My first time leading a dive..... and Ice Cream!

I can honestly say that this week was a very exciting week, I learned and achieved a lot. And of course, I had a lot of fun.

At Monday, Melissa took Dennis and me to Abades for 2 shore dives with 3 customers. A lady and a father and son. It was not the best weather and actually it was quite cold, but I enjoyed the dives so much.
I was buddies with the lady and she stayed nice and close to me, so I was very happy with that because the visibility wasn’t that good and I definitely don’t want to lose my buddy.

My first time to assist a Discover Scuba Diving open water session, so that was really exciting. I was holding her tank and her hand while I was assisting her by letting air out her BCD or putting air in. Alice and Pete were really happy about me which made me really proud of myself. In my opinion it is a very big responsibility to help someone on a first dive, because everything is new for that person and you have to act in good faith and show them that you are confident because if they trust you, that makes it a lot easier. Another good thing, this was my first day without getting any beer fine. And I helped Mahmoud with his Rescue book.

Wednesday I had a day in the shop with Melissa, Mahmoud, Dennis and Andreas. Spending our day reading our books and watching the EFR DVD.

The next day I had 2 dives with Alice, Mahmoud and customers who were diving with us for a week. We went to Poco Naufragio and it was an amazing dive, I saw the biggest Stingray ever. It was about 2 meters wide, maybe even bigger, and it was all over me and the other divers. To be honest, I was a little scared because I saw how big his mouth was, so I was a little bit scared that it might suck my head or something. Normally when a ray gets to enthusiastic and comes to close, you use both your hand to pull him over you. But I was wearing gloves so I couldn’t do that, so when the Ray finally got off me I took off my gloves. It’s a very special feeling to feel a Stingray, I just can’t explain this feeling, it’s just special. Unfortunately I had to finish the dive because Mahmoud was low on air, but I still had a very, very nice dive. And in the afternoon Sam and I finished the skills in the swimming pool.

Friday was a very nice day. I had a day off with Dennis, Andreas and Mahmoud and they had decided to climb Red Rock (In Spanish it is Montaña Roja). From far away this rock looks very big but when we came closer it didn’t look that big anymore. Well, when I finally reached the top I knew it was a very big rock. So we had a very energetic day and we had a lot of fun. We climbed Red Rock and walked to El Medano where we shared some pizza and ate an ice cream.

Saturday arrived and I had 2 dives at Abades Beach and it was my first time to lead a dive.
The first dive was with Melissa so I knew that she wouldn’t let me get lost, but I was still a little nervous because I wanted to do very good.
The second dive I found out that I did great because Melissa trusted me and let me lead the second dive on my own. I was very excited about it and I really feel that I accomplished something.
I felt so proud of myself and that evening I called my mom to tell her about my first time leading a dive, and of course, she was very proud of me.

I was diving with Dennis, Andreas and Angela and we saw a lot of fish like Pearly Razor fish, Wide-eyed Flounder, Ornate Wrasse, Parrot fish, Trumpet fish etc. We also saw a Cuttlefish, an Octopus, a Black Moray Eel, Cleaner Shrimps, a Scorpion fish and Arrow crabs.

A great end to a lovely week.

Lydia

A Sicky Situation

We all had a great start to the week with George (Jeffery) starting his PADI Open Water. 

Jess and Todd getting to dive with the Turtles, which were very welcoming even wanting to stroke us.

Todd was given the responsibility to help out with the DSD students Ymeric and Fanny. It was amazing to get to introduce someone into the world of diving .. with Turtles! Jeffery was off to Yellow Mountain doing his first boat dive. Completing his first 2 dives of his Open Water course along with Sarah and Luke.

Will, one of the other interns finishing his internship this week, was left with a departing present of sick on his face, not his own,  but thanks to a customer who didn't feel to good!
Not only Will but Jamie, another intern, was also vomited on making it a great day!

Jeffery continued his Open Water at Yellow Mountain with Open Water skills such as his CESA. The following day Jeffrey completed his Open Water course becoming a certified PADI diver, congratulations to him.

Todd and Jess had been diving at Yellow Mountain along with the other interns. We were off navigating to Alien Rock and back being hounded by many of the tropical fish waiting for us the kill the invasive sea urchins as well as a baby octopus. Next we dived at Poco naufragio (the sub site), seeing common ray, moray eels and barracuda.

Towards the end off the week Jess’s family had arrived to stay for a while so they had a nice 4 days off to catch up on some quality time. Melissa travelled back to England to see her family and pick up Frankie to come see her Dad over the summer holidays.

Jeffery had gone for a drift dive at the weekend for the first of his adventure dives, diving with Pete, Will and Frankie with Melissa on boat cover with Will celebrating his final dive at Tenerife dressed as a shark.

As the others where ending their internships our responsibilities grew such as learning Boat Cover, in which we help with the logistics of the RIB boat and try to ensure every thing runs smoothly.

We ended the Week off by saying goodbye to our friends and co-workers that had successfully completed their PADI Divemasters and some their PADI Assistant Instructors. 

Good  luck and good bye to them.

And then there were 5.

Leaving paradise behind.

Eight weeks later and it is time to pack up and head back to the U.K, leaving paradise behind.

Starting where I left off with Friday, Pete, Melissa, Bungle and I headed up to Puerto de le Cruz in the north of the island to dive with Tiede Divers.

After our road trip we arrived at the Teide dive shop and after a much needed brew we headed off to the harbor to meet our boat taxi to the dive site.

Note to self.................

Friday morning Melissa, Zippy and I popped down to Las Eras for a couple of fun dives.

The pipe line that has recently been discovered there is home to lots of interesting things and is always a great dive. We explored a new route to it, then spent around half an hour swimming along it, coming across Stingrays, Octopus, Scorpion Fish and a massive Fang Tooth Moray Eel, that was about the size of a very big Eel!
The exit from this dive was hilarious! We tried a new point on the beach which we soon realised was a bit steep, which meant that Melissa and I spent more time falling over than we did getting out!

Note to self; Think about personal safety before helping others out of the water.

On the second dive it was just Zippy and I as Melissa had decided to stay out of the water and warm up a bit. We went to the other side of the site and found more Rays and also a big Canarian Lobster. I found an Octopus and tried to point it out to Zippy, but he didn’t have his eyes turned on properly and it took him about half an hour to see what I was pointing at.

In the afternoon, we were joined by Anna and Pete. Anna is my friends mum from England and Pete is her husband. They had decided to come over and say hello, while seeing what all this diving fuss was about. I was leading their PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience the next morning so I stuck the DVD on for them and gave them a quick brief on what to expect.

By the time this was done, Phil, Jackie, Lauren and Kepa had turned up and we spent the rest of the afternoon going through some more bits and pieces for our PADI Assistant Instructor course.

Saturday morning Anna and Pete arrived for their introduction into diving. Zippy and I were in the pool with them, I led the session and Zippy was in assistance, still under thw watch of Pete!

I knew that they had wanted to try diving for ages and it was good for me to be the one to introduce them to it. The pool session was followed by a trip to Yellow Mountain with Pete leading, where they enjoyed themselves a lot. A well deserved fry up capped off the morning nicely!

Following tradition, the afternoon was filled with more of the PADI Assistant Instructor course. It was our turn to give a presentation and mine was a knowledge development about ‘procedures for a missing diver’. I managed 4.5 out of 5, which I can’t moan about for a first attempt!

We were also given assignments for teaching a confined water skill, which we would be presenting the next morning, so some evening revision consumed the rest of the day.

Sunday morning we were down in the pool first thing to test our confined water presentations. I had to teach Phil and Jackie (who were pretending to be students) how to breathe from a free-flowing regulator, with Zippy as my Divemaster for the purpose of the exercise. It was good fun getting a little insight into what it will be like when I am a PADI Instructor at some point in the future.
Phil and Jackie were assigned problems to present for me when I was teaching them, which was a good way to learn and also quite funny at times. I unfortunately managed to break Phil’s planning slate that he has had since 1750, much to the amusement of myself and Pete who saw me do it. The afternoon brought with it some more slides and information about teaching diving!

Monday morning Anna and Pete had decided to do a couple more dives while they were here, so Melissa, Zippy and I took them out at El Puertito. We were off in search of Turtles and were not disappointed. 2 dives there gave us chance to swim with the amazing animals, which is always a fantastic experience.

In the afternoon I went to see Dave at Pro-Sub with Melissa. Walking into that shop is like going to Toys’R’Us when you are a child! Resisting the urge to buy everything in sight is without a doubt one of the most difficult challenges known to man! I did well and only left with an ‘Enriched Air Diver’ manual, for the speciality I would be doing later in the week.

Later on we met up with Anna and Pete at Big Al’s for a couple of pints to celebrate some successful diving. We ended up having some dinner and mine arrived at the table in the form of the ‘Big Al’s Mixed Grill’, as you may have heard mentioned in previous blogs. They would be off back to England the next day, ready to plan their next diving adventure!

Tuesday morning Phil and Jackie came back down and we got in the pool to present some more skills, each playing the roles of instructors and students. We each taught 1 skill in the pool, then headed down to the marina to present our 2 open water skills. In the marina the highlight of the day was when Phil was teaching us a controlled descent.
Pete was giving us problems to present to Phil, in the form of inflating our BCD’s instead of deflating them for the descent. This went on for a few minutes and by the end of it we were all just floating in the water and laughing! I presented my 2 assigned skills and was quite pleased with how they went.

In the afternoon we completed the rest of the presentations that we needed for the Assistant Instructor certification, Then Phil and Jackie left Zippy and I to sit the final exam..... This would determine whether we had passed the course first time round or not.......

WE BOTH PASSED!! Zippy and I were now officially PADI ASSISTANT INSTRUCTORS!

Note to self; One step closer to having the best job in the world.

Wednesday morning, a relatively normal morning to start with. Little did I know that it would turn out to be the best day I have ever had, ever!
We started off by heading out to Pequeno Valle for a ‘Project Aware, Dive For Debris’ day. The goal was to clean up any litter or things that shouldn’t be polluting the dive sites that we enjoy visiting so much.

Melissa, Zippy and I started the clean up and it went really well.
Then we were joined in the water by a pod of wild Dolphins.
Such an unbelievable experience!
To be under the water and watching these animals in their natural habitat was fantastic!
Even when we got back on the boat and headed to our next dive site, they followed us most of the way, swimming alongside the boat and jumping around in front of us, which was so much fun.
We eventually made it to Starfish Bay, where we spent about half an hour culling Sea Urchins.

In the afternoon, over a cheeky breakfast, we mostly basked in the amazingness of the morning. We spent the rest of the day tidying a few bits round the shop, with a little bit of reading thrown in for good measure.

Note to self; WOW!!!!

Thursday we spent tidying and cleaning and doing a few bits around the shop. Getting tanks filled and little shopping trips meant everything was organised nicely. Another trip to Pro-Sub happened, which inevitably meant I would have to refrain from buying things. Even my best efforts today were unsuccessful as I walked away with a nice new Oceanic weight belt!

On the trip we also stopped by the T-shirt mans shop, to collect our nice new Assistant Instructor attire… Team that with the PADI backpack that I received a few weeks ago and I’m starting to look professional!
I bought Pete a present today that I strongly believe every future intern here will hate me for.

As we all know by now, Pete is a huge fan of a nice cup of tea. Rather than having him ask for his regular cuppa, I decided that a little bell sitting on the corner of his desk that he could ‘ding’ when he is ready for one, would be a better option.
Melissa is not overly fond of the idea, but I am adamant that it is funny.


Note to self; DING!!!

Did I mention it is my birthday?

Another brilliant week over, here in Tenerife and the best so far.

Starting where I left off, and only three days until my birthday and the mighty old age of 19.

Friday began with a slight lay in until 7.30am, and then it was time to get our kit ready for the pool skill sessions that lie ahead. Whilst assembling our kit Bungle and I took the opportunity to run through a demonstration of the ‘Perfect’ kit assembly (required for our Divemaster certification) with Pete observing our efforts. First attempt and it didn’t go very well, resulting in a string of errors to improve on.

Next, Bungle and I had Pete watch our pre-dive safety check’s in which again I successfully managed to ‘naff up’. Then it was off to the pool with Bungle and Alice to run through a skill’s circuit, which went surprisingly well. Upon returning to the shop I demonstrated my Pre-Dive Safety Check once again to the ‘all knowing’ Pete, in which I finally managed to score a 5/5. That’s more like it.

After some more kit assembly practise, it was time for another lovely 400 meter swim in which I managed to beat my previous time. Thankfully. The day finished with a well deserved breakfast at the Aberdeen followed by a good de-brief.

Saturday and I’m sure it’s someone else’s birthday today however mine is in two days which takes priority. Today was the day Bungle and I had been looking forward too since arriving in Tenerife, the day we got to treat ourselves to a Big Al’s Mixed Grill which had tempted us for 5 weeks with its excellent smell.

Excited, doesn’t even come close. However before we could enjoy this we had to get work out of the way first. The day began with assembling and packing all of the kit, shortly followed by meeting Marie, Sophie, Philip and Livio who where all returning customers coming back to enjoy some more fantastic diving and to complete Maria and Sophie’s PADI Advanced Open Water Courses. The first dive found me assisting Pete with Marie and Sophie’s Deep Dive for their AOW, where we managed to spot three Rays who seemed very interested in what we were doing. After returning to the marina to pick up some more cylinders we left to find a massive pod of Dolphins, so we followed them for around twenty minutes before thinking we should probably do some more diving. So cool.  The second dive was a Drift Dive in which the whole group participated including Alice, Pete, Philip, Livio, Sophie, Marie and I. The day concluded with some swimming and de-brief.

After work it was time for MY birthday celebrations to begin. We started at Big Al’s where Bungle and I destroyed the long awaited mix grill which was even better than expected due to Bungle being a top LAD and buying mine for my birthday. Followed by the presentation of a brilliant Zippy cake, Awwww cheers. The cake was delicious and much appreciated. Then it was off to karaoke to embarrass our selves, the rest is a blurry history but many thanks to everyone involved.  Good night.

Sunday was a much needed day off to recover from the night before. A good lay in, followed by breakfast at the Aberdeen courtesy of Rodney. After a ‘relaxed’ start to the day, yet more swimming, eating and reading followed. Oh have I mention it’s my birthday tomorrow?

On to Monday and more importantly my BIRTHDAY.
My birthday started at 7am to get kit ready and head to the pool for Monica and Shaun (a couple from America) Scuba tune up, as well as Catherine’s Discover Scuba Diving experience. All went well and Pete, Catherine, Rodders and I headed off to the marina to give Catherine an insight into the underwater world.

On the other hand Bungle, Melissa, Monica and Shaun headed off to El Puertito to try and find the Turtles. We left the marina and headed out to Yellow Mountain to swim with animals of the fish variety.
A good mornings diving all round, leaving Catherine wanting to complete a PADI Open Water Course and Monica and Shaun thrilled at seeing the turtles. After washing the kit, it was back to the shop for an afternoon of catching up on paperwork (Admin) and timed swimming in which I managed to finish in a time of 7.40 ‘ish’, qualifying for a 4/5. Pleased with my time and with no aspirations of continuing the rigorous swimming routine I settled for a 4/5 on my 400 meter swim. However, next Bungle, Rodney and I had the 15 minute tred-water to complete, which consisted of staying alive in the swimming pool for 13 minutes without touching the sides or bottom immediately followed by continuing not to drown for a further two minutes with our hands out the water.  All was going well until the final 2 minutes with hands out of the water came around, when I managed to successfully sink and nearly drown, much to Pete’s amusement. Both I and Bungle managed to fail the final two minutes ‘just so we could ruin the 100% pass rate that preceded us’. It was deliberate I promise. The day concluded with a beverage of the beer variety at Big Al’s and discussing how old age has started to affect me. A.k.a almost drowning.

Did I mention that it was my birthday yesterday?

Although no longer my birthday (which was yesterday if you didn’t know) Tuesday turned out to be a brilliant day. In the shop for 7.15 to get all of our kit together, ready for a pool/skills session. We met up with Teide divers (Jackie and Phil) and after a cup of tea Jackie, Rodney, Bungle and I headed down to the pool to prepare for our skills circuit and adjust our weight shortly followed by my best friends for the day Pete and Phil who would be marking our efforts. The skill circuit went very well and the practise paid off with all of my skills scoring 5/5 apart from 6 which where disappointing 4’s. Not everyone can be as perfect as Pete I suppose. After returning to the shop for a quick cup of tea and to warm up it was off to the pool again to perform Bungle’s and I’s Kit exchange which we executed perfectly and scored a 5. Pleased.
After all of us managed to successfully complete the kit exchange it was off to the Aberdeen for a VERY well deserved breakfast. Jackie and Phil headed back up north and Pete, Bungle, Rodney and I headed off to the marina to give the ’15 minute ‘avoid drowning’ another go and for Rodney to attempt the 800 meter snorkel.  Bungle and I finally managed to complete it without causing serious harm to our selves or putting our hands under the water.

That was it ...

All of the work leading up to this day ...

Divemaster Course COMPLETED for me and Bungle ... YYEAAAHHH!!

We headed back to the shop pretty pleased with ourselves, to finish the necessary paper work to make it official. I also discovered that my 100 meter diver tow was the fastest recorded here at Dive and Sea to add to the brilliant day. The day concluded with a celebratory beer and some more smiling.

The day began with Bungle, Alice and I assembling our kit and heading to the pool to film the first instalment of our fantastic ‘Divemaster Intern’ skills video. The skills session was hilarious and produced about three good videos out of the ten filmed. Upon returning to the shop we had the surprise of sitting several exams to test out knowledge from the old Divemaster exams. They went ok but show what I need to focus my reading on. During our exams we received the prized Divemaster T-shirt much to our delight, which I immediately changed into. The day finished with a bit more paper work and some general boasting about now being a Divemaster.

Today and a good lay in to start the day arriving at the shop for 9.45am. Lovely. A nice slow start involving writing this blog and a few other tasks. Then the peace was shattered as Tiede Divers turned up, including Phil, Jackie, Lauren and Barry. After a good laugh and a cup of tea it was time for Jackie to complete her kit set up whilst being marked by Pete and Phil. Then it was off to the marina to clean the boat and for Tiede to complete the remaining skills for Jackie’s Divemaster course as well as good practise for Lauren. The boat now gleaming and Jackie finishing her Divemaster it was off to the Aberdeen for yet another well deserved ‘reward’ breakfast and beverage of the beer variety.
The day concluded with finishing this blog and a bit more of tea making practise as well as reflecting on how good a Divemaster I am. Confidence is key, says Pete.

Many breakfast’s later and another week completed. Without a doubt the best week so far here in Tenerife filled with success and tea making. Our Divemaster courses completed, now Bungle, Jackie, Melissa and I can move swiftly onto our Assistant Instructor courses. Time seems to be moving along very quickly and myself and Bungle only have around three weeks remaining, however I already cannot wait to start the AI course and tackle any challenges thrown my way.

Adios for another week

George , aged 19 :-)

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

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 

Another week completed and it just keeps getting better.

I will begin where I left off with Friday...........
Once again more diving however this time we had enjoyment of diving with Phil, Lauren, Mark, Neil and April from Teide Divers as well as David from earlier in the week. We began the day with sorting and packing the kit into the car followed by a cup of tea before leaving for the marina. After assembling and loading the kit on to the boat, there was no sign of Teide divers, leaving Bungle and I in our wetsuits in the blazing sunshine :-) Warm to say the least.

When Teide divers turned up, we went on two dives including a Deep dive for Bungle’s Advanced Open Water course at Poco Naufragio.  I buddied with David. Shortly after descending we came across a Common Ray, the first I have seen here in Tenerife. Very exciting.

The second dive of the day and this time we took a short boat journey to Pequeno Valle and completed another dive for Bungle’s AOW this time the Boat adventure dive. No Rays on this dive however we did manage to see an Angle Shark, Octopus and Snake Cucumber so all in all a fantastic dive. After returning to the marina Bungle and I had the surprise of a 100m diver tow to complete in which I did reasonably well and got a time of 3.12.
We finished the mornings diving and decided that a full English breakfast was in order so off to the Aberdeen  restaurant with Teide divers for a vital energy boost. A very good day indeed.

Saturday began with Bungle and I having to complete the confined water section of our PADI Rescue diver courses. In the marina we completed a range of tasks from cramp removal to finding the missing duck, simulating a missing diver. Whilst completing the second of our dives we found a terrifying Portuguese man’o’war (nasty jellyfish), or as it later turned out to be a Portuguese bag’o’war (Plastic bag), to Pete’s amusement.
After completing the confined Rescue dives myself, Bungle and Alice had the opportunity to practise our timed 800meter snorkel required for our PADI Divemaster course, I managed to obtain a time of 17.40. Not bad but could be improved.

Too add to the exhausting morning after completing our timed snorkels, Pete, Alice, Bungle and myself set about cleaning the boat followed by cleaning the shop upon returning from the marina.
The day finished with a quick 400 meter practise in the pool and a positive de-brief. Another good day in paradise.

Sunday already, another well earned day off to sleep, eat, read and swim.

Monday began with a nice late start of 8am, and then it was off to Abades with Melissa and Bungle. On arrival, we also once again met up with Teide divers which entailed more sweltering in a wetsuit whilst they assembled there kit's. Whilst at Abades we completed two shore dives which we had to map, so we could lead dives there in the future. However Melissa opted out of the second dive due to being unable to equalise, leaving Bungle and I at the mercy of Teide divers. Both dives where fantastic and we even managed to catch a glimpse of a Common Ray snoozing on the bottom.

Following a very successful morning, a not so successful afternoon followed. Once I and Bungle had returned from Abades it was off to the marina to complete our PADI Rescue course open water scenarios 1 and 2 with Pete, Alice, Bungle and myself. All was going well until the star of the show ‘ducky’, could not be located under / near the boat. The purpose of ‘Ducky’ is to simulate searching and rescuing a missing diver, however we did not find or rescue ‘Ducky’ due to being paced out of the planned search area. We eventually found our rubbery friend which Alice managed to place around 30 meters from the boat opposed to the planned 10 meters. This used all of the time we had planned for the scenarios to take, so we headed back to the marina to disassemble the kit and head back to the shop. Monday finished with an ‘interesting’ de-brief’ and a beer, paid for by Alice, to discuss the day’s events.

Another Tuesday in Golf Del Sur and surprise, surprise more diving. However this time we had the company Hannah, who was getting a taste of diving through a PADI Discover Scuba Diving Course which involves a pool session as well as two open water dives. Alice, Bungle, Hannah and I headed down the pool where Alice instructed the DSD course under the watchful eye of Pete. After the pool / skills session was over we stopped for a cup of tea, and then headed to the marina for Hannah’s open water dives. Hannah did brilliantly considering it was her first time under the ocean in scuba equipment and really enjoyed the experience.

Upon returning to the marina from Hannah’s DSD open water dives, it was straight back on the boat for a second attempt at mine and Bungle’s PADI Rescue open water scenarios. Second time lucky, we completed the scenarios without too much trouble, finding ‘Ducky’ quickly. We learnt a great deal about how difficult a rescue could be. Tuesday finished with another 400 meter practice in the pool and an encouraging de-brief.

Another week over and on to today.

Again a nice lay in until 8.00 allowed a bit of recovery from yesterday’s events. With three dives planned for the day myself, Bungle, Alice and Pete headed to the marina. However on arrival, Pete informed Bungle and I of the lovely surprise of 800 meter snorkel practise to complete, which I managed in a time of 17.49. Then it was finally time to hop on the boat and head out to Yellow Mountain to complete some mapping dives, necessary for mine and Bungle’s PADI Divemater course. All three dives went well and managed to record a lot of information. I also performed my first dive briefing which went surprisingly well, only missing a few details.
On return to the marina yet another ‘great’ surprise awaited Bungle and I. This time the 100 meter diver tow was in order, in which I didn’t manage to beat my previous time. Frustrating to say the least. Today finished with Bungle and I cleaning the boat and an informative de-brief.

Now, having completed all of the Rescue course requirements I hope to achieve PADI Divemaster status soon as I can, and start obtaining some ‘on the job experience’.

George / Zippy

Carnival Week in Puerto de la Cruz

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