Granted that Oceanside, CA, is not quite as exotic as other not-LA places I post from . . .

EXTENDED WEEKEND - Came down for an extended weekend (my sisters rents a summer house here) and did a day at Del Mar on Saturday and went to the Padres/Dodgers game at Petco Park on Sunday. Quite thankful the Dodgers won, and handily at that. But this was my first time at Petco and it was a quite pleasant experience. You sometimes forget that Dodger Stadium is the largest major league ballpark. Petco seemed much more intimate even though the field itself is pretty much the same size as Dodger Stadium. Dodger Stadium capacity is listed as 56,000 and Petco Park is listed at 39,860 fixed seats plus standing room and some temp eating. Sunday's attendance was said to be 43,000+. But a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon, especially after those horrendous Friday and Saturday games.

HURRICANES/STORMS GALORE - We're heading to into peak storm season so if you've got trips planned, beware. Hurricane Erin has turned towards Britain and Hurricane Fernand is strengthening but is far enough east of Bermuda as to likely not pose any problems. However, there is a disturbance that is right now parked east between Dominique and Martinque and which is heading east into the Caribbean which could pose some issues. There's also a Pacific storm, now called Ten-E, which looks like it will pass SE of Socorro Island but go right over Roca Partida before it peters out. Late August and September are sometimes peak season for storms that develop into hurricanes so keep an eye on the weather if you're travelling in storm-prone areas.

GETTING EXCITED ABOUT THE MALDIVES - We've got back-to-back 9-day trips with our good friends on Manthiri and we're starting to get excited. Hard to believe we leave in a little over three weeks. As I've mentioned before, we've sold out our 2026 trips so now I'm looking at 2027. One thing for me personally as trip leader is that we used to do about six one-week trips in a given year, and scheduled them every other month. But that usually meant I only had about 4-6 weeks between trips when I got home. This year, we skedded some back-to-back trips (Easter Island in March and the madives in September) and that's worked out better for me as I get a better break between trips. So that's somewhat our focus going forward. Some of the trips might be extended ones - like Yap and Indonesia next year - or even two full weeks like the Philippines next year. And generally with these trips, there's always a way to cut them shorter - or even add on to them - if you can't do the planned length. We generally always like to have lots of options for you within a given framework.

LUGGAGE TAG SCAM - Be careful what you do with bag tags after a trip. What scammers do now is they look for discarded tags in airports or hotel trash or wherever. When they find them, they not only have your name and flight info, but they can now file a claim with the airline for supposedly "missing" bags. Once the scam is discovered, you may be the one the airline comes after for reimbursement since it was your tag to start with. It's better to shred the luggage tags once you get home as that way, they're no good to anyone else.

STONY CORAL TISSUE LOSS DISEASE (SCTLD) GOOD NEWS - As we've told you over the past few years, SCTLD has devastated corals in the Caribbean. Once-thriving reefs have been turned into white limestone death. It's estimated that 30 species of coral in Florida (and other parts of the Caribbean) have been affected and that Pillar Coral is functionally extinct in Florida. But there may be a glimmer of hope. Scientists have discovered a bacterial probiotic that can radically reduce the spread of the disease. It's not a cure, but it's certainly a step in the right direction and it's being tested currently. You can read more about this breakthrough here: SCTLD RAY OF HOPE.

LABOR DAY IS THIS COMING WEEKEND - This is the earliest it can possibly be. Monday, September 1 is the day so enjoy the long, extended three-day weekend. (But where has the summer gone????)

And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!

- Ken