Aside

Tenerife is the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, located off the coast of Western Africa and is renowned for the high levels of tourism and its marvellous sunshine. What many people don’t realise is that this popular island has another side to it —one of stunning natural landscapes, fascinating museums and galleries, and a lively carnival culture to rival that of Brazil. But if you need more convincing, here are 10 reasons to fall in love with Tenerife…

Teide National Park

Perhaps the main highlight of Tenerife is Teide National Park, which is home to Spain’s highest mountain, a volcano named Mount Teide. You can travel up the mountain in a cable car (making sure to bring a coat as it is chilly at the top), visit the Teide Observatory, or simply tour the beautiful national park itself.

Tenerife-Teide

Image by Lüdia, with permission under Creative Commons licence

La Tejita Beach

If you’re serious about topping up your tan in style, La Tejita Beach is definitely the place to be. Located not far from El Medano, this gorgeous stretch of sand offers spectacular views of a geographical formation known as Montana Roja (the Red Mountain), and boasts plenty of sun loungers and umbrellas.

Auditorio de Tenerife

This impressive piece of architecture is Tenerife’s answer to the Sydney Opera House; a soaring, majestic white building that hosts all kinds of musical performances. If you don’t have the time or budget to see a show here, you can take a guided tour of the building, or stop for a drink in the main café.

Watersports at El Medano

El-Medano-Kite-Surfing

 

Image by juan.aguere, with permission under Creative Commons licence

If you’re into your watersports, you’ll want to head straight for the beach town of El Medano. The strong winds in this area of Tenerife make for excellent surfing, kitesurfing and windsurfing, but the surrounding beaches are also perfect for sunbathing and swimming.

La Laguna Cathedral

If you’re going to visit one historic piece of architecture on Tenerife, make it this beautiful cathedral, which is located in the city of San Cristobal de La Laguna. Constructed in the early 1900s, it houses the remains of Alonso Fernandez del Lugo, who conquered the island and founded the city.

Pyramids of Guimar

One peculiar tourist attraction on Tenerife that is certainly worth a visit is the Pyramids of Guimar. These terraced structures were built from lava stone in the 19thcentury, and the motives behind their building remains unclear — although some archaeologists have theorised that they were created for agricultural purposes.

Snorkelling with turtles at El Puertito

El Puertito is a quaint little fishing village on the southwestern coast of Tenerife, near to Adeje. It is not notable for much, and remains largely untouched by the tourist trade. However, it is an excellent spot for snorkelling, particularly if you are interested in seeing the local turtles.

Cueva del Viento

Adventurous types will absolutely love the cave system at Cueva del Viento, in the town of Icod de los Vinos. The complex of tunnels and caverns is in actual fact a lava tube, created after volcanic eruptions from Pico Viejo in Teide National Park.

Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre

This excellent museum is located in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and is considered one of the best museums in the Canary Islands. Exhibits about Teide volcanic eruptions, the Guanche mummies (ancient indigenous people of the Canary Islands), and local wildlife and geology are particular highlights.

Siam Park

Siam-Park-Tenerife

Image by Steve P2008, with permission under Creative Commons licence

If you’re visiting Tenerife with children, you’ll definitely want to visit Siam Park, a Thai-themed water park that boasts some brilliant rides. Whether you want to relax and cool off, have fun with the whole family, or get your heart rate going with something a bit more daring, Siam Park will have the ride to suit you.

Whether you’re visiting Tenerife on a cruise and enjoying the comfort of a ship, for a package holiday or as part of a long tour around Europe, you’ll find plenty to keep yourself entertained and illuminated. In fact, the only thing you’ll have to worry about is leaving…

Aside

I would like to thank Dive and Sea Tenerife for posting this article. Their site is a great place to learn about, plan and even book your dive trip to their school in Tenerife. After reading this I highly recommend you check out their list of the best dive sites on the islands.

Scuba Diving Tenerife

In or out of water, divers can’t get enough of the practice. While, ideally, they’d spent every day in the depth of the ocean, watching the underwater world slowly float by, unfortunately this isn’t always possible. Most divers have work, a family and other obligations to attend to, which make constant dive trips too time-consuming and expensive.

Luckily, for the times you can’t get into the water, there are more than enough riveting movies that will ignite your diving passions and fulfill your underwater wanderlust. These five films are some of the best showcases of the great blue oceans that can be watched on the screen. By the time you’ve got to the credits, they’ll have you itching to put on your dive tank and roll back into the water.

Finding Nemo
Let’s face it, there isn’t a diver out there who hasn’t created a narrative for the fish they see underwater at some point in their life. Finding Nemo takes this phenomenon to a whole other level. As one of Pixar’s greatest successes, this film is an underwater epic, following a very unfortunate and down-on-his-luck clown fish, Marlin, on his mission to save his son who has been captured by a dentist from Sydney to be put in his office fish tank.

Along with the help of an amnesic blue tang fish, he explores the majority of the ocean floor, meeting a plethora of different species along the way. Whether he’s having dinner with vegetarian sharks, hanging loose with surf-nut turtles or attempting to speak whale, Marlin’s exciting adventures are bound to have any diver hooked and wishing they could be right there alongside him.

Thunderball
Many James Bond films are left incomplete without the epic and essential dive scene. However, Sean Connery’s underwater battle in the 1965 film “Thunderball” is definitely king of them all. Parachuting in from the sky or driving through the ocean on an underwater jet-ski, the two sites collide in a tense and exciting harpoon shoot out.

James’ aquatic gadgets, undeniable style and incredible ability to freedive for a large amount of the scene makes for a classic Bond flick. With a sneak peak of the underwater wildlife in the form of a terrified crab, rowdy octopus and unfortunate shark, who happens to stumble up on the struggle, this dive scene includes everything any diver wants from an epic underwater viewing experience!

Le Grand Bleu
Also known as the Big Blue, this 1988 title starring Rosanna Arquette, Jean-Marc Barr and Jean Reno is a dive epic like no other. Taking an idea close to many divers hearts—that of becoming part-fish—this film follows Jacques, a childhood diver whose true potential isn’t discovered until a chance meeting with Johanna and an unexpected dive shows that his physical state is more reminiscent of a dolphins than a human.

His journey takes him back to the Mediterranean, where his love of the underwater world was born, and re-unites him with childhood friend, Enzo, as their old rivalry is re-ignited. Enzo, now the reigning diving world championship, struggles with the threat from this old friend and the group is pushed into dangerous territory as their adventure unfolds. Diving from beginning to end and a passion encapsulated perfectly in the lead characters; this film is definitely one for dive-lovers.

Men of Honor
Perhaps one of the noblest diving films on the market, that makes any-one who loves the sport proud to do so, Men of Honor follows the men of the Navy divers training school in their heroic and dangerous quest to become the best and protect their country from the depth of its oceans. Based on a true story, protagonist Carl Brashear, played by Cuba Gooding Jr, aims to be the first African American and amputee diver on the US Force. However, in a time where racism is still common practice, he is forced to go up against many who don’t believe in him to prove he has what it takes.
On the flip side, Leslie Sunday, played by Robert DeNiro, is a washed-up and bitter trainer, determined to crush Carl’s spirit and send him back to where he came from. As the film progresses, so does the two men’s relationship, and before you know it, the story becomes one of heart-warming triumph and, combined with more than enough spectacular dive scenes, is a must-see for anyone who’s ever donned scuba gear and flippers.

The Blue Planet
Although not a film, The Blue Planet series by David Attenborough is an essential part of any divers television collection. Nowhere else can you find such an in depth and eclectic collection of information about life in the depth of our beautiful blue oceans. No other program showcases the reasons we dive as well as this series.

Available on Netflix, it works as pre-dive inspiration, a post-dive celebration and even as a commiseration to those diving withdrawals when you can’t get in the water. The eight episode series covers everything from coral reefs and artic oceans to changing water levels and the effects they have on wildlife. Including never before seen footage of certain species and practices, it’s everything a diver could want in terms of content and cinematography. Just be sure to remember that if you are planning to watch this on Netflix, particularly if you’re on a dive trip abroad, you may been to use a VPN to unblock the content and gain access to it, as unfortunately the program is subject to geo-blocking.

There are so many great dive films on the market, these are just a few of them. If you know of anymore that should be on the list, then be sure to leave a comment below!

Author bio: Jess Signet is an avid traveler, travel writer and lover of the open seas. She loves to travel, dive and snorkel and hopes you’ll enjoy these movies as much as she does!

Top 5 Destinations for Your Next Dive

Date: August 29, 2015 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife

For numerous travellers and tourists, the lure of relaxing on a golden sand beach provides enough incentive to visit Tenerife. However, more adventurous types will look to the sea for a greater thrill.

And what better way to enjoy what the Atlantic Ocean has to offer by going snorkelling or scuba diving. But apart from the fascinating shipwrecks and underwater creatures you can see off the coast of Tenerife, where else in the world should you consider going for your next dive? If you can get to these destinations on package holidays, so much the better!

1. Ko Tao, Thailand

Although you can dive all-year round here, between March and April the shores of Koa Tao become one of the few places in the world where you can see whale sharks. However, at any other time the marine life is still plentiful, with reef sharks, rays and barracuda never far away.

What’s more, shallow sites like Japanese Gardens mean even first-timers can experience the scuba diving delights that Ko Tao has to offer.

2. Red Sea, Egypt

Just a few steps from the beach you’ll be greeted by crystal-clear waters containing hundreds of miles of coral and an abundance of sea life. Seeing as there is warm water all year round, you can visit whenever you like too. One of the best locations for diving is Sharm El Sheikh.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattkieffer/8461410914/sizes/l

3. Caye Caulker, Belize

You might be surprised to hear that only Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is bigger than the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, situated less than a mile from Caye Caulker. Belize’s iconic Great Blue Hole, an underwater sinkhole descending more than 400ft into the deep, is only a day trip away too.

Despite the fact diving in Belize costs more than other Central America alternatives, it is by far the best location.

4. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

If you feel like a challenge, head to the strong currents and chilly water found off the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. There isn’t a great deal of coral to be found here, but this won’t be a concern when you get up close and personal with hammerhead sharks, sea lions, and marine iguanas.

January to May is your best weather bet, but you can still go scuba diving all-year round at this awe-inspiring archipelago.

5. Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Stretching a mammoth 1,430 miles along Australia’s northeastern coast, this is arguably the most famous diving spot on earth. But in addition to sheer size, the Great Barrier Reef’s underwater inhabitants are also extensive. Here you’ll find 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 separate reefs, which is equivalent to the Amazon Rainforest in biodiversity.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/slapers/5339590197/sizes/l

So, if Tenerife’s incredible dive spots don’t tempt you into visiting the island on holiday, there are plenty of equally alluring alternatives all over the world for you to choose from.

Images by mattk1979 and paularps, used under Creative Commons licence  

Dive addiction and cool divers

Date: January 19, 2015 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
El-Puertito-Turtle-Divers

Hi, my name is Fatin. I am a dive addict. And the only therapy I’m getting is to continue my addiction.

Started from an insecure diver, I blossomed to a confident divemaster through the span of the 8-weeks long Divemaster internship, with the guidance of the instructors, Divemasters and Interns.
The weather of Tenerife, the divers, the dive sites and the crew are the main reasons for me to extend my internship for another 3 weeks to gain more experience as a Divemaster before I wake up to reality.

Another dive-a-licious week with awesome divers like Richard, Maggie and Tony. It was my first time leading dives and being in-charge of the dive logistic/itinerary. In the beginning, it was super nerve-wrecking because I was used to following everyone else. But after the first time, leading is actually very fun and satisfying. Also, it helps knowing there are others interns to back me up.

This week also marks the first week of two new interns. Pretty cool divers who will definitely blossom into awesome divermasters within the next 6 weeks. Can’t wait to see their progression!

Hello new interns, you seen my diving knife?

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Aquatic-Life-Sharks-Sting-Rays-Fish (43)

When you say something over and over again, you start believing it, and I am starting to believe I am really a Starfish, a brainless creature, but still a pretty sight.

This week, I have been leaving breadcrumbs around the different dive sites in Tenerife; my dive knife and my starfish earring. After my rampage of killing black longspine urchins during the first dive of the fateful Wednesday, I didn’t clip my dive knife properly, and it decided to move from my handle to the reef.
On the second dive, everyone else was involved in the massacre operation of the black spines, while I was desperately searching for other signs of life to keep me preoccupied. It was such a bleak day. And then on Sunday, my earring got stuck on my BCD and then fell into the rocky reef, making it difficult for me to retrieve.
Moral of the story: be a zombie and get myself some brains.

On a serious note, this week was a time for both a goodbye and some hellos.

Paul left us to return back to reality. It was an awesome dive-alicious week with him and the crew. Just the 5 of us, hitting dive sites and creating bubbles underwater. We explored a new dive site for me called “El Poris”, a beautiful rock wall dive, where we saw a sleeping cuttlefish, several moray eels, octopuses and a Virgin Mary statue underwater. We are going to miss him.

Two new interns, Abu and Flo, just arrived over the weekend, can’t wait to meet and work with them!

Done it, Im a PADI Divemaster………. Whats next?

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving Tenerife - San Miguel

I AM FINALLY A DIVEMASTER!!

I would like to thank my family, friends, motley crew on the Divemaster internship for believing in me: The Instructors, Divemaster, interns. Couldn’t have done this without you lot.

*Takes a bow, awaiting for endless applause and showers of red roses*

Frankly, once everything is accomplished and after the momentarily feeling of accomplishment, the “meh” blank expression slowly settled in. To put in a cliché manner, it is like the three stages of mountain climbing.

Stage 1: Self- doubt. At the foot of the mountain, you look up and question yourself whether you are crazy and whether or not it is possible to conquer it.
Stage 2: Giving up. Half way up the mountain, panting and out of breath, pain surging through your entire being, you look up thinking whether this pain is worth it to continue on, and then look down thinking it is much easier to go back down.
Stage 3. Accomplishment. At the top, you scream “I DID IT!!” and happy thoughts of having conquered causing you to have a permanent goofy grin on your face. After a couple of deep breaths and moments of enjoying the view, you wonder what’s next. This needs some time to figure out.

Apart from the grimness, it was an awesome week diving. Great customers, crystal clear visibility and amazing sea animals. Managed to spot giant stingrays, octopuses, arrow crabs and high-5ed a green turtle.

Fatin

The ocean has thrown a tantrum, off to the naughty step!

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Sunset in Tenerife

When I first arrived, the fear of not being able to pass my divemaster course loomed over me. Am I fit enough? What if I can’t pass my stamina? What if I can’t pass at all?

For the past 5 weeks, everyone on the internship helped me out, shoving those vile thoughts out of my head and focusing on accomplishing my goals step by step. At the current moment, the skills and stamina components are done and out of the way. What’s left to pass are my exams and clocking 10 dives!

This week’s dives started out most horribly but ended perfectly, it’s like the weather is apologising for throwing a tantrum for the first half of the week.

The first two days of boat dives was rough, the sea was like a spoilt kid screaming and thrashing for candy. The surge was almost as tall as me and I became seasick due to the excessive boat rocking. The visibility was barely an arm length and there are random sandstorm on the ocean floor. During midweek, the vast blue was so bad that dives had to be cancelled.
On Sunday, after being sent to timeout, the sea calmed down drastically and the visibility was so good I could see the bottom from the boat. Beautiful sea creatures came out of hiding. The giant stingrays, one as big as me, were frolicking in the reef greeting the divers.

Side news, I believe I should be nominated for an Oscar award as I managed to almost drown both Seahorse and Paul for their rescue confine exercise as a panic diver. It was so much fun trashing around like a lunatic, tearing off both their masks and regulators and making them guzzle saltwater.

It has been a satisfying week.

Fatin

Eagle rays, Austrailian interns and Broken Vans

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Aquatic-Life-Sharks-Sting-Rays-Fish (77)

It already been a month!

On Monday I was off diving at Alacala, with Josh, a customer from UK, and Flounder. The visibility was horrible with only 1 metre and the waves continuously breaking on the rock steps. We were pleasantly surprised by the rare sight of a sea snake before it was engulfed by the moving sediments, and the nonchalant greeting from the resident green turtle.

The second day of diving was on Sunday at Pequeño Valley, MY FIRST BOAT DIVE in Tenerife! The visibility wasn’t great weather but I managed to see a passing shadow of an eagle ray flapping off to the horizon amongst other things.

In between the two highlights of the week, brain-cells-killing tasks went underway. Jumpy, our ever-loyal van, decides to take a little holiday vacation to replace her gears. Administration works like cleaning and painting the boat, cramming dive theories and Divemaster surface skills speeches, and cleaning up the dungeons. The dungeons in case you are wondering are our special place full of delights and shiny things, also known as the store rooms!

We also welcomed a new Divemaster intern from Australia. She’s a pretty cool diver and companion. Can’t wait to torture her for the Rescue Diver Scenarios!

Ive done it, Im A Divemaster

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
diving-tenerife-Tabaiba-Wreck-16

So my 8 weeks in Tenerife have now sadly come to an end, but at long last I am a PADI divemaster!

I could not have done it without great company from my fellow interns along the way, fantastic support from everyone here and of course special thanks must go to all of my Instructors for all their hard work and patience for getting me through my pool skills.

The start of the week saw me get signed off on my remaining pool skills and complete my EFR training, and the remainder of the week saw my mum accompany us on 11 dives.
On Tuesday we went to Tabaiba where my mum was blown away by the wreck of the El Ratón and the fish life around it, and we also went on only my second night dive of my internship at Abades. This did not disappoint as we saw lots of critters about including a huge angel shark that was completely undisturbed by our presence, as well as some sea hares and a cuttlefish burying itself into the sand.
Wednesday saw us attempt to see the rays at Poco but oddly they didn’t show up.
On Thursday we went to a rather shallow dive at Las Galletas which none of us had dived before and then did Yellow Mountain for the final time – again no angel sharks this time!
On Friday me made another attempt to see the rays at Poco but again they weren’t there, much to my mum’s disappointment. We did however do a lovely dive at El Delphín (another site I had not dived before) and I would definitely do that again on another visit here.

Friday night was of course Flo’s (first) final night before returning back to Belgium for 11 days so we marked the occasion by going to Taj’s for my final time and me doing more karaoke down at The Bar.

Our day off saw me and my mum along with Flotsam and Jetsam attempt to do the long walk at Masca but unfortunately the water taxis weren’t running so instead we went to Garachico in the north-west and did a windy walk up the cliffs to San Juan del Reparo and back down again.

Like the week before it was great to get out of the South and see a different part of the island, which felt a lot more traditionally Spanish.
Last but not least, Sunday (and my final) dive was much more relaxed at El Porís.
I am sad to leave Tenerife and the Internship but I will keep on checking the website for news and blogs, I hope it won’t be too long before I am back again.

Kiran

Angel Sharks :)

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
diving-tenerife-Abades-Bay-Angel-Shark

All of a sudden I realise that after this week I only have one week left. Seriously, where has the time gone?!

My training is almost complete, I am just left to do my EFR, the kit exchange exercise and to have the last few pool skills signed off. Hopefully this should all get done on Monday, leaving the rest of my final week to enjoy diving with my mum, who arrived on Friday with my dad and is here until I leave.
This week started off with our first angel sharks of the season. Seemingly out of nowhere on our second dive of the Monday at the Yellow Mountain swim through Nick, Flo, Dudley, Hermit, Dan and I saw 3 angel sharks, each of differing sizes but the largest was just under 6ft in length!
What a shame that none of us had working cameras with us on that dive, and no more have been seen this week.

Tuesday saw me lead my first group of divers alone with no other interns as I took Dudley, Hermit and Garry to Poco Naufragio where we encountered Stumpy again. Pequeño Valle was the calmest I’ve dived so far and I was extremely pleased with how everything went that day.
Wednesday saw me looking after the shop on my own, although being in charge of the shop for a whole day did feel kind of empowering.

On Thursday we went to Yellow Mountain but no angel sharks were seen this time. I did get to dive with Linda for the first time though.

Friday saw me dive Alcalá for the first time since my first week. A mistake my end of forgetting to bring spare regs saw me give my regs to one of the customers, Maureen, while Flo took the customers to see the turtles. I snorkelled on the surface overseeing them and still got close to the turtles (I’m talking face-to-face, less than 1ft away from me close!).
Miraculously, the set of regs that didn’t work on two tanks worked on my tank, so I was able to dive the second dive. The highlight of that dive was seeing a feeding duck-billed ray.
Now my parents are here, I hope my mum gets to see all the amazing things that I have seen within the week she is visiting.

Wreck Diving, EFR and Santa Cruz, what a busy week!

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
diving-tenerife-Tabaiba-Wreck diving

This week consisted of me diving on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with two days off on Friday and Sunday and a short day on Saturday.
Monday saw me head to Abades for only the second time, on a day with high winds and strong swell, with Hermit, Flo and Dave, a seasoned customer. Flo took the lead on both dives.

On Tuesday, Flo and I took Hermit, Jens and two more customers Phil and Dean firstly to Las Eras and the second dive of the day was in El Porís where we got further than usual due to good air consumption by the divers and Flo’s careful dive leading. Both dives had lovely visibility and there was plenty of life on show including big cuttlefish, octopus, shoals of bream, damselfish, scorpionfish and a couple of nudibrancs.
Wednesday Ebb, Hermit, Sofia (Ebb’s visiting Italian friend) Nick and I to Tabaiba (which like Abades and El Porís I had only dived once before) to do two moderately deep dives on the wreck of the El Ratón. It was amazing to see so many fish circling around us on the deck, including one very curious barracuda. We also took a look inside the wheel house and it provided a very disorientating sensation as the bubbles moved in a different direction to the orientation of the wreck.
Away from diving, we got a free meal at Flashpoint courtesy of Flo losing a bet with me on who would do better in our exam, I passed my Emergency First Response exam and four of us took a trip to El Teide and round to the north side of the island, which was stunning on such a clear day. It was also interesting to see how much more luscious and green the north side of the island by Santa Cruz is compared to the south. Pieter and I also went to Siam Park on Sunday, which was a fun day out but also a shame that more of our group didn’t come along due to still feeling the effects of a heavy night previously.

Kiran

If you dont like fish and Sting Rays, dont do the Divemaster internship!

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Aquatic-Life-Sharks-Sting-Rays-Fish (45)

My third week on my Divemaster internship has been much quieter than my first two, mainly because at least i am starting to understand how everything works and where everything goes.
I was stuck on dry land for a couple of days and this time was spent fine-tuning my pool skills and I think I made good progress on that front this week as well as finishing most of my manual.

The dives I did get to go on were great especially our first dive at Poco Naufragio where we had two of our resident giant rays approach us right up close and Stumpy even sailed right over my head!
Pequeño valley is a dive site you have to go to. It has literally 1,000’s of fish everywhere.
Our third dive at Moon Pools was wonderful, with the light pouring into the shallow caves and holes in the rocks.

Another plus for this week was my mum’s camera arriving from back home so at long last I can take underwater photos again.
I’m looking forward to diving Yellow Mountain for the first time this week and hopefully getting much more open water time.

 

Kiran

More diving for Matt, Ryan, Sam and Dave

Date: January 13, 2015 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
More diving in Tenerife

Matt and Ryan were back, with Sam and Dave for some more diving.
We took them to Poco Naufragio, where they had an amazing dive.
A very curious Stingray stayed with them for at least 15 minutes.
They also found two Black Moray Eels, sharing a little hole in between the rocks, and their neighbour, a Fangtooth Moray Eel, right next to them.
The second dive was to Starfish Bay, where they saw Yellow Goatfish, Sexy Shrimps, Red-backed Cleaner Shrimps and Scorpion fish.

More diving in Tenerife

Night diving brings out all our favourties

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Night diving Tenerife

A night to Poco Naufragio brought lots to see for our divers. Cuttle fish everywhere, Moray Eels and evern a Sting Ray popped up from the deep!

Night diving Tenerife 1 Night diving Tenerife

Awesome diving with an all girl group today

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving Tenerife

We experinced some great diving today at a dive site called El Delfin.

As well as the normal aqautic life we also had a visit from a Canarian Lobster, Nudibranc and a nervous Trigger fish!

Diving Tenerife Diving Tenerife El Delfin2

Goodbye old friend, Bring on the Divemaster course

Date: January 5, 2015 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Aquatic-Life-Sharks-Sting-Rays-Fish (50)

This week was a bittersweet 72% cocoa dark chocolate.

Yesterday marks Ollie’s last day. I am very proud that she’s a certified Divemaster and super thankful I’ve met a wonderful crazy friend. For the past three weeks, she cheered me on, encouraged me and attacked me.

As mentioned in previous posts, my stamina components needs work, lots of work. Ollie gave me tips and exercise workouts to improve my physical health. Through muscle aches and lots of exercise, I saw myself improve my timings and stamina. We also helped each other with our individual reef-mapping.

For my rescue diver scenario exercises, Ollie was my panic diver, unconscious and unresponsive diver. She is a top-notch actress, tearing my mask and made me drink sea water countless of times. Granted, I made her guzzle salt water when she was my unresponsive diver.

I am definitely going to miss diving and having good times with her, and wishing her the best in her diving career.

On the bright-side, I had my first bubble maker and I’m on my way to become a PADI Divemaster real soon!

Passing my Rescue Diver and working on my 800m snorkel with the team everyday, passing the course is just a matter of time, and not an impossibility.

Fatin

Getting close to being a Divemaster

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Aquatic-Life-Sharks-Sting-Rays-Fish (71)

Week 5, time to start completing the Divemaster stuff !!
Diving was limited to Tuesday and Sunday of this week, due to completing Divemaster tasks, more of than in a bit and a considerable amount of socialising!

Monday consisted of me getting some more of my Diver Skills signed off, which I am now making good progress on now. Tuesday was the first of the two Yellow Mountain trips and were completed for my mapping exercise. Flo was my willing buddy that day and I was able to successfully map the Swimthrough section of the site, as well as witness one of the biggest octopuses I have seen here.

On Wednesday I took my Divemaster exams and thankfully I passed the first section with flying colours and scraped a pass on the second section by the skin of my teeth – but a pass is still a pass!
Thanks to a cheeky bet Flo made with me, he will be paying for meals for us at Flashpoint this Friday after I beat his overall score in the exam.
This year’s Halloween was my first experience of the day abroad and it did not disappoint. This year the theme was vampires and it was great to see everyone (including Nick and Linda) putting effort into their outfits. We started off with a fabulous meal at Buon Italia, then went to The Bar where I blew everyone away with my karaoke skills (slight exaggeration there I might add) Ebb and her visiting sister Lexi got wasted at Taj’s and I got my first taste of Taboo’s nightclub, albeit only for about an hour before everyone deserted me there.
The other diving day of the week involved us taking Lexi out on a dive and we also brought Flo’s other friend Pieter along for a Discover Scuba Diving expedition. I met Hermit for the first time and took him to the swimthrough and to Alien Rock where we saw a school of about 50 barracuda, a huge moray eel and two big cuttlefish near our anchor line.

Kiran

Helping with new divers

Date: January 3, 2015 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Divemaster internship Europe Diver 3

This week started off with me in the pool watching Lee the instructor, whilst he was teaching two new Open Water students, Anglo-Hungarians named Lily and Daniel.
It was my first experience of watching real students as a Divemaster intern and I learned a lot about positioning, my role as an assistant and how to deal with problems both in the pool and in open water from Lee and from watching the students.
Tuesday saw me go out to Yellow Mountain for the first time with the two students on their first two open water dives. Aside from a few equalising and buoyancy issues, I think both of them did very well.
Wednesday saw me dive Alien Rock and the Swimthrough of Yellow Mountain and I have to say I really like the swim through dive, especially looking inside and seeing all the colourful coral inside.
Thursday was an office day that mostly consisted of me and Dudley painstakingly cleaning the floor thoroughly, but on the plus side I did manage to get my 400m swim down to 9:00 minutes!
Friday saw me do three dives, one at Poco (no rays this time but big barracuda and triggerfish were there as usual), Pequeño Valley. Both of which were led by Flo and on both occasions they were lead well. The third dive was at El Puertito and I had the privilege of getting close to the turtles for the second time, but this time with all three of them!
Saturday saw all of us, including Flo’s friends, go on a 4.5 hour whale spotting catamaran at a 55% discount, where we came close to a pod of about 20 pilot whales and a pod of bottlenose dolphins, topped with unlimited drinks and free food. Safe to say fun was had by all involved.
Finally, Sunday saw the arrival of two of my friends from University called Jen and Matt who were coincidentally on holiday here.
We took them along with Kevin and Geoffrey to the Steps first and then to the Yellow Mountain swim through but on the second dive I lead for the first time. Thankfully, all went swimmingly and my friends had a great time diving with us.

How did I make it to the halfway point of my internship? Where has all the time gone?!

Kiran

Week 1 of my Divemaster internship

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
EFR Teneife Dive internship

Hi, my name is Starfish. I am an Emergency First Responder, may I help you?”
Oh yea! I am officially qualified to give CPR during emergency situations, not that I’m going to run up to random strangers demanding whether they want to receive rescue breaths and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
This week passed by in a blur where days were melded with each other with accomplishments, new challenges and a favorite dive.
I helped with my first DSD participant, 11 year old Julien from France. Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) is basically a beginner diving course where one learns the basics and able to dive with instructor present. And it is interesting that although we had a language barrier (me in English and him in French), we communicated successfully using the universal diving sign language.
At the start of the open water dive, he had trouble with buoyancy and had to hold my hand to keep him in vertical position to fin around the reef. By the end of the day, he had the confidence to control his own buoyancy.

I am also half way through my Rescue Diver course, with two more tasks to complete and I can focus on my Divemaster course.
On the other hand, my hardest challenge yet is my physical fitness for the Divemaster course.
My usual exercise was constantly using my mouth and finger muscles, yapping away all day or typing continuously on my computer.
Now, everything will have to change. I have to work out more often and swim everyday, on top of the everyday hard-work.
So, my goal for the up-coming 6 weeks is simply to lower my timings for the stamina components. My timings so far:
400m swim- 14mins 01seconds
800m snorkel- 21mins 45seconds
100m tow- 4 mins

To wrap up the week, I managed to dive with Green Turtles!!! Not one, but THREE! I was so excited! I have seen turtles in my previous dives in Malaysia before, but they were usually disappearing in the endless blue. This time at Alcala, where the water was beautifully calm and crystal clear visibility after days of rough currents, the turtles came up close and personal with the interns, instructors and two DSD customers.
One was twice the size of a XL shirt. Such majestic and beautiful creatures. This marks my favorite dive in Tenerife so far.

We almost got to the Marine Reserve

Date: December 28, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Divemaster internship Cleaner Shrimp

I’ve now finished my second week in Tenerife as a Divemaster intern and this week has definitely not felt as full-on and as hectic as my first week, possibly because now I am more settled and getting more accustomed to the early starts. My lack of a working underwater camera is still an annoyance but hopefully that should get sorted at some point this coming week.
Diving-wise I had the pleasure of coming very close to two of our giant stingrays at Poco Naufragio, seen lots of cute and surprisingly docile cuttlefish and octopus, my first moray eels of the trip, discovered two new dives sites (although one was much nicer than the other, but I’ll get to that in a minute) and had my first experiences of El Porís and Las Eras.
I would have dived Yellow Mountain this week had it not been for some videography championship having exclusive rights to the marine reserve, but I expect I will get to dive that site this week (fingers crossed).
Instead we dived a new dive site ( well new to me as I have only been here a week! ) known as “Steps” due to its multilevel topography.
We decided to try to find a new dive site. It’s always good to have new places to go, so even though there are more than 70 dive sites the team go to, it doesn’t hurt to have more!.
Our attempt to dive a new site on the other side of El Porís, which just turned out to be a largely sandy-bottomed, urchin covered rubbish dump. Somehow I don’t think we’ll be diving there again!
I have also improved my times for the 800 and 400m swims which I am very pleased about.
More from me next week.

Kiran

Diving, Snorkelling and Sting Rays

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Night Diving on internship

I wanted to do my Divemaster internship because I’m a marine biology graduate struggling to find paid work in this economic climate and I thought getting a Divemaster qualification would not only be good for my job prospects but also be a worthwhile experience for me as a person who has been diving since they were 12.

I arrived two weeks earlier than the Divemaster interns would normally have started, and no sooner had I introduced myself I was doing skills in the pool, doing two shore dives and swimming 800m in a marina all on my first day.
The rest of the week has seen me meet one of our resident stingrays called “Stumpy”, come very close to two extremely friendly green turtles, conduct my first night dive in Tenerife and dive a fabulous wreck.

It has certainly been more full-on than I was anticipating, but that is not a bad thing at all! The only negatives that have really happened have been the Jumpy running out of gas on the motorway and my camera dying – let’s see what my insurance can sort out there.

Outside of diving I have enjoyed two meals out with the group, including an amazing curry at Taj’s with free sheesha and shots at the end, lovely home-cooked meals from Flo and Phil and cocktails on Friday night.

I have loved meeting all the current interns and all the staff at the dive shop also. Here’s hoping the next 7 weeks are just as exciting.

Kiran

Open Water Diver, Rescue Diver and Divemaster Courses

Date: September 7, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Tenerife-Diving-PADI-Rescue-Course-Exercises

Paul is back !! Paul is spending 2 weeks here with us doing his PADI Rescue course and some dives.
This week has also been one of the busiest i have ever had.
On monday we dived Poco naufragio and peqeño valle, and in the afternoon i did the PADI Rescue confined sessions with Paul and Seahorse, one of my favorite courses to do, and always a lot of fun.
The week continued with a PADI Advanced course with a wonderfull couple of students, Ellen and Trystan.
While continuing the PADI advanced course I started a PADI Open water diver course with Maik, a possible intern.
We flew through the week with a night dive at tabaiba to continue the advanced, then the open water dives and the last advanced dive at yellow mountain. And finally we finished the week on friday with 2 of Casandra’s friends doing Discover Scuba Diving experinces , and also finishing my open water students dives.
I spent my saturday sleeping to recover from the week, but i hope i have another week like this one, full of lovely people and great experiences.

Starfish almost a PADI Divemaster

Date: September 1, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Tenerife-Diving-Abades-

This week was for Starfish, we spent most of the week finishing every skill and dive Starfish had to do to become a PADI Divemaster. We finished the stamina, did the deep assesment, completed the book and exams, and got her to lead and brief some dives.
This was also Paul and Casper’s last week diving with us, it has been a lot of fun diving with them, listening to all the story’s and experience’s they have had.
Unfortunately the weather took a bad turn near the end of the week because of the aftermath of a hurricane across the Atlantic.
Although rough, it was a fantastic experience diving in different conditions than the usual and gave us all an insight into a different type of diving.
Im lookin forward to next week when Paul arrives and Starfish finally get’s her 60 dives. It is going to be a good couple of weeks.

Boat Diving Tenerife

Date: August 25, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
dive-and-sea-tenerife boat diving

This week was the start of our new Divemaster intern, Seahorse, and also marks the halfway point of Starfish’s internship.
We had some very interesting diving this week, going to Abades and Alcala and also preparing the boat for it’s entry into the ocean.
We also started Seahorse’s PADI Advanced Open Water course doing Fish ID, and then Deep and Drift on sunday.
We spent most of the time diving with a father and son from Holland, two really good divers, which made our week really interesting, hearing about all of their diving experiences.
The end of the week marked the beginning of the boat being back in the water, and we did two dives on it on Sunday. It was fantastic being back on the boat and revisiting all the dive site’s I missed so much.
I can’t wait to get back on it and do some more diving all along the coast.
The other days of the week went as usual, we did some theory, I did some maintenance of all the kit that needed looking at, and I did some admin stuff.
I only have a few weeks now until the Instructor Development Course (IDC) and time is simply flying by, but i’m looking forward to these last few weeks, with the boat in the water, and the sun shinning in Tenerife.

PADI Bubblemaker galore Childrens Scuba Diving Fun in Tenerife

Date: August 18, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Tenerife-Diving-Discover-Scuba-Diving-4

This week was very busy and quite fun, we had a lot of PADI Bubblemaker courses on Monday we were joined by William and Daisy then at the end of the week we had Liam, Katie and Harry they all did amazingly well and hopefully they will all be back to compete their PADI Open Water courses as soon as they are old enough. It is so fun watching the kids enjoy themselves and everyone laughing and having a really great time. Anyone over th age of 8 can dive into the pool with scuba gear and start to learn the basics in a fun and safe manner.

This week has also been a great week for PADI Discover Scuba Diving experinces ( DSD’s ), we have had some really nice customers coming in, and also talking about doing an Open water course soon. Cassandra an Intern from last summer arrived back with her brother Joe who headed out to complete his PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience, and was really happy to get to dive with his sister.

The end of this week also marks the end of Ollie’s Divemaser internship, it is sad that she is leaving, but the end of this week also marks the beginning of another internship for Sseahorse, I am looking forward to starting her PADI Advanced open water course as well as continuing the great progress that starfish is making.

As each week passes I realize how much I am going to miss the dive sites, and all the wonderful people I get to meet, I hope the recent customers feel the same way and will come back soon to dive with us, and for those who are looking to dive, come and see us in Tenerife, it would make our day!

Sayonara Fellow Divers :-( Goodbye Tenerife

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving Tenerife - A beautiful island

The last week of my internship. I can’t believe its already been 8 weeks! These weeks have brought me so much joy! I met people I will never forget, I’ve been laughing so hard with tears in my eyes and had amazing experiences underwater. I’m going to visit the deep corner for a bit and share one of my favorite quotes:

“Sometimes we are lucky enough to know that our lives have been changed, to discard the old, embrace the new, and run headlong down an immutable course. It happened to me … on that summer’s day, when my eyes were opened to the sea.”

— Jacques Yves Cousteau

My first dive with Dive and Sea Tenerife was at Abades 1st reef, and on Sunday I finished off with style in just the same place! Abades is one of the better exploration dive sites in Tenerife, it is endless what the reef can share if you look really close!

I’m going to miss everybody and I am very thankful for the opportunity. Randall did a good job bringing me from PADI Advanced diver to Divemaster! And I learned so much from Flounder and I am very impressed by his endless patience teaching me the mask clearing skill! And the other interns, Steve and Alan, THE Americans! We had so much fun! And sweet Starfish, I will see you in Singapore! I’m ready for the Tempura Shrimps!

I’m going to miss all of my nicknames, Ollie, Thor and Olivos. Going back to Karoline is going to be a bit boring.

Ciao, Adios, Hadebra and Byebye!

Diving Tenerife - A beautiful island

Time to speak French in Tenerife

Date: August 11, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Discover-Scuba-Diving-Tenerife

This week was a very interesting one, I started the week off with some confined pool sessions for my new PADI Open Water student, Mike, the sessions went really well and he looked very enthusiastic.
The next day was open water at Abades, the sea state could have been better but it was good enough to go in, so we set of in to the water.
This week I also got to brush up on my French because I had 3 Belgium DSD’s ( Discover Scuba Diving) in the pool in the morning and then we went to do 2 fantastic dives at Abades.
This week was also Ollie’s final week as a PADI Rescue diver. We did her skill circuit which went really well, and we also did the kit exchange, and then the deep assesment to top it off.
I am so proud and happy for Ollie, she has become an amazing PADI Divemaster through out the weeks and we will all miss her.
It has been a fantastic week, and I am now starting to realise how little time have left here in Tenerife.

Finally a PADI Divemaster :-)

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving Tenerife - San Miguel

I’ve been waiting for this moment since the start of my internship, I’m finally a DIVEMASTER! The feeling I had when we finished off the last assessment was so incredible! A lot of hard work has finally paid off. The path to Instructor suddenly doesn’t feel that long!

We started off the week doing Starfish’s Rescue Diver. I had so much fun being the tired, panicked and unresponsive diver. Starfish really got the feeling of being in a serious situation when I grabbed her mask and tried to climb her as a panicked diver. The same day I finished off my Search and Recovery and Rescue Assessment. It feels very good every time I tick off something from the “will I soon be a Divemaster”-list.

Tuesday we headed off to Alcalà, which is one of my favorite dive sites here in Tenerife. We always see turtles here. Not only one or two, but three! They are so friendly and curious. We had 3 certified divers with us Lynn, Paul and Nick so we all enjoyed our recreational dives looking at beautiful rock formations, fish and turtles!

The next day we were ready to drive off to Abades. Starfish and I were going to map Abades to draw an understandable map with bearings, depths and kick cycles. We were really happy about the result and in the end of our dive we saw a HUGE octopus out in the open chilling at the reef. I was ecstatic!

Thursday we started the day in the pool with DSD’s. Two kids, and their dad from France. This was the first time I heard Randall bringing his entire dive lingo out in French! Even if I didn’t get a single word he was saying I enjoyed both the confines and the Open Water Experience. As Randall and myself were going with the DSD’s and the mom, which is certified, Flounder went off with Lynn and Paul for the last dive here with us in Tenerife this time. When we came back I did my Divemaster exam… and damdamdaaa… I passed!

Friday, THE day! First we went straight down to the pool to tick off the last skills I needed to do in the pool. While I was swimming my 400m, Flounder and Starfish practiced skills! The next step was to bundle up the kit, go down to the Marina (other side, open water) we decided to go a little crazy and do my Deep Assessment in a very wavy condition. Randall, Flounder and I had a proper workout swimming out and descended next to the Marina Wall. It was a lot of surge, so we swam hard for 10 minutes before we hit the 18m depth mark. Did one necessary skill and headed back, then with the current. Felt very good when our legs were all like jelly. So I finished off my Divemaster almost rolling up on the beach in the waves!

The last day of the week we had two DSD’s Ting and Rory from England. We had a nice pool session before we headed off to Alcalà to see my favourite turtles once again!

Next week is my last, eight week. And my very good friend Malin is going to join us to do her PADI Open Water course. It’s going to be an awesome week!

Diving Tenerife - San Miguel

Another fabulous new Divemaster intern Starfish joins our team

Date: August 4, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving Tenerife Divemaster

This week was a week full of excitement, it was our new Divemaster intern “Starfish” first week here, and I had 3 new PADI Open water students to teach, the week went by really quickly.

We went off to Abades with Esther, Stephen and Jacob for their first ever dives on their PADI Open water diver course, they all had a great time and were excited to head off to finish their course the next day at Radazul. So excited were they that they booked to complete a couple of fun dives too.

Then I had fun as Katie and Ian were back with Katies friend Heather for her PADI Discover Scuba Diving experince (DSD). Heather did excellently and we hope that she will get to complete more dives in the future. It was a really good week filled with nice people and fantastic dives.
Although I still have over a month left, I can’t help but think my time here is almost up. Time has been flying by, mixing all the days and weeks together. But still every day there is something new to enjoy, a new student, and new intern, or maybe even a new dive site.
Im looking forward to my last couple of months here in Tenerife with Dive and Sea.

I am so close only a few more items to complete and I will be a Divemaster!!!

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Divemaster-PADI-Dive-And-Sea

This week has been a bit different with mostly administrative work and finally completing my PADI Divemaster Manual now studying  towards my Divemaster exams.

We started off the week in the pool to go through the 24 skills you need to learn to complete your Divemaster. It’s so much fun to see how much my skills have improved since we started.  Now I just have to look forward to the Divemaster marked Skill session.

Stamina exercises has been a task this week as well. I finished off my 100 Meter tow and 800 meter snorkel at both 4 points out of 5! I Couldn’t be happier!

We had two beautiful dives at Abades with Katie, Ian and Heather . The visibility, air consumption and weather was impeccable! Before we headed off for Abades we tried El Puertito and Alcalà, but both places had bad conditions. Better safe then sorry!

Two more weeks to go, and my Divemaster certification is breathing me in the neck!

Diving-Tenerife-Divemaster-PADI-Dive-And-Sea

Tenerife has Sea Snakes!

Date: July 28, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Sea Snake Tenerife

This week was probably the best week I have had here as a PADI instructor and maybe as a diver, full of new things, and wonderful customers.
On monday we had the pleasure of diving with Ian and Katie, two lovely people doing their PADI Advanced course, we had a great time diving.
Also we got to do Lewis’s final advanced dive and Alan and Steve’s final dive here, it was a fantastic dive, and I am very happy both Lewis and Alan and Steve got to finish on a high.
The rest of the week just kept on giving, we started two PADI Open Water referral’s, and it was good watching them getting better and better on every dive.
As for what I saw, I found a SEA SNAKE, my first one, which was truly awesome, and some groups of bigger fish that I have yet to name or identify.
All in all a great week, and I hope the day’s flow as quickly and smoothly as these one’s have.

Tenerife….. I want to stay forever

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving Tenerife Dive Sites

Another busy week here at Dive and Sea Tenerife. This has been a very “real” Divemaster week for me. I’ve been a part of every dive and I have been assisting, briefing, leading and helping out where it was needed. And I love it! First time leading all by myself was a bit frightening, but I powered through and learned so much from it!

We have been exploring two new dive sites, to me,  this week. First we went to Playa San Juan and then El Poris, I was leading both and it’s amazing how focused you can get when you just need to trust your compass and visual references to get back to the exit point.

Last Sunday we had an amazing night dive at Radazul! I love night dives, their so exciting and mysterious. And it was Lewis’s first night dive as well, and he did very good! Monday we headed off to Abades to dive with the vibrant fish life. The visibility was PERFECT and we got great pictures of the second reef. Next day it was time for mapping Tabaiba for my Divemaster. So much to think of when mapping, but Tabaiba is always fun whatever you do!

Alan and Steve is back in America and we really miss our awesome Americans. So at right now and until Monday it’s only me as an Intern.

I simply love life here and want to stay forever…

Diving Tenerife Dive Sites

PADI Instructor… Why do anything else?

Date: July 21, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife- PADI-Discover-Scuba-Diving-2

This week was good fun and a learning experience for me with Lewis,for his PADI Advanced Open Water Course.

Lewis did really well with his PADI Advanced course as well as throwing in some more recreational dives into the mix, he loved his night dive at Radazul and couldnt wait to carry on for more dives.
So well done Lewis in his holiday here in Tenerife he started with his Discover Scuba Diving Experience, then his Open Water and now he is a PADI Advanced open Water diver!! with 19 dives!!
Also at the end of the week we were joined by Ian and Katie for their PADI Advanced Open Water course, they had compelted their PADI Discover Scuba Diving with Dive and Sea Tenerife two years ago and after completing their PADI Open Water in the cold scottish waters decided to come back to Tenerfe for their Advanced course. They both did excellently on the course, and next week they are heading back to do some fun dives and a DSD (PADI Discover Scuba Diving) for Katies friend.

PADI Open Water and Advanced Courses……..

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Turtles-1 (12)

This week has been hot and sunny in Tenerife! Lewis decided to continue his diving education and we went to Alcalà to do his Navigation and Peak Performance Buoyancy. As always he did a good job and we enjoyed looking at the two turtles that lives there. Both very curious! Alcalà is such a good dive site with deep water entry and cool rock formations with vibrant aquatic life!

Thursday we were supposed to go for a night dive at Tabaiba, but after a couple of Lewis’s Advanced Dives we realized that it was too much of a surge to dive. We drove over to Abades to see if the conditions were better, but unfortunately to choppy waters there as well. Either way it was a fun road trip, singing in the car and Alan and I had a dance session in the car park.

Friday we had a PADI Open Water student. Flounder and I went to the pool with them, and as Randall and Mick did the confines we practiced skills. I’m so glad my skills are improving! And in all the seriousness, it is so much fun! Kit set up and speeches before skills are so hard, it’s like learning a new language. Submersible-pressure-gauge-low-pressure-inflator-hose, tongue-rolling words right there!

After work we went to the Americans flat to make tacos and played beer pong! That game is so much fun, and the first run I had beginners luck out of another world! Alan and Steve are leaving us on Tuesday. It’s going to be sad to see them go, and hopefully I will visit them in America at some point!

Diving-Tenerife-Turtles-1 (12)

Divemaster Internship in Tenerife? 100% yes

Date: July 20, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Divemaster-internship-tenerife-interns

My eighth and final week in Tenerife has been full of bittersweet feelings.
On one hand I cannot wait to head back home, but on the other hand I am going to miss the people, places, and especially the diving!
We had the chance to deep dive Tabaiba for the last time. We had planned to dive at night at Tabaiba to complete one of our favorite customers, Lewis, PADI advanced open water course. Unfortunately the current at the dive sight was too strong so we had to cancel the night dive.

Outside of the dive shop, we had time this weekend to soak up the sun at one of our favorite beaches in El Medano. When we arrived at the beach, the water was completely filled with kite surfers and large waves. It was so much fun trying to body surf in the waves while avoiding being run over by all the surfers. After the beach session we walked to Flashpoint where we devoured the best cheeseburgers we have found on the island.

It is a sad feeling having to pack up all my dive equipment. I know when I get home I will have a few more months of diving, but the water there does not compare to the water we have been spoiled to dive in for the past two months.

The time has flown by, every dive and every person I have met here will leave a lasting memory. I would recommend this internship to any water lover who wishes to enjoy eight weeks of fun, sun, and excellent diving!

Scuba Diving – Learning a new language!

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Aquatic-Life-Sharks-Sting-Rays-Fish (83)

This week has been hot and sunny! Lewis decided to continue his diving education and we went to Alcalà to do his Navigation and Peak Performance Buoyancy. As always he did a good job and we enjoyed looking at the two turtles that lives there. Both very curious! Alcalà is such a good dive site with deep water entry and cool rock formations with vibrant aquatic life!

Thursday we were supposed to go for a night dive at Tabaiba, but after a couple of Lewis’s Advanced Dives we realized that it was too much of a surge to dive. We drove over to Abades to see if the conditions were better, but unfortunately to chappy waters there as well. Either way it was a fun road trip, singing in the car and Alan and I had a dance session in the car park.

Friday we had a PADI Open Water student. Flounder and I went to the pool with them, and as Randall and Mick did the confines we practiced skills. I’m so glad my skills are improving! And in all the seriousness, it is so much fun! Kit set up and speeches before skills are so hard, it’s like learning a new language. Submersible-pressure-gauge-low-pressure-inflator-hose, tongue-rolling words right there!

After work we went to the Americans flat to make tacos and played beer pong! That game is so much fun, and the first run I had beginners luck out of another world! Alan and Steve are leaving us on Tuesday. It’s going to be sad to see them go, and hopefully I will visit them in America at some point!

 

Diving-Tenerife-Aquatic-Life-Sharks-Sting-Rays-Fish (94)

Time to leave Tenerife :(

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
diving-tenerife-El-Condesito-Wreck-13

And so my final week here at Dive and Sea Tenerife has come to an end :(. I have learned so much and my diving has gone from amateur to professional. The people that I’ve met and the places that I’ve been I will always keep with me for the rest of my life. Im definitely going to miss Tenerife!

Alright so anyway my last week here has been pretty fun got to do my last dives a tabaiba which made me very happy! The first dives where with Richie who was a PADI divemaster back in the mid 90′s, his bouyancy was awesome. We then went to back to tabaiba to do Lewis’s deep, wreck, and night dives for his advanced course. Unfortunately though we had to cancel the night dive due to a current and bad vis, but its always better to be safe than sorry.

Overall this internship has been amazing. The people that I’ve met here I plan on staying in contact forever, we’ve had so many good memories. And hopefully we can go on dive trips together in the future.

Ill miss el medano beach and the burgers at flashpoint. Ill miss the night life at las americas and of course I will miss all of the diving here. Even though its the end of my internship in Tenerife, it is only the beginning of my journey with scuba diving. I’ll miss you all……………. Alan out!

 

Diving Tenerife - Dive Sites

Have you checked out our Special Offers for July yet?

Date: July 18, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Special Offers for July 2014

We have got some fantastic special offers for you in July 2014!

Want to know what’s down deep?
The PADI Deep Diver Speciality will show you how to do it safely and also have some fun for only 225€

Already an Open Water diver?
The PADI Advanced course will open up new possibilities for you.
PADI Advanced Open Water Course 250€

Do you just want to go diving? We have it covered. 4 dives for only 120 euro.

These offers are available throughout June and can also be booked in June and taken at a later date.

Contact us for more details 

PADI Divemaster— Yes Me a Divemaster

Date: July 14, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Divemaster-internship-tenerife

I can officially check off all the requirements needed to become a PADI certified Divemaster!
I had the pleasure to complete my 60th dive at one of my favorite sites, Abades, where we took our young PADI open water student Lewis. I have to say, it was a rewarding feeling to see Lewis complete his open water course, because just two weeks prior we were taking him on his first ever dive as a Discover Scuba Diving participant.
It was a very gratifying moment to see a customer start with no idea what to expect when it comes to recreational diving, and then to watch them transform and fall in love with the sport.
This week also concluded the FIFA World Cup Finals. Being one of the few Americans to enjoy watching the event back home, it was really neat to witness the event abroad. After work, all the interns met up at a bar in the local town of San Blas to watch the showdown. The atmosphere was unlike any I have experienced previously when it comes to watching football. The only disappointment was watching Argentina lose.
It’s a bittersweet time for me right now to only have one week left for my internship. I know I will be happy when I am back home, but at the same time it is hard not to miss such a beautiful place and all the great people I will have to leave behind. So for now, I plan to make the most out of these last days and bring home some awesome memories of working here in Tenerife with Dive and Sea Tenerife!

My best Turtle impression ever!

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Moray-Eels-Fangtooth-Dive-And-Sea-Divemaster

This week has been so exciting! It started off with Lewis who took his PADI Open Water Course with us and he did so well!

So much fun to see how he just mastered the skills and got so comfortable in the water!

Also, I got my first taste of the life of being a PADI Divemaster! A couple from England did a DSD with us and I helped through the whole process! I learned so much that day!

Friday, it was time for Lewis’s Open Water dives 4-5 and we went to Montaña Amarilla (Yellow Mountain) it is a great dive site with really cool rock formations! Can’t wait to go back and explore even more.

And little did I know what Sunday was going to be like… Stamina day! I never minded lifting weights, but hardcore stamina it’s just very tiring! We started off the day skills in the pool. It’s just hilarious how I look whilst doing the Hover! Like a turtle on its back!

Hopefully I will manage to turn over at some point! Haha! So now I’ve just started my 4th week and I’m getting better at my skills and swimming! One happy diver! Ciao!

Ollie

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DSD’s, Dive Sites and Divemasters

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-PADI-Discover-Scuba-Diving

This week was fantastic.
On Monday we had two dsd’s at EL Puertito and they where really good, so monday was a good start to the week.
On Tuesday I did Lewis’s PADI Open water 1 and 2, he was very good in the water which made my day so much more enjoyable, the rest of the day we worked on the dvd and the book.
The next day we took two advanced divers to El puertito, one of them wanted to do the internship, it looked like she had fun so it looks like she will be doing 8 weeks of diving with us.
Thursday we took 3 DSD’s (Discover Scuba Diving) out to Abades, they all had their pro’s and con’s but a lot of fun to dive with, I hope they come back to do a course.
Friday was Lewis’s final day we went to Yellow mountain, a dive site I hadn’t done in a long time. Lewis really enjoyed it and so did I, I was very impressed by his skill’s and I have no doubt that he will be continue his diving education.
Saturday was my day off, I unfortunately did nothing, just moped around my apartment and complex for a while.
Sunday we did a pool session with Flounder and Ollie and then went down to the marina for stamina and rescue exercises, it was a very nice week, and I hope I have a lot more like it here in Tenerife.

Turtles, Tenerife and Tears….. almost

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Turtles-1

7 Weeks in Tenerife and t-minus 7 days until the end of my diving internship :-(.
I can’t believe that I am almost done, I’ve done so much in these past 7 weeks but it seems like such a short time. But on the positive side I Alan am now officially, well at least on paper, a PADI Divemaster!!! Oh snap!!

Its a pretty good feeling if I have to say so myself. So besides Steve and I becoming Divemasters, this week was pretty interesting. I got to dive with Lewis on his first and second open water dives on Tuesday, he is a natural underwater.
We then went to El Puertito with two sisters from Singapore, to see the turtles. At the end of the second dive, which I was leading, one of the sisters had trouble equalizing and I had to help her swim back to shore. In that moment I truly felt like an actual Divemaster.
On Friday we took Lewis to Yellow Mountain to complete his open waters four and five, which he did great on. He then passed his exam, and we welcomed him to the ranks as a certified diver!

Overall a great week! Now on to my last and final week at Dive and Sea Tenerife. I miss my home and my family, but I feel like I’ve made a home and a family here. Alright no more sentimental talk right now, I’ll leave that for my last blog. On to week number 8!

 

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Diing with Turtles in Tenerife? We have it covered

Date: July 7, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
turtle-tenerife-diving tenerife

I like to think of this week as the week of the turtles! I had the privilege to go on three turtle dive trips, two to the infamous El Puertitio (a.k.a. El Puerturtleo) site, and one at another site called Alcala.
The dive site at Alcala was a very fun trip because none of us had ever dived there before. After getting lost on our road trip, we finally found our destination tucked into one of the nicest little towns I have seen on Tenerife. After first walking the beach of the new site and starting to build a reasonable dive plan for the site, we happened to come across a few divers just about to enter the water. We asked them a few quick questions about the schematics and were more than happy to find out that there lived a few large green sea turtles in the area! We enthusiastically got kitted up and made our way to a pier toward the end of the beach and entered the new site using a deep water entry technique. Using our knowledge of underwater navigation we took a tour of the entire dive site by circling its entire circumference. And right when we were headed back to shore we saw the biggest green sea turtle I have yet to see on the island!
Unlike at El Puertito, this turtle was not very curious about us divers, but he didn’t seem to mind when we followed him around a few rocks as he grazed on some algae. Even though this story seems to be the highlight of my week, there was still something better that topped it.
The next day at the El Puertito site we entered the water around 9 am, and just five minutes down we happened to cross paths with the biggest and most mature green sea turtle known to inhabit the area. As usual the turtle made his rounds, inspecting each diver carefully for any signs of a free breakfast. But after realizing we had no food to offer, the turtle uncharacteristically swam about us for what seemed like half an hour. We were very spoiled on this dive, the turtle was having fun swimming along with us, we found a good sized octopus hidden amongst the rocks, and I was fortunate enough to bring my Go Pro to capture most of the dive on video!
So if your looking to go diving with Turtles, Tenerife is the place!
I have to say that has been my best dive since being here, but I am still optimistic that with 2 weeks still to go I will have a chance for even more amazing dives!

Diving with the Turtles in Tenerife

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Aquatic-Life-Sharks-Sting-Rays-Fish (112)

Alright so Alan’s blog week number six at the wonderful dive shop, here on the beautiful island of Tenerife.

So this week diving wise has been the week of el puertito. We started off the week on monday diving with Patrick and James on their last dive with us, for now at least.

Randall did a great job leading the first dive, and then he gave me the task of leading the second! I feel so much more confident with it all, like the dive briefing and the underwater navigation.

Later on in the week we went back to el puertito with an open water diver who’s name was Fabio. He’s from Italy and only had a few dives under his belt but was still good. The first dive was the best dive that I’ve had at the site. We had a turtle follow us for a half hour and wouldn’t leave us alone, it was a great opportunity for pictures!

Friday we went to the boat. It was sad seeing it out of the water and with one of its sides deflated but we where able to clean the underside of it and get it just a little closer to going back into the water.

The rest of the week was full of administration work, which is good to get that kind of experience of the dive industry.
I ended the week with 57 dives and I need 60 to be a Divemaster!

Ahhh I’m soooo close!! I can’t wait to be a PADI professional, it has been a dream of mine for quite some time. Bring on week number 7!!

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Tenerife, Turtles and fun :)

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Turtles-divemaster

Finally, I feel like I know where everything is and the routines in the shop.

This week has been a bit different from the first one.
We had to say goodbye to Patrick and his son James. It was sad to see them go,

I’ve learned so much from Patrick! He is such a good instructor and a very nice guy. Hopefully I get to dive with him again one day!
We did a very exciting dive at Alcalà! We had never been exploring this particular dive site before, so we had heaps of fun looking at a nice reef and two turtles.
I tried to do my swim (400m) in the pool. But I think karma decided I was not going to do it that day.First the goggles didn’t work properly so my contacts fell out, and second my towel flew in the pool and got soaked!

Sunday we had a productive day! I was observing Randall and Flounder doing confined skills with Louis who is going to do his PADI Open Water certification with us. He did so well and it’s going to be a thrill being a part of his open water dives too!
After the pool session, Flounder and I did some skills I need to know for my PADI Divemaster. Finally I feel like my skills are improving!  

We finished off the week by learning knots from Randall in the sun. So nice to be able to work outside!
It’s all been a good week and I’m very excited for the next one to start!

Ollie

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Turtles in Tenerife? Just a few!

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
El-Puertito-Turtle-Divers

This week was probably one of the best i’ve had in a while, 2 days at El puertito and one day at another dive site at Alcala.
Let’s start with El Puertito, we went out for two dives with an Italian man named Fabio, the first dive was without a doubt on my top 5 dives i’ve ever done, within five minutes we were ambushed by a turtle, not even 2 minutes after that we found an octopus, my favourite thing ever, the turtle was centimetres away from me but all my focus was on the octopus, I could of stayed there for hours watching it, but we moved on to quickly find a second turtle, the daddy of the family, papa turtle stayed with us for the whole dive, I was so happy.
The second dive was also fantastic, I took my torch and I was looking under every rock and ledge and found some sea hares, some brittle stars, which are kind of like starfish on redbull. It was a great day and Fabio enjoyed it as much as us.
We also went to a little town called Alcala, about 15 minutes after El puertito, and a beautiful place. We soon found out that some turtles live there, so we set of to try and find them. After looking around for about 15 minutes we still couldn’t find any, my hopes were wearing thin. But on the far side of the bay, we came across a huge green turtle, way bigger than any I have ever seen, I would of screamed with joy if not underwater. We stayed with the marine giant for about ten minutes watching it feed and move around so gracefully, and then we left.
We want to go back there to explore some more and find all the other wonders hiding under the ocean.
The rest of the week went as usual, cleaning kit, maintenance, admin, etc
On sunday, my first PADI Open water student came in to do his confined dives, I was very exited and a little stressed, but once in the water I remembered everything I was taught and it went really smoothly from then on.
Im looking forward to doing his open water dives, and to anyone out there who would also like to explore the magical place we spend most of our day’s, come to Tenerife,, it’s worth it.

Final stretch to PADI Divemaster

Date: June 30, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
diving-tenerife-Tabaiba-Wreck diving

On my final stretch until Divemaster status! With only 8 more dives to go,
I have completed all the other water skills and prerequisites. One of the last requirements I had to complete was a mapping activity where Alan and I were able to reconstruct the two reefs at the Abades dive site.
Each of us took turns taking underwater bearings using our compasses and depth readings off our dive computer while the other calculated distances using kick cycles. It was amazing how accurate of a map we created after only two map dives at the Abades reef.
Other exciting news this week included two birthdays. Outside of the dive shop we celebrated by having a fun night out at El Medano.
I also had another opportunity this week to descend on the Tabaiba shipwreck the same as last week, descending straight down to the deepest depths of about 28 meters. This time was better however because the visibility had improved and we had an extended bottom time to explore the wreck.
Another sad ending to the week was saying our goodbyes to instructor Patrick. Alan and I were both very lucky to have such an able and fun instructor and its obvious how improved my underwater skills have become under his instruction.
Although I am now more than halfway through my internship, I am still excited to finish with as much fun and intensity as I started this internship!

Dolphins 6 millions years older than thought!!

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving Tenerife - Dolphins

Dolphins swam the oceans six MILLION years earlier than originally thought, ancient skull reveals

  • Studies of a skull fragment have revealed it to be from an ancient dolphin
  • Research was led by Mizuki Murakami of the Waseda University in Japan
  • The fossil was first found in 1970 but its origin has only just been revealed
  • It belonged to a species of dolphin that existed up to 13 million years ago
  • The finding makes dolphins 6 million years older than previously thought
  • Names Eodelphis kabatensis the species is an important evolutionary link

 
Dolphins may have been swimming the Earth’s oceans for six million years longer than previously thought, suggests a new study.
They are the most diverse family of living marine mammals and include species such as the Bottlenose dolphin and the killer whale.
However, their early evolution and fossil record has been steeped in mystery due to lack of good specimens.
Now a new study, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, has re-described the oldest species of dolphin with a new name: Eodelphis kabatensis.
Although the partial skull was previously described in the 1970s, researchers behind the new paper say the scientific community largely overlooked it.
And the new re-description has important implications for the evolutionary history of dolphins.

 

Goodbye old friend , Welcome to Tenerife

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Sunset in Tenerife

Well I am definitely excited to say that at the start of my 5th week, here at Dive and Sea Tenerife, I passed my Divemaster exam!!! Whoooo!!!

Now all I have to do is get my dive count up and I’ll be a Divemaster.

So this week was a week filled with diving. We started off with two great dives at Tabaiba doing Patrick’s son James’s advanced open water dives. And then throughout the middle of the week we did four dives at Abades, and then ending a another two dives in Tabaiba.

Also this week we welcomed a new intern, Ollie. She’s from Norway and speaks English very well and fits in perfectly with the rest of the team.

But as we gain one intern we lose another. This was Buzz’s last week at the dive shop and I was so sad to see him go, he became a very good friend and I look forward to diving with him in the future.

Well now its on to my sixth week here and my last week as a rescue diver!

Sunset in Tenerife

First week in Tenerife……. its sunny :)

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Divers_PADI

I can’t believe my first week at Dive and Sea Tenerife is already over!
I’ve started the week with getting settled in. Learning where everything is and goes after a day of diving. I have like 6 new keys to figure out!

The Dive Center is in Golf del Sur and all I met so far is so caring and fun to be around! 
Tuesday I took my EFR course. Both weird and fun to do all the scenarios with Randall, who is one of the instructors.

The day after, we went for a couple of dives at Abades. Steve and Alan (Divemaster Interns as well) were leading the dive one by one and they did such a good job!

I am very excited to learn how to map a dive and lead it!
Thursday it was time for my Confined water skills in the Marina as a part of the PADI Rescue diver course.  Alan volunteered to be a tired, panicked and unresponsive diver.

So much fun! “Diver, diver! Can you hear me? Inflate your BCD! Drop your weights!”  I’m just saying, Hollywood next…
I felt so good having Saturday off. Went home after a late Friday night and had a good sleep before working on my tan at the beach in Los Cristianos. Bye, bye pale Norwegian skin!
7 more awesome weeks to come!

Ollie

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40 Dives already :)

Date: June 23, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Divemaster Stamina Tenerife

So glad to announce I have successfully reached the 40 dive mark here in Tenerife!
I was happy to dive this milestone at the turtle site at El Puertito, where we saw one of the large green turtles that lives there as soon as we descended!

After being forty dives in, I quickly went to work performing the majority of my stamina tests including the tired diver tow, the 15 minute float, and the dreaded 800 meter snorkel swim.
On top of that I was able to finish my Divemaster book and passed the Divemaster exam with a 97%.

To finish off the week I was happy to dive a new site, Yellow Mountain, and added a few more deep dives at both Radazul and Tabaiba.
When we were diving Radazul I was leading the group and we happened to swim across a massive sting ray. Then the next day at Tabaiba we tried a new descent method where we swam to the deep side of the wreck and descended to about 28 meters. This was one of my coolest descents to date because it was such a far drop so we could not see the bottom or the shipwreck, everything around us was just blue.

On a sadder note, we had to say our goodbyes to Buzz as he finished his internship this week. Plenty of more fun and diving to come, hopefully by the next blog I can officially be certified as a PADI Divemaster.

PADI Rescue Diver………. Almost a Divemaster!

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
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So I just finished the first half of my internship and I can’t believe everything that I’ve done so far!!

I went from an Open Water diver to a Rescue Diver, and went from 18 logged dives to 43. All of the diving I’ve done has made me such a better diver. I can feel myself moving from amateur to professional!

Tenerife is such an awesome Island to visit, there is just so much to do and see. We all know the diving is great, but with so many other things to do, there is just not enough hours in the day!

This week started off really great, we got a lot of time in the shop to get most of our Divemaster book done. We’ll be able to do our exam next week… whoo!

We had a fellow American, Paul, come and dive with us for a bunch of days. We got to dive Radazul, Abades, and Yellow Mountain, which is an absolutely brilliant dive site.

Paul is an awesome Advanced Open Water Diver and a pretty cool guy. Next week Patrick and Buzz are leaving and im gonna miss them like crazy, they both became very good friends to me.

Well if the rest of my internship will be as good as the first half (It will be impossible not to be) I’ll be very happy. I’ll see you guys next week. Cheers!!

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Time is moving so fast; but the diving experience is getting better and better!

Date: June 16, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
PADI Rescue Diver Tenerife

I cannot believe I have already enjoyed three weeks of my Divemaster internship!
I have become so comfortable with all the employees and the great weather; I only wish I could slow down time so I can enjoy this opportunity longer.

After attaining my PADI Advanced Open Water certification last week, the hard work has not let up and I am proud to now own the title of a PADI certified Rescue Diver!
All week I practiced my skills on how to safely and effectively rescue another diver in the water. It was great fun performing all the dive exercises in the Marina which entailed search and recovery, in-water rescue breaths, and my favourite, panicked diver scenarios.

Most of the rest of the week was spent enjoying the beautiful reef dive at Abades. This site has quickly become one of my favorite and most popular dive sites because of the magnificent variety of fish we always encounter.

It has been so rewarding to continually progress my PADI certification levels and next week I will be prepared to take the PADI Divemaster exam!

If all goes well, I can continue to accumulate my number of dives and sooner than I know it I will reach Divemaster status!

Tenerife, not just diving, but sight seeing

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
diving-tenerife-marina

Alright, so week three of my of my Divemaster internship has just come to an end and I’m already a PADI Rescue diver!

I am definitely excited about that and I can’t believe that I have come this far in such a short time.

Randall did an excellent job instructing Steve and myself on our confined rescue dive scenerio while patrick supervised. Buzz did an excellent job playing the role of an panicked diver even though he had a big grin on his face the entire time.

Later in the week we did a bunch of excellent diving at Abades and Las Eras taking Terry and Andy with us. Terry is a rescue diver who used to be an intern here, and we were taking Andy on his five adventure dives to become a PADI Advanced open water diver.

On Sunday we had a day off and Patrick drove Steve,  Buzz, Flounder, and myself up to the top Mount Teide to do some site seeing.

It is absolutely beautiful and humbling to see just how big that mountain really is. So over all it has been another amazing week in Tenerife with excellent diving and excellent people. Now its time to work on what I came here to do, become a Divemaster.

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PADI Wreck Diver Special offer ~ Times running out!

Date: June 14, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Special offer June Wreck

One of our fabulous special offers for June 2014 is the PADI Wreck Diver Specialty for only 200 euro!

The wreck diver specialty trains you to safely navigate and enter any of the 1,000s of wrecks around the world.

The course takes just 2 days,  4 dives, and there is no exam !

Book the course before the end of June and you can take the course when you are next in Tenerife.

Contact us now for details.

Special offer June Wreck

 

5 Tips to Remember if You’re Left Behind

Date: June 13, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
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Thankfully in Tenerife we dont have incidents relating to divers being left behind, however in some Countries, it has become a real problem!

So what do you do if left behind whilst diving? Check out the tips below.

1. Do a 360. If you come up and the boat is gone, turn a full circle, scanning the horizon for land, other boats or anything you could cling to. If safety is close, drop your weights to swim on the surface, but keep your mask and regulator/ snorkel intact.
2. Send up a signal. Every diver should have a surface- marker buoy, a signal mirror and an audible signal that connects to your low-pressure inflator. Use the mirror and audible alert if you see someone. A better solution is to carry a GPS beacon like the Nautilus Lifeline.

3. Conserve energy. If you have to swim for shore against the current, dont swim directly into it. Fighting a current is a fast way to burn energy. If you must swim against the flow, go diagonally or perpendicular.

4. Stay warm. Even with a wetsuit, extended time in the water can sap your body of heat. You can conserve body heat by hugging your knees to your chest.

5. Keep calm, but prepare to fight. Not only can thrashing lead to drowning, it also alerts sharks. Take deep breaths, and make intentional movements and decisions. If the sharks show up, be prepared to defend yourself by punching.

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Top 5 Reasons to Try A Scuba Group Trip

Date: June 11, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
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If you’ve never enjoyed the experience of a group scuba diving trip, now’s the time to sign up for one. Group trips offer many advantages and opportunities that you miss out on when traveling alone. Here are five reasons why you might want to sign up for a group trip:

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1. Enjoy activities and locations chosen by experienced travelers
When planning a scuba trip in unfamiliar territory, it’s difficult to know where the best dive spots and operators are located. If you go on a group trip, all of the locations, dive operators and activities are chosen by experienced, knowledgeable travelers so you can enjoy the best experience possible.

2. Save money
Traveling can be expensive, especially when you travel alone. Going on a group trip is cheaper than booking an individual flight, which means you can spend less money on the travel fees and more money on fun souvenirs and experiences.

3. Great photos and videos of the experience
If you go on a scuba trip with a group, there will be other travelers who will shoot photos and videos, which will make it easier to show others some of your memories from the trip.

4. Create long-lasting friendships
Just like the summer camp you went to as a kid, group trips allow you to meet new people and create long-lasting friendships. A group trip is one of the best ways to meet new people and find new dive buddies. We often hear about folks who live in different parts of the world and meet up once or twice a year just to go diving.

5. Network with other guests
You never know how the connections you make can affect your future. Networking with the right people can open up opportunities for you down the road, whether it’s in your personal or work life. By signing up for a group trip, you are not only making new friends, but you are also making new connections.

5 reasons why Nudibranchs aren’t boring

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving Tenerife - Nudibranch

For some reason, Nudibranchs – also known as sea slugs – are often associated with being boring. Maybe that’s due to their land counterparts, the slug, but more than likely it’s because divers just don’t know enough about these incredible creatures which can be seen in Tenerife.

Diving Tenerife - Nudibranch

Here are just five reasons why nudibranchs deserve extra appreciation:

1. There are over 3,000 species
Every new nudibranch you see on a dive will be a completely different experience. That’s because there are over 3,000 species of nudibranchs and there are still more being discovered today. Nudibranchs can be seen in a wide variety of colours, shapes and sizes, and are found in both cold and warm waters across the world. In Tenerife we regularly see around 15 different variations.

2. Nudibranchs are toxic
Divers don’t have to worry about nudibranchs being poisonous, but predators do. Since they lack any protective shell, nudibranchs send warning signals that let other animals know they might be toxic to help keep enemies at bay.

3. They change colour based on their diet
Nudibranchs are carnivores and eat other small animals such as hydroids, sponges, anemones and barnacles. But, what makes the nudibranch unusual is that they often adopt the colour of their prey, leaving them looking brilliant, colourful and perfect for photos!

4. Nudibranchs are hermaphrodites
Although they don’t usually self-reproduce, nudibranchs possess both female and reproductive organs. This means that any nudibranch can mate with any other nudibranch of the same species, rather than being limited to male or female partners only – a nifty trait which makes it easier for them to reproduce.

5. They leave a slimy trail
As nudibranchs move across the ocean floor with their foot, they leave a trail of slime behind. This slime trail actually serves a clever purpose – it communicates messages to other nudibranchs, such as where to find a mate or that danger is nearby.

As you can see, nudibranchs are far from boring. In fact, they’re really quite interesting!

Night diving is the most amazing experience

Date: June 9, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
night diving tenerife

The most exciting part of my week was becoming certified as a PADI Advanced Open Water diver!
During the process I was fortunate enough to dive a new site, Las Eras, where we saw a huge grouper lounging underneath one of the rocks.
Later on we saw some Scorpion fish and loads of jelly fish on my fish identification dive at Abades.

But by far the best dive of the week was at Tabaiba. Seeing the beautiful shipwreck during the day was amazing, but being able to explore the same site at night was the most incredible underwater adventure I’ve been on.
After descending with the lights off in the pitch black, then turning on our torches at the bottom of the ocean, I honestly had the feeling of being an astronaut exploring a strange planet in outer space!
If you havent tried night diving, you REALLY must, its just fantastic!

The more dives I accumulate, the better I get at recognizing the wide array of marine fishes in the area.
Pretty soon I will be confident enough to know all the usual fish we see at the dive sites.
I cannot wait to continue on to become a Rescue diver next week. The more I dive, the more I want to get back in the water and explore!

2nd Week in Tenerife and loving the diving

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
diving-tenerife-Tabaiba-Wreck-16

Hey everybody Alan here again,

I can now say that after my second week here with the team, I am officially a PADI Advanced open water diver!

The dive instructor here, Patrick, has been extremely helpful in guiding me and my co-intern steve through the dives that we needed to complete the course.

As usual the dive sites and visibility have been incredible here in Tenerife. We got to dive a new dive site, well to us anyway, in Las Eras which is a deeper dive to about 25 meters with beautiful boulders and rock formations.

The amount of trumpet fish we saw there was incredible. We got to dive my favorite site again, it’s a ship wreck off of Tabaiba which is also a deep dive to 30 meters.

Now all me and my friend Steve have to do is finish our PADI Rescue divers course and then it will be time to work on our Divemasters.

I’m so looking forward to the remaining six weeks here with good friends, nice people, and of course incredible diving.

diving-tenerife-Tabaiba-Wreck-16

Summer has arrived in Tenerife :)

Date: June 8, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Sunset in Tenerife

Thinking about getting away from it all?
Get over to Tenerife, the temperature is a glorious 28 degrees with low humidity and the water temperature is around 22.
With perfect diving weather and so much more to do in Tenerife it is the ideal holiday solution.
Need help with accommodation and excursions? Just ask and we will arrange everything for you.

Contact us for more details 

Sunset in Tenerife

Special Offers at Dive and Sea Tenerife for June 2014

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Special offer June 6 dive pack

We have got some fantastic special offers for you in June 2014!
Fancy completing the PADI Specialty of Wreck diving?
Explore the wrecks you have heard so much about form other divers in complete safety, only 200 euro!
Or do you want it deeper for longer? The PADI Nitrox course is for you. The PADI Specialty includes 2 dives for only 150 euro.
Do you just want to go diving? We have it covered. 6 dives each for 2 divers for only 330 euro.

These offers are available throughout June and can alos be booked in June and taken at a later date.

Contact us for more details 

Special offer June 6 dive pack Special offer June Nitrox Special offer June Wreck

Happy World Oceans Day

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
World Oceans Day at Dive and Sea Tenerife

World Oceans Day at Dive and Sea TenerifeWorld Oceans Day is designated by the United Nations as a time to celebrate the extraordinary diversity of life beneath the waves and to focus on the increasing challenges the sea face, from acidification to pollution and overfishing.

Dive and Sea Tenerife Newsletter June 2012

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife

Hello All,

The summer is really with us now, all blue skies every day, fantastic diving conditions and as usual so much life to see.  We have had a great June, and have met some great divers, both New divers and experienced divers.

Dive Against Debris

We completed our third Dive against debris at the end of this month, we had great fun, as well as collected a large amount of debris from the sea at El Puertito where the Turtles live, obviously our dive was enhanced by the arrival of our resident turtle clan.  We were stunned to pull blankets, Wine Bottles, Beer cans as well as 100’s of meters of fishing line and weights out of the sea.  When we surfaced we had 5 bags full of ocean debris.  It was a great feeling that you can make a difference.  We will be completeing our next dive against Debris mid july, so if anyone is over here having a break please contact us for details.

We were pleased to welcome Kim (Alice) back to Dive and Sea, she has now joined us as a member of staff, and so will be  helping out around the centre.  Kim will now officially become Alice its even on her new T shirts.  Alice is hoping to complete her Assistant Instructor course next month, when she will have been diving for a whole 6 months!!

Alice is also translating our website into Dutch, and we have a friend translating it also into Spanish so look out for the new look pages!

Congratualtions to Aaron who passed his Divemaster course this month as well as his DSD Internship . Aaron will be returning to California at the begining of July to where he hopes one day to work for National geograhic as a diver, good luck to him!

It was great to welcome new Divemaster interns  Will, Thomas, Jake, and Jamie who all stared on the 18th June.

Will joined us as a PADI Rescue Diver, having not been in the water for a number of years he has been excited to refresh all of his skills as well as start working on his divemaster course.

Jamie joined us as an Advanced Open Water Diver, due to an extreme alergic reaction she has been out of the water for a while, and will start her Rescue course at the begining of July.

Jake joined us from Sunny birmingham as an Open water Diver, and so far has managed to complete his Advanced open Water diover and is now working on his Rescue Diver certificaiton.

We are looking forward to welcoming  our next batch of interns Foster, Matthew and Alex who start at the beginning of July.

New in Stock

Subgear Eco Mask and Snorkel set 25 Euros

This mask and snorkel set comes in 3 colours, white, turqoise and blue, and comes with carry bag.  Purge snorkel for ease of use and silcone mask allows for universal fit.  A great value Mask and Snorkel set which will be durable and comfortable.

This dive site never ceases to amaze me with the variety of life that you can see there, its a fantastic dive site as your 1st Dive or your 1000th dive.  There are resident Fangtooth and Black Moray Eels as well as Octopus and Anemones.

Abades bay is a shore dive site and suitable for all levels of diver, from Discover Scuba Diver and upwards.  We walk out across the beach and head out into the water descending into approximately 5 meters of water, we then follow around the rocky reef, as you move along the side of the reef looking in the cracks and crevices you will see a whole variety of life, when you head up onto the top of the reef its almost like you are in an underwater meadow as the plants growing on all the rocks cover every surface.  When the sun is shinning its even more beautiful.

The PADI Master Scuba Diver certification is the highest non professional level in the PADI System of diver education. The prerequisites for the PADI Master Scuba Diver certification are:

– Minimum age: 12 years

– PADI Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization)

– PADI Advanced Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization)

– PADI Rescue Diver or Junior Rescue Diver (or qualifying certification from another training organization)

– Minimum of five PADI Specialty Diver courses

– Minimum of 50 logged dives

The PADI Master Scuba Diver certification is recommended for any diver that has a real passion about diving and wants to join the best of the best in recreational scuba diving. By achieving this certification, you will discover different sides of diving and take your diving skills to the next level. You can choose the five PADI speciality courses that you find most interesting, or let your PADI Instructor advise you and help you choose the ones that suit you best.

You can find the PADI speciality courses here on our website:

When you have achieved the PADI Master Scuba Diver rating, you will be a better diver and be more employable. It is the first step into your diving career or into the rest of your diving experience. If you’re already a PADI Rescue Diver, you can do the PADI Master Scuba Diver course for only € 450

If you are passionate about diving, this will be the right course for you!

We are now running 8 week internship from the 1st of every calendar month, the next start date available is 1st September 2012.

We provide all the training for FREE, however there are costs involved with regards to PADI materials, diving insurance,  diving medical, accommodation & equipment.

During your time with us you will learn to be a dive guide and teaching assistant. You will also learn how to interact with clients and students as well as various aspects of sales, customer services, equipment maintenance and obviously diving lots!

All diving is FREE for the whole duration you are with us we guarantee you that you will do a minimum of 60 Dives, some of our interns manage over 100 dives!

As the longest running, and only 5 Star PADI Dive centre in the area, (1 of only 4 in Tenerife) and number 1 in the PADI Rankings for the Golf Del Sur / Amarilla Golf regions of Tenerife 2009 / 2010 / 2011, we ensure you will have a great time and give you loads of assistance during your course.

Our PADI Dive centre has trained more Divemasters than any other centre in the area and the majority have gone on to use the qualification for employment in some form or for continuing their education.

Some are now working DM’s others continued on to be PADI Instructors and one is even working as a Dolphin Trainer!

We have additional discounts on accommodation for multiple bookings i.e.. couples / friends /Clubs / Groups

Not PADI certified, don’t worry, as there are crossovers for all levels of BSAC, SSAC, CMAS, FEDAS, SSI, NAUI, SAA, SCOT SAC etc, so just let us know what agency and what level you are and we will tell you the next PADI level required.

If you wish to apply for the internship please send your CV and a photograph with your preferred dates and also letting us know where you found out about us.

We are also able to offer the following PADI courses / internships to better enhance your work opportunities and diving experiences;

PADI Master Scuba Diver
PADI Assistant Instructor
PADI Instructor
Pre-Instructor Development Course

If you have any questions take the opportunity to check out our web page.

Dive and Sea Tenerife Newsletter May 2012

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife

Diving Newsletter for May 2012

Hello EveryoneI hope that you have all had an enjoyable month.

Here at Dive and Sea we have welcomed back the lovely hot summer weather of Tenerife and the water temperature is heating up nicely!!

We have been busy meeting our new Divemaster intern and new divers to our centre, and as always a pleasure to welcoming back familiar faces.

I hope that you are all keeping updated with Facebook as well as website news.

Project AWARE Dive Against Debris

We had the most wonderful dive against debris not only could George, Melissa and Chris pat themselves on the back for the two large bags of debris collected at Pequeno Valle but on their ascent they were surrounded by a pod of 4 Dolphins, it was an amazing experience and I am sure the Dolphins were thanking us for tidying their sea up!  I think the dolphin looks like it is smiling at us!!

After this wonderful experience we were off to continue our good work at Starfish bay culling more Urchins..

The next Dive Against Debris and Urchin Culling dive will be at the end of June, any one interested in participating please contact melissa@diveandseatenerife.com

Summer Special Offer

Discover Scuba Diving

Including 1 open water dive is now discounted from 90 Euros to 70 Euros
Including 2 open water dives is now discounted from 110 Euros to 90 Euros

Is the first introduction into Scuba Diving, anyone from age 10 upwards can join in this experience.  With this you can dive with a PADI professional to a maximum of 12 meters for 1 year.  It can also be added towards the PADI Scuba Diver or PADI Open Water qualification

The Discover Scuba Diving experience normally lasts for one morning.  First of all you watch the Discover Scuba Diving DVD, then we get straight on to the pool session where you will learn some of the basic scuba diving skills and become comfortable with your scuba diving equipment.  Then its off to the ocean to come and meet the fish!  There is so much to see in Tenerife

Divemaster Update
PADI Assistant Instructors

It was all go last month, following the successful completion of their divemaster course Zippy and bungle started on the Assistant instructor course, they were joined by Jackie from Teide Divers.  All of the candidates performed brilliantly and it was huge sign of relief when they passed all their presentations and exams.
Well done to all three of you.  Below proudly showing off their new Assistant Instructor T shirts!!!

We said a sad farewell to George and Chris a hard act for new intern Aaron to follow but I am sure he will excel during their internship.

We welcomed Aaron from California who has managed to gain himself a whole variety of nicknames starting with Canadian Dave and I think we have finally settled after much debate on Juan!  Juan has joined us as an Open Water diver and whilst he is here for his 8 week induction he will be completing his Master Scuba Diver Certification, with Navigation, Boat, Fish ID, Deep and Search and Recovery Specialties as well as his Divemaster Internship.

Aaron worked hard all month, and is just getting to the last items on his divemaster internship he managed to improve his stamina and got great scores on all of them, despite the stress and studying for his Divemaster exams he did really well.

Watch this space or log onto their blog for more regular information.

We are looking forward to welcoming the summer interns arriving in to start mid June, Will, Geoff, Jamie, Alex, Matt and Foster more info about them next month.

Diving Knife – Equipment information and review

Of all the equipment you carry with you as a diver, your knife looks like the simplest one. But you’ll soon discover that it has many purposes.

Perhaps the most important purpose of a diving knife is that it gives you the ability to cut yourself or your buddy free, if you’d get entangled under water. Therefore it is recommended that you always have your diving knife with you whilst you are diving.

Another purpose for your diving knife is specific to the local area of Tenerife. You can use your knife to help the environment, by killing Black Long-spined Sea Urchins. Unfortunately, Black Long-spined Sea Urchins are now abundant in the Canary Islands, and take over much of the habitat of other species. The diving community requests every diver to help maintain control the number of Black Long-spined Sea Urchins in the waters surrounding the Canary Islands, so that the habitat will be given back to the native species.

One great value dive knife is the Aqualung Zak, 45 Euros.   The blade is made from stainless specifically designed for the marine environment, with a blade length of 10 cm perfect for Urchin culls.

Dive Site Review ~ Poco Naufragio – Kim Timmers

Poco Naufragio is a beautiful dive site in the south of Tenerife.  ‘Poco Naufragio’ means ‘small shipwreck’. It’s not just the name, and the wreck that would make you curious about diving at this dive site. It’s THE place to see one of the most intriguing creatures of the ocean: Stingrays. The Stingrays can get up to four meters wide, even without their tail. Poco Naufragio is only a few minutes from the marina.

When you following the line down, you’ll find that it is attached to a block of concrete, that is placed on a shelf. The shelf houses many different species of aquatic life, and is semi-circular shaped. Some of the species you’ll find on the shelf are Moray Eels, Arrow Crabs, Scorpion fish, Lizard fish and an occasional Stingray.

You could dive while staying on the shelf throughout the dive, and not go below 18 meters. If your certification level allows you to go deeper, than you can descent further, next to the shelf, and visit the wreck itself. The wreck is found on a sand bottom, and is about 4 meters long. The Stingrays that live in the area, are usually seen near the wreck, but they do occasionally visit the shelf as well. Stingrays are commonly sighted at Poco Naufragio, but it’s never a guarantee to see them, as they are wild animals. This only adds to the excitement of this dive site, because you never know what to expect.

We are now running our 8 week internship from the 1st of every calendar month, the next start date available is 1st July 2012.

We provide all the training for FREE, however there are costs involved with regards PADI materials, diving insurance, accommodation & equipment.

During your time with us you will learn to be a dive guide and teaching assistant. You will also learn how to interact with clients and students as well as various aspects of sales, customer services, equipment maintenance and obviously diving lots!

All diving is FREE for the whole duration you are with us we guarantee you that you will do a minimum of 60 Dives, some of our interns manage over 100 dives!

As the longest running, and only 5 Star PADI Dive centre in the area, (1 of only 4 in Tenerife) and number 1 in the PADI Rankings for the Golf Del Sur / Amarilla Golf regions of Tenerife 2009 / 2010 / 2011, we ensure you will have a great time and give you loads of assistance during your course.

Our PADI Dive Centre has trained more Divemasters than any other centre in the area and the majority have gone on to use the qualification for employment in some form or for continuing their education.

Some are now working DM’s others continued on to be PADI Instructors and one is even working as a Dolphin Trainer!

We have additional discounts on accommodation for multiple bookings i.e.. couples / friends /Clubs / Groups

Not PADI certified, don’t worry, as there are crossovers for all levels of BSAC, SSAC, CMAS, FEDAS, SSI, NAUI, SAA, SCOT SAC etc, so just let us know what agency and what level you are and we will tell you the next PADI level required.

If you wish to apply for the internship please send your CV and a photograph with your preferred dates and also letting us know where you found out about us.

We are also able to offer the following PADI courses / internships to better enhance your work opportunities and diving experiences;

PADI Master Scuba Diver
PADI Assistant Instructor
PADI Instructor
Pre-Instructor Development Course

If you have any questions take the opportunity to check out our web page.

Or our new Divemaster Intern Blog

More from us next month.

Dive and Sea Tenerife Newsletter April 2012

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife

 

Scuba Diving in Tenerife ~ April Newsletter

Hello again,
Another month has flown by, we have had a terrific month here at Dive and Sea Tenerife, we enjoyed a busy Easter.
 
All of our Interns have had another busy month here at dive and Sea Tenerife, firstly Kim (Alice) newly certified Divemaster finally went back to Holland!She still did not want to leave despite an additional 5 weeks here. Alice was heartily disappointed that she was unable to complete her Assistant instructor on this Internship as she has not been a certified diver for 6 months. Kim plans to return at the end of the year to complete her PADI Assistant Instructor course, so we look forward to welcoming her back.

Congratulations to Alice for getting herself a fabulous divemaster Job in Gran canaria we all wish her well.

Congratulations, also, to Chris who has worked really hard this month, and completed his Divemaster certification. Chris has become a true professional in the last 6 weeks, and next onto his PADI Assistant Instructor Course. Watch this space.
And Congratulations to George who has also passed his Divemaster certification not only in record time but also gave us a lot of laughs along the way.
George is also studying hard for the PADI Assistant Instructor course.
We all wish them well and they will be joined by Jackie from Teide Divers as well.
We are looking forward to welcoming Aaron and Carl at the beginning of May.
Aaron joins us all the way from California… jet lagged is how he will spend his first few days I think!
Carl has joined us on his year out from university studying Marine Biology to complete his Divemaster Course and also the PADI Assistant Instructor Course.
Dive Site Review ~ The Pipeline Las Eras – Chris Archer
 
 
This Shore dive site is a recent discovery and a very interesting dive. You enter from the shore and then swim out to the right hand side, before descending into 6 metres of water. Close to this point is a pipe that tracks from shore out into deep waters, which is encased in pre-cast concrete blocks. As with everything that has been in the ocean for some time, the blocks have become homes for plenty of aquatic life, with the gaps in the blocks providing excellent hiding places for species such as Scorpion Fish, Octopus, Rays and Canarian Lobsters. 
 
Following along the pipe into 14 metres of water gives you ample opportunity to peek into the gaps in and around the blocks, finding beautiful underwater beings such as Nudibranch, Starfish and Sea Hares.
With a clear path along the pipe and shallower depths, this site is perfect for divers of all experience levels. Underwater photographers will have great colourful opportunities and all divers who appreciate great dive sites are sure to enjoy it.
 
Equipment Information ~ Neoprene Dive Socks – Kim Timmers
Feeling a little cold on your dive, but don’t want the added expense of purchasing a new thicker wetsuit?
There are a number of inexpensive options that you can consider, neoprene socks, gloves, rash vest or ice vest.
Here I am going to discuss neoprene socks……….
Dive socks are made of neoprene and you wear them inside your boots, they are really stretchy and easy to put on and take off. As I am sure you all know you lose most of the heat from your extremities, so making sure your feet are nice and warm during the dive will help you stay warmer for longer.
Dive socks come in a range of sizes and thicknesses so always make sure that you try the socks on under your boots before purchase to ensure a comfortable fit, its all very well having nice warm feet, but not at the expense of making your boots tight and uncomfortable. Another added bonus of dive socks is that they prevent your boots or fins rubbing your feet preventing blisters or bruising.
Dive sock prices differ depending on thickness and make but can cost from as little as 12 Euros.
Continuing your Scuba Diving Education – George Rudge
 
As a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver you might be thinking where can I go from here to continue my recreational training!
There are several options that you can explore. You can of course progress onto the PADI Rescue Diver training or you can choose from a list of specialities and concentrate on a particular area of diving.
Did you know that your Advanced Diving dives can be counted towards completing a speciality Diving course?
For example, if on your PADI Advanced Diver Course you opted to do Peak Performance Buoyancy, Drift Diver and Boat Diver all you need to do is complete one more dive in these areas to turn them into a  Speciality.
If you have already completed one Adventure dive this discounts the price of the speciality by 40 Euros. So you could have a speciality for as little as 107 Euros.
Here at Dive and Sea Tenerife we can offer you a range of different specialties, one of the most frequently taken Specialities is the Peak Performance Buoyancy speciality.
This gives you dedicated dive time to practise obtaining perfect buoyancy as well as additional knowledge to aid your buoyancy control.
The course can be completed in as little as one day or two dives and for only €147.
Divemaster Internship
We are now running our 6 or 8 week internship from the 1st of every calendar month, the next start date available is 1st July 2012.
The minimum time required for a non certified diver or Open Water diver with less than 20 dives is 8 weeks.
We provide all the training for FREE, however there are costs involved with regards PADI materials, diving insurance, accommodation & equipment.
During your time with us you will learn to be a dive guide and teaching assistant. You will also learn how to interact with clients and students as well as various aspects of sales, customer services, equipment maintenance and obviously diving lots!
All diving is FREE for the whole duration you are with us, some of our interns manage over 100 dives!
As the longest running, and only 5 Star PADI Dive centre in the area, (1 of only 4 in Tenerife) and number 1 in the PADI Rankings for the Golf Del Sur / Amarilla Golf regions of Tenerife 2009 / 2010 / 2011, we ensure you will have a great time and give you loads of assistance during your course.
Our PADI Dive centre has trained more Divemasters than any other centre in the area and the majority have gone on to use the qualification for employment in some form or for continuing their education.
Some are now working DM’s others continued on to be PADI Instructors and one is even working as a Dolphin Trainer!
We have additional discounts on accommodation for multiple bookings i.e.. couples / friends /Clubs / Groups.
Not PADI certified, don’t worry, as there are crossovers for all levels of BSAC, SSAC, CMAS, FEDAS, SSI, NAUI, SAA, SCOT SAC etc, so just let us know what agency and what level you are and we will tell you the next PADI level required.
If you wish to apply for the internship please send your CV and a photograph with your preferred dates and also letting us know where you found out about us.
We are also able to offer the following PADI courses / internships to better enhance your work opportunities and diving experiences;
Pre-Instructor Development Course
If you have any questions take the opportunity to check out our web page.https://www.diveandseatenerife.com/Diving_Internships.htmor Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife/122027224542597

 

Dive and Sea Newsletter March 2012

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife

March Newsletter ~ Seahorses and Divemasters

Hello again everyone,
Hopefully you are all enjoying reading our monthly newsletter, if there is anything you would like added to our newsletter please don’t hesitate to contact us.
March has been yet another busy month, and I hope you are all looking forward to your Easter break. We already have a fun filled fortnight ahead of us, we look forward to meeting new divers and welcoming back familiar faces.
Urchin Clean and Dive Against Debris day  
As part of our continuing support towards project aware we have planned our next Dive Against Debris dives. We will be carrying out two dives on the 2nd May at sites to be confirmed due to weather considerations, we will remove debris from the ocean for the first dive and on the second will carry out an urchin cull. If anyone is interested in attending please contactmelissa@diveandseatenerife.com
For future Project Aware activities that are planned please keep an eye out on the website, Intern blog, facebook or the monthly newsletters.
Team update
Exciting news this month, Melissa saw her first ever Seahorse at El Puertito.
Seahorses are a rare commodity here in Tenerife, so Melissa and Sara and James were delighted with their find and spent a good few minutes watching the little Seahorse sway around in the sea taking as many photographs as possible as evidence that they did see the Seahorse!
Divemaster Internship Update
Congratulations to Kim (Alice) for passing her Divemaster Course.
Kim has decided to stay on for an additional 5 weeks to gain more practical experience as a divemaster. Kim has been helping new interns George and Chris settle into life at the dive centre.
George (Zippy) who is just 18 has joined us as a PADI Advanced diver and has joined us for the internship for 8 weeks before heading off to study accountancy at university in September.
George has already completed his EFR and Rescue course as well as training hard for his stamina assessments.
Chris (Bungle) 24, joined us as a PADI Open Water diver and is here with us for 8 weeks.
Chris has been travelling around Australia and Asia and would like to gain employment within the dive industry before carrying on his training to become an PADI Diving instructor.
Divesite review ~ Gijarro Arrecife
 
Gijarro Arrecife is one of our newest dive sites.
This is a boat dive located approximately 10 minutes away from San Miguel Marina. We enter the water in 4 – 5 meters of water and descend.
With a maximum depth of just under 12 meters it is ideal for divers having completed the PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience, as well as the more experienced diver.
Within the sand, there are several rocky outcrops. There can be found Black Sea Hare’s, Wide-eyed Flounders, Atlantic Damselfish, Sharpnose Puffers and Blue-fin Damsel fish.

Equipment Review ~ Canon IXUS 115 and Ikelite housing
 
Fantastic easy to use camera with manual white balance great for all kinds of photography, with a fantastic Ikelite housing.
We have two of these cameras that we both use on all our dives, we get great photographs, and video with this simple to use camera.
The Cannon IXUS 115hs has 12 megapixels, 4 x optical zoom with a 3 inch screen and full HD movies. Having had cannon cameras before I found the menu really easy to navigate both for changing modes, viewing pictures and videos and downloading them.
Ikelite ULTRAcompact digital underwater housing really delivers when performance and durability matter. The ULTRAcompact housing is high quality, built to last and backed by Ikelite’s long-standing reputation for excellence.
All camera controls are fully functional through the housing and depth rated to 200 ft. (60m). Easy open latch and drop in camera loading make set-up easy and quick.Course overview

 
PADI Rescue Diver, 300 Euros per person
 
Already an Adventure or Advanced diver and thinking of continuing your diving education and training? why not look at taking the rescue diver course.
You must be a minimum of 12 years old and hold a current first aid certificate.
If you do not have a current first aid certificate we can provide you with Emergency First Response training.
So what are the benefits of qualifying as a PADI Rescue diver?
The most important benefit that I would promote as the number one reason why any diver every diver should train to become a PADI Rescue Diver, is that the course teaches you how to react in an emergency situation, whether it’s a tired diver, a panicked diver or a life threatening situation.
The most important skill you are taught is how to keep yourself out of harms way whilst still providing assistance to your fellow divers.
As with all PADI courses there is a theory side, you need to read the manual, complete the review sections and sit a multiple choice exam.
Once the theory is completed you move onto the practical training, The PADI Rescue diver course can be completed in two days and involves open water based training.
Special Offers May
  • Book the PADI Open Water Diver course and get 1 free recreational dive
  • Master Scuba Diver Course 450 Euros
  • Assistant Instructor Course 350 Euros
Divemaster Internship
We are now running our 6 or 8 week internship from the 1st of every calendar month, the next start date available is 1st May 2012.
The minimum time required for a non certified diver or Open Water diver with less than 20 dives is 8 weeks.
We provide all the training for FREE, however there are costs involved with regards PADI materials, diving insurance, accommodation & equipment.
During your time with us you will learn to be a dive guide and teaching assistant. You will also learn how to interact with clients and students as well as various aspects of sales, customer services, equipment maintenance and obviously diving lots!
All diving is FREE for the whole duration you are with us, some of our interns manage over 100 dives!
As the longest running, and only 5 Star PADI Dive centre in the area, (1 of only 4 in Tenerife) and number 1 in the PADI Rankings for the Golf Del Sur / Amarilla Golf regions of Tenerife 2009 / 2010 / 2011, we ensure you will have a great time and give you loads of assistance during your course.
Our PADI Dive centre has trained more Divemasters than any other centre in the area and the majority have gone on to use the qualification for employment in some form or for continuing their education.
Some are now working DM’s others continued on to be PADI Instructors and one is even working as a Dolphin Trainer!
We have additional discounts on accommodation for multiple bookings i.e.. couples / friends /Clubs / Groups.
Not PADI certified, don’t worry, as there are crossovers for all levels of BSAC, SSAC, CMAS, FEDAS, SSI, NAUI, SAA, SCOT SAC etc, so just let us know what agency and what level you are and we will tell you the next PADI level required.
If you wish to apply for the internship please send your CV and a photograph with your preferred dates and also letting us know where you found out about us.
We are also able to offer the following PADI courses / internships to better enhance your work opportunities and diving experiences;
PADI Master Scuba Diver
PADI Assistant Instructor
PADI Instructor
Pre-Instructor Development Course
If you have any questions take the opportunity to check out our web page.https://www.diveandseatenerife.com/Diving_Internships.htm
Dive and Sea Tenerife
Terrazas De La Paz, 113-B
Golf del Sur
Tenerife www.diveandseatenerife.com
pete@diveandseatenerife.com

Amazing first week in Tenerife

Date: June 2, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Turtles-1 (10)

Upon arriving at my new home for the next 8 weeks (Dive and Sea Tenerife), my buddy Nate and I were greeted at the shop by Buzz and were given our new names.
Now known as Steve, and Nate as Alan, we were given a tour of the beautiful diving facilities, shown our new ride, and taken to our big apartment.

Things kicked off the next day when we took our first dive trip to El Puertito where the sun was shining, the water was clear, and I met my first Sea turtle!
I was amazed at how comfortable these massive sea turtles were with the divers in the water, they came right up close to investigate because they have very poor vision.

Things were even more amazing the next day when we were given the opportunity to dive our first deep water ship wreck! At Tabaiba, I dove deeper than I’ve ever gone – 30 metres!
We were lucky enough to have great visibility and I recorded the dive with my first Go Pro video. I can honestly say that things have turned out better than I could have ever asked for so far on this trip.

I would recommend to anyone who enjoys the underwater to take a trip and dive with the friendly staff here at Dive and Sea Tenerife.

Tenerife? Obvious choice for my Divemaster internship

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving Tenerife - PADI Divemaster

Hello everybody! My name is Alan.

I have just completed the first week of my PADI Divemaster internship.

First I just have to say that I cannot believe how fast this week has gone by. They say that time flies when you’re having fun, and that saying couldn’t be anymore true.

Everybody here is extremely friendly and welcoming and made me and my friend Steve feel at home right away.

Not only are the staff friendly but the diving is absolutely incredible. On the first set of dives that we went on we were able to swim with the sea turtles at a dive site call El Puertito. The visibility was amazing and the turtles were really fun.

We are also learning a ton of information about diving. My friend Steve and I already are Emergency first responders.

I’m so excited for these next seven weeks and all of the diving that I’m going to do on this beautiful island on Tenerife.

Diving Tenerife - PADI Divemaster

Dive and Sea Supports Empty The Tanks

Date: May 24, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife Comments: Leave a reply
Empty The Tanks

Anyone who has ever dived with us, or popped in to our Dive Center , will know how passionate the Owner and Staff are about the aquatic life.

Continuing with this support we are now proud to support the “Empty The Tanks” organisation who are lobbying to empty all the tanks of Dolphins and Orcas worldwide.

Unlike other Dive Centers we do not shy away from controversy but actively support these organisations.

Want to know more?

Check out this link

Empty The Tanks

Dive and Sea Tenerife enters its 6th year

Date: May 23, 2014 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife Comments: Leave a reply
Dive and Sea Tenerife

And it only seems like yesterday!
Dive and Sea Tenerife started from a diver who wanted to experience something better and as he was unable to find it in Tenerife, so set about starting his own Dive Center.

From small beginnings that Dive Center has now grown into a PADI 5 Start Instructor Development center, training not only recreational divers , but PADI Professionals from all over the world.

Want to know more? Pop by for a chat with the owner , Pete, and he is sure to tell you all over a pint!

Dive and Sea Tenerife Logo small

 

 

 

Devil Winds and a hedonistic Middle Eastern souk

Date: June 8, 2013 Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Diving-Tenerife-Divers (74)

So this week was the week that Tenerife burned, or at least it felt like it. Devil winds blowing in from the Sahara have almost reduced living in the Golf Del Sur into one constant dash from shade, to fan, to air conditioning and back. Hitting us in the latter part of this week, the rumours, of course so often false, were true. I should have guessed by the grim demeanour and resigned tone of my local bar proprietor.  The only certainty seems to be that it could be worse, coming from another ‘local’ sipping on a mango smoothie this really does not hold much comfort for an active Divemaster intern.

However I digress from the weekly update. This is actually an important time as I approach my halfway point. Four of the more experienced interns are leaving in the next few days and I shall be sad to see them leave. Their support and help in the past four weeks have been completely invaluable. So to Malena, Theiss, Mel and Gerardo… Adieu and safe journey home!

Diving in Tenerife

Again this feels like a digression, so onto life as an intern. This week has really enforced a key message from the Rescue Diver Course, to STOP->THINK->ACT. Essentially during a dive and in the preparation I made a mistake that was really silly, that of going for a moderately deep dive with a half full cylinder. Due to this there were a couple of other effects that meant a fellow intern had to stop a dive early and ascend with me. Even now, some days hence, a consistent mental face palm has been in effect.

The annoying thing is that this has overshadowed, at least to an extent, some really positive leaps forward. I gave my first dive briefing (to a customer, Jens, no less), not perfect but still a ‘first’. My pool skills have been improving, surprising myself at how they seem to be coming together. Two other aspects, the Pre-Dive Safety Check and Discover Scuba Diving Kit Assembly, are also coming on well despite my attempts at improvisation. Which occur despite it being specified on a card.

 

Scuba Kit assembly

Now…. To the diving. The main highlight this week was a pair of dives at one of our less frequented dive sites, Las Eras. This dive, including a long time customer Marvin, alongside a sheer wall through Tenerife’s underwater volcanic landscape was excellent. Streaked Gurnards, Groupers, Triggerfish, Barracuda, Octopus…. I hope, Dear Reader, you get the point. Part of it was also a drift dive, but mainly it just seemed a different kind of diving compared to what I have experienced so far in Tenerife.

 

I was also able to observe the Confined elements of the PADI Rescue Diver course for two of our interns. I desperately wanted to be playing the part of an unresponsive diver underwater, as this is Hide-and-Seek with diving equipment. Indeed, it sounds very amusing.

On a final note, a personal observation: On Saturday evening, to celebrate the ‘graduation’ of our interns, Dive and Sea hit Playa Las Americas for hijinks and frivolities. Now for those who do not know, like myself prior to Saturday, this is a fascinating cultural experience. Even now I still have no idea how to describe it accurately, apart from (this being the closest approximation I can manage) a hedonistic Middle Eastern souk with an impressive amount of novelty sunglasses.

Sad Goodbyes and Happy Hello’s

Author: Dive-And-Sea-Tenerife
Sunset in Tenerife

Yep, I survived next week 😀 some people left us but someone just started his internship.

That was a week with one new person – Graham started his internship on Monday.
We called him a Tin Man 😉 we started this week without Mel and Gerardo – oh, I miss that guy – very helpful and friendly person. Actually he was the first one who could understood my language :p during the week Melana and Theiss left us also.

Studying the easy way in Tenerife!

To sum up it was good week for me I made some new dives at different areas  all of the dives were from the boat. I don’t have a problem with roll back entry anymore. Also my seasickness disappeared !!

On Monday we were at Yellow Mountain. My buddy was Dori. The dive leader was Pete. We had a chance to do some mapping and on the second dive we killed some black long-spined sea-urchin. That was fun and I used knife for the first time. This day I tried to dive with 7 kilos and was practising my air consumption.

Rays in Tenerife Canary Islands

In the afternoon Pete took us for the third dive. I was excited because all day went were smooth. My buddy was CK she is also like me a baby diver. She was after her night dive so she was a bit tired. She wasn’t able to do roll back entry in to the water. She panicked and Alistar (boat cover) decided that we are not diving. I missed my dive but I still did two dives

We spend most of the day in the marina. Me and CK were cleaning the anchor and a boat together with Sam and Alistar. Back in the shop I pass my Rescue Diver exam. It was quite hard one for me but I scored it with 98%  :D.

Awesome diving in Tenerife

Two awesome dives at Poco Naufragio and El delfine. At Poco Naufragio my buddy was Alistar. The dive leader was Alice. I saw three stingrays. Two of them were huge and one of it was near me and in front of my face. What a great feeling and possibility to see them. Stingrays are really friendly but if you are on top of them they can sting you. During that dive I saw also two moray eels black and fangtooth one.
The second dive was at El delfin. It was a deep dive. We were at 26 metres for 28 minutes. I was there for the first time. We did not descent by using the anchor rope. New experience for me as well. I saw some fireworms. Actually Alistar drove a picture for me. Now I know how the fireworms look like 😉

 

 

 

 

1000s of Barracuda in Tenerife

I had a day off. I was sleeping till 10am 😀 made some shopping and cleaning the apartment. On Friday I was expecting the guest (Marta – my best friend from Poland). I went for a lovely dinner to Los Abrigos. I eaten the best and the biggest fish ever  I cannot remember the name because it was in Spanish unfortunately.
In  the evening we went for a dinner to some Mexican restaurant to say good bye to Melana and Theiss. It was good night but sad one. I will miss those people. Great couple. Melana was my little hero. She started as a baby diver and at the end of her internship she was one of the best. She was a queen of kit set up 😀

Day of skills.
That day we were in the swimming pool all day long. We practised underwater skills. I cleared and remove my mask once again. What is more I had also swum without mask and with open eyes for 15 metres. That was awesome. I am awesome to be honest 😉 and I am really proud of myself. After few times it is not as that scary at it was at the beginning. Practise makes you better!!
My hover is a disaster. That is one of the skills that need to be practise.
In the evening Marta came. It was really nice to see my friend and speak Polish 😀

Two more dives at Yellow Mountain but this time with Melissa as a leader. We had a lovely young girl with us Jenny. She was practising her Open Water course. She has done well. She had some problems with pivot because of the strong currents but rest of the skills she done good.
During the second dive I consumed only 60 bars of air in 24 minutes. That is a good result. I noticed that when I am much more relaxed underwater I consumed less air. I found my recipe! Now I need to practise how to be chill underwater 😀

By Oz