| L a t e s t _ N e w s ! |
|
Welcome to the
Northern California Rainbow Divers
Northern California Rainbow Divers (NCRD) is a non-profit SCUBA diving club for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered divers and their friends.
We have more than 100 members (roughly 60% men and 40% women) throughout the Bay Area with a core membership of around 50 active members who share a passion for diving in California′s magnificent kelp forests and for adventure travel.
Northern California Rainbow Divers (NCRD) sponsors a wide range of diving activities for our members:
- Monterey Diving: Day trips for shore and boat diving at the best spots in Monterey Bay, Carmel Bay, and Big Sur, every month.
- Channel Islands Diving: Long-weekend trips are scheduled once or twice per year in southern California′s beautiful Channel Islands for world-class cold-water adventures. Our fun-packed 2007 excursion to the southern Channel Islands was enjoyed by 14 happy divers (September, 2007). Stay tuned for our 2008 venue!
- Tropical Diving: In 2007, the club sponsored warm-water trips to
the beautiful and exotic dive destinations of Maui and the Kihei Coast (February, 2007),
Thailand/Myanmar (March, 2007), and the Galapagos Islands (July/August, 2007).
Our 2008 trips include a Cocos Island liveaboard (March, 2008), Papua New Guinea's fabulous Tawali dive resort (August, 2008), and a Palau liveaboard (November, 2008). Several trips are also in the works for 2009, including a full-boat charter to the Galápagos Islands (September, 2009).
We also participate in Diving for Life (DFL), an annual SCUBA jamboree in a tropical location with other LGBT dive clubs from the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe that raises money for non-profit, health-related organizations serving the LGBT community. DFL 2007 was held in Belize (September/October, 2007). We′re looking forward to next year′s jamboree, which will be held on Phi Phi Island in Thailand (October, 2008). - Classes and Instructors: Basic SCUBA certification classes with LGBT instructors and divemasters who are club members, as well as advanced certification classes, first aid/CPR classes, and rusty diver refresher classes.
- Meetings: Our monthly meetings in San Francisco and the surrounding area are fun social events and often feature guest speakers on underwater photography, dive safety, marine biology, advances in dive equipment and much more.
Of course, the Northern California Rainbow Divers (NCRD) wouldn′t dream of discriminating on the grounds of sexual orientation! Although our primary outreach may be to the queer community, more and more enlightened straight people are discovering that we offer a unique environment where the crushing of beer cans and spearfishing are refreshingly rare.
If you like kelp forest diving, underwater photography, marine biology, or just relaxing and playing with the otters, you′ll make friends easily at NCRD.
For more information about membership benefits and to download a membership form, see Joining NCRD.