Dolphins, Sting Rays amd my new diving knife

Well last week started off well with a few dives at Abades led by Patrick. We saw a bunch of sting rays there and some trigger fish.
Also beginning Monday we changed all the jobs up. So I switched from being on kit to being told to direct our little trio and check boxes and everything along with organizing all the gear in the morning and directing traffic once we got back.
I’ve got to say that Pete and Alice and Melissa were all blown away by our performance last week, specifically mine.
If there was one word I could use to describe last week it would be fantastic.
Hannah, Ioannis, and I worked like a well-oiled machine, each of us knew what to do and without even communicating we set about our tasks with the speed and fury of a herd of thundering stallions.
That was until Tuesday rolled around and it all fell apart. James showed up to start his PADI Assistant instructor course and we or I could not get it together well enough to make it look like we had any idea what we were doing.

It happens though, at the end of the day we thought that would be it. We thought that was our worst day. Wednesday made it seem like that was the case; we stepped up our game and came through.
Setting up in the morning went well and the entire day was much smoother. But the roller coaster of a week was only half over and Thursday and Friday were both similar in that they were the drop of the coaster.

One long, two day drop. But one Thursday and Friday we got 3 pool sessions and were able to work on our skills and then we got to go to Yellow Mountain for a dive around Alien rock after James did his open water skills. Luckily it all went well as far as the dive went and when we got back to the marina I got some time to chill as I swam rabbit for James.
Then after that we went back and slogged through the rest of the day.

The biggest highlight for me on Friday though was that my knife came in, it’s called the Diablo, and I got to use it on my first dive with it to kill a black sea urchin. Then Friday night we went to the Aberdeen Steakhouse for dinner and then headed to a bar down the street for karaoke.

It turned out that I am a fantastic singer and I was able to enchant an older woman with my melodic voice. She loved my beautiful singing and couldn’t get enough, it’s sad I don’t have a cd out yet.
Everyone else thought I was terrible though. But they did say I was very entertaining which is what counts in my book, if you can’t be a good singer you might as well be a good entertainer. Saturday I didn’t get up until noonish. And I didn’t go to work until around 230, we went to the hotel pool and Alice swam around and managed not to make anyone cry.

Then today, which is Sunday went very well compared to last week. Hannah got to go do sessions in the pool with Melissa who is now an instructor, congratulations!
With her first two students and Patrick helping out. I went with Alice, Pete, James, and Birgit to dive down to almost 30m and saw some fish I had never seen before, I saw a black moray eel and some barracuda and the largest stingray I’ve seen so far.

I also had James point out some type of coral or something that I have been unable to positively identify, though I’ve got it narrowed down I think.
Today went decently though, it wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either, it just kind of was. Which I can live with.
And now I’m watching the Sunset Limited and typing this.
The end.

Eric

PADI Instructor & PADI Assistant Instructor Courses and being blindfolded !

On Monday, Patrick, Stiven, Ioannis, Eric y yo headed off to Abades where we did 3 dives around the shore. We saw loads of common sting rays, an octopus and a couple of trigger fish which is apparently a rare sight there.
I am recognising loads more fish I now just need to remember the names. I practiced briefing one of the dives which went ok ish, still a work in progress. I reviewed my PADI Rescue diver book and then took the test and got a pretty groovy 96%, so I am happy with that.
Tuesday was a busy day, we were joined by James who was doing his PADI Assistant instructor course. We did two pool sessions were we practiced our skills alongside James.

We also went to the hotel pool which was pretty busy and several people were up for having a free try at scuba diving around the pool. We did the 800metre snorkel in the marina with fins which used muscles I don’t think I have ever used before in my legs. I did it in 16 minutes 14 seconds which apparently isn’t too bad.

On Wednesday we did more pool sessions and also scrubbed out the dungeons, taking out all the scuba gear and giving it a thorough sweep and clean. After all our pool sessions I asked if we had improved and I don’t think I should have asked that question just yet as it was a disappointing reply!

Melissa passed her PADI Instructor exam which is great and she is now a PADI instructor! On Thursday James did his skills test in the pool and we had to make purposeful mistakes for him to correct.
Later on we went out to Abades again where Ioannis did his navigation and fish ID adventure dive. Stiven and I mostly somersaulted and danced under the water. There wasn't a parking spot near the shop so we had to carry many tanks up the road but I don’t complain..

In the afternoon we went off to Prosub, the scuba diving shop where we had a look around. Later on we learnt 2 knots which apparently we have to be able to do blindfolded for our PADI Divemaster.

This one time in the pub Eric was like telling us about his time at band camp, he had a real good time. Friday, I did my second boat dive and we had to do some purposeful mistakes for Jame´s open water skills test. However I made his life pretty hard by doing several other mistakes for him to correct. Oops!
We then went for a little recreational dive, I really like Yellow Mountain (the dive site) we saw a sting ray, lots of trumpet fish, arrow crabs, lots of baby bandtail puffers and the other usuals.
We didn’t have a very successful few days on the organisational side of things but living and learning!

Friday evening we went out for a meal at the Aberdeen Steakhouse (when in Tenerife) and we then went on to a karaoke bar where a guy in a shiny shirt was doing a Tom Jones tribute which was suitably cringey. After Eric’s beautiful rendition of Metallica I was convinced to sing Mama mia with a couple of others. We got to bed at 3am and both Melissa and I got up pretty early on the Saturday anyway and had a very productive morning of cleaning the apartment, swimming, baking and going over scuba skills all before midday.

In the afternoon we headed off to the hotel pool to give free try dives which I think was a little painful for Eric and then in the evening Melissa and I had a go at learning the dance to Takata. There is a lot to be done and I am doing lots of running about, carrying tanks, preparing kit and diving.

Who needs a fitness camp when there are diving internships to be done! I’m having a real good time though!

Hannah

My Internship and new Parrot !

So I started off my internship in Tenerife with a taxi ride to a random roundabout where the driver told me to get out and walk the rest of the way!
Luckily Melissa was kind enough to come retrieve me.

First day on the job I met Alice, Pete, and Hannah right away and we were put to work immediately. Alice showed us how to set up all the kits and perform all the jobs that are done on a daily basis. There was a lot to take in but its slowly sinking in.
The little things get you though, like putting the dust caps back on right after you take the regulators off, it’s easy to do but it’s also easy to forget. I think that first day we also got into the little pool which is basically filled completely with ice and did a skills session which Hannah and I did fabulously on!

Tuesday Stiven slept in but Patrick helped out with kit set up and we got to go to Abades for a navigation dive and a fish I.D. dive. The navigation dive went well, we managed to navigate in a straight line down and back, a square, and a triangle underwater.

The fish I.D. dive was more fun than the navigation dive because we actually saw fish, though my drawings of them were atrocious I did manage to figure out which fish I had drawn later on. After the dives we went to the marina and learned how to wash all the kits. Then we headed back to base and had lunch. That afternoon we went to the hotel pool for the try dive which is fun because we get to meet a lot of different people.

Wednesday we went to Tabaiba where it was misting slightly and the water was pretty cold, but the deep dive and the wreck dive were awesome. First thing you see is a bunch of garden eels which are much cooler in real life than in pictures. The wreck dive was my favorite though because I was just kind of swimming along and I looked up and there was a ship right in front of me. It sits on a bit of a decline so its listing to one side and when you swim over the side onto the deck it can be a little disorientating, but it was very cool.

Stiven made it to these two dives and in between them we got the privilege of walking back and forth from the Jumpy multiple times for a candy bar, inserts, allen keys, and new tanks. All of which really should’ve only taken one trip! I guess w will learn!
Thursday was our first boat dive I thought it was fun and Yellow Mountain was one of the best so far, there were tons of fish to see. Within the first few minutes of being at the bottom we got to watch Alice kill a couple of sea urchins and then we got to watch Hannah ineffectively poke at one with her knife. I didn’t get to try because I didn’t have a knife.
The second dive was our first mapping dive Hannah took spot depths while I took bearing measurements and we went through the swim through which was neat. We also saw a scorpion fish.

The rest of the week we worked on skills and were in the pool.
This week was challenging but enjoyable.

Eric

PADI Divemaster Intern ~ Hannah

Hi, I am Hannah and I´ve come to Dive and Sea to do my Divemaster internship.

I did my open water certification 3 years ago in Malta and loved it so when I saw an advert for this internship I jumped to it and here I am hoping to become a Divemaster!

I have been given the delightful nickname of Montana, I’ll leave you to guess why. I’ve been here a week now. It’s been a full on, fun-filled one. At the start of the week we did a scuba tune up in the pool which bought back a few memories from my open water course and some skills I worryingly didn’t remember at all!

It was pretty cold and as we were leaving the pool I managed to fall over with my tank on my back whilst picking up my weight belt so I was like a turtle on its back – smooth.
In the afternoon Eric and I did a presentation about ourselves as well as Alice and Pete to get to know each other.
Day two was our first shore dive and first venture into the sea on Tenerife. I have to say I didn’t see much due to my new mask steaming up which wasn’t ideal on a fish identification dive. We also did a navigation dive, navigating a straight line, square and triangle, we practiced on land which I think was quite comical for the two onlookers. Underwater it took us two attempts to navigate the triangle as I think I couldn’t do the maths or something. That afternoon we headed to a hotel pool;s to offer a free scuba try with Alice.

I was quite surprised not everyone leapt out of their sun beds but maybe that’s just me. One guy seemed really chuffed with the experience and the children who gave it a go seemed to enjoy it.

There’s been lots to do and learn, sorting kit, preparing dives and daily jobs. I have learnt “yeh it was cool” is not a sufficient debrief at the end of the day. We did our Adventure dive readings through the week so we were clued up for the dive the next day.
On Wednesday we went to a deep dive and wreck dive. On the drive there we listened to a dance anthem CD that I am sure I am going to be pretty familiar with by the end! Carrying tanks to and from the car is heavy stuff but I am sure ill get stronger. I really enjoyed both those dives and I recognised more fish. Later on Pete showed us how to map a dive.
Thursday was our first boat dive. It was good fun and I was relieved I didn’t get seasick as we bounced along the water. There were lots of trumpet fish and I saw my first cuttle fish (name dropping). I tried killing an urchin as they take over the area but I was useless at it, it moved faster than me which was impressive!
We attempted to map a dive, Patrick let me borrow his dive computer so I took spot depths and Eric took bearings however when back in the shop and trying to put them together it was very confusing.

It’s going to take a bit of practice but we managed to produce a map by the end. We did our 400m timed swim which I was a little nervous for but I did it in 9 mins 11 secs which is fine, I just thought I was swimming in slow motion compared to super quick Eric.

We have practiced skills in the pool a couple of times, I have made several pretty silly mistakes but there is time for improvement! I demonstrated how not to do a skill pretty well on several of them.
We have learnt how to give a diving brief, on my first attempt I classically got the giggles and struggled through it but second time around I managed to keep a straight face.
After shop shuts I have been doing my readings and trying to get early nights for those early starts! I have been swimming in the pool a couple of times and it is so nice to swim in an empty pool!

On Thursday we completed our PADI Advance Open Water Diver certification! Yay and straight onto reading the Rescue diver manual – there ain´t no rest for the wicked!
We have watched dated American PADI dvds which we just about paid attention to through out. There is loads to remember, lots of checklists and I still regularly go around in circles having forgot this and that but at least I know which keys open each of the 6 doors to put away gear now!
The weather has been pretty cloudy all week, today is the first day the sun has been properly out and I am now embarrassingly very burnt.
I can identify more fish now and a fish is no longer just a fish, it’s got a name.

Hannah

Sting Rays everywhere :)

This week Gary Stiven and I have all made lots of progress on our PADI Divemaster course. We had a pool skills session with Pete who marked us. This showed us we still have some way to go in some skills but in others we managed to score some top marks, which was encouraging.  We also did the 800-metre snorkel and 100 metre diver tow. We did these tests in the Marina and in the afternoon I watched Stiven doing his PADI Rescue confined water stage. It was interesting to see someone else being instructed and was a useful refresher for Gary and I. It was a long day but it was worth it.

This week I have also done 2 dives where I was trained in the Surface Marker Buoy which I enjoyed doing.

We dived at the sub site with customers Fergus, Aidan and Dan. We were really lucky to see 4 large Rays sleeping on the floor of a small ravine. Later in the dive we saw another 2 Rays, which was fantastic .The second of those looked very large. The sleeping rays we were able to get really close to.  They eventually moved and were so powerful and graceful to watch. It was definitely a high for me.

We also dived at the Moon Pools where we saw lots of fish. It was a brilliant day and the light in the pools was amazing. You approach these pools through a series of swim throughs. I did my Fish identification dive at the site and recorded 36 different species. There were still others that I did not get a chance to record but it shows how much life there is in these waters.

At Yellow Mountain we dived with Dan, Steve, Aidan and Fergus .We saw a small Common ray which had teamed up with a small Sting ray. They were happily following one another around and did not seem at all bothered by our presence. They seemed to be playing a game of tag, which was funny to watch.

The weather this week has been 25 degrees plus. The sea temperature is still 21 degrees and the sea has been the calmest that I have seen it since I have been here.

On Saturday Gary, Stiven Melissa and I were all off for the day. Gary drove us round the north of the Island and we ended up at Teide just before sunset. The light really seemed to bring the colour out of the rocks and we all had a great day. It was nice to see parts of the Island that I have not been to before.

“ This is a fantastic time of the year to come diving here so what are you waiting for. “

Patrick    

On to my PADI Advanced course

El siguiente lunes lo tuvimos libre, mis dos compañeros (Gary y Patrick) y yo. ¡Que falta me hacía, estaba derrotado, pero valía la pena!

El martes, después de limpiar el centro, almacenes, … Nos fuimos a la marina Patrick y yo a hacer los 800m,  (Prueba Divemaster) y lo conseguimos hacer, aunque no con buenos tiempos.

El miércoles tocó estudiar, nos quedamos Gary y yo en el Centro y Melissa nos explicó los ejercicios con las tablas de buceo ya que por la tarde tenía mi exámen de Open Water Diver, el cual aprobé, por cierto con casi pleno!!!!

El jueves tras la revisión del par de preguntas incorrectas, ya era oficialmente Open Water Diver, así que a por el Advanced y fue todo el día estudiando. Sólo paré cuando bajamos Gary y yo a la piscina a nadar los 400m (Otra prueba del divemaster)

Por la noche nos fuimos a cenar: Gary, Patrick, Melissa, Pete y yo, a celebrar el cumpleaños de Gary, una noche muy divertida.

El viernes y el sábado también tocó estudiar, por lo que casi tenía la teoría del Advanced acabada.
El sábado volvimos a la Marina (puerto) a entrenar las pruebas de 800m y la de arrastre 100m (Otra prueba del Divemaster)

El domingo por la mañana fuimos a Abades ….

PADI Specialities leading to my PADI Master Scuba Diver

I was off this week on Monday and took the opportunity to complete my Navigation and Boat diver manuals. I was also lucky to be off on Friday and went to Las Galletas with Melissa for the afternoon. We watched the surfers and had lunch overlooking the marina.

This week Gary, Stiven and I did our practical for the Emergency First Response, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. The practical assessment in the shop even had members of the public who were passing stop and enter the shop to see what was going on. Sadly we did not manage to get Resu Annie to breathe again despite our best efforts.

We have been busy with lots of customers this week that have mainly been from the UK. We have also had a customer from Russia. One of the UK customers was Fiona who is an advanced diver but who had not dived for 13 years. Fiona really enjoyed re discovering the magic of the underwater world. She particularly enjoyed the dive at El Peurtito where the turtles were fantastic.

This week we have also dived at Poco Naufragio and Yellow Mountain. We have seen Rays, Parrot fish, Ornate Wrasse and Trumpet fish.

We have also done a Pool skills session with Alice. I had a bit of a nightmare with the flooded mask skill on the second go and ended up with a nose full of pool water. It is an area that I still need to work on. Most of the other skills are coming along but need some work to get the top marks.

On Sunday we dived at El Puertito with Dan, Aidan and Fergus in the afternoon.  It was very hot and the water was so calm and still. The visibility was brillant and the Turtles came to see us and kept coming back. One of the young ones was particularly curious. This is an amazing site which I love going to.

The weather here has been fantastic and the sea temperature is still 21 degrees.

“What are you waiting for come and see some of these amazing dive sites for yourself you will not be disappointed”.

Patrick

New Divemaster intern and lots of PADI Courses

New times
This week was a nearly complete week of diving, yeeesss!! 
After a few weeks with just a couple of days or none, this week not diving on Monday and Tuesday with my teaching duties and then the rest of the week diving 

On Wendsday to begin the day Patrick, Alice and me went to the pool to do Patrick Scuba Tune Up and later Peter a London Instructor, Pete, Alice, Patrick and me went for a couple of dives to Yellow Mountain, nice and quiet dives where we could see trumpet fish, parrot fish, white breams,… as usual, as said nice and quiet.

On Thursday was my first time driving the jumpy to Abades for a couple of shore dives with Melissa and Frankie that stayed on the beach, Alice leading, Patrick, me and Cat that is English woman doing her Open Water Referals to finish her Open Water Diver (OWD), she already had done the theory and confined dives in England and came to finish her OWD. There was much visibility and so we could see some arrow crabs, a common octopus and usual fish on her OWD.

On the afternoon Patrick and me could see Alice with Derek Scuba Tune Up and the rest of the day just quiet day doing the daily jobs and at the finishing of the day Pete, Patrick, Melissa, Alice and Cat went for a Beer to Celebrate Cat’s OWD.

On Friday we had a couple of boat dives on Yellow Mountain to finish Cat’s OWD, doing her OWR3 and 4. The visibility was much better than the day before and we all had a nice dive enjoying to see octopus, trumpetfish, parrotfish, blue-fin Damselfish, ornate wrasse, golden sponges and loads of other fish.

On Saturday we began the day in the pool with Alison Scuba Diver and later Pete, Cat, Alice, Patrick and me went for a couple of nice dives on Yellow Mountain, in the first dive Pete lead the dive to Alien Rock and we where lucky to see loads of Barracuda near the surface, some octopus, close to the Garden Eel and some other fishes, I couldn’t completely enjoy that dive as my mask was terrible leaking more than half of the dive. The second Alice lead the dive and was Patrick Boat dive for his Advanced Diver and could see some arrow crabs, a black moray eel and an octopus.
Nice dives, some of those you won’t forget in a long time.

On Sunday we went to Yellow Mountain and did a couple of dives with Yim, William and Thomas, they where from England, Yim was a school headmaster and we enjoying going around and could see cuttlefish, octopus, some wide eyed flounders and the usual neighbours ;)

Really nice week with a new intern here. Just beginning to know Patrick but look like will make a good friendship along our internship. Still working on my rescue, but it goes too slowly, with the holydays, more things on the to be done list. So lets see how does next weeks go.

And I think this is it for now,

Take care and good luck,
Adal aka Gary aka Gary Pineapple ;)