Room for improvement........

This week was very important for some of our more experienced interns, and a glimpse into the future for the novices. Last Friday four of them (Malena, Theiss, Gerardo and Mel) undertook their Divemaster Practical Skills section of their assessment and we were able to observe. Whilst they were not perfect, we got to see some very strong displays that will act as real inspiration for us. Tough but achievable was certainly the outcome from my observations! Alongside this the skills also entail showing a ‘student’ how to conduct a proper pre-dive safety check and how to assemble (and disassemble) scuba equipment for a Discover Scuba Diving experience. Quite frankly there is a lot to remember! The important thing is to ensure the language is as precise as possible, which is difficult when surrounded by experienced divers using more verbally friendly names for things like Low Pressure Inflator Hose and Submersible Pressure Gauge.

I was able to undertake my Divemaster Deep Dive at one of my favourite sites, Poco Nufraigio. Being just outside the marina it is nice and close; a big positive for Aiden (a regular customer). However, my own fondness is due to the resident Round Stingray. This huge example flies around the sands at just below 30 metres and really surprised me this time! As Will (a fellow intern) and I were doing a reciprocal bearing we turned 180 degrees and found ourselves face to face with it, hugging the bottom in the relatively low visibility. The Live Sharksucker that accompanied it really made the dive, as well as it being one more step towards Divemaster.

One afternoon the interns were also able to see the documentary film “The Cove”. This harrowing story about the capture and killing of dolphins in one small area of rural Japan was simply disgusting. The numbers murdered are believed to be in tens of thousands and lack of action by the International Whaling Commission is severely hampering efforts to stop it, along with state protection for those involved. Some positive steps appear to have been taken, but soon it will probably be too late.

This week I was also able to observe a Discover Scuba Diving pool session. It was interesting to see how Will, our instructor, was able to help a customer who was both unconfident and without a strong command of English. As is often the case, it appeared that it was a case of a ‘mental block’ rather than an actual physical issue. It was really quite gratifying when I heard that she was able to complete the open water section of her DSD with only a couple of problems.

The final part of this week was a number of stamina assessments for our Divemaster qualifications. Ranging from the relaxing 15-minute float to the torpedo role-playing involved in the 800-metre snorkel, these are necessary and sometimes tiring parts of the assessment. Along with an improving time in the 400-metre swim, these seem to be working well for me at the moment. However, like the rest of the assessed skills, there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Bruce (Alastair)

Lots of Dive courses, Divers and of course fish :)

On Monday we went to the lovely site of Poco Naufragio together with Sebastian, Cassandra and Trigger. Will was leading, and we had a great dive with super visibility and lots of life! We dropped down from the shelf and noticed that the little wreck, from where the dive site has got its very name, was almost not visible because of the shroud of cow breams that was looking for food there. A couple of barracuda, fairly big in size, were also curiously cruising around, so it was an awesome sight that met us on the first couple of minutes of our dive.

Theiss was buddied up with Sebastian, a Russian once-was Divemaster, and he was very comfortable during the dive and just simply happy to be back in the ocean. On the day, the dive site provided us with a lot of cool stuff to show our Russian guest, including a black moray eel, a massive red scorpion fish very well disguised, a couple of octopi, fire worms and a beautiful black cylinder anemone.

The original plan was to then head to Yellow Mountain, a classic in the Dive and Sea Tenerife dive site inventory, but this got changed by Pete and Will: They would try our luck on The Pipeline to see if we could "spice up" the previous dive with some rays. Last time we went to The Pipeline was simply amazing, with a stingray hiding under practically every 6th concrete blocks or so. Unfortunately, this was not the case this day, and even though we did see a sleeping ray extremely well hidden in the sand, the five of us, who had experienced the previous dive here, were a little disappointed. Sebastian, on the other hand, seemed like he had enjoyed it which obviously is the main thing after all.

After the all things considered great morning dives, the four of us "old" interns went to the marina to do our 800 m snorkel stamina test together with Melissa. We had a good time and we all improved on our times.

This day was also the induction day for three of the new faces of the Dive and Sea Tenerife Team: Nemo, Bruce and Dory, so we also got to welcome them.

The following day Malene went with the girls to Abades to shoot some footage for Hannah's movie. They got to do some diving and video record some dance moves underwater so they had a blast.

Theiss went on a man-trip with Pete on boat cover, Trigger, Will, Bruce, Nemo and Sebastian to Yellow Mountain, where they both swam the Alien Rock-route and the Swim-through ditto. As always, Yellow Mountain was brilliant and among the classics of the Tenerifean aquatic life, like roncadores, trumpet fish, damsels, wrasses, lizard fish and scorpion fish, they saw a common octopus, a massive starry weever and a big beast of a blue starfish.

In the afternoon we went to the Albatross Hotel pool to promote diving by offering free try dives. Last time we went, there was a lot of positive interest, and we actually had to disappoint some of the guests, because we simply didn't have the time to have a go with everyone. Therefore, on this day both Theiss and Will was in the water, which was a very good call, because again it was very busy. Malene, Cassandra and Dory was on the surface "selling" the try dive and doing paperwork. It all went well, and the interest this time seemed far more serious than the previous session, so hopefully we will very soon meet some of the participants again.

On Wednesday we had a very busy day, with a Bubblemaker and a Scuba Tune-up in the early morning and then 11 divers on the boat afterwards. The full roster was Craig, Georgia and her mother Michelle, who were doing their Peak Performance and Boat dive with Melissa for their Adventure Diver course, Cassandra, Trigger, Dory, Nemo, Bruce and obviously ourselves. Theiss got to lead both dives, which he really enjoyed, even though he made some few rookie mistakes (like going a wee bit too fast). At the end of the day, that (leading dives) is what we're here to learn, so hopefully there will be more of that in the near future. On the first dive, Theiss led Malene, Trigger, Cassandra and Craig around the Alien Rock, where we were lucky enough to see two octopi, a hermit crab, a couple of red reef lobsters and even a hairy crab, that was very well disguised! The latter was holding on to a rock, and we're still in the process of finding the reason behind this peculiar behavior.

On the second dive, all 11 divers were diving in one, big group. We dove the Swim-through route and we saw a decent sized octopus hiding in the swim-through overhang, which was really cool. Moreover, we saw a red backed cleaner shrimp right next to a fangtooth moray eel, so everyone enjoyed themselves and had a good time despite the size of the group.

This was also the Induction Day for two new interns, Sam and Catharine (aka. Pearl), so we also got to say "Bienvenido" to those guys after work with a cold beer at Big Al's.

Thursday was a quiet day for Theiss, who had a skill session in the pool in the morning together with Will, Cassandra, Nemo and Bruce. In the afternoon Theiss went with Bruce to the pool to observe Ruolof doing his DSD and Dorien doing her Discover Snorkeling conducted by Alice. Malene went to Abades with Melissa, Trigger, Pearl, Sam and Marvin, a guest from Germany, and despite the strenous swell conditions they had two wonderful dives, where they even saw a couple stingrays!

The next day was again a busy day with a good mix of both DSDs and certified divers. After a successful pool session, where Malene was observing a Scuba Tune-up and Theiss was with the DSDs, we went out on the dives. On the first one, Malene went with a DSD called Alexander, and he was very comfortable in the water. We went by boat to a site called Gijarro Arrecife, which is basically just outside the small marina beach, and they had a good dive. Theiss was with the other DSD, who unfortunately had some ear problems. We tried to descend but every time we got deeper than 3 meter or so, his ears were causing him problems, so we decided just to cruise around the boat in ca. 2 m. of water to give him some experience of the diving.

On the next dive, we went to the Pipeline, and customers really seemed to have a good time. Theiss went with Alice, Cassandra and the two certified divers, Nigel and Katharine, towards the deeper end of the Pipeline while Malene went with Will and Alexander towards the shallower end. We didn't see any rays unfortunately, but we saw an alicia mirabilis and a hairy crab, of course among the "usual suspects" of the local marine life.

In the evening we had a couple of drinks with Trigger, Cassandra and Nemo, which was really delightful.

Saturday was our day off, and we walked all the way to Yellow Mountain and back together with Cassandra and Trigger, with Theiss and Trigger doing a couple of "snorkeling stops" on the way.

Sunday was yet another good day. We both went to El Puertito (aka. "El Puer-turtle-o") together with Melissa, Will, Nemo, Nigel, Katharine, Ruolof, Dorien and three DSDs: Nicholas with his two children, Lauren and Alex. Malene went out to snorkel with Dorien, which went very well. Theiss, Cassandra and Nemo did the DSDs's skills with Will, and it went okay taking into account the pretty heavy swell.

On the second dive, Will, Rulof, Nigel, Katharine, Nemo, Cassandra and Theiss went for a "fun dive" and we saw a couple of turtles, which was really awesome! Moreover, we saw a sea slug, a cuttlefish and a lot of hermit crabs.

In the afternoon, Trigger and Theiss repaired Eric's rack, and we're sure that he would be proud of our efforts.

That was the fourth week of our internship, which obviously means that we're half way through now. We've come to a point where we're really having a good time doing the dives and mentoring for the new ones while still picking up new things to learn and remember every day. Onwards and upwards, or as we say in the Dive and Sea Tenerife: Élla éllaaaa!

Diving and nights out in Las Americas!

Let’s see, this week Gerardo and Mel (Melissa, but there already is one of those so…) showed up and have been getting used to the way things work.

We did a couple dives at Yellow Mountain early this week where Gerardo and Mel went to find Ducky and Hannah and I went to learn how to use a lift bag.

We also went on our first dive where it was only me and Hannah and we ended up spending half the dive killing sea urchins and to be honest it was super!

It was also our Divemaster exams this week, and Alice decided to torment me by not telling me my score until Hannah was done and then she held off until everyone was listening.
I was more nervous after the test than I was before it, in the end though I passed so it’s all good.

We also did our final skills session in the pool with Pete and Alice. There were some good things and some bad things about our pool session, first Pete didn’t get out of the pool in disgust which was a huge plus. He did make fun of us quite a bit for not responding correctly to the signal for "how much air have you got"!  However I feel that it was slightly unwarranted as nobody else had ever asked us, but then Pete is the loving caring one!

But in the end I only have to redo 3 skills whereas Hannah has to redo 6, I’m obviously #1.

Melissa’s birthday also happened this week and we went out for the night and had quite the time, or at least I had quite the time, but I am not willing to discuss it!

I also had dinner with Will, Hannah, and Melissa this week and I made the pasta and it was delicious.

My role was probably one of the most important of the meal and was constantly downplayed, I couldn't believe how ungrateful everyone was as I slaved away in the kitchen for at least 10-20 minutes. It was probably one of the most demoralizing moments of my life.
Melissa literally laid on the couch and said things like, “All you’re doing is boiling it in water,” and “you didn't make the pasta.” It was wonderful, but I must say I did enjoy the food in the end, I don’t know if it was because I put so much work and effort into it or if it was just delicious.

We done a bunch of dives at other places too this week with some great guys.

Today though got to work on skills with Mel and Gerardo which was fun and got through my kit set up with them, they were pretty decent for first runs.

Malene and Theiss also started their internship and today was my first full day working with them and I think they will do well.

It’s weird having so many interns, I was used to rushing around and doing a lot of work every day but the amount I have to do myself now is quite a bit less it seems.

Either that or I am getting really lazy. Whatever it’s all working out and we are having a good time.

Eric

Night Dives and my first BIG Sting Ray

On Sunday we did our first night dive.

We met at 5.15 and headed off on the boat. I cant say I enjoyed it that much, I found it pretty disorientating in the dark. However when we first got in the water our torches made all the bits in the water glow which was pretty cool.
I enjoyed the second dive a lot more, I saw my first moray eels and a big ray.

On Monday we did a skills session in the pool and then did the EFR (Emergency First Response) course. The course was pretty fun and we now know how to take off gloves that are covered in ketchup off without getting any on us as well as plenty of other useful stuff.

I also practiced using an AED for the first time. In the afternoon Eric and I worked on EAP (Emergency Action Plans) which took me a wee while to get the hang of as I started off suggesting that in an emergency you should drive to the shore whilst sending flares up from the boat but several hours in we started getting somewhere and got a more sensible plan.

We did our PADI Rescue course on Tuesday in the marina and Eric was a very violent victim in pretend scenarios!
That course was really useful though and its good practice for if / when a real scenario occurs.
When we did our timed search in the water we were so eager to start searching we didn’t put our weight belts on and jumped straight in. I was hoping nobody had noticed my desperate kicking to descend but I think it provided entertainment!
We managed to find the object in time all the same.
We also did our 800m snorkel again too but my time was slower than the first time I did it.

On Wednesday we went to Yellow Mountain where we did 2 mapping dives where Eric and I took bearings, spot depths and kick cycles to make a map.
We drew our maps of the dive site when we got back to the shop.
We also did rescue scenarios and I probably did the most pathetic rescue attempt on record pulling Alice onto the boat but I got there in the end.

We went to the dive site Las Eras on Thursday. There was quite a bit of surge and surf but we entered the water successfully and there were lots of big fish about and a whole shoal of trumpet fish were surrounding this randomly placed little nativity on the rock.

For the second dive we went to the pipeline but there wasn´t many fish about maybe because of the surge.
On Friday we went to Abades and I briefed the dive, there was quite a strong surge again and the visibility was very poor.
The visibility has been pretty bad all week as the next days trip to Yellow Mountain was disappointing too because of the bad visibility but it was a good chance to practice buddy contact.

I finished my PADI Divemaster manual reviews this week and its nice to have all the reviews completed.

Saturday was a busy day as when we returned from Yellow Mountain Eric and I went straight to the pool to practiced our skills again and then we went off to give offer try dives to the hotel pool and then returned to clean and dust the basement and shop.

We got Sunday off so Patrick kindly drove Eric and I up to Teide where we got the cable car up to near the top of the volcano at 3555m up.
It was cooler up there and it was nice to see more of the island, the terrain is pretty different from the coast.
You can see all the different set lava flows and we took a few short walks around the rocky landscape.

Hannah

PADI Rescue Course. EFR and of course more diving

What a week, what a week , oh you should have been there.

My week started with 2 dives at Las Eras, where I have never been before. The visibility during the dives wasn’t the best and there was a little current, especially on the first dive. 
But I enjoyed both dives. I think the second dive on the pipeline was really fascinating.

Next day I had 2 dives, the first at Poco Naufragio and the 2nd at Starfish Bay. I really enjoyed the dives, Alice was leading the dive and we had a very nice customer with us, Ann, who really enjoyed herself during the dives as well.
At Poco Naufragio we saw a Common Ray and I especially liked the two Black Moray Eels and the Fangtooth Moray who where together, and Alice was feeding them which looked pretty scary to me.

Wednesday was definitely a fun day and we learned a lot as well. 
We started at 10:00 o'clock which made everyone very happy because we didn't have to prepare kits and tanks in the morning because we were not going diving, we had our EFR(Emergency First Response) course. 
Pete was instructing Dennis, Andreas, Mahmoud, Angela and me, and even Sam was there even though he already is a Divemaster since this week. 
We had a lot of fun, especially during the scenario’s Pete gave us to do, I think the best one was when we all came back from our 5 minute break and Sam was laying on the flour and Canadian Dave was laying on a bench and nobody was responding to that because we all thought they were just laying there for no reason!
So we were sent back outside while they told us this was a real scenario. 

We went back in and lucky for us we saved Sam, but Canadian Dave is still recovering from the fact that Andreas was giving him mouth to mouth breathing. 
After our fun EFR morning we had lunch and went to the swimming pool to do some swimming. I finally broke my 11 minutes, only with 3 seconds, but I broke my 11 minutes. 
It’s a shame that Alice or Pete wasn't timing because now it doesn't count for real. 
And in the evening I practiced kit assemble and disassemble with Dennis.

Thursday I had my day off so I cleaned my entire apartment and I did some shopping because I invited the interns that were working that day for lunch at my place. So when Dennis, Andreas and Mahmoud walked in they didn’t even recognize my apartment any more because it was so clean. 
Then I made them some lunch which they really enjoyed, lucky for me. Angela was sick that day so unfortunately she missed our fun lunch. But I saved  fruit salad that I made for our vegetarian Angela and she ate it in the evening after we practiced kit assemble and disassemble with Dennis and Andreas.

Friday was really, really exciting because I had my first night dive ever. I was a little scared and I was so nervous, but everything went all right. Actually it was really beautiful and I just tried to enjoy myself as much as possible and just look at the fish and follow the group. I really liked the Parrot fish, I saw one with really bright colors and it was so beautiful. I liked the plankton as well, when you move your hand in the water you can see them light up which is really pretty.

Saturday really was a messy day. We made so many silly mistakes on everything! So I hope everyone that was working that day, including me, just learned from the mistakes we made so it won’t happen again. 
Apart from that I really liked my dive at Pequeño Valle even though it was a pretty short dive because there was a little current which became stronger while we moved on. 
And now the best part of the day was that we practised Rescue skills in the marina, and that was so much fun. It just becomes so much more real when you practice them, especially with the panicked diver. 
While practising the panicked diver I found out that it’s more difficult than I thought. I started practising with Alice and she started easy on me just being a little panicked diver, but then it got real and I found out that a panicked diver can be pretty, pretty dangerous.

After doing the rescue skills we washed the kits and nobody know how it happened but I lost one of my fins, and the bad part was that it was the fin with my mask and snorkel in it. So that situation made me a little sad, as soon as we found out that my fin was missing Dennis jumped in the water but he didn't find my fin back.

Sunday was a relaxed day. I took Dennis, Andreas and Mahmoud to the swimming pool to practice our skills and I could really see that the boys are improving on their skills and I could practice at the same time helping them. 
Unfortunately Angela couldn't join us because she had a little injury on her leg/foot. We washed the cars as well and that was a lot of fun. And we did our 400 meter swim and this time I really wished that that the time counted because my time was 10:22 which is my fastest time ever.
But I'm really happy with my time and I'm just hoping that I can do it again, or maybe even better.
Oh and the best part of today, Mahmoud went diving in the marina under supervision from Melissa to find my fin and he found my fin, my mask and my snorkel back!

So I’m really happy and Mahmoud is the hero of the day.

Up to w

Best Dive Ever?.............................. Probably :-)

This week started on a low for me this week, I had boat cover.

When I wasn't sitting in the middle of the boat sea sick, I’d be having stern hand gestures with inconsiderate French divers who were anchoring too close to our boat.

Luckily for me this week got considerably better as the week went on.

The first dives of this week was with Turtles, it really tickled my fancy so I had delayed my day off so that I could go. Definitely worth it. The first of the two dives was with the friendly Turtle, it was obviously used to being fed by other dive schools and thus spent a lot of time coming incredibly close, so much so that the Turtle would touch you, or its fins would hit my regulator hose.

The second dive was just as good if I’m honest, the next Turtle wasn't quite as interested in us but more so in the cotton spinner it was attempting to eat. In fact the Turtle was so oblivious to us being there that Melissa was able to clean the bits of line and plant off it. Two of the best dives I've had since being here.

Even when we weren’t looking for Turtles, there’s plenty of other things to see, the very bright blue Sea Anemone  or the incredibly large Trumpet fish. Saying that I’m very easy to please and even the Blue Finned Damsels that are a dime a dozen are still nice to see and just as colourful and impressive as when I first saw them.

My day off! Finally! Really wasn’t half as exciting as I planned it to be. I ended up spending it sleeping and working on my Divemaster book. That is literally it, I have nothing else to say about it, sad I know.

Next up, Poco Naufragio. Unfortunately for me and Lydia we were restricted to 18 meters as she hadn't quite finished her PADI Advanced course yet, but we still got an incredible view, others on the dive were Alice and a returning customer called Matt, whom is very bubbly and has a weird obsession with Sexy Shrimp. They went down a bit deeper than us and got to play with a Common Eagle Ray, it was swimming around them and it looked so comfortable around divers, which is just something I’m not so use to.

I don’t know why I’m complaining about not being able to get close to the Ray, the shelf that is at 18 meters, has a massive array of fish and lots to see. There’s bream, parrot fish, star fish and morays, all of which is easily enough to keep me entertained for the duration of a dive.

The final few dives of the week was with two customers named Anna and Thomas. Tom was doing his scuba review whilst Anna was starting her journey to PADI Open Water diver. The first dives of the day were in the pool and I got to assist Pete instruct the first confined dive with Anna. When I say assist I really mean prop up Anna in case she falls over, but it is great fun to see someone instruct the courses.

Once the pool dives were over we headed out to Yellow Mountain for a couple of dives, both went very well, and Anna has since completed all her open water dives with just the exam to pass before she is fully qualified.

That’s it for this week, I've now been here over two weeks and it has flown by, looking a head to another six more weeks of hard graft and hopefully good dives.

Sam ~ aka Popeye

End of Part 1 for Hayley

So its my last week here at Dive and Sea Tenerife, as I am completing my Internship in 2 stage's.

I am now nice and familiar with how everything works, and what goes on in the day to day routine, which is good, I feel more comfortable in what I’m doing, and have already learnt so much and feel more confident, not only as a Diver but as a person.

There are still a few things I’m getting wrong but learning from my mistakes has proven to be a great way to learn and make everything sink in.

We have been on some lovely dives this week, started the week of diving at Abades, where we saw tonnes of marine life...to name a few: common octopus, cuttlefish, fangtooth moray eel, black moray eel, cleaner shrimp, wide eyed flounder, blue fin damselfish, scorpion fish….and…well if I wanted to name them all, I would be here all day!

On Friday I completed my PADI Advanced Open Water course, so I was quite happy with that!
We did lots of great adventure dives including: night dive, deep dive, drift dive, peak performance buoyancy and navigation so it was great to broaden my diving horizons and do things I have never done before.

A couple more dives at Yellow mountain, Poco Naufragio and Abades was good, starting to feel more comfortable underwater with my buoyancy improving.

One of my favourite dives of the week was with Will completing his navigation speciality at Yellow Mountain. 

He did a really good job, he took me around the Swim through, and over to Crocodile Rock, it was nice to just leisurely swim around and check everything out. I noticed that a group of fish followed us around for the entire dive, every time I would cut up a pesky black long spined sea urchin, they would all crowd around, and every time I pulled out my knife, they would dart straight towards it.

This week we welcomed new interns Geoffrey, Jess and Todd and said goodbye to Jake and Will. So, it was sad to see them go, but its good to have happy new faces around.

After coming here with no dives, I now have 23 dives and, I have discovered a new love for scuba diving, and I am really looking forward to doing more dives on my travels, and perhaps even furthering my education in the dive industry.

So with my last week of this part of my internship, I’m going to make the most of it, and take in as much as possible.

I will be back in the early part of next year to complete my Internship, but for now its bye bye from me.

Hayley