Rubbing Bellies of Manta Rays in Baja

Join San Diego Shark Diving Expeditions for a scuba-diving trip to Baja to swim with manta rays that enjoy having their bellies rubbed, and with tiger and hammerhead sharks that don’t. The 10-day trip, Jan. 19 to 28, will be aboard a 60-foot yacht, the Viking.

Participants fly to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and board the boat for the islands of San Benedicto, Socorro and Roca Partida. These islands are part of the Revillagigedo chain, about 220 miles southwest of the tip of Baja California. They have been called the “Mexican Galapagos” because of the prolific sea life found there. On this trip a shark cage will be used in the late afternoons and early evenings to get closer photographs of the big sharks. The maximum number of divers is six.

Cost: $2,800 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations on the yacht and all meals with wine and beer. Air fare and transfers are not included.

Contact: San Diego Shark Diving Expeditions, P.O. Box 881037, San Diego, CA 92168-1037; telephone (619) 299-8560.

Social Webs of India

Indian social service pioneer Rashmi Misra is offering a three-week women’s issues program in India on Feb. 24 to March 14. Participants have the opportunity to engage in discussions with Indian women on social issues such as arranged marriages, dowries, female infanticide, the caste system and more.

The Saheli Program, named after the Hindi word for “girlfriend,” gives participants an inside view of the experience and beliefs of Indian women through personal contact.

Misra, the program’s guide, will provide participants with the opportunity to meet, speak with and observe the work and lives of many types of Indian women, from impoverished farmers to affluent professionals.

The travel portion of the tour includes riding on a camel through the desert, visiting the Taj Mahal and exploring the palaces of Rajasthan.

The Saheli Program is open to all ages. Accommodations are mainly in three- and four-star hotels with most travel by bus.

Cost: $3,500 per person, double occupancy, including ground transportation, hotels, all meals, sightseeing and guides. Air fare is additional.

Contact: Cross-Cultural Solutions, P.O. Box 625, Ophir, CO 81426; tel. (970) 728-5551.

Sled Dog Races

Experience the essence of the Far North, traveling to a remote wilderness lodge by dog sled and spending three days learning to “mush” your own team, before witnessing the 1,100-mile Iditarod Dog Sled Race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. The tour dates are Feb. 25 to March 3. Guests begin by traveling from Anchorage to the gold rush town of Hope, seeing the Kenai Peninsula, the town of Homer and the mountains around Kachemak Bay en route.

After three days spent dog sledding and staying at a lodge near Homer, participants will fly by ski-equipped bush plane to a remote homestead along the Iditarod trail to wait for the overnight arrival of the first teams. The next day the group will fly to the isolated race checkpoint at nearby Skwentna, to see the mushers readying themselves and the hundreds of dogs for the race. Another night is spent relaxing at the homestead before returning to Anchorage.

Cost: $2,675 per person, double occupancy, including all modes of transportation in Alaska, lodging, meals and instruction. Supplementary arctic winter gear is supplied. Air fare to Alaska is not included.

Contact: Adventure Alaska, 2904 W. 31st Ave., Anchorage, AK 99517; tel. (800) 365-7057.

Musical Sailing

Tenor Frank Patterson, the Dublin City Ramblers, comedian Hal Roach, Cherish the Ladies and other Irish musicians and entertainers will perform during an Irish Festival Cruise on Costa Cruise Line’s CostaRomantica, sailing from Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 12 to 19. The weeklong cruise calls at San Juan, St. Thomas and Nassau.

Cost: from $1,299 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air fare and accommodations and meals on board. Contact: Irish Festival Cruises, tel. (800) 441-HARP.

Great Irish Houses

Ireland . . . Behind the Scenes is hosting two decorative-arts tours to Ireland: May 19 to June 12 and Sept. 4 to 18. Private dinners and receptions are held in grand settings, such as the Kildare Hotel and Country Club near Dublin and Dromoland Castle in County Clare.

Designers and leaders of the Irish Georgian Society will provide insights on architecture and furniture. Guests will meet artisans and the owners of private houses and castles. The group will stay in Glin Castle as guests of the Knight of Glin and will dine with Desmond Guinness at his Leixlip Castle home. Golf and fishing can be arranged.

Cost: $5,900 per person, double occupancy, including accommodations in luxury hotels, most meals and wines, deluxe motor coach, Irish guide, baggage handling, all tips and limousine from Dublin airport. Not included: air fare.

Contact: Patsy Brady Malone, Ireland . . . Behind the Scenes, Box 50812, Montecito, CA 93150; tel. toll-free (888) 610-6000.

Asian Capitals

Join fitness guru Sheila Cluff on a wellness cruise to the South China Seas and Vietnam, aboard Orient Lines’ Marco Polo.

While cruising Asia, participants will attend classes and seminars on fitness, health, stress management, senior issues and beauty. Guests depart March 17 for a three-day stay in Hong Kong with accommodations at a first-class hotel and a sightseeing tour. Then eight days are aboard the Marco Polo, stopping at Ha Long Bay, Da Nang, Hue and Saigon in Vietnam, and Bangkok, Thailand, where three nights are spent and include a sightseeing tour.

Cost: from $2,990 per person, double occupancy, including round-trip air from the West Coast (other gateways available), transfers, hotels and sightseeing. The eight-day cruise includes all meals, fitness classes, health seminars and entertainment.

. Port and air taxes are additional.

Contact: Ann Wood, Health Holidays, 122 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai, CA 93023; tel. (800) 892-4995.

Sierra Club in Alaska

The Los Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club is sponsoring its second annual cruise to Alaska, May 19 to 26. “The Voyage of the Glaciers” is on Princess Cruises’ Crown Princess, with ports including Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway.

The ship sails from Vancouver, cruising the Inside Passage, Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve, College Fjord, and disembarks at Anchorage (Seward). At each port passengers will be offered land tours led by Sierra Club chapter leaders. Naturalists are also on board to provide lectures and information about Alaska’s wildlife and landscape.

Cost: $874 per person, double occupancy for an inside double, and from $1,044 per person, double occupancy for an outside double. These rates are cruise only. Air fare is not included.

Contact: Archer Travel Service, 4148 Ocean View Blvd., Montrose, CA 91020; tel. (800) 272-4662.

Wintering in Sicily

A 16-day tour to Sicily leaves Jan. 3 to explore that island’s history, a crossroads of Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Norman and Spanish cultural interaction. The tour will be led by John Barker, a professor of classic and medieval history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He will give on-site lectures. The itinerary starts in Sicily’s capital, Palermo, and continues on to Cefalu, with its Norman cathedral and magnificent mosaics, then onto the major Greek sites of Selinus, Agrigento and Siracusa. Also visited are Catania, Taormina, Messina and the Roman imperial villa at Casale, near Piazza Armerina.

After crossing the strait of Messina, tour participants will explore the Doric Greek temples of Paestum, the excavated Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the remarkably well-preserved Roman villa of Opolontis. After Sorrento and Naples, guests will visit Rome.

Cost: $2,696 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from Los Angeles, first-class hotel accommodations, daily breakfast, eight dinners, all ground transportation by private deluxe coach, all entrance fees, extensive sightseeing and lectures. Group size is limited to 26 passengers.

Contact: University Educational Travel; tel. (800) 525-0525.

The Times is not responsible for changes in prices, dates or itineraries. These should be confirmed with cruise lines, travel agents or tour operators.