Back From Kauai...Gina is Certified!

On a recent trip to Kauai with Alison Ulshoffer Events, the girls and I were able to squeeze in a couple of days of diving; Cause let's face it, there is always time for a little diving! On the first day out, I was able to certify my good friend, Gina. With only two open water dives left to complete, she finished up in the warm clear waters of Koloa Landing. Alison and Penny joined us after Gina
aced her skills and while we were diving, the girls and I saw tons of fish, turtles and even a small free swimming spotted moray eel.
On the second day out, we got to practice our buoyancy skills and search for Whitetips while gliding through the beautiful rock formations of Tunnels Beach. To Alison's relief, we didn't find any sharks, but we did find more turtles. Those little guys LOVE it in Hawaii!
After a fantastic day of diving...and a very long hike up the shore, we relaxed with Jen who whipped up a few of her phenomenal mai tais! We needed a mai tai after lugging all that gear up the beach. It almost looked like we should have had some James Bond theme music playing in background!
Sand, surf, great friends, yummy tropical drinks and an amazing panoramic view of Kauai's north shore. It truly does not get any better than that!

Monterey Weekend With The Besties

Getting ready for a trip to Monterey to certify new students makes me happy, but getting ready for a trip to Monterey to certify and dive with my best friends, makes me really happy!
This weekend I get to certify one of my "besties" Gina with her open water cert, while my extremely talented boyfriend, Ben, will be certifying my other bestie's husband and son with their advanced certification. I feel lucky that I have such great friends in my life and even luckier that they love to dive as much as I do!
Aliee and I will be diving with Gina at Breakwater and after Gina's checkout dives this weekend, we girls are headed to the Garden Island of Kauai for a week of great diving and fun.
Ben will also be at Breakwater working with Kris and Jordan, Aliee's husband and son, then all three boys are off for a long weekend of wreck diving in San Diego.
Even though we don't leave for four days, I already have my gear packed up and set aside by the door. Friday afternoon can't come soon enough!!

First Dive of the New Year!

It was a great start to the new year, when Ben and I did a little snow diving in Lake Tahoe, NV, on New Year's Day. We had been talking about doing a treasure-hunt dive at Chamber's Landing for quite a while, so we thought what better time! The water temp was a chilly 37 degrees with visibility reaching about 75 feet. Unfortunately, I didn't find much treasure, only a few golf balls, but Ben found what we think is an elixir bottle, that looks to be fairly old!

Thanks to our support team...Aliee, Kris, Trevor and Gina, for having warm drinks waiting for us when we got out of the water!

Happy Diving In 2010!

Avalon Harbor Cleanup 2010

This year I've decided to start the New Year off right and volunteer my time for the Avalon Harbor Cleanup on Catalina Island. When I told my boyfriend about it, he was immediately excited since he has been to Catalina Island before but has never actually had the chance to dive Catalina Island!
The two of us will take part in one of the worlds largest organized dive events, that was "started in the 1970’s by the local dive community in an effort to cleanup Avalon Harbor, and this event is the only time diving is permitted in the Harbor. Over the years, this event has grown to become one of the most publicized and popular dive events in Southern California".
Its no secret that Catalina Island is my favorite place in California to dive. I have had the opportunity to see some of the most amazing creatures there, so it is without hesitation that I am spending Saturday, Feb 20, 2010 picking up trash underwater! And who knows, maybe I'll be the winner of the "most unique item found" award! If not, I will still be happy to help cleanup and protect the waters I love!


x0x0 ~ Conserve and Preserve!

Seahorse Annual Christmas Party

The Seahorse Christmas Party was a huge success this year. Tons of fun was had by all, and lots of spirits were flowing! Notables worth mentioning; Winners of the photo contest: Above water - Dennis Wade; Under water - Dennis Wade; Almost anything goes - Margie Tomenko. The Big Ab contest was also won by Mr. Dennis Wade (Hey, was this rigged? Lol!) and his girlfriend Bess had us all in stitches with her rendition of White Christmas!
The best part of the night for me, was during the White Elephant gift exchange, when I was able to steal the cute little sugar cookie cutters from Michelle Johnson. I made Christmas cookies in the shape of dolphins, whales and sharks...my friends loved them! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and wishing everyone a safe New Year of diving!!

Private Open Water Class

Several weekends ago I taught a private Open Water Class and had an exceptional student pass with flying colors. Erik is one of PADI's latest open water divers! Even with less than two feet of visibility, Erik was able to navigate underwater like a pro! Hope you have fun on your vacation Erik...take lots of pictures for us!

............LAKE NATOMA RESCUE CLASS............

Last weekend I helped my boyfriend teach a rescue class for Dolphin Scuba Center. I would like to congratulate both students who passed the class...Adam and Bob are now officially Rescue Divers!

Even with overcast skies and the water temperature a frigid 49 degrees, our students could not be deterred. They pulled out the unresponsive diver on the surface (me) and found the unresponsive diver underwater (Ben) and performed the necessary steps to get both divers to shore safely. Congratulations once again for a job well done!