapidly taking hold. Of course, many of the techniques are still apply and that is one of the things that we will be covering in this 5 night course. Our goal is to make you a better u/w photographer. We want you to be able to impress your friends and your mother (so she stops bugging you about doing dangerous things). We will discuss the changing equipment as well as the nitty-gritty of composing and producing a good photograph. It is a good way to hone your skills and to get back in the water during the winter. It also makes a great gift for your dive buddy.

Rebreather Course -- February 12
Take the opportunity to try this intriguing technoloogy that will allow you up to 3 1/2 hours of diving on a 40 cubic foot tank. That is the equivalant of two sets of double 95’s. And it is really fascinating. It is amazing how we have become accustomed to the sounds and feeling of air being fed to us. With a rebreather, we are breathing warm, moist air with almost no sound. Check it out. Two nights, two days diving.


Buddy Teams

First of all, we want to congratulate Kevin Detweiler, who just completed certification as a Naui Divemaster. Kevin plans on taking the Naui Instructor Training Course along with Mick Vahlberg through Underwater World in February. George & Rose Schulle’s daughter, Angela, just gave birth to a future diver recently. The scary part is that they were already grandparents before this birth. (They must be a lot older than I am.) We want to wish the best of luck to Steve Miller and his wife, Peggy, who have decided to follow their dream and move south. Only as far south as Savannah, but they plan on retiring in that area sometime in the not-too-distant future; and although they must continue to work for now, their jobs allow them to continue to work from a remote site. Savannah sounds remote to me. And, finally, we want to congratulate Courtney Miracle, who recently tied the knot with her fiancée, Kevin Tomlinson, and, also, Joe Colville and Michelle Ferraro who just became engaged. Best of luck.

What’s New for 2004

We have just returned from the DEMA Show in Miami. This is the annual trade show for dive stores. Unfortunately, as a consumer, you are not permitted to attend. But let me tell you, it is like you died and went to dive heaven. There are all the manufactures and many of the travel destinations. (This is where we got the deal on the Blackbeard trip.) We did see some interesting items. Oceanic has come out with a new hoseless computer that, not only is a three gas computer, but allows you to attach a transmitter to each of the three tanks and get pressure readouts from each of them. Oceanic also showed us a dive mask that they have been working with the Navy on, which will display your computer information in a heads-up display. Pretty slick. We saw an underwater MP-3 player. (The inventor obviously doesn’t remember Cousteau’s, The Silent World.) And if you want a really cool looking regulator, take a look at the new Black Pearl from Aqualung. It is actually an Apex 200, so you are not giving up any performance for its great looks. We did order a couple of new scooters. At only $599, they’re really affordable, but will not be here until after the first of the year. There were also a bunch of rebreathers, but I still like the Drager. We will be having a Drager Rebreather course in February. Finally, we have brought in some really affordable digital cameras and housings. You can get into digital underwater photography for as little as $399.00. We can also get you into a dive computer for only $189. Come on in and check it out.

Dive The Bahamas For Free !!

Here is an opportunity to get a bunch of warm water diving for a great price -- maybe even for free. Start by signing up for our Blackbeards Trip for February 21 - 27. You will save $100 right off the bat because we negotiated a special price for our trip. Then to make it even better, during the trip, we are going to draw the name of one of our divers and refund the cost of the trip (excluding airfare). This is an $865 value and the odds are 1 in 12 that you will win. That is a bit better than the Powerball lottery. Sign up now. Only 12 spots are available.

Special Packages Save Up To $450.00

Look at the special packages that we have created. We have assembled packages from Scubapro, Aqualung, and Oceanic. And we will sell these packages at the minimum price allowed by the manufacturers. And we will give you a free Aeris Duffle Bag with wheels as a bonus. This is a $179.00 value. You can’t beat it. Not mail order; not on the internet. And you have Underwater World to back up your purchase and service your new equipment. You will be thrilled with your new dive gear or we will take it back. Our expert staff will guide you with your purchase. This offer expires on Christmas Eve or when supplies run out.


SUPER SAVINGS ON SOME GREAT EQUIPMENT

Do your Holiday Shopping At These New Reduced Prices !!
Comfort & Warmth -- Check Out The Latest Suits
Brain Dead ?? -- Give A Gift Certificate !!
Save Some Big Bucks This Season !!
Stop in and ask for our money saving coupons on wetsuits,
equipment packages, lights and knives !!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE STAFF
AT UNDERWATER WORLD !!!!