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BDSC

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Posts posted by BDSC

  1. Posted · Edited by BDSC

    So here is my take since I have been to both.

     

    Rooms - I'd give the nod to CCV. I stayed in one of their over the water rooms and I also stayed in one of the nicer rooms at RHR. Both were more than adequate with plenty of hot water but the CCV room was just a bit nicer. Don't know about the other rooms at CCV.

     

    Food - Hands down the food was better at RHR. My wife is a little picky and she would always ask in the morning what was for dinner. If she didn't think she would like what they were serving, they would grill her a chicken breast or a piece of fish. The food was just OK at CCV. Not bad but not nearly as tasty as the food at RHR.

     

    Diving - This is what separates the two for me. The places we went diving at RHR were far superior than the sites at CCV. Not even close. I think the entire time diving at RHR we saw one other dive boat for the week. The sites they go to are not dived nearly as much as the sites CCV will take you to. I think when we went to CCV we saw maybe 3 seahorses for the week. At RHR we would find 3 and 4 on just one dive. Maybe saw 15 for the week. The DM, Davit, at RHR is amazing. One of the best I have ever been with. Also, the shore diving at RHR was better. Now you need to do a surface swim for the first part of the house reef to weave you way out to the main reef but once out there is was really good diving.

     

    I would gladly go back to either but if I were to win a free trip I'd take RHR every time. Now sure what the pricing is but RHR use to be a few hundred cheaper for the week. Hope this helps.

  3. Posted

    In case anyone is interested, we have a last minute opportunity going to Cocos Island aboard the Sea Hunter. The dates aboard the boat are December 1st - 11th but you would need to fly in to San Jose, Costa Rica, no later than Monday, November 30th. You can fly back on the 11th if you have an afternoon flight but most of us are coming back on the 12th. Reasonable flights are still available from the States.

     

    The price for this trip retails at $5935 and includes everything but your flight, hotel stay, and tips. However, the guy who organized the trip takes the commission and free spots and divides the savings over the entire group. That drops the price for everyone to only $4700! If you have been to Cocos or priced going there, you know this is a heck of a deal.

     

    There is one space open and either gender can work. Let me know if anyone is interested.

     

    Ash

  4. Posted

     

    I was just on a trip and the dive shop owner took all the tips and said, "we will distribute, don't you worry". I don't know if my money ever made it to the workabees.

     

    I never participate in "group tips" because you never know what happens to the money. I know of a dive shop owner who collected a group tip at the end of the week and then told another employee at the shop the guests gave enough so he didn't need to. On all the trips I put together, I never collect a group tip. I will try and find out what is the norm and if anyone asks I just tell them what I found the usual or customary tip to be.

  5. Posted

    I have never liked the idea of tipping on a liveaboard being based on a % of the cost of the trip. Let's say you book a liveaboard that cost $2000 for a week and give 15% for a tip of $300. Now lets say you do a liveaboard on an upscale boat for $4000 for the week. You are already paying more for the extras like a nicer room, maybe better food, etc. A 15% tip here is going to be $600. Didn't the folks on the less expensive liveaboard work just as hard filling tanks, cooking food, cleaning rooms, leading dives, etc. as the crew on the more expensive boat? Should they be tipped half as much? Did the folks on the more expensive boat work twice as hard? Likely not at all.

     

    I would say tip what you feel is appropriate and don't let anyone tell you how much to tip.

  7. Posted

    Quick update to this trip. While the trip is officially full, I do have one couple who would be willing to give up their two spots if I can find someone to take them. They are in the process of building a new house and would use the extra money for a few outdoor projects they want to do when the house is done. They will still go if I don't find anyone but I'd like to help them out if I can. So if anyone is interested let me know. I do have a single guy who would take one of the two spots if we can find one more but he understands I would give the opportunity to two folks who come as a pair as well.

     

    Thanks!

  8. Posted

    I'm sorry it's taken me several days to get back up with you. I am out of town working and it's been long hours! I did fill the space a few days before you posted but I just haven't come back and posted that the trip is full. Sorry about that.

     

    But the trip is full at this point. However, it still is over a year away so I will be glad to put anyone on a waitlist. Just let me know.

     

    Thanks

  10. Posted

    Hello Everyone and here are the details of the trip in case you are interested.

    Dates: Saturday, November 8th - Sunday, November 16th, 2014 but you will need to arrive in Cabo on Friday the 7th.

    Liveaboard: The Rocio Del Mar and here is the link..... Rocio Del Mar Liveaboard

    Price: The usual price for this trip is $3295 but we are discounting everyones price by $500 for a final price of $2795!

    So here is the deal with all of this. I had to book this trip last year because I wanted the first trip of the fall season and I wanted the entire boat as well. So I had to book over two years in advance to make that happen. When our group gets together to do a trip, we take the free spots we earn as a group and even a nice chunk of the commission that comes our way and we spread that savings over everyones cost. That's why we can discount the price by $500. So we all pay the very same thing and no one pays "retail price" so another person can go for free. I pay just like everyone else.

    When I booked this trip and then advertised, it sold out quickly. However, I recently had two folks who needed to back out due to medical reasons. So I now have just two spots open for this trip. If anyone is interested, please let me know and I would be glad to answer any questions you may have. A lot of questions about the trip itself can be answered by going to the Rocio Del Mar website. I have also sent the word out to those going on the trip to let their friends know about the two spaces but I would love to meet a few more Wetpixel folks and have them join us.

    Hope to hear from you!

    BDSC

  17. Posted

    So I have been playing around this weekend with the Subsee attached to my housing. Once in place I had to zoom in maybe a 3rd or so to get past the circle and have nothing but my subject in the shot. I used a variety of small object to play around with and autofocus seems to work quite nicely. There is a definite sweet spot you need to maintain. Don't know if I will be able to try it in a pool before I go as I have three good friends who have pools but it was like 20F this morning. But at least I got a feel for it.

  21. Posted · Edited by BDSC

    Well damn guys, I may just need to buy both now! You two are killing me. I actually have no idea what conditions I will be shooting in as I have never been to the Philippines. That is the very housing I have Kaj. But that's not what either of us were shooting when I met you at Turneffe Island Resort a few years back.

     

    So when you shoot macro Kaj, are you just zooming in thru that lens or do you have another lens like the Subsee I am carrying with me?

     

    And.......I just looked at the Gorillapods. So is the one you have the largest one they sell? They have a lot of different models.

  23. Posted

    I just ordered the tripod attachment for the housing. It's the one that works without the battery pods as I don't use those lights anymore. I am now looking at what attachment to go with. I may be leaning toward a monopod like Peter suggested. My wife just bought a GoPro 3 and the monopod would work for that as well.

  25. Posted

    I have a question for anyone who would like to answer. I currently have a L&M bluefin style housing with a Sony CX520 camcorder. I also have a SubSee +10 magnifier/diopter that will attach to the standard lens.

     

    I am headed to the Philippines at the end of February for two weeks and so this will be the first time I will get a chance to try my hand at some decent macro work. A lot of the time when I do video in the Caribbean around the reefs I can just set the camcorder to autofocus and it does just fine. Of course depending on the shot I will switch to manual focus. But how about for doing Macro work. Do you think autofocus would well in this type of situation? What do most folks do? I will play around with it topside before I go but just wanted an opinion from someone who has some experience doing macro.

     

    Thanks,

    BDSC

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