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Dear Friend,
Joe just couldn’t stay away. He missed you all. He missed sharing his love of diving and his passion for photography. He missed talking about cameras and teaching divers how to use them. He’s been doing it for 37 years and he just isn’t Joe without it.
Joe has finished his home improvements (well, almost) and found himself reminiscing about the good old days in a dive shop. So one day while he was walking Schnoozer with his good friend Carl, he turned to Carl and said, “How would you like to open a dive shop?” and Carl, the dive fanatic and fellow retiree said, “Yeah!”
So there you have it. Coming August, Joe and Carl Felien will be opening in Michelson Marketplace. It’s a stylish shop in an upmarket district of Irvine just two blocks south of the John Wayne Airport. Ironically, it is in the same mall and right next door to the shop Joe and his sons Marlon and Matt opened in 1991.
Joe and Carl are designing their shop to house only the best and most reliable brands of scuba diving equipment, such as Atomic, Zeagle, Aeris, Stahlsac, Xcel. They will have a large, well-stocked photo department, of course, with Sea & Sea, Light & Motion, Ikelite. They will teach classes, small classes, no more than four students at a time, so each student is assured lots of personal attention. Our respected colleague Craig Oberlin will be our lead instructor.
Joe and Carl are going back to basics. They don’t define their shop as a dive center. It’s not a cavernous space with a corner devoted to scuba. It’s bright and cozy, a place where you will be greeted and treated like a friend. Joe and Carl have dedicated this shop to an old-fashioned concept: service. At Joe Liburdi's Dive & Photo service will be like it used to be: one on one and face to face.
Joe and Carl are a perfect fit, both gray-haired, soft spoken, enthusiastic, with a vitality of men of far fewer years. They’re doing this in their retirement years because they really can’t think of a better way to spend their days.
Schnoozer and I will miss having Joe around all the time. Our loss is your gain.
Cara
We go every October because it is the best time of the year to dive one of the best destinations on earth. We’ve been a lot of places, and there are several we favor. But usually we have to travel a long, long way to get there. And those trips are expensive. Only the Sea of Cortez offers an amazing dive adventure so close to home. Big animals. Big schools. Big time fun! Whale sharks in your face. Mantas close enough to touch. Sea lions dive bombing and nipping at your fins. Morays, morays, morays. Jacks and barracudas schooling. Dolphins in the wake. Giant jawfish found nowhere else. 100+ vis. 85° water. blue skies and calm blue seas. Exotic. Exciting. Jacques Cousteau called it "The World's Greatest Aquarium." And a mere two-hour flight from Los Angeles! We love La Paz!
We love it so much that our son Evan married Niccole there. And come October 2009 we will celebrate Joe’s 80th birthday there!
October 7 - 12
5 Nights, 6 Days, 3 Days of Diving
$1079
October 7 - 12
5 Nights, 6 Days, 4 days of Diving
$1239
October 7 - 14
7 Nights, 8 Days, 5 Days of Diving
$1539
Includes
Accommodations at the La Concha Beach Resort
Ocean view room, double occupancy
American breakfast Daily
3-tank diving
Whale Shark Spotter plane
Box lunch, snacks and beverages on dive days
Boat guides, tanks, weights, belts
La Paz Airport transfers
Hotel & Diving Taxes
Gifts and Prizes
Per person, double occupancy.
Land package only. Does not include airfare. Gratuities not included
Prices subject to change
Single Supplement, please add $56 per night
October 7 – 12
$469
October 7 – 14
$594
Accommodations at the La Concha Beach Resort
Ocean view room, double occupancy
American breakfast daily
La Paz Airport transfers
Hotel & Diving Taxes
Gifts and Prizes
Per person double occupancy
Land package only. Does not include airfare
Gratuities not included
Prices subject to change
Last year the cost of air to La Paz slowly escalated from the mid $400 range at the beginning of the year to over $800 in the Fall. It was unprecedented and surprised all of us who have been making that journey for years. Many of those who joined us opted to fly into Cabo and rent a car and then drive to La Paz. It’s a roughly three-hour trip. So if the nonstop flight works better for you, we offer a word to the wise: book now!
As of this writing, nonstop flights from LAX to LAP on Alaska Airlines is $460 including tax. Setas are selling fast!
We usually book the 11:20am flight from LAX, arriving in La Paz at 2:40pm (there’s an hour time difference, We take the 3:20pm flight return flight, arriving home at 4:50pm. Alaska flies this route Wednesday, Saturday and Monday.
Check it out: www.alaskaair.com
To read more, click here or to download an order form, click here. Or call Joe at 949-448-0499
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