Yap, Roatan fire, Dive leader death & more

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Happy Daylight Savings Time . . .

DARK AT 6AM - It was a bit weird to wake up at 6AM and realize it was still dark outside. By the same token, it's 6PM as I started writing this and it's still quite light out. Hopefully, everyone remembered to change all of their clocks. (Official sundown is 6:56PM today, although twilight goes almost until 8PM.)

LEAVING FOR YAP IN THE MORNING - We've got 16 people going and some of them have started already the journey and are waiting for us in Honolulu. For six of us, we'll start the journey tomorrow morning at LAX with a 9AM five-hour flight to HNL, three hours there, an eight-hour flight to Guam, four hour layover there (with nothing to do because the United Club and the Food Court are closed), and then 90 minutes down to Yap. Takes a while to get there but well worth the effort. We'll be staying at and diving with Manta Ray Bay Resort and I hope to be posting Daily Top 10 pix on FaceBook on both the Ken Kurtis and Reef Seekers pages. Hopefully you can see those and enjoy the trip vicariously.

SPEAKING OF AIRPORTS - I'm not sure how it will be at LAX, but because DHS is still not funded by Congress, I've heard that in some places they're closing down Global Entry lanes to save on manpower. A fallback is to get Mobile Passport Control (MPC).You'll have to download the app, but it's almost as quick as Global Entry (although it doesn't come with TSA Pre-Check attached). But it may speed things up a bit when you come home if you also have MPC. As for Pre-Check, as of now, it seems they're keeping those lanes open but that could change.

FIRE AT FANTASY ISLAND IN ROATAN - There was a fairly significant fire at the Fantasy Island Resort in Roatan which seems to have burned about a third of the guest rooms there, along with the kitchen, bars, and other areas. No guests were injured and they were all relocated to other resorts. No word on how this will affect their operations in the immediate future but if you've got plans to go there anytime soon, confirm that your trip is still doable. Here's a short article on the fire along with an aerial photo of the damage: FANTASY ISLAND FIRE.

WAYNE BROWN OF AGGRESSOR HAS DIED - Wayne Brown, CEO and owner of all that are Aggressor died a few days ago after a 19-month battle with bile duct cancer. Wayne was 65. Under his stewardship, Aggressor expanded from a liveaboard company into a much more broad-based company that offered exotic land-based adventure travel as well as ocean journeys. Wayne left a lasting impression on the diving industry and will be missed.

STRANDED TRAVELERS - You've doubtless heard tales of travelers stranded somewhere due to the war in Iran. This has hit dive travelers too, as many flights to east coast cities from the Maldives or Thailand or other Indian Ocean places often connect through places like Dubai or Abu Dhabi and, with the war closing air spaces, many people (not just divers) are stuck. So it was heartening to see that government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) issued a notice to hotels that, since travelers are stuck through no fault of their own and have nowhere to go, hotels should extend their stays and bill the UAE, which will cover the costs. Nice way to take some of the sting out of a difficult situation.

And that’ll do it for now. Have a great week and keep an eye on us in Yap for the next two weeks!!!

- Ken