Oh my god, the internship is over halfway now! The time just seems to go faster and faster. I’m starting to settle in and get used to the life on
Tenerife now.
The last few days the weather has been improving, not that it really had been bad, but we’ve had lots of clouds and strong winds. The wind is still pretty strong, but the sun is coming through a bit more and I can again walk around in a T-shirt again.
Earlier this week we did (surprise surprise) some more diving. Wednesday George, a
PADI Open Water Diver, joined us.
During the first dive that day, George, Harry and Pete headed for Alien Rock, while I stayed on the boat. The second dive Pete stayed on the boat, and I joined George and Harry to Swim Through.
Halfway through the dive, we decided to return to the boat, as George, who wore his own thin wetsuit, started to get really cold. After a short trip on the boat we arrived at the Marina, where we washed the kit, and got ourselves warmed up. Because of the strong wind that day, I did a spectacular (just kidding) rescue of George's hat, which had ended up in the water.
Thursday was another busy day, starting the morning with our pool skills once more. Most skills went fairly well (by now we don’t just have to be able to do the skills ourselves perfectly, but also demonstrate them to teach others).
We also did our kit exchange, which proved to be a real challenge. After a 10-minute talk about how we were going to accomplish this, Harry and I entered the water. Our goal was to exchange our complete scuba unit, mask and fins while breathing from one regulator. Clumsy swimming together from the shallow to the deep part of the pool began our challenge. The first attempt failed, because we did not use the proper techniques, resulting in shortness of breath. Harry was the first who sought refuge to the surface, but it wouldn’t have been long before I would have done the same.
After a brief (and very welcome) pause at the surface, and a few tips from Pete, we were off on our second attempt full of confidence. Although it took quite some time (and wasn’t much like - as Harry called it - a water ballet), our second attempt succeeded.
Back at the shop it was now time for the presentations of our demonstration skills. We did two more skills; the kit assembly, and the pre-dive safety check. We managed to do well, and Harry and I both ended up with a good score.
Later that morning we were off to the Marina, where we did our 800 meters snorkel again. In an attempt to improve our times, Harry and I decided that it would be a good idea to snorkel in our shortie’s, so we would be less buoyant. We thought, as a result, our more fins would be more in the water, with the result that we would be quicker.
Well, that’s what we thought. We swam as fast as we could, (feeling freezing cold) and I looked forward to hearing my - obviously - great time, which was .. (Drum roll).. Was 2 minutes slower than my previous time... Not such a good idea after all, those shortie's.
Hopefully I will have another chance, and I will improve my time then!
The day was not over yet, not even halfway through! Since we were already in the Marina, we might as well do some more diving. Pete, Harry and I headed to
Yellow Mountain again. Pete stayed on the boat, while Harry lead the first dive to Alien Rock, and I lead the second dive to Swim Through. The dives went well, and I’m slowly starting to get to know the dive sites, and recognize certain rock formations. This is, for a part, due to the fact that I did my underwater map at Swim Through. Since we do many of our dives to Yellow Mountain, I hope it will be like a second home to me soon!
Back at the shop, we got a lot done that afternoon. I started rinsing all the regulators (and there are many of them) to give them an extra good cleaning. We also did some, at first rather unsuccessfully
:-), redesigning of the shop. It is clear that we have to work on our retail skills.
Friday early morning, it was time for my first night dive. At 5:45 we were at the shop, 15 minutes later we found ourselves at the Marina, loading all the diving kits on to the boat. We headed for Poco Naufragio, the small ship wreck just a few minutes by boat. In pitch black darkness, Pete, Harry and I got in the water, while poor Melissa was left all alone on the boat.
The first thing I noticed were the luminescent algae, that swirled around us like little stars. The colors underwater, which were much more visible than during the day due to my underwater torch, were stunning. We saw many animals we often see during daytime, that were now, during night time, much more active. I also saw some species that I had never seen before. We saw lots of Cardinal fish, Scorpion fish, Arrow crabs, Red mullet, Almaco Jack, Anemones and more.
After half an hour of enjoying the dive which is now one of my favorites, we swam toward the surface. We were approximately two meters from the surface, when I suddenly experienced my first Jellyfish sting, which was on my face! Thanks a lot Mr. Jelly...!
When we got back on the boat, Melissa told us that she had just seen a Dolphin near the boat, which made up a little bit for getting out of bed so early.
Towards the end of the week we mainly did a lot of little jobs at the shop, such as the maintenance of the
regulators and wetsuits, reorganizing the window displays, and the usual online promotion activities.
Saturday, Harry and I had the responsibility of running the shop, whereas Pete and Melissa went to see the Carnival in Puerto de la Cruz, which is a hugely celebrated holiday here on the Islands. Slowly but surely, we are becoming increasingly independent!
I am planning on checking out the Carnival as well, next Sunday in Los Gigantes, together with my friend. She is coming over all the way from Holland for six days, and we’ll try to get her into the diving experience as well.
Meanwhile, I'm a long way through my studies, and my Divemaster exam is coming up soon. I'm now at 42 logged dives, 18 more to go to reach the 60 dives required as a Divemaster.
Remember to keep checking our blogs!
Love, Alice
I was surprised when we went on a different path on our second dive in yellow mountain. We went west instead of east to a place called Swim Through. It is actually called swim through because we swam through a cave like structure only very shallow and wide open so that you can swim through it to the other side. It was the first time I have ever done anything like that and I really liked it so much. This time I was buddy with Dennis. We were following the group from behind making sure everything is ok and everyone is close to Alice as she leads the dive from the front.
The second dive on the other hand was definitely a very significant dive in my life. I had never seen so many creatures in one dive and was the first time I ever saw an Angel Shark. I thought it was a big one but Melissa told me it was still very young, in any case it was very fast and ran away from us contradicting my expectations as I thought they were very curious creatures. We also saw Black Moray, Fangtooth Moray, an Octopus, a few Cuttle fish and a lot of different fish.
Then comes the thing I enjoy the most in diving. Night diving is amazing I love the nocturnal creatures they are just so beautiful and all the creatures become less shy in the night. I also never knew cuttlefish can glow in the dark after you point the light to them. And you gotta love the planktons!
We spent 45 minutes snorkeling, free diving and doing some fish ID which was the highlight of my closing day.
