OADC has booked a Two-day, two island dive trip aboard the Sundiver February 14-15, 2009. The boat leaves Friday night February 13, out of Los Alamitos Harbor and returns Sunday night.

Weather permitting we will be diving on San Clemente Island Saturday and move to the backside of Catalina on Sunday. This is always one of the best trips of the year so save your spot today! Call for price & details 310.578.9391.

The Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup is an annual dive event held in Avalon Harbor at Catalina Island. Cleanup Day is Saturday, February 21, and is the 28th year of this event! It began in the 1970's by the local dive community in an effort to cleanup Avalon Harbor, and this event is the only time diving is permitted there. The event has grown over the years to become one of the most publicized and popular dive events in Southern California.

Besides offering divers the opportunity to dive in Avalon Harbor, the event brings together a large number of people who share common interests - diving and Catalina. Last year we had over 520 divers who had a great time retrieving things from the harbor as well as celebrating the event. There are numerous parties around town on both Friday and Saturday nights as divers revel in the warm friendly atmosphere of Catalina Island. Several dive clubs also have made this event one of their premier social events of the year.

The proceeds of the Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup benefit the Catalina Conservancy's Ocean Conservation projects and the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. Catalina Conservancy Divers is a support group of the Catalina Conservancy. The Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber is a life support recompression chamber on Catalina that is available to serve the thousands of divers who frequent the Catalina waters.

There are three locations from which divers can enter Avalon Harbor for the dive. Divers must enter and exit the water from their assigned location. Upon exiting the water, all divers must check in with their dive master for their entry location, and get their wristband punched, in order to pick up their T-Shirt and goodie bag at Wrigley Stage.

OADC and the LA Firefighters thank you for your generous donations for the "Spark of Love Toy Drive." The Drive was a huge success and thousands of children across Southern California were able to open a gift on Christmas day, thanks to you.

Local Trips (Come out and DIVE)

USE IT OR LOSE IT

LIKE A HOT POTATO By Alex Brylske

Ken Kurtis got certified in 1978 as part of a radio station promotion to set a Guinness record for underwater broadcasting. He became a NAUI Instructor in 1980 and has taught thousands of people over the years. He's logged close to 5000 dives, still actively teaches everything from entry-level on up, and confesses his favorite class to teach is Fish Identification. Ken leads many foreign trips (Sea of Cortez, Yap, Palau, Bonaire, Midway Island, Fiji, Maldives, Papua New Guinea, Cayman, and the Bahamas are just a few of the stamps in his passport) as well as diving locally. He's served as chairman of Chamber Day/Eve since the early 90s, has been a volunteer Diver/Team Leader at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach since 1998, and shoots photos & writes for local and national scuba publications. Ken also serves a Forensic Consultant to the Los Angeles County Coroner for scuba fatalities, providing gear testing and accident analysis. In addition, he works as an expert witness for the law firms that handle defense for suits brought against NAUI or PADI stores and instructors. he's also been very active in the MLPA process, having served on the SIG (Statewide Interest Group) for the past four years.

Ken has been the owner of Reef Seekers Dive Co. in Beverly Hills since 1988. One of L.A.'s larger and more active local dive shops, Reef Seekers operated as a full-service dive center offering sales, service, training, and trips. Due to a lease issue, the retail storefront was closed at the end of 2006, but the shop still exists in a virtual world (www.reefseekers.com) and now concentrates on local and foreign trips, along with some advanced training.