Home  /  Dive Resorts  /  Live-Aboards  /  Snorkeling  /  Who We Are  /  Book a Trip


JOHN HESSBURG, U.S. DIVE TRAVEL founder, offers SUNNY GREETINGS to our NEW CLIENTS:

ARE YOU SEARCHING for an EXPERT TEAM
of TROPICAL VACATION PLANNERS?


We are confident you'll be delighted with our island destinations,
our snorkeling & scuba diving packages & our customer service.
We've been there, done that & we'll make sure it happens for you.

Got a dream?   Well let's make it happpen!   Any island you can dream of, wherever your spirit leads you; we are trained & ready after more than three decades of leading adventures in 30+ tropical countries -- to help you turn those dreams into rockin' reality.   Before such a major decision, we appreciate that you'll need to know a lot more about your destination, your options -- & your travel planners.   Info -- that's the ticket -- straight up with no hot air.

Information is power, pure and simple.   And we do believe the power belongs to you, the dive vacation guest.   What's more, you have a right to know as much as possible about the people who will help you plan this trip -- by refining + defining your vision into a safe and affordable reality.   Therefore, to better make our company -- U.S. DIVE TRAVEL / Live-Aboards.com -- an open book for your thoughtful review, this professional adventure dossier was prepped to help our guests answer all these key questions:

Whether you book a "do-it-yourself" trip, one of our guided dive-yacht vacations with Live-Aboards.com, a customized exploratory tour with Wild Island Expeditions, or a regular week's dive trip at a fun resort, this information will help you make your decision in an expertly-prepared & stress-free manner.

Following is the adventure travel profile of the man who carries the prime responsibility for overseeing your customer service, your satisfaction & your personal security overseas -- John Hessburg -- founder of U.S. DIVE TRAVEL & Live-Aboards.com.. This detailed r�sum� covers many highlights -- but not all -- of John's wilderness adventures in the mountains, on & under the ocean, in trackless deserts & deep jungles in far-flung regions around the world since 1970. Several of the most remote explorations have been kept off this list -- a matter of ethical choice -- to protect sensitive wilderness sectors that are vulnerable to tourism impact. But many of the most memorable adventures still made the list.

Bottom Line: at USDT the buck stops here. So we invite you take a few minutes, & meet the guy who signs the contracts & musters the team around here. John is so hyper-focused on planning details + safety for our clients that (when he's out of the room) we like to call him (yes he's a full-tilt Type-A) -- "Mr. Relaxo."

© Copyright U.S. DIVE TRAVEL Network.


JOHN HESSBURG
Founding Partner, Senior Expedition Guide

Live-Aboards.com
Wild Island Expeditions
& U.S. Dive Travel Network

PMB 307 -- Suite #116
15050 Cedar Ave. South
St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.   55124-7047

Reservations Office: 952-953-4124


E-mail Address: divetrip@bitstream.net


Website Home Page:
www.usdivetravel.com


Click here to view John Hessburg's
professional dossier & Linked-In Profile.

U.S. Dive Travel founder John Hessburg, after surfing Kailua Beach Park, boogie boarding at Kalama.



SCUBA DIVING + FREE DIVING

NEW CALEDONIA: Grande Terre & Loyalty Islands, Southwest Pacific --

The SULTANATE of OMAN, Arabian Sea, Southwest Asia:


KINGDOM of TONGA, South Pacific:
[Five weeks in January & February 1992 / Exploratory diving expedition. ]

VAVA'U ISLAND GROUP
[Three weeks in June & July 1992 / Exploratory diving expedition.]

KADAVU ISLAND, Far Southern FIJI ISLANDS, South Pacific:

VATULELE ISLAND, Far Southern FIJI ISLANDS, South Pacific:

MATANGI PRIVATE ISLAND, NE FIJI ISLANDS, South Pacific:

TAVEUNI, Central FIJI ISLANDS, South Pacific:

Shark's Cove, a summer free-diving gem on Oahu's North Shore.
© Copyright Susan Hessburg, USDT. (John Hessburg, summer free-diving at Shark's Cove on Oahu's North Shore.)

NIIHAU, KAUAI, OAHU, MAUI, the BIG ISLAND,
MOLOKAI & LANAI, in the HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

Susan & John Hessburg run the U.S. DIVE TRAVEL Network from windward Oahu island for part of each summer.
© Copyright John Hessburg, U.S. Dive Travel. ( The Mokulua Islands of windward O'ahu -- where USDT keeps strong spiritual roots.)


John Hessburg, U.S. Dive Travel founder, with sons Jack & Bo at Makapu'u Ridge trailhead, Oahu island.
John with sons Jack & Bo at Makapu'u Ridge Trailhead, Oahu island, prepping for moonlight hike to lighthouse.
© Copyright Susan Hessburg, U.S. Dive Travel Network. All Rights Reserved.

The BELIZIAN BARRIER REEF, Central America

The BAY ISLANDS of HONDURAS, Central America

COZUMEL, Mexico:
(Muchos) drift dives at these classic sites, again with Bob "Puffer Fish" Shaw: Palancar Wall (90'), Palancar Gardens (80'), Santa Rosa Wall (100'), Tormento Reef (65'), Colombia Wall (95'). Visibility 120-150'.


AITUTAKI ATOLL, COOK ISLANDS, South Pacific:
Free dives at coral heads near lagoon's rim, in stiff surge, searching for giant moray eels. Helped native crew capture one 100-pound specimen, after a 3-hour battle to extricate it from its crevice in a coralhead. Found many giant Tridacna clams. Scared up a school of 7-foot manta rays who swam in "aerial formation" overhead, blocking the sunlight for a crystal moment. The deep, almost hypnotically rich turquoise-aqua blue of Aitutaki Lagoon ranks this atoll easily among the most beautiful in the South Pacific, travel writers agree. This place will mesmerize you. It's why Susan & John Hessburg quit their corporate jobs & founded U.S. Dive Travel. March 1990.

Ocean, jungle, desert & mountain adventures -- viva la Vida Alpinista !
© Copyright U.S. Dive Travel Network. All Rights Reserved.


CLIMBING EXPEDITIONS

The ANDES of BOLIVIA

(April, May & June 1989)

Led eight-man U.S. expedition -- right-hand men were Seattle's Pete Delmessier & Eddie Boulton -- to uncharted sector on eastern flanks of Cordillera Real (Royal Range). Three-day approach trek, herding 49 llamas with 2,200 lbs. of food & gear over three 15,000' passes. Explored two virgin high valleys of Chearoco-Chachacomani massif, a key geologic thrust of the Central Andes. We were the first non-indigenous people to explore these magnificent valleys, as pristine as they were millennia ago. Base camp was set at 14,100'. Three high camps: two at 16,400', one at 15,300'. Strict environmental protection enforced at all camps. Team hauled out every scrap of refuse that was not burned. In the 6 weeks we camped & climbed above 14,000 feet, we left virtually zero discernible evidence of any human visitation. In periodic contacts with Aymara Indian villages miles down the valley, we established friendly trading partners, & bartered for mutton, raw quinoa grain & sacks of Andean potatoes, our favorite staples.

The ANDES of ARGENTINA

(January & February 1986)

VERACRUZ state, MEXICO

(December 1984)


Andes Mountains, Andes mountaineering, Andes alpinism, Andes climbing, Bolivian Andes, Cordillera Real, 1989 Real Time Expedition, John Hessburg, Peter Delmissier, Eddie Boulton, Bolivia climbing
© Copyright 1989-2014 / U.S. Dive Travel Network. All Rights Reserved.
John Hessburg waves from the cloud-kissed summit of Mount Chachacomani (19,902 feet) in Bolivia's Cordillera Real'.

PRINCIPAL ALPINE SUMMITS

(Unless noted, all peaks in the Cascade Range, Washington state. A score of strong veteran alpine buddies over the years. Climbs since 1983. )

Andes Mountains, Andes mountaineering, Andes alpinism, Andes climbing, Argentine Andes, Aconcagua climbing, John Hessburg
© Copyright 1986-2014 / John Hessburg, U.S. Dive Travel Network. All Rights Reserved.
View from high camp at 20,300 feet on the North Face of Aconcagua, Argentina, during a 1986 U.S. expedition.
At the horizon line, more than 85 miles to the NW, looms Mt. Tupungato in Chile, while Pacific clouds scoot by
in a dark line just beneath the white layer. The Pacific Ocean is more than 120 miles west of Aconcagua's peak.


ROCK CLIMBS: Big Walls & Crags.


-- On dozens of trips since 1983, led many routes, mostly 5.8 - 5.9, in these crag areas:


Andes Mountains, Andes mountaineering, Andes alpinism, Andes climbing, Argentine Andes, Monte Olivia, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego climbing,   John Hessburg, Argentina climbing
© Copyright 1986-2014 / John Hessburg, U.S. Dive Travel Network. All Rights Reserved.
View of the forbidding North Face of Monte Olivia in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. South Summit Spire is snow-clad.
John's climbing partner that summer day in 1986 abandoned the climb, so he free-soloed, no rope & no protection, from sea
level to the South Summit Spire, 3,500 feet gain, round trip in rain, 10 hours. Was 1st free ascent of the spire's South Face.


Ocean, mountain, desert & jungle adventures -- viva El Rey Creador !
© Copyright John Hessburg, USDT Network. (Trek bro Bob Shaw takes 5 at 12,000 feet, West Face, Wheeler Peak, northern New Mexico.)

WHITEWATER & VOYAGEUR
CANOE TREKS


3 of John's 4 best adventure bro's on Planet Earth -- friends for life!
© Copyright Marcus "H-Badger" Magnuson. (Three of John's four best adventure pals on Planet Earth, at Walter Lake camp; from the right --
Marcus Magnuson, Robert "Bonz" Shaw, Carlton "Kant" Ketchum -- Aug. 1990, Quetico Wilderness. Our bro Grant Moos didn't make this trip.)


Another perfect day in Ontario's Quetico Canoe Wilderness.
© Copyright Marcus Magnuson. (John Hessburg & Bob Shaw peel out from another
glorious 1-mile portage in Ontario's pristine Quetico Canoe Wilderness, Aug. 1990.)


OTHER ADVENTURE SPORTS


Bo Hessburg takes five after hangin' ten, boogie boarding Kailua Beach on Oahu Island, Hawaii.
Bo Hessburg takes five after hangin' ten, boogie boarding Kailua Beach of Oahu Island, Hawaii.
© Copyright Susan Hessburg / U.S. Dive Travel Network. All rights reserved.


Jack Hessburg & Dad, years ago training on Lanikai Beach, Oahu Island, Hawaii.
Beach trainin' just before sunset on windward side, Oahu Island, Hawaii.
© Copyright Susan Hessburg / U.S. Dive Travel Network. All rights reserved.


Ocean, mountain, desert & jungle adventures -- viva la Gaia !
© Copyright John Hessburg, U.S. Dive Travel. (Andy & Bonz scopin' out Rio Grande Canyon, near Questa, northern New Mexico.)



Ciao, cheers, no time for fears ....


The Beginning.



© Copyright U.S. DIVE TRAVEL Network.


Home  /  Dive Resorts  /  Live-Aboards  /  Snorkeling  /  Who We Are  /  Book a Trip