The Northern California Dive and Adventure Travel Expo returns to Santa Clara on May 4 & 5, 2013.

This year’s show features expanded dive skills “Clinics” held on the show floor, a larger kids area with fun and educational experiences for youths ages 8-12, photo and video workshops, and 140 exhibit booths with operators from all over the world; including Palau, Yap, Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Mexico, Fiji, Philippines and many dive and adventure travel destinations from around the world.

http://divenewsnetwork.com/expo/index.php/santa-clara

Napa Valley Divers is fortunate to have, Bruce Watkins as their guest speaker at the May 13, 2013 monthly club meeting.

Bruce Watkins is a photojournalist specializing in marine topics.  He is the author of, “A Diver’s Guide to Monterey County”, “A Diver’s Guide to Northern California” and the newly published “California Abalone Diving”.  Bruce is a regular contributor to diving magazines, with nearly five hundred of his articles and thousands of his photographs having appeared in books, as well as national and international publications.

Bruce will be speaking about abalone on the North Coast – a bit of biology, how to catch them, the health of the population and where to dive.  He will also discuss sharks of the North Coast, including the life and habits of Great White sharks, where and when to find them, and how to photograph them.  Bruce will be an incredible resource of information on diving – from south of Monterey to Fort Bragg!

Opening day of abalone season, April 1, 2013.  Club members Jon, Stacey and Keith enjoyed near perfect conditions.

Wallin’s Dive Center in San Mateo
First Annual Abalone, Spearfishing & Freediving Event!
Saturday, March 23, 2013
9:00am – Noon

Event Highlights
9:15am -9:45am
Performance Freediving International Seminar taught by Pacific Freedivers.  Win a free riffe wood speargun, (arrive by 9:15 to be entered in the raffle).
10:30am-11am
Abalone Diving Tips & Tricks Seminar taught by David Laird

Raffles every hour.

www.wallins.com

Exciting guest speakers announced for NVD monthly club meetings!

February 11, 2013:  Local dive instructor Mitch Evenson will present “Technical Diving”.  Is this for you?  What happens after: open-water, advanced, rescue diver, DiveMaster?  He will be bringing specialized gear for us to examine and introduce members to a new world of diving that most of us are unaware of.  What can we expect to see and do?   What are many of us missing out on?

March 11, 2013:  Warden Tiffany Stinson and Lieutenant Jim Jones from California Department of Fish & Wildlife (formally CA. Dept of Fish and Game).  Warden Stinson is the warden that you must meet – professional, knowledgeable, personable, who communicates clearly without intimidation.   They will be giving a presentation on abalone on the North Coast and will allow a question and answer time after the presentation.  What have you always wanted to ask a warden, but never had the opportunity? – now you have that opportunity!

April 8, 2013:  Keith Reuter will present “Underwater Photography 101″.  Ready to share what you see underwater with family and friends?  Simple techniques to get better images.  Regardless of the type of camera you use, he will give you suggestions on how to take your camera off of “auto” and explore what you can really do with your system.  Keep it simple, but improve your underwater photography.

May and beyond:  Exciting speakers are being lined up for our club meetings.  Stay tuned for them to be announced soon.

Napa Valley Divers second abalone camp out for 2012 was an incredible success!  The group became small when the weather prediction was for fog, wind, possible rain, and the ocean conditions predicted steep swells and high wind waves.  What the group was blessed with was some breeze, lots of sunshine, a perfect sunset on Saturday and flat oceans with ten feet of viz – it was  tee shirt and sunscreen conditions!  Five abalone divers brought in 14 abalone and 11 fish.  As usual, there was no shortage of food at any of the meals, and desert after the Saturday night (FEAST) potluck was Stacy’s famous rum cake.  A great time was had by all and friendships became closer.

The weather was perfect – sunny skies and warm.  The ocean was calm – averaged 5 ft on 15 seconds.  TWO GREAT DIVES!!  A very fun weekend!

The next meeting of the Napa Valley Divers is Monday, October 8, 2012.  You will not want to miss this meeting!  The guest speakers are Kathi Koontz and Pieter Folkens from the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Whale Entanglement Team (W.E.T.).

Click here for a copy of the meeting agenda.

September 22, 2012:  NVD Movie Night.  A fun evening including a potluck dinner and a movie.  Bring a side dish and a beverage to share.  Plates, cups, silverware, water and napkins will be provided.  Cost:  members – no charge, non members – $5.00.  Please RSVP by Thursday, September 20, 2012, to stacey@napavalleydivers.com .  Address of venue will be provided after RSVP.

October 6, 2012:  Two tank dive in Monterey on the Beach Hopper.  Expected cost:  members – $80.00, non-members $90.00.  For details, contact stacey@napavalleydivers.com.

October 19-21, 2012:  Abalone campout at Ocean Cove campground on the Sonoma coast.  Cost will be determined by number of campers, but typically runs approximately $20.00 – $30.00 per night per vehicle (dogs are an extra charge).  Come up for the weekend or come up on Saturday to dive and join the potluck.  For details or to RSVP, contact stacey@napavalleydivers.com.

December 8, 2012:  Napa Valley Divers Christmas party.  Contact stacey@napavalleydivers.com for information, non-member costs and location.

One of the great advantages of belonging to Napa Valley Divers, is having a list of other members to contact when you want to go diving on short notice.  This was just the case when Ken, Keith and Pam got together on less than 24 hour notice.  The three NVD club members headed to the Sonoma coast on Saturday, August 25, 2012.  Ken and Keith went abalone diving just north of Fort Ross.  Ken stopped at two abalone (one being 9 1/8″) and Keith brought up three abalone.  After a friendly visit with a DFG warden to check their catch, the three proceeded to Salt Point State Park and enjoyed incredible conditions while they SCUBA dove Gerstle Cove Marine Reserve in perfectly flat ocean conditions.

Ken and Keith Abalone Diving

Gerstle Cove Marine Reserve with FLAT conditions