Don't forget Monday is Bastille Day . . .

ROATAN TRIP REPORT AND PIX - Everything's up and posted. You can access the trip report here (there are also some pix embedded in the report): http://www.reefseekers.com/PIXPAGES/Roatan 2025/Roatan 2025 trip report.html. You can access the SmugMug slideshow here: https://kenkurtis.smugmug.com/DIVE-TRIP-PHOTOS-ALL/2025-DIVE-TRIPS/ROATAN-2025 . Here's three of my favs from the trip: (1) Blue Parrotfish with Remora, (2) Conch staredown (note the eye stalks), (3) Yellowfin Grouper yawning.

POSTAGE RATES WENT UP - It's now $0.78 per ounce for a First Class letter. $0.29 for each additional ounce. Your FOREVER stamps cover this.

SARGASSUM PROBLEMS - As we were landing in Roatan, I could see long streaks of brown marring the surface of the water on Roatan's south side. I assumed it was Sargassum and I was right. Fortunately for Anthony's Key, Sargassum doesn't seem to make its way to the north side of Roatan. Sargassum is a somewhat invasive floating/drifting seaweed that's become a big problem in the Caribbean because when it's gets beached, it rots and stinks to high heaven. Vacation area spend millions each year getting rid of it. This is becoming an especially troublesome year for the stinky algae. You can read more about it here: SARGASSUM INVADES THE CARIBBEAN AGAIN.

2026 REEF SEEKERS TRIPS ARE FILLING - We've got 13 right now for Yap in March (but we can likely get some more rooms if needed), we're at 18 people for Indonesia in July (and almost out of space there), and we've got 10 for our Philippines land/liveaboard combo in September. All of these trips are led by me and include all upograded rooms, diving, and crew tip. Yap includes breakfast and most lunches (but not dinner) and the other two include all meals as well. Yap and Indo include nitrox at no extra chrage, but it's an add-on for the Philippines. Our trip philosophy is that you pay us once and it covers pretty much everything so all you need to do is get yourself to the airport and off we go. If there are hiccups along the way, we'll deal with those for everyone. We've been doing these trips since 1988 so we might know a thing or two. If you want to join us for any of these - or for our day trips to dive the Avalon Underwater Park - you can e-maul us here or call us at 310/652-4990. We love to dive and want to share our excitement about the underwater world with you.

NEW SQUID SPECIES - When we were in Roatan, what saved what I thought was an otherwise ho-hum night dive was an incredible encounter with a lone Caribbean Reef Squid (pictured above - shot by John Carter with Denise Vetromile's camera) who was so calm about everything that he was actually sitting in my hand for a while. While that encountered generated a lot of excitement, it doesn't quite match the excitement of being the first to see a living squid of a species known but never observed before. And that's what happened recently with the first sighting of an Antarctic Gonate Squid at a depth of 7,000 feet. You can read more about it here: FIRST SQUID SPECIES SIGHTING.

AVALON TRIPS - I've been somewhat remiss about emphasizing our Wednesday

one-day trips to Avalon this year but hope to do better this summer and for the remainder of the year. Our next ones are scheduled for July 23, September 3, October 22, November 19, and December 17. We usually leave out of San Pedro, around 7:30 or 8:45AM (depends on time of the year), easily get in three dives plus a break for lunch, and then come back on the 6:00PM. It's a fun day, generally not crowded at all mid-week, and conditions can sometimes be quite good. This is also the time of the year, and this should extend through December, when we can count of seeing some of the dozen or so Giant Sea Bass that now call the Park their home. Check your sked and get hold of us if one of those dates works for you.

KEEP YOUR SHOES ON - For those who still go through the regular TSA screening line, taking your shoes off is a PITA ritual we've endured since 2006. But as of July 8, the shoes-off rule was rescinded and is now being rolled out through airports across the US. Not all airports are leave-shoes-on yet (I'm not sure what the LAX policy is since I'm PreCheck and we never have to remove shoes) but there is light at the end of the tunnel.

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

- Ken