End of the this road, but it branches off into millions more..

My internship has come to a close.

The two months ran through my fingers like water, and I am left here just trying to remember all the amazing
experiences, people, animals that I had the good fortune of encountering.

Two months may sound like a long time, but in reality Ive come to realize that two months barely scratch the surface on this incredible floating rock.
The people I met who I would of never met in a million years are some of the best people i have ever come to know, and i feel like i got to know them really well after spending two months with them. Every day, 10 hours, for 2 months is a long time.

People you laughed with, people who shared in the good times, and bad times, people who were in the same boat as you. Maybe not from the same walks of life, but people who were your comrades through
the thick and thin. I will never forget everybody from the dive shop, and they have left an everlasting impression on me.

Never in a million years would I ever of met these people had I not been on this internship.
Never in a million years would I of thought I would see the things I have seen in these brief two months.

As a kid I remember being engrossed with marine life, watching nature documentaries, imagining one day seeing the images on TV in person.
Seeing octopus change colors before my very eyes, witnessing shoals of fish swim by, paying to mind the diver beside them.
NEVER did i for a second think it would become a reality. From growing up in the desert never did i believe the winds of life would steer me to my true passion. It was unheard of growing up for a desert rat to leave the great dry bareness for sparkling seas of abundance and beauty.

Well Ive truly been fortunate to be allowed to fulfill my childhood dream. The 10 year old me sitting in
amazement at national geographic ocean documentaries to the 21 year old me sitting in utter awe as a 2 meter round sting ray swims half a foot away from me, as another massive rough tailed ray swims above circling one of the the rock formations at Poco Naufragio.

Seeing a sea turtle gracefully emerge out from the blue distance, and touching my arm. Experiences such as these have changed my perspective on everything.

I always cared about the environment, and marine life. I always knew all life on earth was precious,
but ocean life is always put on the back burner because we cant see it.
We all know it is there, but to actually encounter them on a daily basis has just reaffirmed the urgency of the situation.
How much longer can the world just sit on the sidelines while a few people rape our precious oceans?
Now that I am a PADI  Divemaster I can see doors opening, I actually feel like I have options for once.

Obviously I want to finish University , but now I am beginning to see that there a whole world out there I didn't think existed. I knew scuba diving was something people did, but never did I think it could actually play a huge role in changing the way things are with the world.

Its really up to me at this point to see how far I can go with this, and only time will tell, but Diving is definitely something I can never part ways with now.

I am truly thankful to have been allowed the opportunity to intern with the dive shop.
Good times, and bad times, it was all part of the growing process.
I don't believe for a second, and it is like Pete said, that the person who walked in on day 1 is the person who walked out on day 60.

The work, the diving, the debriefs, bollockings, all them have helped me grow not just as a diver but as a person.

Never will I do all the things I use to do in the same light. Ive just developed a different perspective on
my life, and I am grateful for that.

Now i just need to get my life on track and see where i go.
Well now the all the finality is said, Lets look back at this last week.

It was the Best week I have had. From diving with sea turtles, to giant rays, Cuttlefish, octopus, the dsd workshop which was the most laughing I have done underwater.
SO much laughing that I began swallowing water and coughing. Laughing while scuba diving has proved to be and occupational hazard I was not aware of.

To Further compliment the laughter one of the interns Nemo getting headbutted by a seaturtle is a sight i will always look back and laugh on.
Looking back on my final week , and the whole internship as I type this is all smiles. I will never forget the people the place, and the dives.

Dive and Sea was my foster family for two months and you will be missed. Thanks for the journey

PS.. a Divemaster is an Instructors bitch. IS THAT the unofficial label :P

Turtle!

Definitely the highlight of the week, I saw a Green Turtle at El Peutito, a shore dive around 25 minutes away. Having spent most of my brief time at Dive and Sea hearing myths of diving somewhere that has its own family of turtles, I was able to see what all the fuss was about!

Arriving during a quintessential Spanish festival (think Ave Maria loudly on repeat, boats covered in neon bunting and traffic police rubbing their hands in glee) we found parking was a nightmare but with some logistical magic by our Dive Leader, Melissa (Queen of El Peutito!), we managed to go for a couple of dives. We were joined by an PADI Open Water Course student, with instructor Will, having his first open water dive, obviously a big moment (!), three other customers and experienced intern Gerardo. They were nice dives, with other highlights being an Anemone populated by a family of Shrimp and (I think) a glimpse of an Octopus hiding in some rocks. Of course the Turtle, swimming around us and being extremely curious about these strange bubbly things, was phenomenal.

Other big news this week is the substantial progress towards my PADI Rescue Diver qualification. It is almost finished and is a really positive moment for me, being something that I have wanted to do for several years. Our rescue scenarios, in particular, were challenging and illustrate how being a diver is not just when you are underwater but a state of mind. You have to stay physically fit and able, keep up with the latest in dive safety and practise when possible. Although the navigation element, e.g. searching for a diver underwater (where I always seem to be saving another of our interns, Theiss!), is great fun, it is a reminder that whilst these are important skills they do have important real world applications.

Other diving this week that stood out was where buddying with a customer, Johannes, I had two consecutive dives at Poco Nuafragio and the Pipeline, where I saw (this being no understatement in the slightest) the two largest Stingrays I have ever seen.  Flying around the bottom in a surprisingly graceful manner these giants were around two metres across, looking like prehistoric throwbacks belongings with other aquatic rarities like Coelacanths.

I also had the pleasure of being led by another of the interns, the aforementioned Theiss, around one of our best dive sites, Yellow Mountain. Despite his relative inexperience, Theiss was a real role model in how he led the dive. He and Malena were fantastic in rooting out the critters in both of the dives we undertook. Finding a big Octopus in a hole with an eye peering out, a wall of purple and yellow Nudibranch, and coming over some rough ground to a hermit crab at eye level were all highlights. With all this life to play with, Theiss’ leadership and Malena’s observation skills, these were really nice dives.

Leaving a really interesting event till last, I had my first night dive in Tenerife at Los Abades. This really brings out a different side of the site and importantly was part of Bill’s, a customer, PADI Night Diver Speciality. I also had the pleasure of being on the first night dive for two of our interns, Will and Malena, and met two interns from another dive centre. Seeing Eels wandering around the sand flats, a cuttlefish displaying its phosphorescent markings and playing with phosphorescent plankton, was a really good experience.

Bruce (Alastair)

Green turtles made my week!!

Two good dives at Yellow Mountain with lovely boy Lewis. Lewis is certified Open Water Diver who felt comfortable and chilled underwater. The weather wasn’t as good as it should be in Tenerife we were actually freezing underwater but still it is worth to do such a good dives. My buddy was CK. We were together with Tin Man, Susanne and Alice.

The best day of that week  Despite the beginning where CK mixed Tin Man kit and packed wrong wetsuit for him.  Although that Graham decided to dive with CK’s t-shirt and his swimming shorts. He looked ridiculous but he didn’t want to miss his dives. He was freezing underwater but I admire him for swimming without his wetsuit.

Dived at El Puertito with green turtles for the first time. I was so excited and really enjoyed those 2 dives. You cannot hear turtles while they are swimming but when you finally see them it is a nice surprise  Turtles are beautiful, very calm and chill underwater. They aren’t afraid of people at all. What is more they swim to you for a short distance and allow you to touch them. I really enjoyed El Puertito as a place to dive you may see various fishes and invertebrates. I had a chance to see for the first time sea hare. I saw also few crab the flat one and arrow crab, common octopus, atlantic feather star as well.

Waterskills day!
Even I am the slowest one I really enjoyed those days. Firstly in the morning I did my 400metres and I improve my time. The new one is 11:29  The rest of the skills we did in marina. I towed a diver for 100metres at the surface for the first time and I had really nice time 2:42. I have 4 points for that. I was really proud.  800metres snorkelling is not my strong point.

After waterskills day each days are the laziest one ;). Today I was just reading my Divemaster manual all day long and did my emergency action plan. Good day also !

In the morning Alice informed me that I will be assisting her with DSD on the boat. I already knew that Jenny doesn’t fill comfortable underwater (her swimming pool session wasn’t the best one) so I was aware that I will be holding her tank for the whole dive. 15l cylinder, 8 kilos on me, how cool is that?! …anyway Jenny wasn’t able to dive so I just went with Matchew and Alice for fun dive. It was nice. I saw a lot of various octopus and fishes. I had a good time that day 

In the afternoon I was helping Tin Man with his Emergency First Respond course. My role was to be a victim - I was pretending drunk person with broken leg :D Tin Man was actually very surprised he did not expect me to be so good actor ;)

Two swimming pool sessions with Susanne, Melissa and Marloes ( Susanee’s friend) – she just started her OWD. We had a good time. Marloes is really good with her skills. She field comfortable in the pool. The funniest thing was the Marloes’s position – she was like a dog underwater. Just keeping her hands in front of her for the whole time. We called it Lady Gaga stile or puppy one :D
In the afternoon we did once again stamina test. Once again I improved but these time with my favourite one ;) 800meters snorkelling.
I will be awesome at the end of the internship with my skills :D

Turtles.....and Tears.......Goodbye Tenerife

My final week in Tenerife was about as fun as it could possibly be.

We went diving basically every day and I got to see turtles more than once it was the bomb.
This week really was a lot of fun though and when I left Monday I was a bit sadder than I thought I was going to be, this summer has been really fun even though parts of it were less than stellar.

I had a really good time and got a lot out of the entire experience. Working as much as we did was a completely new thing for me and I ended up getting really sucked into diving which made every dive so much more fun, especially after all the books and courses were done.

Even though after we got through all the courses the days seemed longer because we had less to do.
At the end of the week we got to spend our beer fine money which was glorious and went out for Malene’s birthday and that was hilarious.
Malene had this really super cool dance move that went through the 5 point descent skill.

All in all I had a great time and they sent me off wanting to come back so that’s good.

Alice wasn’t there though because she was “sick” but it was really probably just because she knew she would burst into tears and didn’t want to embarrass herself :)

Thanks and Goodbye

Eric (Banana Man)

Urchin kill's, DSD's and I found out im a Master craftsman!

Monday I ate food and then came into work at 7 AM. We set up kit and went to Yellow Mountain and I may have been on boat cover.
Either way the boat is still safe and Hannah still can’t do boat cover very well :)

Tuesday was a complete turn around, it was probably comparable to  what everyone thought of E=MC^2 after Einstein thought of it. I don’t want to toot my own horn but my performance was easily at the top, and even though some interns(I don’t want to name names…Hannah) might think that this is all just a game, it definitely is not.

I actually did boat cover on Tuesday though, it’s all coming back to me. I was fantastic though,its really not a surprise though.
Wednesday I got to go to El Puertito with Melissa and Will and 3 customers doing DSD's. We saw the baby turtle and that also put me at 59 dives, which meant that I was going to beat Hannah to becoming a Divemaster.

Thursday I had the day off and really didn't do all that much except lay on the couch and sleep, then that night I watched a movie called Triangle which was about the creepiest movie I have ever seen and it made it much more difficult to sleep because my mind wouldn't shut off.
Then Friday we went to El Puertito again for my 60th dive. I was immensely tired that day but I did become a PADI Divemaster and I beat Hannah to it by at least 3 days. So it was completely worth it.
We went to El Delphin Saturday and Sunday which was an awesome dive site, and starfish bay was full of sea urchins.

So Saturday Theiss and I got slightly carried away while carrying out a sea urchin genocide. They were taken completely by surprise, the ambush was perfect. We came at them from above with knives in our hands and no remorse in our hearts. We then got told to stop and the cry of joy from the remaining sea urchins was deafening.  I’ve been having hearing issues ever since.

Sunday I also got to start on crafting a new drying rack for the BCD’s and wetsuits. It will easily be the best rack up there. Able to hold an elephant I would wager, probably capable of withstanding hurricane force winds and so stable that it could withstand an earthquake of 9.0 or greater on the Richter scale. I can’t speak highly enough of my craftsmanship.

That was the cherry on the top of my week. Done.

Eric

Sharks and Turtles :)

This has been a really interesting week with lots of customers who have really added to the
enjoyment of it. In particular Gary And Will, Jim Alison Thomas and. William, Paul and Ella and Kevin.

On Monday we were joined by Stiven a new intern from Spain. He has settled in really well and become part of the team already. He is getting on really well with Gary who is doing a lot of translating
for him.

This week Gary and I passed our PADI Advanced course and Stiven passed his PADI Open Water dives 1-4 so we are all making progress. Stiven has done particularly well his buoyancy and really loves seeing all the various fish types.and varied dive sites.

This week I have completed 15 dives, which has been great experience. At Abades with Melissa we had some great dives with brilliant visibility and a warm sea. We saw Octopus, Lizard fish, Parrot fish, Ornate Wrasse and lots of Atlantic Damsel fish.

At Yellow Mountain with Alice we were really lucky to see an Angel shark that was about 1.3 metres in length. It was so calm and graceful in its movements. It did not seem to be bothered about us at all. It was one of the high lights of the week for me.

My most enjoyable dives were with Melissa at El Puertito where we had 4 dives over 2 days with different customers.
The reason for this was the turtles that are in the small bay. In 2008 I was lucky to do a “ Try Dive” in the Cayman Islands where there were some really large turtles in the harbour. I fell in love with the graceful and calm way, in which they moved.
It made me want to become a diver. At El Puertito we saw 3 turtles on our first dive.

One was a baby with the other 2 being adult size. Over the next 3 dives we saw turtles on each dive. On our last dive we were just about to ascend when one came over and checked us out. It was as if it had come to say good bye to us as it gently circled us and brushed against us. I found it a very moving experience. William who was aged 12 was my buddy and really enjoyed the turtles as well. I cannot wait to return to El Puertito again.

“ You really need to come out here and experience it all for yourselves”


Patrick

Dive Against Debris in Tenerife

I logged my dive number 53 today. Which means that I am now only 7 dives away from achieving fame and fortune. That shiny title of "PADI Divemaster" is coming ever closer week by week - and what a week this has been!

We went to Yellow Mountain this week and did a Santa theme dive. Pete, Melissa, Alice and all the interns complete with red Santa suits, hats and beards - spreading a jolly good mood at the dive site! 
We did a total of two dives that day. The first one, was led by Alice, and we did some wacky underwater pictures in our costumes. I did a kit removal at the bottom, in order for us to get some cool pictures of a Santa just floating around. It went fine.

I had the honour of leading the second dive and I had a crystal clear agenda for the dive to meet some other divers at random and blowing their minds when they would see a bunch of weirdo's dressed as Santa Claus himself!

We actually did swim by some other divers eventually, but to my HUUUGE disappointment  they didnt really seem flabbergasted or amused to be met by the Santa squad!

Upon our return to the marina, Pete announced that we might as well do our 100 meters tow and 800 meter swim (Sod's law applied, because this was the one day I didnt have breakfast)

So I threw off my jolly old Santa suit and did my 100 meters tow in 2.50 minutes I believe (not that bad really)

Next up was the 800 meters swim, wearing wetsuit, mask, snorkel, weight belt and fins. Side by side with Andreas and Moomim I lined up, waiting for the call to go.

Needless to say, I finished way faster than that lot. (Moomin didn't complete to to a very unfortunate fin related problem)

Thus week we also did our PADI Divemaster skill circuit (a number of exercises at in the pool, such as regulator recovery, kit removal etc.)

This went very well too, so as previously mentioned, now I only have to complete my last few dives, and I am home free!

I think I mentioned in one of my older blogs that Lydia is now a PADI Divemaster and Alice is now and PADI instructor, so therefore it was decided that the team needed to go celebrate the two of them - which we did!

We all did our fair share of consuming alcohol  but drunk as I was, a few things still stands crystal clear in my memory from that evening.

Lydia, a self-proclaimed lightweight in the world of alcohol ended up being so drunk that even Andreas and I (due to our Danish inheritance we obviously consider ourself experts in being drunk) had to see ourself outshone by this crazy little being from Holland!

In mid week, Pete and Melissa went of to have a few days of well earned vacation on a top secret part of the Island, leaving Alice in charge of running both the shop and us interns. 

So for the last few days, we have been going on shore dives and just having a good time!

Our first day without Mr. and Mrs. Boss, we went to Abades to do 3 dives. I have been to Abades a few times, and always enjoyed it, but this time I decided that it was time for a change, so instead of taking the usual route along a ridge, I choose to go in a whole other direction to see what was cooking there. Not much can be said about that dive really, the route i chose wasn't as adventurous and breathtaking as I was hoping it would be, but we did see an octopus and a few cuttlefish, so it wasnt all bad.

Second dive was led by Moomin, and he choose the safe more conservative route, and actually managed to get a bit lost, but he got right back on track again in the end.

Third dive, was just Lydia, Moomin, Andreas and me. So, as Im sure Pete would say it; "we just puddled around for 40 minutes, had a few giggles" and returned back right on time.

The next day, we loaded up our rental minibus and headed for Las Eras. I had only been there once before, so I was looking forward to revisiting this cool dive site,

While hoping that the currents wouldn't be as strong as they was last time I was there. They was.

During our second dive, when time came to start swimming back towards shore, we found ourself in a strong current, so we decided to ascend and do a surface swim

back to the shore, before loading up for our third dive at the site.

The third dive, took us to the pipeline that runs right outside of the bay of Las Eras. its a truly amazing place, packed with Moray's, Opctupusses and a few Rays
.

Yesterday we went to El Puertito, to do a Project AWARE dive. The theme of this dive, was to collect all the rubbish we could get our hands on underwater (and to play with the turtles obviously).

Despite the crappy visibility, we had three great dives at the site. We collected loads and loads of rubbish from the bottom, and had our share of attention from the turtles and I also led the one of the dives. 
On the dive that I was leading, we saw a baby turtle, so what more can you ask for?

Moomin, that wonderful little brown man, said some beautiful things at the following debrief that day.

He something in the likes of: That he was so proud just to be a part of these Project AWARE dives, and helping nature by removing just a little bit of bad stuff from the sea was a really rewarding experience. 
When we returned after our first two dives, with our bags full of rubbish, people were gathering along the pier to see what we were doing.

And I am quite sure that we made a pretty big impact into the minds of some of them. 
Seeing a bunch of divers gladly doing their part in protecting the environment, surely has inspired a few of them, to be more considerate with their own waste in the future and who knows, maybe some of them will go on to inspire other people in the future.

Just like rings in the water.

It must be something in the water down here thats making me so sentimental!

Hasta luego 

- Kevinito

PADI Instructors, PADI Divemaster's and Cava!

Welcome back to Tenerife!

This week has been a blast. Christmas is close (at least in the head of Melissa), everybody went and got drunk, Pete and Melissa has been off for a couple of days and a lot of great dives has been logged.

My first dive this week was the weirdest thing in the history of man. At least my history. Santa Dive. It sounds a bit weird, which it most certainly is. Imagine Pete, Melissa, Alice, Dennis, Lydia Mahmoud and me, all dressed like Santa Clause cruising into the waves on the RIB, off to Yellow Mountain where everyone is diving fully equipped with Santa clothes, beards, scuba equipment, dive computers, knives and whatever else fits the modern day Santa Clause.

We had two amazing dives.
Back in the marina no one could say we didn't pulled our share of attention and comments.
I think one of the funniest things about the dive, was the second one where the interns and I were on our way back to the boat. On the way to the boat we actually encountered two other divers. This happens kinda rare because Yellow Mountain is a fairly big place.
Anyhow what those divers saw that day at Yellow Mountain, no one will ever believe. The two divers descented and swam for Alien Rock, when out of the distance four shapes comes close. At first they won't believe their own eyes, but as the silhouettes come close they can see the red hats, the beards and when one of the four dives pulls out his 'slade' and writes "HO HO HO" they are certain. Santa Clause moved to Tenerife and became a diver.

After the Christmas dive everybody went out one day to celebrate Alice's new PADI instructor certificate and Lydia's completion of her PADI Divemaster course. We had so much fun and were practically laughing almost constantly from we arrived at the bar till we went home.
The next day Pete and Melissa was preparing for their holiday. None of us were up to much so we wasn't diving, but in the afternoon Dennis, Mahmoud and me went snorkling. I've never bother much for snorkling before I came here, but this was really cool. We found a great spot with loads of beautiful fish and because it is a lot quieter to snorkel than to scuba dive, we also saw a lot of fish that we don't usually see much of.

Anyway, after that day, Alice has been in charge of the shop. Fearing the worst, Pete and Melissa found it right two rent a car so we wouldn't be bored and go destroying the shop trying to find something to do. Up until now we have had three amazing days.
We have been diving everyday. First dive was at Abades. The dives was a lot of fun as everybody is getting used to each other underwater. Alice is a great dive leader and finds a lot of nice critters and such to look at. Of course it help a lot that i won the competition of spotting the "biggest" fish and that earn me a bottle of cava at the end of the day.

Our second dive was at Las Eras. Despite of a very strong current i enjoyed the dive a lot. This place is a really beautiful dive with kinda like huge steps into the deep. On the third dive that day Alice told me to lead us to the pipeline which of course was no problem for a skilled diver like me.
At the pipeline we saw so many fish and everything that I nearly don't remember them all. I saw five or six Moray's  A Common Ray and loads of other cool stuff.

The dive we had today was a Project AWARE-dive where we got to pick up rubbish. Wohoo!!!... Though I can easily hear how it sounds it was actually quite good. It helps a lot when you have to pick up garbage surrounded be turtles and pretty fish. We made a competition out of it and though I'm not really sure who won, I'm pretty sure I did again.

I think that is it for this week. Now i want to return to my recharging for tomorrow which involves me and Dennis sitting in our balcony playing guitar and drinking well deserved cava. Dives, dive certifications, good friends, warmth, what more could you ask for.

Till next week, Don't do anything I wouldn't do.

New Dive sites in Tenerife...... well for me anyway :-)

I was surprised when we went on a different path on our second dive in yellow mountain. We went west instead of east to a place called Swim Through. It is actually called swim through because we swam through a cave like structure only very shallow and wide open so that you can swim through it to the other side. It was the first time I have ever done anything like that and I really liked it so much. This time I was buddy with Dennis. We were following the group from behind making sure everything is ok and everyone is close to Alice as she leads the dive from the front.

The next day we took Gee to Abades where Melissa was leading the dive. It was the first time we go to the shore from the right side instead of the normal left side from the coast. It was such a beautiful dive where we saw a family of cuttle fish and some morays.

The second dive on the other hand was definitely a very significant dive in my life. I had never seen so many creatures in one dive and was the first time I ever saw an Angel Shark. I thought it was a big one but Melissa told me it was still very young, in any case it was very fast and ran away from us contradicting my expectations as  I thought they were very curious creatures. We also saw Black Moray, Fangtooth Moray, an Octopus, a few Cuttle fish and a lot of different fish.



Then comes the thing I enjoy the most in diving. Night diving is amazing I love the nocturnal creatures they are just so beautiful and all the creatures become less shy in the night. I also never knew cuttlefish can glow in the dark after you point the light to them. And you gotta love the planktons!

We ended our week with a very productive day in the shop. Pete made our skill assessment in the pool, I will have to repeat the CESA and the hovering and we also did the kit exchange which I never thought would be such a beautiful experience.
Gives you much confidence and trust with your buddy. We had to change the scuba unit in addition to the mask and fins all underwater with only one functioning regulator while not allowing anything to touch the water. After doing the normal daily jobs in the shop there was still some time left and Pete allowed us to go snorkelling for an hour.

We spent 45 minutes snorkeling, free diving and doing some fish ID which was  the highlight of my closing day.

Avery productive and enjoyable week.

El Puertito.... Best Dive ever?...........Probably :-)

Once again I began a week with my favourite dive site, El Puertito. This was another chance for me to prove myself as I was given the chance to lead the dives.

Melissa usually leads these dives and if I’m honest we usually see more when she leads, but this is in no way a criticism of me as just about anyone here will tell you I’m pretty professional and not to forget perfect, or maybe they would disagree?

The first dive really couldn't of gone much better we descended and within five minutes were playing with turtles. Another brilliant experience and I truly believe it is impossible to become bored of this dive site. I mean even if you don’t see the turtles, just as we didn't on the second dive, there is always plenty to see.
As usual for the second dive I aimed for the sea anemone, alone this is beautiful, but as I've previously mentioned it is also the home to sexy shrimp. There is also trumpet fish, cuttlefish, cleaner shrimp and parrot fish on this dive, which just makes for some of the best diving around.

More dive leading! I never should have mentioned to Alice it’s something I felt I’d struggle with.
This time we went to Yellow Mountain with George, Allen, Sue and Stuart and Alison. The first dive site was Alien Rock which is one of three dive sites at Yellow Mountain. This one went well with the usual fish about, such as damsels and bream.
However, it wasn't nearly as good as the second dive. After briefing I would lead the group to Crocodile Rock I decided to unintentionally go to Swim Through, but in all honesty the dive was so much better because of this, and thus I still maintain that it was a success. After heading through the big hole in the rock (I think this might be why it’s called swim through) we ended up swimming close to crocodile rock where we saw a baby common ray, which was a first for me, and another great experience.

Shore diving to Las Eras with Julia and Frank and for once I didn't have to lead the dive so I was already happy. This dive site is quickly becoming a favourite for me, mainly because of the massive diversity of fish you can see here, if you head left out of the bay you can see an abundance of shoals of bream, barracuda and even my personal favourite sexy shrimp.

However, if you head right to the pipeline you can see the big things like morays, rays and octopus. This is exactly what we saw on our dives, the first dive was brilliant, but for me, it can’t compare to the second dive. To start with the brown moray hiding in the pipeline was stretching a fair way out of its hole to try and snap at Melissa. Then there was the two rays sleeping in gaps and not to forget the octopus in the rocks that were incredibly grumpy if you moved any of their rocks.

Last diving day of the week and I was instructed to lead a dive without any supervision, so it was my first time flying solo, just like Maverick only better looking. The first dive was to Alien Rock and it went off without a hitch and we managed to get all the way round and even see a large colony of sexy shrimp on an anemone.
The next dive was to swim through and after obviously going to crocodile rock on the way back I managed to get lost around five to ten meters from the boat. So we just swam around in a big circle, after about five minutes I was relieved to find the anchor line and finish the dive in perfect timing.

If I’m being honest and I usually am, it’s becoming fairly tough for me here. After seeing me work for five weeks everyone just expects me to be my usual perfect self, which is a big burden to carry, but I do have off days, obviously not as many as everyone else, but it does occasionally happen.

To round the week off I had a day off, and after heading to the pub to watch the formula 1, I quickly realised the pocket where my keys usually are, was feeling awfully empty. Thus I was locked out of my apartment, as the keys were actually on the table inside.

So to finish the week nicely I slept on the sofa of Kevin and Perry (new interns) and forgot to close the balcony door and am now covered in mosquito bites.

Sam (Popeye)