Sexy Shrimp get the hearts racing whilst Diving!

A very dark early morning, but gorgeous and sunny by the time we headed off to Abades, with Matt and Ryan.  The first dive at Abades bay was fantastic and at the end we were circled  by a very large Barracuda who looked like it was sizing us all up for breakfast!

Then just as we were getting ready to head back off for the next dive we bumped into our friend Phil from Teide divers who decided to join us for our second dive.  Another gorgeous dive, with a large Fangtooth Moray bearing his teeth at us, some gorgeous cleaner shrimp, and the sexy shrimp on all of the Anemones we saw.

It was Matt’s last dives with us on this visit to Tenerife so we said a sad farewell , secretly I think Melissa is pleased she will no longer have to fear for her life underwater………..  No matter what he thinks he is not getting a dive knife!!!  Its been a real pleasure having Matt back diving with us as not only has he helped us discover Sexy Shrimp he has also showed us a frog fish!!!    Matt is every dive centres dream customer, he is happy on all dives and just loves looking for all the small life that others pass on by, not only that when he is here its like we gain an extra member of the team!
We will hopefully welcome Matt back very soon.

We have been joined this week by Frank from Germany who has come to complete his PADI Assistant Instructor course, so 4 hard days work ahead of him.  Alice and Phil have both been joining in as preparation for their IDC and Staff Instructor course in just under 1 months time.  They have all worked really hard this week, and have already begun to see the improvements in their presentations.

Hannah has been back to complete her final PADI Discover Scuba Diving session to get her DSD Leader certification with Rory and Abbie who were joined in the pool by their parents Chris and Sandra who were completing their Scuba Tune up with Alice.

All of them did really well in the pool and then it was off to the ocean for their open water dives.  They had two really great dives and it was great to see the family diving together.

Congratulations to Frank who has successfully completed his PADI Assistant Instructor Course and passed his General Standards exam with 100%  a fantastic score.  Frank will be joining us for the rest of the week for some recreational dives so he can relax now the pressure has gone!!!

One of the best parts of my week so far was getting to meet Popeye's parents, Ali and Stuart, they were both great, it was great to learn some fun stories about Sam as a child!!  Much to Sam’s discomfort!!!
I think we were more excited to meet his parents than he was to see them again other than a chance for free food all week!


More discussion ensued this week about the present “from” the Christmas tree and although they didn't deny they do get present's they did think it was specific to their family unlike Sam who believes we are all weird for not receiving presents from the Christmas tree.

It was great to welcome back Suzy and Alun from Wales this weekend a lovely surprise to meet their son George a PADI Junior Open Water Diver.  Unfortunately this time Alun had not bought his Popa Smurf wetsuit so we had to make do with teasing him about …. Well anything we could think of  frankly!!!

Their first dives were at Poco Naufragio and Starfish Bay, they were also joined by Ali and Stuart  and Velzo (pronounced Velux like the blinds!!)   Melissa was really happy to dive at Poco Naufragio for the first time in about 6 months, it was a wonderful experience to see a Common Ray as soon as everyone had descended as well as a fleeting glimpse of a large Atlantic Ray and a Duckbill.
On the shelf at Poco Naufragio there is so much life to see, gorgeous colourful Anemones with Sexy Shrimp as well as lovely Red Backed Cleaner Shrimp.

The favourite however is the three Moray eels hiding just over the shelf at about 20 meters, who all come out to greet you when you glance down. There are two black and one fangtooth, which had taken a dislike to sharing his home with the Black Moray closest and was busy biting him as we watched on in awe.

Then off to Starfish bay, a wonderful site where you see a lot of different coloured and sized Starfish as well as Cleaner Shrimp and Octopus, this site is woefully covered with Urchins…… note to self (reminiscent of  bungle) must sort out our project aware Urchin culling dive soon to try and get this site back under control!

A grey morning but fantastic dives at El Puertito with Alison, Frank, Stuart, Sam and Melissa.
Despite limited visibility the divers were met at every turn by another Turtle, in total it was agreed there were 5 different Turtles, and its always amazing to see more than one at once.  

It was great to be able to show everyone the Sexy Shrimp this is now Sam and Melissa favourite activity since Matt has abandoned us in favour of returning to the UK !!
Its up to us to carry the flame!!!!