Houston's Premier Scuba and Dive Shop Oceanic Ventures Inc.

(713) 523-3483 (dive)
5808 Newcastle Drive
Houston, TX 77401

Dive Travel

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Solomon Islands to Reopen!

Ann and I were on a phone call with the operations manager and the sales and marketing manager for Master Liveaboards last night talking about our various travel bookings over the next few years. One of the more exciting things to come out of that conversation is the scheduled re-opening of the Solomon Islands! According to government officials, the Islands will re-open to tourism without a quarantine requirement.

The Solomon Islands Government will require that all visitors be fully vaccinated and have a negative COVID test prior to entering the country. At the present time, the United Sates is still requiring a negative COVID test before re-entering the United States.

This is fantastic news for us, This means that our scheduled Solomon Islands liveaboard trip for October is running and the boat will be in-country in time for our trip!

If you are unsure as to where in the world the Solomon Islands are located, you will find them in the Coral Triangle near Australia. You may recognize the name of the main island in the chain, Guadalcanal.

Diving in the archeligo, is very special. There are loarge schools of fish, giant Napoleon Wrasses, sharks, baracudas and jacks. But not to be outdone, there are small interesting fish, corals and nudibranchs. And let’s not forget the people. They are warm and friendly and love welcoming visitors to their island home.

If you love handicrafts, they you will be in heaven. The locals are expert carvers and jewelry makers. Often time they are even willing to barter their art for things you may have in excess like t-shirts, backpacks and flashlights.

Join us for an adventure!

We hope you can join us for a special adventure to one of the most special dive destinations in the Pacific.

Find Out More About the Adventure…

Need A Little More of a Push?

If you would like to discover more about the Solomon islands, here is a short video from a previous trip…

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Our Palau Adventure – A Quick Update

What a trip! This was my first trip back to Palau for over 20 years and I can’t understand why I stayed away for so long.
Like on our previous trip we stayed at the beautiful Palau Pacific Resort.  This is one of the nicest hotels on the island and over the years since my last visit they have added a small, exclusive hotel within the property as well as some over the water bungalows complete with glass viewing ports.  But while the hotel has grown, the warm, friendly atmosphere created by the staff has not changed.    They excited to be there and made us all feel welcome.  The staff at the poolside bar was simply fantastic (yes we spent a lot of time her).  Maria even remembered every customer’s name and room number as well as what you were drinking the previous night — if only I had her memory.
While on our previous trips the Mantas alluded us in German Channel, on this trip they were in abundance also with sharks visiting the cleaning stations – wait until you see the photos.  The weather was even calm enough for us to visit Pelilu and dive Pelilu wall.
Navot and Tova from Fish -n-Fins have assembled a great team.  Our dive guide, Hiro, was wonderful to work with and he was patient having to work with normal recreational divers, CCR divers and even divers using sidemount.  He made it a nice trip for me taking much of the burden for the group underwater  He was assisted on the dive by his “trainee” IB and Captain Rodney.  They were all fun to work with and kept things light and fun during the day as we visited multiple dive sites each day (3 dives a day).
I am only sorry the trip had to end but I and 1/2 of the guests were headed to Truk Lagoon for another wreck diving adventure.
I hope it doesn’t take me so long to come back.
 

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Travel Tipping

Dining

“How much should I tip?”  This is one of the most common questions that we receive as trip and tour leaders.  For our escorted trip adventures, we always include a tipping guide to help people answer these questions for themselves.  Here are some guidelines:

  • For yacht travel, we recommend 10% – 20% of the trip cost which is usually paid at the end of the trip to the Captain or the Cruise Director.  The tip is shared by the entire crew. More often it is closer to the 10% amount, especially in third world or lower cost of living countries.   But there are some high-end luxury boats where the appropriate amount would be in the 15%-20% range.
  • For daily boat dives the percentage is generally the same 10% – 20% but you should pay it daily.  The best person to give it to is the boat Captain so that it will be shared properly with the entire crew.
  • Lead shore dives are generally more personal dives so you may want to tip a little more than you would for a boat trip, depending on the level of service you received.
  • In Cozumel, we have the benefit of Victor taking care of the diving equipment every day.  He does not share in the boat tips so we tip him separately.  This type of service is also available in other locations so you will want to tip these people separately.  $5.00 to $15.00 is a good tip range depending on the level of service you receive.
  • For destination tours, plan on tipping the guides $5.00 to $20.00 per day depending on the length of the tour and the activities they have taken you to.
  • In a post from Travel & Leisure, they recommend tipping the housekeepers $3.00 to $5.00 per day.  This of course depends on where you are staying and the local economy.  In Japan, you may need to tip more than you might in Borneo.
  • Tipping the Restaurant staff depends on the system they have in place.  If there is a service charge included on the bill, like in Grand Cayman, then you only need to tip a small amount if you received good service.  In other places, like in the United States, 15% to 25% is customary.

Remember, a “Tip” is really an abbreviation for the phrase  “to ensure prompt service.”  But even if things went horribly wrong, there are still people in the tip pool who worked hard but just didn’t have total control of the events affecting your trip.  So, a zero tip is not really something you want to do.  Find the people who did work hard and make sure the Captain knows that you appreciated their work and if possible could he “skew” the tip their way.  It might not happen but you have rewarded them with praise and made it evident that you are not disappointed with everyone.
The other thing you should do if complete the survey of you are presented with one.  This is the only way the crew can improve their service for the next guest.  If someone made your visit special, single them out on the form and let the operator know how much you appreciated them.  This type of praise goes a long way.

Eric Keibler
Eric’s Father used to say that Odessa (where Eric grew up) was the hub of water in the state. You can drive 500 miles in any direction and hit water but there was nothing in-between. So it is not surprising that Eric moved to the coast to be nearer to water and trees. An avid diver and sailor, Eric loves being on the water. He serves as the Managing Director for Oceanic Ventures, Houston’s premier Scuba Diving facility where he teaches both recreational and technical diving. He is also an accomplished author, photographer and sailor.

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Scuba Diving – Life on Liveaboards

Scuba Diver in Raja Ampat Indonesia

Have you ever dreamed of living and scuba diving right on top of one of the world’s best dive sites, starting the day by pulling on your wetsuit, slipping into your dive gear, and dropping into the clear, warm ocean above a coral reef teeming with fish all waiting to wish you good morning?
This is the dream made real by liveaboard dive boats, which have been multiplying in recent years in response to demand from divers with busy lives who want to make the most of the leisure time they have.

There are options for all budgets, from dormitory accommodation to palatial private cabins, from canteen-style buffets to fine dining. You can share the deck with a couple of dozen other keen divers or scuba in style on an exclusive boutique luxury vessel with personal rinse tanks and dive valets to look after you and your gear. Some liveaboards offer weekend schedules; others extended voyages to really let you get away from it all.

What are the pros and cons of Liveaboard Scuba Diving?

The main advantages are that you get access to more remote and unspoiled places that see comparatively few divers and you can easily dive four or even five times a day.

The disadvantage is that you are living on a boat, which can be uncomfortable if sea conditions become rough. Your food options are limited and nightlife is usually non-existent. If you do not get on with your fellow travelers it is hard to escape but liveaboards are usually very convivial places full of like-minded, outgoing folk.

A Typical Liveaboard Day

You wake early, roused from your sleep by sunrise and the sound of activity. You throw on your swimsuit and a t-shirt and head for the galley for a snack to wake you up and give you energy and hydration for the first plunge of the day.

You greet your companions on the dive deck where your equipment is ready to go. You showed the crew how you like it set up on the first day and they are quick learners. During the trip, your dive gear lives permanently in the space allocated to you. Your wetsuit hangs nearby although you will be diving so frequently it will never get really dry! On some boats you gear up fully on deck and jump straight in; other liveaboards use small boats called tenders to take you back and forth to the sites.

Breakfast follows the first dive and from there the day progresses in a sequence of rest – dive – eat – rest – dive – eat until you fall into bed and are rocked to sleep by the sea.
Every boat has a sunbathing area, shaded deck space, and a communal lounge where there might be a Scrabble game going on or someone running through their photos from the last dive. If you want some privacy, you can retreat to your cabin, which on most boats is a shared twin room with bunks or single beds. If you are traveling alone you may find yourself sharing with a stranger, usually of the same sex. This is not necessarily a bad thing. You may find you have made a buddy for life!

There are fresh water showers on deck and usually in the cabins but expect hot water to be in short supply. Think of it as a wonderful surprise if you get some and use it sparingly as you may not be the most popular person on board if you are the only one that got to enjoy it!

Tips for Liveaboard Trips for Scuba Divers

Join a pool session or a local dive. Run an in-water check on your equipment before you go. If you find problems get them fixed and then go back in the water and check everything again before you leave.

Pack light: liveaboard life is very informal. Take a few T-shirts and pairs of shorts, a sarong or two, and a sweatshirt for the cool evenings at sea. Don’t bring shoes apart from those you wear to travel; you will go barefoot on board and can use your dive booties for any beach walking.
Be prepared with: –

  1. Multiple surface signaling devices such as a torch, a noisemaker, and a tall, brightly coloured safety sausage
  2. A small spares kit containing a mask strap, regulator mouthpiece, and two fin straps, (as they both tend to break at the same time!)
  3. A personal medical kit containing anti-motion-sickness pills, patches, or wristbands; eardrops; antibiotic ointment for coral cuts and hydrocortisone cream for hydroid stings.

Warning: liveaboard diving can be very addictive!

Simon is the best-selling author of Scuba Confidential – An Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Better Diver and Scuba Professional – Insights into Scuba Diver Training & Operations. Both books are available from Oceanic Ventures. Simon has also just published a new book for divers-to-be and absolute beginners called Scuba Fundamental – Start Diving the Right Way

Simon Pridmore Avatar
Originally from the UK, Simon has lived in the Asia-Pacific region for almost 40 years and has been involved at the sharp end of the scuba diving industry since the early 1990s, pioneering mixed-gas deep diving in the region, first in Hong Kong and later through Professional Sports Divers, his dive centre in Guam, Micronesia. He then moved to the United Kingdom to run a major technical diver training agency and work with cutting edge dive equipment manufacturers VR Technology. Today, he is one of the most prolific and well-known scuba diving and travel authors around. As well as his many books and guides, Simon writes regular columns for a variety of magazines and, under the pen name S.J. Pridmore, has recently published a highly-acclaimed first novel May the People Know I’m Here? After a decade in Indonesia, then a couple of years back in Hong Kong, these days Simon and his wife Sofie live in the south of Taiwan, still on the move as always, trying, but so far failing, to find a cure for their itchy feet.

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Scuba Divers Wandering Through Bali

Bali Pool
There is no rest for the adventure traveler!  The group has been very busy in Bali visiting temples, rice fields and yes, shopping.  I mean what type of trip would it be without a shopping opportunity?  If you are wondering about their time in Bali, here is the schedule for Ann’s group prior to starting toward the Arenui:

Day 1 Upon arrival in Bali 9:35 AM Transfer to Ubud (approx. 1hr 10mins)Tour John Hardy’s Factory, then to hotel
Day 2 08:00 Tour begins with a visit to Taman Ayun, Ulun Danu Bratan – Jatiluwih Rice Terrace. Lunch at Local Restaurant. Return to hotel
Day 3 09:30 Tour begins with a visit to Monkey Forest Ubud , a Batik Factory, a Silver Shop at Celuk Village, a Balinese Traditional House at Mas Village. and transfer back to Nusa Dua for evening
Day 4 5:30 AM Transfer to airport for flight to Ambon

Black-crowned Night-Heron in Bali Indonesia
Black-crowned Night-Heron in Bali Indonesia

Well that is not really true.  Ann was up early in the hotel and wrote this “I have left the perch atop the dining room and went to my original destination.  It is a deck overlooking the rice terraced rice-fields, across the tangled jungle ravine carved by the river. The sky is not yet fully bright and I can hear the full, constant roar of the river over the very loud sound of birds, frogs, chickens and distant village noises. The air is cool, damp, very still.  Two groups of egrets and another pair fly over to reach their favorite morning feeding location.  Although I know there are morning smells the natural lemon grass oil bugs spray on my arms dominates my nasal passages. As I look up to the sky through the palm trees I see there is ever so slight a breeze.
The touring is now done and they are resting for their early morning transfer back to the airport for the flight to Ambon and then on to Sumilaki the next day to meet the boat.
 
And I just heard — they are at the airport…

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Adventure Travel – Dive Mom's Travel Hints

My TSA defense mechanism or ..don’t let your things be molested in route.

My friend and fellow diver, Lauren has been asking for articles for a newsletter and I have been wanting to write a series of blog posts: “Tips for travelers; from a professional tour leader.” So here is the first in a series of articles for your reading enjoyment ; hopefully with one new idea to aid in your adventures and travels.
I often tell clients, you should be able to travel for 2 days or 2 weeks in only one check bag, a rolling carry-on and purse (i.e. back pack, lap top or camera bag) and still be able to bring with you your total diving system, all the clothes you need for a tropical vacation, and personal items. Remember divers like having their own equipment so, as a “regular traveler” it is even easier to pack!!!

Specter Pack-It Cubes available at Oceanic Ventures
Specter Pack-It Cubes available at Oceanic Ventures


One of the solutions to accomplishing this task is packing cubes; that simple square, or long zippered cloth and mesh bag popularized by Eagle Creek and sold by Oceanic Ventures, Inc. here in Houston. I have found that if all of my items are organized in cubes, tubes, and bags, they tend to arrive “un-molested” and organized. Not only do they provide you organization both in route and once you reach your destination; but you have helped prevent the TSA from handling all of your personal items one at a time. Picture this – the TSA officials all wear gloves. It is to protect themselves, not you. Those gloves do not get changed between “guests”, so they have passed through all your things after handling “42 billion” other travelers that shift. What I have found in both the TSA line in the terminal and in the TSA search of my checked bags, is that items packed in organization cubes, tended to stay in those cubes. At most the cube is handled and patted down, but seldom opened. And now only the cube is touched, not your personals items.
So here is how I use these cubes.
For your rolling carry bag:

  • Standard Cube or Packing Folder- change of clothes, and your night clothes. Fits on one cube.
    Standard Cube – my regulator, bathing suit, diving computer and mask. If you are not a diver, then that cube gets dedicated to the trip purpose; those things critical to the trip purpose.
  • Half Tube Cube or the SAC—all the electronic cords, charges et al
  • Half Tube Cube—left for other things you need.

For your “purse”, i.e. back pack, lap top case or tote bag:

  • Half Tube Cube—personal kit
  • Shoe Bag Cube—for documents
  • Pack-it Sack—the little “back of the seat” bag for long flights. I’ll send you my essentials list although that is a blog in itself! With new inflatable travel pillow (yes, we have those too!!)
  • Covered Half Cube—stack of foreign currency (For international travel to places requiring cash. I love to shop in local markets, and craft centers and that is better done in cash.)
  • Tube Cube—healthy snacks
  • Reusable—empty water bottle

For your checked bag:

  • Cubes—of all sizes and shapes depending on the purpose of travel.

Oceanic Ventures has two display racks of packing items on our small store!!! So here is my promise to you –before your next trip, make an appointment to stop by the store with your list of items you take on your trip. I will send you home with an arm load of packing accessories best suited for your travels. You can  bring back what you don’t need, and we charge you for the ones that you kept that you thought were useful. It is the way I learned to pack—everything went on the guest room bed, and I had brought a stack of organizers home from the store. Now I have my favorite ones—but somehow each trip I might just add a new one!!!
Enjoy………….Fair Winds and Safe Travels.