Month: March 2011

SCUBA Show 2011: June 4-5, 2011

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By Scuba Diving

The SCUBA Show, America’s Largest Consumer Dive Expo, will take place June 4-5, 2011 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. This is the 24th year of this popular event. The show will consist of 76,000 square feet of diving related exhibits including new and revolutionary dive gear, equipment bargains, travel pros (many offering show discounts), and diving experts. Several exhibitors also offer free drawings for valuable prizes. The first 1,000 people in attendance on Saturday and Sunday will receive complementary tote bags and major door prize drawings will be taking place throughout the day.

Highlighting the exhibit hall will be a personal appearance by world famous artist Wyland. On Saturday he will be interacting with attendees while painting a new piece of art and on Sunday he will be painting an ocean mural with participation from children in attendance.

Legendary underwater filmmaker Stan Waterman will be headlining a weekend of seminars that include some of the most popular dive experts around. Some of the presenters include Marty Snyderman, Jack and Sue Drafahl, Bruce Watkins, Dale Sheckler, Ken Knezick, Ken Kurtis, and more. Subjects covered include underwater photography and video, marine life, dive travel, dive medicine, gear, and California diving.

A continuous underwater film festival will be running in the exhibit hall on a three-story high screen and will feature films from around the world by over a dozen underwater imaging experts.

Exhibit hall hours are Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is $12 and includes admission to exhibit hall and film festival (seminars are an additional charge). Discount coupons are available at California dive stores, on California dive charter boats and through California dive clubs. Age 13 and under are admitted free. For information on SCUBA Show 2011 call (310) 792-2333 or visit the web site www.scubashow.com. Advanced registration online at www.scubashow.com is strongly encouraged to save time and money.

Prince William scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef

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By NewsCore – News.com.au

PRINCE William continued to win hearts in Australia Sunday as the second in line to the throne visited parts of the nation’s north-east, suggesting he may be back in Australia in a matter of weeks.

More than 2,000 locals from the flood-devastated town of Grantham, 62 miles (100km) west of Queensland state capital Brisbane, braved rain squalls and mud underfoot to see the future King, The Australian reported.

“I will have to come back, maybe we’ll have a honeymoon in Cairns?” he said to cheers from the crowd.

“I love scuba diving, I have always wanted to dive the barrier reef,” he told Tania Moore, who emigrated to Australia from Winchester ten years ago and had lined up in the balmy evening to meet the Prince.

“It’s much nicer down here, the weather at home is dreadful.

William met privately with families of those who had died when an “inland tsunami” tore through the Lockyer Valley on Jan. 10, destroying dozens of homes. Many of the 35 known dead from the state’s devastating floods were from Grantham.

The prince had earlier visited Ipswich, where he visited West Moreton Anglican College and met with locals.

“He’s been putting smiles on people’s faces, he’s really been reaching out to people,” Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale told AFP of a visit which has been viewed as a public relations success.

Later Sunday he attended a country music concert in Toowoomba before traveling to Brisbane for a AU$500 -a-head fund-raiser for disaster victims, Sky News Australia reported.

Prince William is to marry fiancee Kate Middleton on Apr. 29 at London’s Westminister Abbey.

The popular prince — minus his bride-to-be — is on a three-day tour of disaster zones across Australia that were hit by both floodwaters and Cyclone Yasi, following an emotional visit to quake-hit New Zealand.

Despite the warm reception he has received Down Under, Australian prime minister Julia Gillard restated her belief Sunday that Australia — a former British colony — should become a republic.

“Inevitably, we will continue to debate and work through when this nation wants to become a republic,” she told Sky News Australia.

“It’s not a debate at the forefront of our national conversations at the moment, but I believe it will return.”

Australians chose not to become a republic in a 1999 referendum, but the issue remains contentious, AFP reported.

“I’m not going to make any date predictions on either the ascension to the throne of Prince William or the date of this nation becoming a republic,” Gillard said.

The prince wraps up his visit on Monday in Victoria, another region hit by floods this year.