PADI Divemaster Certification and time to go home :-(

My last week as an intern!! It has gone past so quickly.

Wednesday
Today Melissa is off to England, so Pete has the misfortune of being stuck with Kim and me all week.
We had a 8 am start today, went straight down to the pool to work on a few final skills. I only have to be assessed in a couple more!! So I am nearly there!

The rest of the afternoon we did some web work in the shop, and towards the end of the day, Pete throws in the fact we are to plan tomorrows dives for a Dive and Sea regular Darren.... So that completed we were done for the day, looking forward to a busy day tomorrow.

Thursday

It's a 7.30 am start today, as we are off diving with Darren. We went for a visit to the dive site Poco Naufragio, with a maximum depth of 18m as Darren is an Open water diver.
All went well, I even believe my dive brief was alright today!! The dive lasted for 40 min with a maximum depth of 17.7 metres, where coincidentally we spotted a Brown Moray Eel, along with the usual suspects were a large Barracuda and a Sting Ray, always a nice sighting.
I was pointing out a large Lizard fish and the Ray was sneaking up behind me, when Kim and Darren finally got my attention, I turned round and there it was. It swam so close I could have touched it.

Dive one out of the way and the tank exchange done, I helped Darren into his kit, then got myself ready.
On dive two, a nice quiet relaxing dive in Star Fish Bay, we plodded along seeing, what has become the “norm” to us now, such as Ornate Wrasse & Blue Fin Damsel fish, but only one Starfish!!!!
We did a 39-minute dive this time, with a 5-minute safety stop with deployment of a SMB by Kim. I don’t think this dive went as well as it could have done, especially the ascent, as it was far to close to shore!
The plan was to raise the SMB and call the boat in to pick us up, however as we were too close to the rocks, this caused a bit of a problem.  Fortunately the Boat was being  skippered by Pete who safely got amongst the rocks and picked us up without any drama.
Back in the marina we washed the kit, got the car loaded and went back to the shop. All in all, a good mornings diving.
Just before lunch, Kim's friend Moniek from Holland arrived, and they went off to show her round a bit. The web work continued along with Darren calling back in to fill in his logbook. Another shop task for the day was to hoover the Jeep and with Moniek's help this was done and out of the way.

Friday
We had a 7.30 am start again with Teide Divers Phil, Jackie and their intern Lauren, who came down for a pool session of skills. This morning Kim and I got the chance to finish off our last few skill demonstrations, consisting of the Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent, Scuba Unit Removal in water too deep in which to stand and Appropriate Deep Water entry.

The morning also gave a perfect opportunity for a skill tune up for Jackie who is also in PADI Divemaster training, and an opportunity for Lauren to practice her skills as a recent PADI Open Water Diver. Later that day back in the Dive Centre, whilst the girls had an exam session, I caught up on web work before lunch. I also got a chance to teach Lauren how to use a compass the "Dive and Sea" way.

For lunch we were off to the Aberdeen Restaurant, for a huge fry up, which has now become a tradition when Jackie and Phil come down. Today Pete and I went for 2 English breakfasts each, for myself a little celebration, as I am now officially a PADI Divemaster. Lunch was followed by a quiet afternoon of web work and planning for tomorrows Scuba Tune up that I am conducting.

Saturday
Today we had a 7.30 am start again. On my walk to work I remembered I am no longer on a course and therefore have no need for my snorkel. Feeling chuffed with myself for 30 seconds before remembering - no wait I'm doing a Scuba Tune up today and I'll need it anyway...... Damn.
Maurice, my Scuba Tune up student, arrived at 8 am and we got started. We set up the equipment and got kitted up and went down to the pool. Starting with the Pre-dive Safety Check, followed by all the skills.

The skills were very well done especially as Maurice had last dived 4 years ago! Whilst this was taking place, Pete and Kim were in the water along with Moniek, for her Discover Scuba Diving experience.
With the pool session out of the way, we were off to the marina for two more dives to Yellow Mountain. I gave the Dive brief and I think I am getting more confident. I forgot to brief about possible dangers while we were in the Marina, but I covered them whilst we moored.


While Kim stayed on the boat, Pete and newbie Moniek descended and Maurice and I went off to the Swim Through. It was a nice peaceful dive seeing the usual Arrow Crabs, Wrasse, etc, although there were more Greater Weavers today than normal. Negotiating the actual Swim Through with ease, we headed round to Crocodile Rock and finally back to the boat. Maurice and I stayed aboard whilst Kim, Pete and Moniek went off for her second Dive. With the topic of conversation that always occurs at Yellow Mountain - Nudist beaches!!!

Once everyone was back on the boat, we headed back to the marina, and were back at the Dive Centre at mid day. We either done such a good job today or we really annoyed Pete, as he gave us the rest of the day off to enjoy the sun.

Sunday
I spent my Sunday morning in bed and the afternoon at the pool with the family.

Monday
We had a normal 7.30 am start today as Moniek, Kim's friend wanted to go diving again. We were off we to Nelsons Point. I briefed and led this dive. Moniek is doing very well, becoming more comfortable in the water. Dive 2 and Kim gave the brief and led the dive to "Swim Through" with a little jaunt over to crocodile rock. Kim has been trying to push Pete in the water down at the marina for probably 4 weeks now, and today she finally did it, sort of!

This probably led to the task of having to clean the Dive Centre from top to bottom!!!!!! That said we got part of the shop cleaned and it was time for home again.
It was Moniek's last night in Tenerife, so we went out for some grub. We kept it an early night, as we will be diving first thing tomorrow.



Tuesday
Penultimate day!!!!!!!
Today we did some more diving at Yellow Mountain. I started off well with a good brief and we got in the water quickly. Having originally chosen 8 kilos when I was booking in our diver for today, Barry, I was glad to have opted to put him on a 10 kilo belt. Mid way through the dive I spotted an Octopus, at the same time Kim spotted a Black Moray Eel. I finally caved in when the Octopus had retreated to far into its rock and eventually went to have a look at Kim’s Moray Eel.

Dive two was briefed and led by Kim and I buddied up with Barry to the "Swim Through". We had another good Octopus sighting and a good session of Black Long-spined Sea Urchin culling. Barry was feeling very happy about the dives and we dropped him off at his hotel.
Pete and I took the tanks to be refilled and collect some empty ones we had dropped off earlier. Then it was time for a lunch at the Aberdeen steakhouse for our usual English Breakfasts. Lunch devoured and we went back to the Dive Centre to try and get it spic and span.

Wednesday
My last day!!
Today we all had a 10 am start with a few odd jobs to be completed. Melissa is arriving back in Tenerife today so Pete dropped me off at the Marina to get started on cleaning the boat and left Kim to look after the Dive Centre.

Once Melissa was back, Kim joined me down at the Marina to help. The boat has never been so clean. We finished up the last few jobs of hoovering the car and the final shop clean up.
We were done for the day, and headed over to Big Al's for a celebratory pint.

I have really enjoyed this experience and have been surprised at how much I have learned. The time has gone far to quickly and it only seems like I started a week ago and I REALLY wish I could stay on for another six weeks.

Thank you all for reading about my experience whilst training to be a PADI Divemaster and who knows we may meet under the ocean one day 