For
your kitchen, home, garden or ring finger, I find products in the Far East when
I'm on buying trips for DAK for $30 that I find selling here for up to $150 when
I go into a store. Drew Kaplan Presents (DKP) is my answer to these obscene prices.
So, it's DAK for electronics and Drew.com for everything
else!
$$$ Direct Buying Power Pays at Drew.com
Dear Friend of Drew, OK I admit it, I'm cheap.
And if you're like me, you hate paying more for products than you have to. And
I don't mean just buying cheaper products.
I mean buying high quality products direct from the factory so the price, not
the quality, is cheap. But,
there's a limit. These are only products
that I'm really interested in, products where I have a personal expertise and
products that I want to play with at home with my family. You know I spend a lot of
time in the Far East (well over 50 trips). I see grain grinders for $60 that will
supercharge our breadmakers and sound activated light-show lamps for $50. And, if you've seen beaded
brass purses selling for $1500, with the knockoffs selling for $150, think $69.
And wait till you check out my ideas for original HAND PAINTED, not printed,
oil paintings below. Wow! These
types of products have never really fit the DAK 1 catalog electronics criteria
and certainly not the DAK 2000 area of concentration.Fountains
and even jewelry? No way! That's why I established Drew Kaplan Presents, (DKP)
for just this purpose. DAK 2000 will concentrate
solely on hi-tech products. But here at Drew Kaplan Presents, we can explore a
vastly more diverse field of non-electronic wonders. Plus
if you've misplaced your bread or ice cream recipe books
(Mmm, great smells and tastes), I thought I might scan them and share them here
at DKP where I actually introduce new kitchen breakthroughs. Just vote
to the right if you want me to add the recipes. Of course, they will be FREE. I think of myself
as an educator, not a salesman. A salesman can and will sell anything. If I'm
not passionate about a product, I don't offer it. If there's no educational explanation
or history needed, you won't find it at DAK 2000 or here.
Sincerely,
DREW KAPLAN PRESENTS, INC.
Drew Alan Kaplan
President
P.S.
If my product mix seems eclectic, you're right. Drew Kaplan Presents isn't a 'store'
of everything it's a vision of what 1) products that I like 2) products that I
understand and 3) products that I can deliver at blow-away prices.
And Now, Time For
Some Fun From Drew.
Click
On 2000 Of My Favorite Dive Pictures Below
Get
a feel for the splendor of being underwater. Below I've linked nearly 2000 of
my favorite dive pictures. And below the pictures you'll find some of my favorite
Dive Movies too.
To view my pictures, click on any one of the thumbnails and it will expand to
full-size. You'll find great looking fish, sharks and even an eel that bit
me. You can advance to another thumbnail page by clicking the > arrow at
the bottom center.
Or once you're in the full-size pictures, you can zoom through the pictures by
clicking on the actual picture or click the Play Button below any picture and
it will start an automated slide-show that will advance the pictures every 5 seconds.
Oh and one more thing. If you put it on slide-show, you might want to go to your
View Menu and choose Full Screen to best see the pictures. I wanted them to be
biggest they could be.
OK, these are some of my favorite pictures. They may not be perfect, but they
help remind me of all the great dives I've had. I hope you love the ocean as much
as I do. You'll see lots of Pictures from Maui, plus pictures from the Red Sea,
Australia, Bonaire and lots more warm water dive locations. (I hate cold water
and I'm a real wuss about cold water dives.)
Oh, you'll also see a few pictures of my kids and of my friend and for sure favorite
Dive Buddy Charlie mixed in with the fish pictures. And yes that's me on the Scooter
and with the shrimp cleaning my teeth and more. If I'm in the picture, likely
Charlie shot it, not me. If you're ever in Maui, check out diving with Charlie
Dolfun at the Grand Wailea Hotel. He's the best of anywhere
in the world that I've dived.
OK, come on along and enjoy a dive without even getting wet. . . Drew
Drew's
Dive Memories
Drew's Gallery 1 of 79.
Check
Out Drew's Scuba Videos. Drew's
Big Island Kona Night Manta Dive
This is Hawaii, the big island on
the Kona Coast. The night manta dive has been considered one of the top 10 dives
in the world. And it truly is. This is the second time I've been privileged to
see the giant mantas.
This is one of the few dives that I don't do with just a buddy. You need a crowd
to get things going. Everyone holds a light and forms a giant circle. Plus they
put lights in the center. The lights attract columns of plankton which in turn
attract the mantas. Some nights they get up to 15 mantas. Others like this night
we had 5 or 6. But they are all over you so it seems like many, many more.
The mantas are totally gentle. They only eat the plankton and they don't much
care that we are there. It's like being in outer space. The ocean is totally black
except where you we have our lights. It's an awesome experience. Plus it's only
about 15 minutes from the harbor and the boats are really inexpensive. You can
dive like I did or you can snorkel on the top. Either way, it's the diving experience
of a lifetime.
Drew's Cleaner Shimp Teeth Cleaning
Here I am having my
teeth cleaned by Maui Cleaner Shrimp. Since I have no cavities, I guess it works.
These are two separate cleanings we shot in Maui. It feels just a bit scratchy,
not bad. And it's lots of fun. But beware of eels, they are often living with
the cleaner shrimp.
Drew's Stingray City Deep -
Best 12' Dive In The World
Awesome. We were in Grand Cayman at the Cobalt Coast Dive Resort
(Just perfect). I was diving 2-3 dives a day on their house reef and on their
boats. One of the dives was the Stingray City Deep (not the cruise ship Stingray
City Sandbar). It was awesome. So the next day, I chartered a boat so my snorkeling
wife could see it too and off we went. So we had 2 dive guides and me on the bottom
and my wife snorkeling above. It was an awesome hour with no crowds and lots of
Stingrays. They fed them squid and they loved the squid and the 3 of us. We were
so lucky to be able to experience these friendly beasts. They love to be petted
and acted just like dogs. Just great. And Special thanks to Greg, Steve, Christian,
C.J and Jo at Divetech (at the Cobalt Coast Resort) who made all my great dives
happen.
Drew's Fish Balls Bonaire From
Outside, Inside & Above Too.
I was diving on the house reef of Harbor Village Bonaire. Every
day I'd see the silver-sides by the thousand. But on this day, they actually balled
up and I caught it all. Then I swam into the balls and had thousands of these
tiny fish all around me. Then, that night we were having dinner at the Harbor
Village over-the-water outdoor restaurant when some tuna came in and chased the
fish up onto the beach. I only had my iPhone with me. But I got the above shots
too. It was a perfect day in paradise. Bonaire diving was amazing and the people
at Harbor Village just great.
Drew's Bonaire Shore Diving Quick Takes
I was staying at Harbor Village in Bonaire and they have 2 really
great shore diving house reefs. It's so cool to be able to walk out of my hotel
room and right into the water. It's like 50 feet to this 1st basic first reef.
But wow, the fish are awesome. You can do all the shore diving you can handle,
and it was awesome. I like it much better than the boat dives. It's so cool to
just hang out on the reef with no limits. Awesome and totally cool fish, eels
and more.
Drew's French Angelfish Hanging Out
Here are a pair of large French Angelfish just hanging out with
me. They are so tame that I just videoed them for 10 minutes without bothering
them at all. I had to back up several times just to keep them from swimming under
me. This was shot in about 30' of water on the house reef of the Cobalt Coast
Dive Resort in Grand Cayman. It was a great week with awesome reefs, great fish
and great people. The reef is really lush.
Drew's The Day Of The Squid
I've always wanted to video a squid. Diving in Grand Cayman at
the Cobalt Coast Dive Resort, I finally got my squid. This was a shore dive in
their pristine house reef. We were in about 15 feet of water at the end of the
dive and I ran into 5 squid. I concentrated on one so I could get in close. They
were only about 8-10" in length, but I finally got my squid. The soft coral,
sponges and clear water really blew me away. Great dives.
Drew's
How I Use Underwater Scooters
And A Day In Turtle Town.
Many of my non-diver
friends have asked me how we get from one dive location to another. We use scooters,
much like taxis to get from place to place. They move us fast and we don't have
to kick so we save air. This movie shows you how we use the scooters so we can
film as we go and then my buddy shows how I settle in over a small reef with 4-5
turtles on it. Then finally, I'll show you the video I shot on the reef that you've
watched me shoot. It will give you a much better idea of what it's like underwater
and also just how cool it is to see the lazy turtles hanging out and going up
for air. In all, it's a totally relaxed reef where both you and the turtles can
commune with nature.
Fun
With A Peacock Flounder In Maui
Peacock flounders are really cool. They change colors to match their surroundings
and while they start life vertically, their eyes move so they become flat swimming
fish. They are really hard to spot. But once spotted them put on a great show.
It's unusual to be able to spend 10-minutes with a Peacock Flounder. But with
this video, you can really see how they change, how they move and how they interact.
This was a really cool experience.
Devil Scorpionfish At Drew's Reef, Maui. (Old
Video)
At Drew's Reef, Devil Scorpionfish or stonefish are everywhere.
They are very venomous. They are predators and they hide in plain sight by using
camouflage. They don't move and they look like rocks. So they are very hard to
see. But if a small fish swims in front of them they suck them right in. Plus
if you accidentally touch them you're in for some serious pain and more. They
are extremely venomous. There's a reef about 20 minutes scooter ride out from
the Grand Wailea hotel, that my dive buddies kindly named after me (at least when
I'm there). It's so far out that most people can't go because they'll run out
of air before they get back. It's about 80 feet deep and it's loaded with Scorpionfish.
I love going and in this very old video shot long before HD, you can see just
how much they look like rocks.
Garden Eels, Very Cool.
Now They're Here & Now They're Gone.
Garden eels actually are eels but they look more like really
long worms. They look like sea grass when you see them. But usually you don't
see them. They pull down into their holes and hide as you approach.
When they see you coming, they simply disappear into their holes and you never
see them. They're almost always found in large groups so I've always wanted to
get a video, but they always disappear as I come close. So, we found this group
and what I did this time, was aim my camera where they were and put a weight on
it. Then we swam away and waited. What you'll see is me putting down the camera,
then I put in a transition so you won't have to watch the dead space. You'll see
them most of the way up. As you watch them disappear again, that's because I was
swimming back to my camera. And that's how I recorded these really cool garden
eels.
Turtle Lunch
So I've been diving for over 40
years. And you'd think that I would have seen lots of turtles eating. But, nope.
I've seen them eat. But never for very long or very much. And I've sure never
had my video camera to capture it either.
What's really strange is that my wife asked be just before I left on the dive,
had I seen a turtle eat? And I said, well, sort of. And then it happened. This
is taken in front of the Grand Wailea Hotel in about 40 feet of water at a place
we call DJ Hill.
I'm diving with my best buddy Charlie Dolfun (Yep, that's his name and he runs
the dive business at the Grand. If you're ever there, check in with him. He's
the best. You can't ever go wrong diving with Charlie. Oh, and this spot tends
to be a bit silty so that's what you see the turtle spitting out of his mouth
and nose as he eats.
Drew's
Mono Lake CA Tufa &
Seagulls Feasting On Alkali Flies
When I’m not SUBA diving,
I love to see the above ground natural wonders of our wonderful world. Here are
the Tufa (singular and plural) at beautiful Mono Lake, right near Mammoth Lakes
CA. They are awesome. The Tufa are actually like stalagmites in caves, they are
made of carbonate materials. It’s like limestone. But unlike stalagmites
that form from dripping down, these eerie natural monuments are created underwater
from springs. Mono Lake is twice as salty as the ocean and while most of the Tufa
are underwater, because we in Los Angeles have used so much of the source water,
Mono Lake is low enough so we can see some of them above water.
But the best part of my day was a chance sighting of seagulls running along
the shore with their beaks wide open feasting on the Alkali Flies that blanket
the shores of Mono Lake. The flies won’t bother you, they stay very close
to the ground. But there are billions of them and it’s said that virtually
all seagulls from California are born here at Mono Lake and feast on the Alkali
flies. Also in the lake there are billions of tiny brine shrimp. The gulls actually
have to wash themselves off and drink fresh water after feeding because of the
high mineral content of the water. And, that's the same reason that I didn't go
SCUBA diving in the water. I'm told it's death on cameras and equipment. Plus
at over 6000 feet in altitude, my dive computer’s decompression tables would
be way off.
So this lake is unique in its natural
ability to feed the gulls and lots of other passing birds. It’s a veritable
feast. What’s really cool, not sure if it’s true, but when I was leaving,
I told the ranger about the video of the gulls feeding that I had taken and he
said that he’d only seen them feed 2-3 times. Wow, how cool. It’s
worth a trip to Mono Lake and Mammoth in the summer to see the rivers, waterfalls
and lakes.
Drew's
- Valley Of Fire In NV
15 Minute Tour.
Who knew? Just an hour
outside of Las Vegas, is a wonderful, albeit small, version of Brice and Zion
National Parks. It's Nevada's oldest park, and it's simply wonderful.
(Note From Drew: I've traveled to so many places for business, now I'm
discovering just how many neat things there are to see right next to where I've
been doing business.)
My favorite part of the Valley Of Fire was walking through a slot canyon. But
if you're like us and you love rocks, this is the place for you. I spotted a few
days without rain in December and off we went. We spent the night in Vegas, then
off to the Valley of Fire. I've tried to give you a real flavor for the drive
through the park using my GoPro attached to my windshield.
Then I've inserted stills of some of the main points to give you a flavor for
what you'll see once you're out of the car. It's a really great experience. The
rocks are awesome, the petroglyphs are great and the easy hikes will blow you
away. But, it's the rocks that really make the park. They have such awesome shapes
and holes and many don't quite fit together forming really interesting shapes.
Just let your imagination go wild. You could easily spend 2 days, but you'll have
a great time and fill one day for sure. I know we did.
Drew's Manta Ray Encounter
Here's an encounter with a Manta
Ray I had in May of 07. The Manta is at what we call a cleaning station. they
come here to have the Hawaiian cleaner fish clean them up. If you are very still
and patient they won't mind having you watch. This is taken right off shore during
a beach dive right in front of the Grand Wailea Hotel with Charlie Dolfun, my
very favorite dive buddy and the man to see if you stay at the Grand. It's his
dive operation he's the best of the best.
Drew's
Favorite Easy Dive Spot
Ahihi Bay, Maui Preserve
Schooling With
The Ta'ape Blue Stripped Snappers
These amazingly colorful fish school
in really tight formations. If you're really patient and slow, you can just about
join their schools. It's really a ton of fun to try to get close, super close.
