Divemaster Exams and climbing Mountains

Another week down and I'm actually more than halfway through my internship. I really dont know time managed to fly by so quickly - but it did.

I led my first dive this week at Abades. We we're only 4 interns and no customers, so its not like there was any real pressure on me.

Anyway, Andres, Mahmoud, Lydia and I did three dives (Lydia only did the two first due to some misunderstanding regarding bringing enough bottles), Typical intern :)

I led the first dive. We were told to do a 30 minutes dive, and then surface exactly at our descend point.

Everything went fine - after 15 minutes of dive I signalled that it was time to start making our way back and everything went as smooth as I could wish for!

The only hassle we had, was the fact that the surge had roughed up so much silt were we were to descend and ascent, that the visibility was down to one or two metres. We stayed close together and never lost track of each other, so no it was never any major issue!

Andreas led the second dive, and Mahmoud the third, they both did well.

We had Pete timing our 400 meters swim this week as well. Swimming laps in a pool never was my cup of tea, but at least I finished within the allotted time - so I got it in writing now! 

We also did the 15 minutes float (whereas the last to minutes is with your hands and wrists out of the water) In the pool doing the 15 minutes float with me, I had Andreas and Mahmoud. Mahmoud and I had no problem floating the first 13 minutes, but Andreas (due to "slimmer" physic) was struggling a bit keeping buoyant. Then came the signal to raise our arms, and we did. I remained floating as if no change had occurred.

Mahmoud started struggling to keep is nose above water and Andreas just went down like a rock. All that donut eating finally paid of I suppose!

Our very own Alice, AKA Kim, AKA Santa's little helper rose to the rank of PADI instructor this week. So, well done and congratulations to her!

Convenient enough we had 4 customers, 3 of them doing their PADI Advanced course , so Alice was baptised in the doings of an instructor.  
Alice, Peter, the 4 customers and I headed for yellow mountain to do the course's. 
First we did a Peak Performance Buoyancy dive consisting of some exercises in the likes of hovering and swimming through hoops - they all did well - some more than others of course.

Next dive was a navigation dive. Before the second dive, I decided that I had enough air left in my tank from the first tank (you see were this is going already?)

After around 30 minutes of dive, I was down to my last 20 or so bars, and I decided it was time for me to get back to the boat. I swam up to Alice, intending to signal that I was low on air, and wanted to surface.

Poor Alice, conducting her first ever course as an instructor, and doing really well. And then suddenly she has this diver tapping her shoulder, signalling that he is out of air.

Ah well, nobody drowned and all went well in the end, so the day ended as a success for all of us.

There hasn’t been a whole lotta diving this week. We are mainly focusing on polishing our PADI Divemaster skills for the skill circuit. So this means many an hour in the cold waters of the small pool, consulting our slates to see what skills we should do next, trying to forget that we are shaking so much that it feels like we are dancing.

At least I feel that we are all making progress, developing pretty smooth like instructing skills!

It has also been a huge step forward that I passed my Divemaster exam. I can't remember my exact score, but I did alright.

We had a few days of this week, actually we had two days of in a row. The first day of, Andreas and I decided that we had seen what Golf del sur had to offer, so we headed of to Los Christianos for a crazy night out to end all crazy nights out. 
I don’t want to bore you with every boring little detail of our adventure. But the climax would be the two of us ending at a local discotheque at around four in the morning wanting to socialise with some of the locals. We actually had great fun at that place, that is until we got kicked out by a grumpy bouncer for performing a neat little party trick we have invented called the "spider-pig".

The "spider-pig" truly is an amazing acrobatic trick that is out of this world. To perform the "spider-pig" you need to have two guys. One guy stands perfectly still, while the other on jumps up and hangs on his shoulders, climbing all the way around his waist, and then over his shoulders and out through his legs - WITHOUT TOUCHING THE GROUND! 
Needless to say, we were the kings of that discotheque upon performing our act - at least in the eyes of us and the guests, but not in the eyes of the bouncer!

The observant reader may recall that I have been writing about climbing the "Montaña Roja" in one of my older blogs. So on our second day of, the mountain climbers club got together again - this time we had our eyes on a much higher mountain that we had named "Titty Mountain".

We started walking towards the mountain at around 13:30 in the afternoon, and reached the bottom of it around 17:15.

We had been walking all day, and now we were facing a serious problem, we had only around one hour worth on sunlight left, and the mountain was looking pretty steep.
The sensible thing would have been to call of the expedition and return on another day. But the mountain climbers club does not consists of weaklings, so we decided to go to the top, plant our flag, and hightail it down that mountain side before dark. 
Of course we ended up on that mountain top in pitch black, being trapped for more than four hours, before we found a somewhat safe trail down again. 
We all learned an important lesson that day!

"We all happy bunnies?"

-Dennis

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

Great dives, Fab Customers and cleaning a RIB !

This is now my fifth week here with Dive and Sea Tenerife. 

Time has gone bye so fast that it feels like I have just arrived.   Just three more weeks to go, and still so much to do!!.

This week we have had Belazs here who has started doing a 10 dive pack.  Belazs is an Advanced Open water diver so he is a joy to dive with. 

The first dives of the week were at the new deep site and at Pequeno Valle. 

At the new site we found a rock structure that looked like an underwater mountain we are thinking of a name for this new site and I really like the idea of Deep Blue Mountain, Melissa and Pete are a little unsure of this name so we are still thinking on that one.   

On the first dive we found a couple very nice black moray eels. On the second site we found two stingrays, one that was sleeping and the other which swam away from us very very fast.  Fantastic dive sites and we all had a great time.

This week I have also given my first brief and led my first dives. Very scary and have to say need a lot more work on the briefing! And like all fist time leaders I went a little fast!  

Must learn to slow down and show the customers all the exciting things there are to see. Belazs and I were diving at Yellow Mountain. The first dive I lead was to Alien Rock, on this site we saw a Pearly Razorfish that followed us for a while. 

For the second dive I took Belazs to the swim-through and around Crocodile Rock. We found one black moray eel and a very cool lobster. After we got back to the dock Belazs thanked me for two amazing dives, which made me feel like I lead the dives very well.   

This week has also seen the return of Alice a previous intern, who has now joined the working team of Pete and Melissa at Dive and Sea. 

Alice plans to sit her Assistant Instructor course in July when she will have been diving for a whole 6 months!  With already over 100 dives Alice is really happy to be back. 

Its great for me to have another person around the centre, especially as Alice has already completed her internship here with Pete and Melissa so she can give me handy hints!

We set out that morning for two dives with Belazs. The first site was called Poco Naufragio which is located just outside the marina.  I was boat cover today so Pete, Alice and Belazs went out for the first dive and when they surfaced they told me Alice had hand feed a stingray so that's was cool. 

For the second dive we headed out to a site I had never been to called Black Cove. Alice led the dive and I buddied up with Belazs. We found many octopus including some little babies that were so small. 

Overall it was a great week and it was alot of fun meeting Alice.

At the end of the week we had a run of DSD’s which was great fun, Alice Pete and I went with the three students who did brilliantly at their pool skills, off to Abades for their open water dive, the three of them had a fantastic dive, and were able to see lots at Abades including Melissa and Belzas.  

Then on Saturday I helped Alice at Abades for DSD’s with Chris and Theresa who did 2 dives they had a great time, and are raring to go out on Monday to see the Turtles with Melissa.

Also this week we faced the monumental task of getting the boat out of the water de slimed and anti fouled, it took us a lot of time! 

I cannot believe how much my body ached after the first day!  

Looking forward to the boat being back in the water next week!

Wah wah wah :-(

Friday morning we packed some kit together and headed up to the North of the Island, to see our friends at Teide Divers.

We met Phil, Jackie, Lauren and Kepa, ready to go out for a dive in a different part of the island. Jackie put the kettle on and made us all a nice cup of tea, which is the standard recipe for a good start to the day.

We headed down to the local marina soon after, where we would meet the boat that was taking us out for our morning of fun in the sea. There were quite a few people on the boat, one of whom took a special interest in sitting incredibly close to Melissa, much to Melissa’s disapproval (photos to follow).

The last week of Alice in Tenerife :-(

O nee o nee mijn laatste week alweer! Hoewel ik graag mijn familie en vrienden weer wil zien, zou ik ook ontzettend graag hier blijven. Ik heb echt mijn hart verloren aan Tenerife…

Dolfijnen en meer Dolfijnen

De tijd vliegt nog steeds voorbij, waar zijn al die weken gebleven?!

Maandag arriveerde de volgende nieuwe stagiaire, Carl, een PADI Master Scuba Diver uit Engeland van 35 jaar. De ochtend begon met een skillsessie in het zwembad, voor mij alweer een tijdje geleden.

What no Hash Browns!

Friday 13th, despite its reputation for being an awful day for the superstitious people among us, was a pretty good day.

Us interns were in the pool for some skill circuit training. The required skills are getting easier now and practicing them can be quite good fun as well as beneficial. After the skills session it was time for some more swimming stamina training. My time is now down to about 7:30 (ish), which I’m quite pleased with considering I couldn't swim 100m when I first got here!

A well received fry up courtesy of the Aberdeen was next on the agenda, which is never disappointing, unless they forget to include hash browns! Sometimes they do this and as we all know, a breakfast just isn’t the same without hash browns! This was washed down with a practice at demonstrating kit assembly and a 5 minute presentation on ‘What I plan to do with my Divemaster qualification’.

Note to self; Never make a fry up with out hash browns.

Saturday had arrived…… A day that Zippy and I had been waiting for and talking about for the best part of 3 weeks…… That’s right, it was the day when we would be eating our ‘BIG AL’S MIXED GRILL’. An early celebration of Zippy’s birthday next week, which was being held in the place where the food always smells soooo nice!

 

I was on duty in the shop in the morning while everyone else was out diving. I put my sales techniques to the test and really enjoyed selling dives and also a couple of PADI Scuba Tune-ups, as well as a Padi Discover Scuba Diving course. In between customers, I was going through kit assembly, preparation and disassembly with Rodders, which was getting close to demonstration quality. As soon as everyone was back from diving, My kit set up demonstration was scored and I got a 5/5. The practice definitely paid off!

I spent the rest of the afternoon constantly reminding everybody in the shop that I was looking forward to my mixed grill later on in the evening, which couldn’t come soon enough!

Later on we met Phil, Jackie and Lauren from Teide Divers, Lauren’s dad Barry and Dave from Pro-sub for dinner. I had my mixed grill and was in no way disappointed, which was topped off with a few cheeky pints and a bit of karaoke.

Note to Pete and Melissa; Did I mention I was having a mixed grill?

Sunday = A bit hungover. Enough said.

Monday morning (HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZIPPY) I was leading the PADI Scuba Tune-ups (with Monica and Shaun) and the PADI Discover Scuba Diving (with Catherine) pool sessions, that I sold on Saturday. Putting my skills to the test aswell as the ‘dealing with customers’ part of the process was good fun and good practice. Helping the customers brush up on their skills went quite well for a first attempt and they were quite happy with their performance, as was I.

We got out of the pool and changed kits over, then Melissa and I headed off to El Puertito with Monica and Shaun, in the hope of finding some Turtles. I led the way on the dives and knew where I was (most of the time), which meant my knowledge of dive sites was getting a lot better. We also found a Turtle and spent a little while with him, which never fails to be an amazing experience.

In the afternoon my 400m swim was timed (4/5) and my sewing skills were put to the test, as I repaired a shoulder strap on one of the BCD’s. A fine job was done (even if I do say so myself).

Note to self; If dive career fails, fall back on sewing skills.




Tuesday, 4 weeks and 5 days into my internship. The day I became a PADI Divemaster! A scored skill session in the pool, with Jackie and Phil from Teide Divers in attendance, went really well. I managed a 5/5 on every skill apart from three of them, which I scored 4/5 on. I for one am not going to argue with that!

I completed the 15 minute tread water exercise and didn’t drown which is always a bonus, which completed the list of everything that was required for the Divemaster certification.

The afternoon was spent typing up a list of Do’s and Don’ts for Pete and Melissa, which I found quite amusing. There are certain things you learn about how the shop is run, how everybody takes their tea and little tips that can help you along the way that will hopefully will be beneficial for future interns. A little bit of reading and studying thrown in for good measure finished the day nicely.

Wednesday morning Zippy, Alice and I were down in the pool to have a go at filming our own take on the PADI skills videos. Alice was on camera duty while Zippy and I performed skills in a demonstration manner, some were serious, some had rather funny and obvious mistakes and some were simply outtakes.

Zippy for example filmed an entire skill underwater with his snorkel in and holding his breath!  It was good fun doing these videos, hopefully soon we will have a complete set of skills recorded and ready to use in the shop, to show future interns how it is/isn’t done. Alice on this occasion held the camera the wrong way round, which meant our videos were on the side and too difficult to rotate. We will get it right next time!

We spent some time in the afternoon taking old Divemaster exams, seeing how much we knew and what areas needed some work. Thankfully I have been doing a LOT of reading recently, which paid off as I didn’t do too badly.

Note to self; Think of more stuff for video outtakes.

Thursday Pete gave Zippy and I the pleasure of cleaning the boat in the morning. In a weird way I find it rather therapeutic! We were joined down at the marina by Phil, Jackie and Lauren from Teide Divers.

Jackie was finishing off the last couple of bits and pieces that she needed for her Divemaster qualification, while I timed Lauren doing her 800m Snorkel stamina test. We left there and headed straight for the Aberdeen for a cheeky breakfast, to celebrate a successful week of Divemaster certifications.

The day had been going well up to this point, but then it all went massively wrong. NO HASH BROWNS!!!

I spent the afternoon on a little errand run with Melissa, dropping tanks off to be filled and picking up some things and doing some stuff. A trip to Pro-Sub to see Dave for some things, was as painful as it always is. Walking into that shop is like going to Toys’R’Us when you are a young child.
You want to buy EVERYTHING but you just can’t. The stuff we picked up included my IDC pack, which is the paperwork for the Instructor Development Course. I start training to become an Assistant instructor next week, which I am really looking forward to. Hopefully this will lead me on to the path of becoming an Instructor sometime soon!

Note to self; Wait outside Pro-Sub next time we go.

Bungle

Schotland komt naar Tenerife

Wat een week! We kregen een grote groep duikers hier die een week naar ons en Teide divers kwamen voor een duikvakantie. Helaas kon ik door mijn oorontsteking deze week niet duiken en belandde ik van maandag tot en met donderdag in de shop.

All the kit ALL the time!

Friday morning Karol and Monica were diving with us again, as well as a man who many people know as ‘Martin’ (mostly because that is his name). The first part of the morning was spent bundling kit and loading the car, then with Martin on board, he, Melissa and I were in the van and on our way to El Puertito via collecting Karol and Monica. The car journey was fun as we were so busy being interested by Martin telling us about his very interesting job (genuine), that we missed the turning for the Tank filling Station and almost got to the dive site with no full air cylinders. The mistake was quickly rectified and we arrived at El Puertito with everything we needed for some potentially Turtle spotting dives.

Turtle spot we did, also finding Octopus and a lot of other wonderful things along the way, much to the liking of our 3 customers. I led the first dive and managed some confusion with directions, but we easily made it back to the shore with the help of the dive sites resident expert, Melissa.

Note to self; Don’t get lost when there is people following you!

Saturday was Karol and Monica’s last 2 dives with us, but I unfortunately wasn’t there to see them through it. Zippy and Alice took them on a tour of Yellow Mountain, while I had the pleasure of leading a Snorkelling excursion for Hamish and his son, fish spotting and watching the divers from the surface. I really, really enjoy snorkeling anyway so this was a great day for me. Every body who was being showed round by us wonderful interns enjoyed their trips and headed off happy.

The afternoon was equipment maintenance time. We started with Alice and I washing all of the BCD’s thoroughly at the marina, then zippy and I tagging and recording the stock of the freshly cleaned jackets.

Note to self; Don’t be so sarcastic.

Sunday was a short day, a little more equipment preparation and cleaning was on the cards. We took all the booties and regulators down to the marina and gave them all a thorough clean. Zippy and I then had a scrubbing session on the boat and that was about that.

More reading of the ‘Encyclopedia Of Recreational Diving’ finished off the afternoon with style!

Monday morning and Pete, Melissa, Alice, Zippy, Our new intern Carl (who we are calling ‘Rodders’) and I were popping down to the pool to give demonstrating the required PADI Divemaster skills a go. I had done the skills before in my PADI Open Water Course, but not at this level before. It was very beneficial watching everybody else do the skills and having Pete there to talk about them with. I learned a lot about how to demonstrate and also what was expected.

Once out of the pool, Melissa was kind enough to take Zippy and I to Abades so we could do a couple of dives. We went out, didn’t get lost, saw lots of amazing things that we cant prove (an Angel Shark and 2 big Sting Rays) because we didn’t have a camera with us, had a bit of a laugh and found our way back. Great Success!!

Later on in the afternoon, Pete had all of us interns sit a final exam paper from our previous training. I got the easiest one which was the PADI Open Water Course final exam and managed a 49/50. I knew the answer to the lone question that I got wrong, but for some reason ticked a completely different box!

Note to self; Tick the right box!

Tuesday Melissa took us to Abades again. Rodders and Alice came too and we all went diving together. The first dive of the morning was great, with lots of cool things to see and some good conditions. The second dive wasn’t as successful, after swimming straight into a swarm of 1,000,000 Jelly Fish (that’s an approximate amount, I didn’t have time to count properly) and deciding to end the diver, rather than having someone get stung.

Not long after getting back, Pete had us at the pool for a timed 400m swim for the stamina test part of the course. Zippy and I were both disappointed with our times and performances, but having had a week off from training while being busy at the shop, it was almost expected. I had another pool skills session with Zippy and Rodders later in the afternoon, where we all demonstrated much better than before.

Wednesday we were joined by Andy and his girlfriend Becky, as well as Felipe. Andy was here for a PADI Scuba Review, Becky was doing a PADI Discover Scuba Diving course and Felipe is a certified diver, here for a couple of fun dives. Alice was leading the pool skills for the couple, with Zippy and I there for support. The pool skills went swimmingly (pun intended) and then it was time to get all of the equipment together, before heading out for a couple of dives.

I had the pleasure of boat duties, which is usually fine and nice and relaxing while waiting for those diving to surface. Today however, wasn’t. I had decided to go out in shorts and a T-shirt, as it was sunny and warm when we left the shop. 10 minutes into the second dive, the skies opened and I got very wet and very cold, very quickly. Pete was there on hand to laugh at my situation and offer me a plastic bucket to put on my head, which I did, much to his amusement. I learned today to always have something warm to wear on the boat, just in case.

I spent the afternoon in the wonderful company of Melissa, popping to various shops and places to do a variety of things and stuff. One of these stops was to see Dave at Pro-Sub, where I treated myself to some new booties and a shorty for extra warmth in the water.

Note to self; ALL THE GEAR, ALL THE TIME.

Thursday morning I was back in the water, nice and warm because of my nice new ice vest! Diving at Alien Rock, Swim Through and Crocodile Rock with Alice, Zippy, Rodders and 2 customers Alvaro and Livio. I led the first dive and found my way round Alien Rock well which was pleasing. We saw plenty of life including Moray Eels and Nudibranch. Alice claims she also saw a lobster, but doesn’t have photographic evidence. No piccy - No believey!!

The afternoon we spent watching a DVD on how to perform and demonstrate skills. It was beneficial to point out all the mistakes that the demonstrators were making, so when Zippy and I got into the pool afterwards we wouldn’t make the same errors. We spent an hour in the pool practicing and are definitely getting better, which is good as it is scoring time next week!!

More later

Bungle / Chris

DSD's, Dive Clubs and Exams!

Hannah came back for another dive after enjoying her PADI Discover Scuba Diving course earlier in the week.
Pete, Alice and I all got geared up and headed down to Gijarro Aricefe with Hannah, where we dropped in and explored the relatively new dive site and showed her some more of the underwater world.
The Dive went well and we bumped into an Octopus along the way, as well as some beautiful Sea Slugs and plenty of the usual suspects.

After dropping Hannah off, we went back out for a cheeky dive to Pequena Valle. This is one of my favourite sites and I was taking some references and points that I could recognise, so I would be ready to lead dives there and hopefully not get lost. Alice, Zippy and I found a Portugese Bag’O War (inside joke), a bunch of Trumpet Fish and a rather hostile Moray Eel.

As we were heading back to the marina, we were stopped by a man on a sailing boat that had rather clumsily managed to get a static rope trapped around his propeller (silly man). He asked if we could help and helpful people as we are, I got kitted back up and spent the next half an hour freeing his boat from a massive tangle of rope.

Note to self; If I ever buy a sailing boat, don’t let that man drive it!

Today was strangely a day of no diving… There was plenty of cleaning to do though so it was still a busy day. The boat got a good scrubbing in the morning, the shop was cleaned thoroughly, the cars were treated to a mini valet and the customer kit was all cleaned and greased up.

With everything tidy, Zippy and I sat our PADI Divemaster final exam papers. Both of us did really well and only got 3 questions incorrect out of 120. GO US!!!

Tidy Friday.

Saturday was a day off for us, but we had the option to go diving (just for fun) if we wanted to. Zippy and I chose to go diving. Phil from Teide Divers had stumbled across a rather interesting pipe line at Las Eras, so we went to meet him and Jackie with Melissa, to go and check it out. It proved to be a great untouched site, with loads of life to see including Rays, Octopus and Nudi Branch. We did a couple of dives and then headed back to enjoy the rest of our day off.

Late on Saturday night, a group of 11 divers and 1 non diver arrived, ready for 5 days of diving shared between Dive and Sea and Teide Divers. They were all met and checked in to various apartments and would be ready for diving early Sunday morning.

Sunday was the first day of diving for the group now named ‘The Stirling Posse’. After a welcoming brief from Pete and Melissa at the shop, I was going with 5 of them and the Teide crew back to Las Eras for a couple of dives, including the newly discovered pipe line. Plenty of Sea Hares, Nudi Branch, massive Scorpion Fish and a cheeky Ray made the dives great fun and everyone seemed to enjoy. The rest of the afternoon was relatively quiet, but it was the calm before the storm as this big group would be providing us with a busy week.

Monday I was off with Pete and an Instructor by the name of Felix for a PADI Advanced Open Water course with the Monroe Family. Mum, Dad and their 3 children had chosen to do the following adventure dives; PPB - Peak Performance Buoyancy, Navigation and Deep Dive. Not long after entering the water, Mummy Monroe alerts us to the fact that one of her fins had fell off. I was already in the water so dropped down to go and retrieve it, but after a 30 minute search I came back empty handed. Bye bye fin… I did spot a big Sting Ray when I was looking for the fin in question but I wouldn’t like to strap that to my foot and try to swim with it! I gave one of the girls my fins (how nice am I!), then joined Pete on the boat while Felix had the family swimming through hoops.

Later that afternoon, I was back out on the boat with Pete, Melissa and 5 of the Posse. Zippy had forgot to include a mask in one of the kit bundles so I forfeited mine and sat the first dive out. Zippy got a beer fine and had to walk down to the marina with a spare! I went down on the second dive at Starfish bay which was a nice conclusion to a long day!

The next morning the entire group were being taken for a couple of dives at El Puertito. Everybody except for Pete and Alice headed off for a couple of dives to try and find the Turtles.

Find the Turtles we did and they were fantastic. Diving with such beautiful creatures is an amazing experience and everybody really enjoyed it. There was plenty of Starfish, Anenomes and Cuttle Fish to add to the list aswell. Phil and Melissa were leading these 2 dives and Jackie, Lauren Zippy and I were holding the fort at the back of the pack. There were a lot of divers in the water but it was a great day out none the less.

Later that afternoon and well into the evening, Melissa, Zippy and I had the privilege of washing all 18 sets of kit, which was great fun and not tiring at all, followed by a nice, cold, pint.

Next day I was down in the pool nice and early with a family of 4 who had come in for a DSD - Discover Scuba Diving experience. Felix was back to instruct the course and Melissa and I were there for support. Pool skills went well and we headed off to Abades for the Open Water dives. Shortly after descending though the daughter had a problem with equalizing so I surfaced with her and headed back to shore. The second dive I made it down and helped Felix show the family around.

The afternoon was spent back out in the water with Felix and the Monroe family who were back for the Deep Dive part of their PADI Advanced Open Water course. We dropped down to deeper waters, they performed the tasks required and that was that. Congratulations Monroes!

Thursday Morning - the morning I would be leading my first dive! Pequeno Valle was the destination, 3 of the Sterling posse were kitted up and on the boat, Zippy was following behind and my memory of the site was being put to the test! It went really well, I didn’t get lost and was a good confidence boost. Seeing things from the front of a group of divers is a lot different to following others. We were treated to a variety of critters including Octopus and a Moray Eel.

The second dive of the morning was at Starfish bay, where there was quite a strong current. We found a nice Round Ray on the way to the site and once we got there it was easy to just drift round the rocks and see what we could find on the way.

In the afternoon I got to lead even more dives. Being joined by Zippy, Karol and Monica, it was back out to Pequeno Valle and then Alien Rock. They are diving with us a few times and really enjoyed this afternoon, so smiling faces all round!

After another busy, busy day, a few well deserved cold ones at the Aberdeen went down a treat!!

Bungle / Chris

Another brilliant week in the Canary Islands

Another brilliant week in the Canary Islands and most of my PADI Divemaster course ‘in the bag’.

Another Thursday and another early start to prepare for the busy day ahead. The morning began with the welcome surprise of Hannah returning to enjoy some more open water diving with her PADI DSD qualification. We all headed off to the marina and where quickly on our way to Yellow Mountain for some more underwater fun. Unfortunately I remained on boat duty whilst everyone else enjoyed the morning’s diving. Upon returning to the marina it was time for Hannah to leave us, for now at least.

Then Bungle, Alice and I had the choice of any local dive site we wanted to go too, so we decided upon Pequeno Valle. Which turned out to be a fantastic choice, Alice managed to see a Ray and Bungle and I amused our selves by generally fooling around. When we returned to the marina for the last time of the day we washed the kit and headed back to the shop. Where I spent most of the afternoon catching up on paperwork and logging recent dives.



On to Friday which consisted of cleaning in preparation for the arrival of a group of 12 on Saturday evening. Surprisingly no diving today, instead we sat our PADI Divemaster final exams in the afternoon, which both Bungle and I passed, only getting 3 of the 120 question incorrect. “sigh of relief”, and one step closer to becoming PADI Divemaster’s. To add to the day’s events, upon returning from lunch Bungle and I were told we were moving out for the week ahead in order to make room for the large group arriving Saturday. An unexpected surprise to say the least. However a benefit to moving out was the use of a car (the Pat Mobil) for the next week to get to the shop and back. Can't complain. So after some more tea drinking we finished up at the shop and headed back to the room to pack, sleep and eat.





Instead of a day off on Saturday, Bungle and I, choose to ‘unusually’ go diving to Las Eras, accompanied by Phil, Jackie and Melissa. Just as well, because both dives where fantastic, the first to a new site discovered by Phil the day before, consisted of swimming over and around a pipe line running away from the shoreline.

We found a whole host of aquatic life including Moray Eels, Sting Rays and huge Scorpion fishys. The second dive out to an existing reef dive site, again a brilliant dive and well worth using our day off to visit. After returning from Las Eras it was off to the marina to wash all of the kit, followed by a much needed breakfast at the Aberdeen. On returning to the shop my eyes lit up with the site of our new automobile, a bright red Renault Kangoo van. Life does not get much better than this. Then we headed off to our new apartment with our new wagon (aka Postman Pat Mobil) loaded with our stuff. We arrived at our new apartment, after not really unpacking we grabbed some food and an early night for the long week ahead.

Bright and early Sunday morning Bungle and I headed to the shop and didn’t get lost on route, surprisingly’. We met up with Tiede Divers (who where on time) and prepared all of the kit for the arrival of the uni students (aka the Strathclyde posse). All of us introduced ourselves to the group and let them know about the week ahead. It was then time for the first diving of the week to begin, so the group split between Dive and Sea and Tiede Divers subsequently Pete, Melissa, myself and our half of the posse headed off to the marina to kit up and go to Yellow Mountain for the Scot’s first experience of diving in Tenerife. Following two great dives, we all returned to the shop and relaxed with a cup of tea. That afternoon we discovered Alice was now the proud owner of an ear infection, which meant no more diving for the rest of the week (she was less than pleased). The day concluded with a de-brief and some more tea drinking.

The following day and another early start for the Dive and Sea team. After assembling all of the kit it was off to El Puertito with all 12 of the Sterling Posse as well as Tiede divers. Two brilliant dives included seeing the Turtles. Absolutely amazing.
After finally returning to the shop, we were redirected to the marina where we met Melissa and set about washing all 18 sets of kit. Knackered. The day concluded with a quick beer and listening to Pete moan about his ‘mangled foot’, which seemed to be solely blamed on Bungle.



Dive and Sea welcomed the Monroe family whom where with us to complete their PADI Advanced Open Water Course’s. We began their advance under water adventures with the PADI Fish Identification adventure dive as part of the advance course joined by Felix (PADI Instructor), in which I also led my first dive out to the Alien Rock dive site and managed to find the my way back to the boat. So pleased.

The second dive, and again I led the group to the Swim Through and Crocodile Rock (two dives sites at Yellow Mountain) as part of the PADI Boat Dive adventure dive, again I successfully found the boat upon return. A great learning experience for my Divemaster duties. After the very successful morning, followed a not so successful afternoon in which I managed to forget a mask in one of the kits for the Scottish group diving in the afternoon.
As a result Bungle missed a dive and I had the walk of shame down to the marina to give over the missing mask. Plonker!
The day concluded with washing kit and a de-brief of the day’s events.

It was now time in which Dive and Sea and Tiede Divers swapped the groups over making up the Scottish Posse. Surprisingly more diving, including two dives led by myself to three different dive sites.
I successfully navigated back to the boat on all occasions, a big weight off of my shoulders. Pete took us all back into the marina to unload and wash the kit. The rest of the day was mainly spent drinking tea and writing various extracts for use on the website. The day finished with a de-brief and listening to Pete reiterate just how smashed his foot was.


Finally on to today, concluding a hectic week in the Canary Island of Tenerife. Another ‘lovely’ early start prior to two more dives with the Scottish contingency. The first dive to Pequeno Valle with Bungle taking the responsibility of leading and I assisting, in which we stumbled across and angry looking Fang Tooth Moray Eel, the first I have seen.

The second dive, a short boat journey away to Starfish Bay where again Bungle led the dive and I assisted. Lots of aquatic life including a Common Ray, Octopus, Starfish, Trumpet fish as well as all the usual suspects.
After finishing the last dive of the morning, the Strathclyde Posse celebrated with a deserved can of beer.

The Afternoon began with meeting Karol and Monica a couple out on holiday from the U.K. Again two more dives in the afternoon with Bungle leading and I assisting, to Pequeno Valle and Alien rock. Being used to the cold, murky waters of the U.K, the couple found the 20 degree water of Tenerife tropical in comparison.  Both dives where fantastic and left all of us waiting to get back in the water again.

One more week completed and only 5 weeks left of the internship. I’ve gained some valuable experience this week as well as meeting some great people. I look forward to the weeks and challenges ahead.

George aka Zippy

Time to go home.................. or not! :-)

Week number nine has arrived, which should have been my last week. 

However, a few days before my flight, and originally meant as a joke, we came up with the idea to let me stay a little bit longer. 

Because I reached my required 60 dives only a couple of days before the end of my internship, we decided that it would be a good idea to gain some work experience now that I am a certified PADI Divemaster. 

This opportunity also increases my chances of a future job in the dive business. 

The time to say goodbye had almost arrived, and now I can once again enjoy the fact that I still have enough time in Tenerife to learn a lot. 

My flight has been rescheduled from the 22nd of March to the 26th of April, which gives me exactly 5 more weeks of diving experience. 

Many thanks and lots of love to Pete and Melissa, who are now stuck with me for another 5 weeks! XXX

The week began with my first ever PADI Scuba Tune-up, of Chris and George. During a PADI Scuba Tune-up all of the skills of the PADI Open Water Diver course are reviewed and repeated until they are performed correctly. Immediately after the pool session it was time for two dives to Yellow Mountain, which I led. 

Finally, I now begin to understand how I can navigate on a dive site. I found my way to Alien Rock and Crocodile Rock without any problems. During the dive I also took pictures; a good opportunity to practice my underwater photography skills. 

When I wanted to take some pictures of Chris and George with an Arrow Crab in their hands, they responded shocked and refused to touch the pool little creature. Later, back on the boat, their excuse was that the crab was very large (not..!), and that I was wearing gloves and they were not.

True, but many others and me often hold them in our hands without gloves. Hopefully Chris and George will quickly learn to have a little bit more faith in me. :-) 

Tuesday was my turn to stay on the boat while Chris, George and Pete were off for some more diving. I spend my time looking for shapes in the rocks, as you would do with clouds. I found a Dragon, a Turtle and a Dragonfly, on top of the Monkey, and the famous Cat, Dog and Duck that we had already seen.

Wednesday we were joined by David, a PADI Advanced Open Water diver, who came to us to celebrate his 100th dive. I would be leading these dives again. For the first dive, we headed to Alien Rock. David was very pleased with his 100th dive and we saw a Black Sea Hare, Fireworms, Blacktail Comber, Scorpion fish, and Streaked Gurnards. 

The next dive, to Crocodile Rock, was also a very nice dive. After just minutes, we came across a baby Angel Shark. During the rest of the dive, we spotted an Octopus and a large Blue Starfish. 

On Thursday we had a busy day again. We went back to Yellow Mountain where Pete started with Chris and George's PADI Surface Marker Buoy (SMB) speciality course. I stayed on the boat and got the chance to observe this course from the surface, which gave a very different perspective than when I did this speciality course myself. 

From the surface, it was easy to determine when the SMB's where properly inflated and when they were not, and whether the line was held tight. Next, I got in the water as well and we were off for three "mapping" dives. Just like I've made an underwater map during my internship, Chris and George have to do the same now. While I was leading the dives, they made notes of the area and collected all the information they needed. 

That afternoon we did the EFR course and AED course. Just like during Harry's and my internship, Chris and George must complete these courses for their PADI Divemaster internship. As always, this course was very informative, but with a lot of fun, practising chest compressions and rescue breaths on the dummy. 

Friday we went diving with a large group. David was back with us for two more dives, and we were joined by Phil from Teide divers, his intern Lauren, and three customers; Marc, Neil and April. Together with Chris, George, Pete and me, our group consisted of no less than 10 divers, with Melissa on boat duty. 

The first dive was to Poco Naufragio, where we unfortunately were not very lucky as we didn’t see a lot of Rays. We did briefly see a Common Ray, but no Stingrays this time. 

The second dive was to Pequeño Valle, where I spotted an Angel Shark in the sand that Pete, surprisingly, had missed. We also saw a Black Sea Hare, Octopus and Snake Cucumber. 

The new interns are making progress quickly, as they recently started on their PADI Rescue Diver course. Chris, George, Pete and I were off to the San Miguel Marina for the confined water sessions as part of the PADI Rescue Diver course. 

They did well on practising how to respond to various emergency situations in the water, and finding a missing diver (Ducky the rubber duck again) in a reasonable good time. 

The PADI Rescue Diver course always brings a laugh. The best moment of the day was definitely when I saw something floating at the surface, somewhere behind Pete. Pete turned around and looked at the unknown object in the water, and told us that is was a "Portuguese Bag of War". Chris and George were shocked as a "Portuguese Man of War" is a dangerous species of jellyfish (to be precise, this animal is not a true jellyfish, but if you want to know more, just search on the internet). 

After a petrifying 20 minutes, Chris and George were still very distracted by this "animal", and Pete could not hold his laugh any longer. It turned out that all the fuss was all about a simple plastic bag! 

Chris and George also took the opportunity to practice their 800m snorkel for the first time, which they did excellent with the following results: Chris: 18.37 minutes, George: 17.40 minutes. 

Sunday I spent my day in the sun by the pool and I am now finally catching up on my tan! 

Next week it's time for the rest of Chris and George's PADI Rescue Diver course, and at the end of the week a large group of divers will arrive for a week worth of diving with us and Teide divers. 

For me, the studying part is now finished, but the learning part definitely is not. 

I'm already looking forward to my next 5 weeks! 

Love, Alice 

My first week in Tenerife

The first day of something completely new for me. I had been diving before but i was about to take in a whole load more information.

The PADI Divemaster internship got going with a really warming introduction from the guys at Dive and Sea Tenerife. Finding out the content of the course and the general operations of the Dive Centre was a lot to take in, but interesting at the same time.

I had met my room mate and fellow intern 'George' the previous day and he and I were now busy learning what the next 8 weeks would bring. An informative DVD and some Q&A topped off the intro nicely. It was then time for us to get some kit together and head out for a dive to see how good we were (or weren’t).

My first dive in a few months was a bit of a nightmare to say the least! Being a bit nervous and a bit panicky didn't help with the buoyancy trouble I was having, I also lost my fin strap twice which didn't make things any better either.
Pete (the instructor), Alice (Another intern who has just passed her Divemaster certification), George and I then headed back down for a second dive, where the nerves had calmed a bit but buoyancy was still an issue. I was however, here to learn, so realising where I was going wrong and discussing it was very helpful. We de-briefed and discussed what was happening the following day, which concluded the first day.

George and I also ended the day with the new names 'Zippy and Bungle'. I am now Bungle.

Friday was an earlier start, we had the kit set up and were down to the boat by 08.30. We headed off to Juigarro Arrecife for 2 dives, which were Peak Performance Buoyancy and Navigation Training Adventure dives.
The buoyancy training was a needed practice area for me, so when a couple of hoops were set up at different heights, it was good to learn how to use buoyancy skills to swim through them. Alice kindly held them still for me and I managed to kick her in the face as I swam through.... (Sorry Alice).

The Navigation training went a lot smoother, I was managing to control myself underwater a bit better now and relaxing into the dives. Finding my way to a point and back using a compass was a skill that I remembered from my PADI Open Water course last year. It only went wrong when I was asked to navigate back to the boat when I hadn't been keeping track of where we were.
Note to self; PAY ATTENTION.


Saturday morning we were scheduled for going on a night dive. Waking up at 04.30 so we could have everything ready and be in the water while it was still dark was hard work, but worth every second. I loved it! We were joined by Sofie who was doing her PADI Advanced Open Water course, as well as a very tired and cold Melissa who got out of bed for boat duties so we could go diving.

Pete, Alice, George, Sofie and I descended into a different world! A dive site is a fantastic place when you can hardly see anything, but what you can see is brilliant. My buoyancy was getting there, Zippy and I had good buddy communications, we saw an Octopus and it was still before 06.30!

There were 2 more Adventure dives planned for the day but weather conditions didn’t allow. Some hot tea and some swimming stamina training was the replacement for a deep water dive and a drift dive.

A nice relaxing weekend consisted of reading, swimming, reading, swimming, reading and some more swimming! Ploughing through information on EFR (Emergency First Response) and CPR, as well as the PADI Rescue Diver manual would help prepare me for the next weeks exams.

Monday soon arrived with 2 dives to Yellow Mountain. The dives were lead by Alice who is now a PADI Divemaster, after completing her 60th dive in the dark on Saturday morning. Being led around Alien Rock, I was taking notes and trying to remember points so I was familiar with the site. I had a temporary moment of confusion half way round and from that point on my notes made no sense and I was none the wiser... My second set of notes that I took as we navigated the Swim Through site made more sense, which was much better.

I am by now more relaxed in the dives which allows more time to pay attention to some of the life that swims around you. Checking out all of the little fishies was cool, There are some amazing creatures that live underwater. I was however slightly cautious, as was Zippy, when Alice offered us a harmless Arrow Crab to hold for a photo. Its tiny but it has pincers!

Note to self; DON'T BE SUCH A WIMP.

We welcomed Matt along on Tuesday morning for dives 1&2 of his PADI Open Water Diver referral. Pete was teaching, with Zippy and Bungle on the sidelines, watching and learning how its done. I think I learnt as much as Matt did while watching what was going on. Over the course of the 2 dives we explored some more of Yellow Mountain while Matt completed all of his required skills and seemed to enjoy himself. On one of the dives, I became fascinated when I saw a Blue Starfish, but seeing new and fascinating things is regular on dives. A good days diving!

Zippy and I sat our EFR and CPR exams in the afternoon, as well as some more swim stamina training, ready for the 400mswim part of the course.

Matt was back Wednesday morning, bright and early for the final 2 dives of his course. Dave joined us on the boat as well, ready to be led on 2 dives (including his 100th) led by Alice. I joined Pete and Matt underneath for some more observational learning. We were treated to a little, tiny, baby Angel Shark, which was, buried in the sand (good spot Pete), which we had photos taken with.
Finding a nice spot on each dive, Matt completed the rest of his required skills with no problem, which now qualifies him as a PADI Open Water Diver (congratulations Matt). A good day on the boat and some good dives meant smiles all round!

The afternoon brought the PADI Rescue Diver exam paper (94%, not bad), a trip to get some tanks filled and a session of mopping the shop floor.

Thursday morning and we were getting set up to head out for some more Yellow Mountain action. More training for us new interns was on the cards! We were practising how to use Surface Marker Buoys or SMB's. Deploying an inflatable plastic sausage from down below, to mark our positions on the surface. It went well, I was pleased with my efforts!

The next dives were some more mapping dives to Alien Rock and Crocodile Rock. Mapping the sites in a little more detail while still learning how to get round them both. Alice led while Zippy and I tagged along, taking more notes and mental pictures that 'should' direct us around the sites.

We stopped for another Arrow crab and this time when it was offered to me I was a bit braver and held him for a photo. He was harmless so I don’t know what all the previous fuss was about!

Note to self; STILL DONT BE SUCH A WIMP.

More from me next week about my adventures in Tenerife.

Chris (AKA Bungle)

Welcome to George ~ AKA Zippy !

Hello my name is George (18) also know as Zippy in the dive centre.


Thanks to plans of going to university in September, now is the perfect time for me to expand my diving knowledge. I am currently qualified to PADI Advanced Open Water diver, hopefully soon to be PADI Rescue diver and finally PADI Divemaster.

Due to initially learning to dive in Tenerife, it was the perfect location to continue my diving adventure and take my sport to a professional level.

First week blog update.

One week into my PADI Divemaster internship and all is well.

I met my room mate and fellow intern Chris on Tuesday, little and large being the summarising phrase. We started our first proper day with high expectations and it appeared so did our new instructors, beginning with a shop introduction followed by a presentation on what to expect over the next 8 weeks. Soon Chris and I were getting together the kit and heading down to the marina with Pete, Alice (Kim) and Melissa to show what we could do underwater.
As expected this didn’t go quite to plan, with poor buoyancy and high air consumption, on returning to the marina after two dives myself and Chris proceeded to clean and pack the kit back into the car under the watchful eye and instruction of Alice, who has just recently finished her PADI Divemaster certification and decided to stay in Tenerife for awhile.

Day one finished with some tea making practise and a nervously awaited debrief, to see where we could improve. For some reason outside of my knowledge, we left the de-brief with the new names Zippy and Bungle!

Day two consisted of two more dives, this time for Bungles PADI Advanced Open Water Course.
The dives consisted of Peak Performance Buoyancy and Navigation dives, in which we ‘perfected’ the control of our buoyancy and navigation skills resulting in us getting lost and having to rely on the all-knowing Pete to return us to the boat. I also successfully managed to lose a fin strap clip, despite being told not to unclip it moments before. Luckily I had a spare for the next day.

On to the Saturday of our first week and the night dive which entailed a pleasant 4am wake up to be at the shop for 5. It was mine and Bungle’s first night dive so nerves ran high prior to getting in the water, however soon settled after descending. The so called ‘marmite dive’, due to either loving or hating the experience, turned out to be something I loved and cannot wait for more.

However on return the weather conditions changed for the worse, resulting in the two dives planned later that day to be cancelled. On the other hand this left me plenty of time to get my teeth into the Emergency First Responder (first aid) and PADI Rescue manuals required for the completion of my PADI Rescue diver course.
Sunday was a well earned / needed day off to read, rest and practise for the 400m timed swim needed for our PADI Divemaster certification.


Sufficiently refreshed, we began the next day with once again helping get the kit ready and heading off to the marina to have some more fun under the sea. Alice, lead both of the two dives and did very well.
My day did not quite go to plan either, due to having trouble on the boat connecting my regulators due to broken O rings. After returning from diving, we had the lovely surprise of an PADI Open Water exam to complete, in order to test our knowledge, which I thankfully achieved nearly 100% correct. Feewww.

Moving on to Tuesday the 20th in which Bungle and I had the pleasure of assisting and observing on Matts PADI Open Water dives 1 & 2, which saw him one step closer to becoming a fully fledged diver. However after the consecutive dives, I was starting to notice the cold, finding myself shivering near the end of dives. Some shopping was in order.
Upon returning from the marina myself and bungle had yet another fantastic surprise of an Emergency First Responder exam to sit, again which I thankfully passed... Just. We finished the day with a debrief and a touch more of tea making.

Wednesday, I found myself on boat duty, consisting of chilling out on the boat while everyone goes diving, it’s a hard life. When I returned from the morning of relaxation Bungle and I both had to undergo an intense medical exam to ensure we were still alive. Following this, I couldn’t resist going shopping to purchase an ice vest to keep me warmer under water, so me and Melissa headed to the sweet shop for divers that is Pro Sub. Upon returning to the dive shop yet another exam awaited, this time the PADI Rescue diver exam. Which I passed with 92%. Not a bad day at-all.

Finally on to today and more diving, including mine and Bungle’s PADI Surface Marker Buoy speciality dives as well as an opportunity to begin mapping the Alien Rock and Crocodile Rock dive sites, with the ever reliable navigator Alice. Also I managed to use my lovely new ice vest which proved to be a worthy investment. Adding to a good days diving, as we approached the boat on our last dive we caught a glimpse of an angle shark. Cooool.

In the afternoon, following more swimming practise Bungle and I had the enjoyment of completing the practical side of our Emergency First Response course which involved attempting to save ‘Australian Dave’s’ life many a time.

All in all, a very good first week and I cannot wait for the challenges that lie ahead.
George