Living Life to the fullest

Another busy week here at Mermaid Diving. 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 my self was a bit frightening, but I powered through and learned so much from it!

We have been exploring two new dive sites 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…

Alan Out

And so my final week here 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.

I’ll definitly miss our nights with Melissa’s at Phil’s place and his amazing chicken burgers. 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!

The final blog #8

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!

 It has been a slow week for diving, but 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, 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!

I am now a PADI approved Divemaster!

I’m slowly losing track of the days and weeks that I am now on as things start to get much busier at Mermaid Diving ahead of the summer period! 

I am happy to confirm that PADI have approved my Divemaster membership and I am now in full teaching status! This week I completed my Discover Scuba Diving Leader course under the supervision of Patrick.

 It was great to finally start some actual teaching in the pool and continue the experience in the open water. I felt I improved with each session and I had great feedback from my instructor. 

Things at the dive centre have been moving along nicely. With the masses of dives that have been happening, Buzz managed to reach 60 dives and has finished all the mechanics of his internship.He is now well on his way to becoming a fully fledged Divemaster. 

Alan and Steve have completed their Rescue Courses and are fully settling into life in the dive centre. 

On Sunday, Patrick took Buzz, Alan, Steve and I up Teide which was an amazing experience and we also went to the steep cliffs of Los Gigantes. We had a great day out and it was nice to get a break after a very busy and fulfilled week.

Flounder

Loads of fun deep dives this week!

This week I was able to observe Patrick conduct Alan and Steve’s Advanced Open Water and EFR course.

As I am here for the remainder of the summer and in preparation for my IDC it is always great to watch an instructor conduct all the different programs that PADI offer and it never hurts to keep refreshing the Emergency First Response skills.

 Early on in the week we dived with Yens who completed his Advanced Open Water course with us last year. We went up to Radazul for two great dives where we saw a large shoal of barracuda,trumpet fish and a couple of grouper. Yens was excited to try out his new equipment aswell, so a great day was had by all.

We were joined by Brian and Naomi from the UK who dived with us for a couple of days. Naomi completed her DSD experience and did very well in the pool with the skills and her first open water dive at Abades. Brian who was an Open Water diver completed three adventure dives with us.

We had a deep dive at Las Eras and a wreck and night dive at Tabaiba. Alan and Steve also completed the night dive and it was great to see how much they enjoyed it after such high expectations.

We had a couple of nights out at the weekend in Las Americas and El Medano and also had a team BBQ which was thoroughly enjoyed by  all

Flounder

I now feel like a Divemster

Alan’s blog week number 7, t-minus 7 days until the end of my 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, but unfortunately we didn’t get to see any 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 mermaid diving. 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!

A very rewarding week

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 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 for Mermaid Diving!

Counting Turtles

This week was probably one of the best i’ve had in a while, 2 days at El puerturtleo and one day at a new 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 is 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.

Your best American accent at the ready

This week has been busy and varied. On Monday we had two new PADI Divemaster interns arrive from the USA and who were quickly renamed Alan and Steve.

I went through the induction period with them both from the introduction presentation to kit set up. In the afternoon I took them both into the swimming pool for a scuba tune up and both of them did very well for having not been in the water for some time. Alan and Steve both quickly fit in with the group and we are all looking forward to diving loads in the coming months.

On Tuesday we went to El Puertito with Rhiannon who was a rescue diver from the UK and we had a great dive with the turtles. She returned and dived again on Wednesday at Tabaiba for a fantastic couple of dives at the wreck. After the dives we all decided to jump into the sea from the jeti (without scuba gear) as the tide was so far in. We went for a swim out to the surface buoys and it was a great end to the days diving.

On Thursday the team went down to the marina to give the new interns (and Ned) some practice at the 800m snorkel and the 100m tow. The best part of this day was the fact I didn’t have to go in and my only job was to give some encouraging words from the warmth of the sun soaked jeti!!

 On Friday night Buzz, Alan, Steve and I decided to head out into Las Americas to welcome the new interns to Tenerife. We all had an amazing time and we made the most of having the next day off!

I am now a confirmed Instructor!

Unfortunately no new news as I am still out of the water until Thursday! 

Luckily now I am authorised to teach which is great news, so i am looking forward to teaching my first courses :-)

So my week went quite the same as the last, but new intern this week (dubbed Ollie,) so on Monday I went through how things worked, etc.

On Tuesday I did the Emergency First Response with Ollie which was good fun ! And the rest of the day I did some more admin.

This week was full of sadness as Buzz and Patrick were doing their last week here. Buzz came a long way from losing his key’s at the petrol station on his first day, and it was really good to work with Patrick again.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to dive with Buzz in his last week because of my ear but I hope I will get to see him soon in another cool place.

I can't believe its all over 8 weeks has just disappeared!!

Week eight was my sadly my last week at mermaid diving and like the rest of my time in Tenerife it flew past

At the start of my last week I went back to Abades and had a nice dive with two dsds who really enjoyed diving for the first time. Then in the afternoon we had another discover scuba diver experience, Tom, who was a bit nervous at first about going diving but afterwards he said it was "the best experience of his life" which is always nice to hear.

Later in the week Flounder and I drank champagne under water to celebrate me passing my dive master and Flounder having 100 dives under his belt. drinking under water was a bizarre yet amazing experience, which I'm sure I will never forget

Week 8 has had a lot of fantastic diving in it, but it also meant I had to say goodbye to a lot of new good friends, but I'm sure we will all stay in touch and one day meet up to dive again. I know that I would very much like to return to mermaid diving for some more amazing dives. I would even come back tomorrow if I could

I have finished my internship, roll on the IDC after the summer!

I looked at the date today (25th May) and realised that my Divemaster Internship is over and that I SHOULD be flying home today! Luckily for me though 8 weeks has turned into more like 28 weeks! I can’t quite believe that two months have passed already though, however I am now very much looking forward to the summer.

This week started with a trip to Radazul with Chris who was a returning customer. We had a great couple of dives and saw a wide array of life from Trumpet fish to Barracuda and Groupers. Patrick, Buzz and I also re-visited and mapped the second reef at Abades so we can start taking customers there in the near future. Having built up this reef so much for the past few weeks after Randall and I explored it, I was half expecting this time for it to be deserted. Within 5 minutes of swimming towards the reef however, we saw the first of four common stingrays and a host of other fish species.

This week also brought my first dive at yellow mountain and we visited a nice swim thorough area at 13m and also Crocodile rock. I really enjoyed the steep ‘cliff like’ drops at Yellow Mountain and am looking forward to exploring this site in full.

After completing the exams and skill set on Wednesday morning I am very happy to say that I am a Divemaster!! – in terms of completing the internship anyway. I am now just waiting on PADI processing my application and bring on a busy summer of diving.

Melissa is sadly out of the shop for the next few weeks so we are all working extra hard to keep things running smoothly. Interestingly though without the ‘Mermaid’ here, we have had various team meetings about the changing of the shop name…… a clear winner was ‘Merman Diving!’ The paperwork is in the post….

Flounder 

Mermaid Diving Photo Diary 1st July 2014 The gang at El Puertito

The gang headed off to El Puertito for Patrick’s last dive with us as Mermaid Diving. We were joined by his son James following his PADI Advanced Open Water course last week. Congratulations to Ollie for completing her PADI Rescue Diver course! They had a great morning with the turtles and the visibilty was amazing!

Ciao Americanos :-(

This week has been hot and sunny! Lewis decided to continue his diving education and we went to Alcalà to do start his PADI Advanced Open Water Course and did 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 Diver 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!

Ahhh I´m so close!! …… Just a few more dives.

Alright so Alan’s blog week number six at the wonderful dive shop Mermaid diving, 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 a PADI 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!!

Week of the Turtles

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 a new site we found called Alcala. 

This new 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! 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!

Shop Life!!

I got back from England on the Monday and chilled out and got some food for my apartment. The next day Paul came back….!!!! 

Paul was here for the first time in February and did his PADI Open Water Diver Course and then PADI Advanced Open Water course, but this time he was just doing some recreational diving. 

We went off and did El Puertito and Abades. Unfortunately I had a problem with my ear mid week which put a stop to my diving. I went to the doctor’s and found out I had an ear infection and I was on a lot of drugs for a week including drops, so the rest of my week involved being in the shop talking to potential customers etc.

All in all an interesting week but could have been a lot better.

My 60th dive complete and my internship almost finished

This week was a very exciting one for me because I finally completed my PADI Divemaster Internship. 

On Monday we went to Abades and this time we returned to the second reef which is fast becoming one of my favourite dive sites. On this particular dive we saw three rays and a pink dentex, as well as lots of large trumpet fish hiding in the small cave on the back face of the reef. 

Later on in the week I returned to Abades with Steve and Patrick to complete Steve’s PADI Rescue Diver Course,  rescue scenario in the sea. This involved me going off and hiding somewhere in the reef whilst Steve had to start at the spot I was last seen and conduct a search until  I was found. After finding me, he had to check for responsiveness and raise me slowly to the surface. Once at the surface he had to check for breathing, give two rescue breaths and then tow me into shore whilst providing breaths. All of this was done calmly and quickly. 

After we got back from Abades we then went to the marina wall and did the same for Alan who also managed to cope with the rescue scenario very well and the whole thing ran smoothly.

The next day we went out diving again and managed to get my 60th dive, which was the last thing on my Divemaster check list.

 Later on the evening we went for burgers at flash point which was a nice way to relax knowing I have everything checked off.

Goodbye Merman Diving

Well this is my final blog as my time here at Mermaid diving is coming to an end. I cannot believe that the time has gone by so quickly. It seems like only last week I was arriving here and meeting the team at the Lamb restaurant.

We have had a busy 2 weeks with customers and intern training. Week 8 was the week of PADI Discover Scuba participants. We were busy at the hotel pools and we had  6  people come and try the experience. This included the pool sessions and 4  people tried  the open water dives. We had good dives with them at Abades and El Puertito.  Both these sites are excellent as there is an abundance of fish at Abades and the turtles at El Puertito The conditions are nice and calm at these sites.

Paul a customer who had earlier this year completed his open water and advanced course with us  returned  for a weeks holiday. We dived at Radazul,  Abades  and El Puertito. We saw Common rays turtles and lots of fish varieties.

My son James came out on holiday  and I  have had the pleasure of doing his PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course. It was really fantastic to see him develop his skills. I can still remember the whole family doing our first Try dive in the the harbour in the Cayman Islands in 2008. James has really enjoyed the whole experience and has captured some fantastic footage on his Go Pro.

The interns have worked hard over the last 2 weeks. Buzz has passed his DSD Intern ship and is now qualified  to conduct the DSD program.  Buzz is leaving us this weekend and returning to the UK. We will all miss him as he has been fun and really been a part of the team. Buzz arrived here having only done a DSD experience. It is fantastic to see him in the water now as he has excellent buoyancy and is very confident. “ All the best Buzz and congratulations.”

 Alan and Steve have worked really hard and completed their stamina tests in the Marina and they both passed their Dive master exams this week. “ Congratulations Alan and Steve well done”. They only need now to get to 60 dives which they should do by the end of next week.

We have been joined by Ollie who started with us on Monday She has completed her EFR already and her confines for the rescue course. Ollie has joined us from Norway and is already an experienced diver. She is fitting in really well into the team.

Flounder has been a star as always helping to ensure the whole team is running smoothly. Flounder is staying on over the summer and is doing his instructors course in September. He will make an excellent instructor and I wish him every success for the future.

The weather has been fantastic with hardly any wind over the last 2 weeks. The temperatures have been in the mid to high 20′s . The sea is 21 degrees and the conditions have been fantastic for diving.

 Can I take this opportunity to thank everyone for  all the hard work they have put in whilst I have been here. I have met some fantastic interns and customers and  we have had some great fun. There are too many to list here.

I would especially  like to thank Melissa for the support and trust that she has shown me whilst I have been here and I wish her and Mermaid diving every success in the future.

It just leaves me to say “  That’s it good bye from Patrick “

Its week 7 but guess what I have decided not to leave… like ever :-)

Things are getting busy at Mermaid Diving. This week we were pretty much fully booked in diving terms, which included two separate night dives.

We were joined by Vera and Wendell from the Netherlands and returning customer Brian on Saturday for two dives at El Puertito. Vera is a PADI Instructor and was accompanying Wendell who was here completing his Open Water course. Vera, Brian and I went off and found the turtles whilst Patrick conducted the course and Buzz observing. Once Wendell became certified after two dives on Sunday at Radazul, Vera convinced him to jump straight into a night dive the following day. We all had a great time on Monday at Abades where we saw rays, groupers and a dentex and had plenty of coffee stops in between dives.

Tuesday brought the arrival of Tracey and Simon from the UK who were both open water divers. We did two dives at Abades early morning and there was most definitely a feeling of nostalgia after the late night finish the previous night! Both loved the dive so much that they decided to come to El Puertito on Thurday for some Turtle searching, and I think it was safe to say that this dive certainly made an impression on both of them!

Our second night dive of the week was with returning customer Craig at Tabaiba. As Craig was an experienced Advanced diver we chose to really push the boat out with this dive and combine the elements of wreck, deep and night all in one. We had a great day out with Craig and we even played a little pool in the local coffee shop.

I am happy to say that I have finally made a decision with what to do after my internship ends and that is to stay here!! The rising temperature and scuba diving as a ‘job’ is just far too tempting. I plan to gain experience over the summer as a DM and take my Instructor exams in September! Bring on the summer!
Flounder

Finally a Divemaster but sad its my last week

Last week! It feels a little bit strange. The rib boat is up from the water repairs  

Monday: Tinman and I go to Radazul with Kevin who is doing his last open water. He´s doing good and it´s a nice dive we saw a little octopus.

Tuesday: Day off It´s windy but I decide to go to El Medano and up mountan roja. I get sandblasted when I pass the big beach Tejina, but I make it.

Wednesday: I go and leave tanks in Las Galletas we have a new place where we fill the tanks but it´s just a hundred meter from the other one. After that it´s scrubbing the boat taking away the shells and alges . Hard work, interesting though to see the work there, but scrubbing…

Thursday: I do the rest of the stamina skills for the dive master course. Tinman and I go down to the marina. 800m snorkelling, it´s pain! No fun at all. I give it all. Please don´t let the score be a two. I don´t want to swim this again, but it turns out I swam fast, the score is a 4!

Then the tow swim, I am pumped! I tow Tinman in a record speed. The boats starts to move from the waves I create (not really) and get the score 5!

Then it´s floating in 15 minutes, well what can I say? That´s nothing in the superman state I am in now…

We end early cause this evening we will do a night dive, first for me. Tinman, Marta and I meet up at the dive centre when the sun feels a little bit sleepy. We take the Jumpy to Abades. Martha going to do her night dive as a part of her advance course. I´m leading I have a hard time to see the compass. Even though it glows in the dark, and I´m telling you that not a good thing. Am I getting old? Glasses? Crouch? Coffin? Marta do it fine and me to until the end when, yes the compass… Well we make it back Tinmans compass works better…Diving in the dark good experience, but we didn´t see that much (yes, we had torches). Not that impressed, I expected more. But I learned during this 8 weeks that diving at the same dive site can vary a lot from time to time, so I guess I have to give it one more shot in the future.

Friday: Mikey a former intern and instructor is kind enough to come by and do the kit exchange with me Tinman supervising. It´s one of the things you have to do for the divemaster exame. The cold pool… You have to change mask and fins also I wasn´t prepared for that. It went well, you just have to be calm.

Tinman and I go to the hotel pool and try to lure some new customer to the Mermaid. I´m in the water this time and there are some people trying. Couple of crazy Hungarians, not crazy but very happy to have vacation…

Saturday: Day of take it easy

Sunday: Last day. I´m doing the skills in the pool that is scored and required for the divemaster exam. Hardest part for me is the talking skills, but it all went well!!!!
What did we do after wards, scrubbing the boat? I don´t remember it´s all a blur a relief to have made it!

What I remember is that we went for a beer at Big Als after the day was finished.

Thank you Tinman Vince and off course Melissa for the teaching! Jeff, Ned, Percy, Ludo, Mike and all the rest who have helped.

And so a new Divemaster has come to the world…

Blinky

Yes the boat still there! But it was too expensive (35000€ if you’re interested) for me. Not all stories can have a happy end, after all this is not Hollywood…
 

 

Four Tabaiba dives in one week… are you kidding me! :)

Well I am definitely excited to say that at the start of my 5th week here at Mermaid Diving 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!

Final stretch to Divemaster

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, one for our instructor Patrick and another for the Mermaid Melissa! 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!

A great week with my brother

This week my brother came out to stay with me for a week as he wanted to do a PADI Open Water course. On Monday we went in the pool for a session and he did really well for the first time. After that I had the day off and went to Los Cristianos with him for the rest of the day.

On Tuesday we did the second and last pool session which also went really well, and in the afternoon in did some admin while my brother completed his book.

Wednesday was time to go to the open water, so we headed off to Abades. The weather and water was looking good, but unfortunately when we tried to descend, my brother couldn’t equalize. Unfortunately we decided to call it off. It was sad as I was really looking forward to diving with my brother, but I couldn’t do anything to help.

Thursday was also a day off so I could spend some time with my brother, and also to pack to go back to England for the weekend for a family reunion.

Finally Friday, we came in to shop briefly before taking a taxi to the airport and leaving Tenerife for a couple of days.

Lots of great diving again this week

On Monday we went to Abades, where Ned led the dive. At the start of the dive the visibility was a little worse than normal, but once we got some depth it seemed to improve.

The next day we returned to Abades with Alan and Steve who attempted to navigate and map the site which they both enjoyed. Ned and I went on a fun dive to the second reef where we saw lots of large trumpet fish which hid in a small cave. and the visibility was amazing.

Radazul was the next place I went diving. Patrick, Ned and I went off and learned how to use a surface marker buoy, whilst Flounder took Alan, Steve and Yens off on their dive.

Later on in the week we went to Tabaiba and had a amazing first dive where the visibility was incredible. We had an open water diver with us who was completing some adventure dives and it was there first time diving a wreck which they really enjoyed. We then enjoyed a nice snack of chips at the nearby cafe whilst we waited for the sun to go down for our night dive.

The dive was good fun and enjoyed especially by Alan, Steve and Brian who where all enjoying a night dive for the first time.

This week has once again flown by and I have enjoyed every day of my internship so far.

A week of PADI course achievements

This has been an excellent week again for intern training. Buzz passed his Divemaster after completing his 60 dives. “ Congratulations Buzz  on passing your PADI Divemaster Internship . You have consistently worked hard and  have been a pleasure to teach.” 

Alan and Steve both passed their confined and open water dives in their PADI Rescue Diver Course and are now rescue divers. Flounder has been approved as a PADI Divemaster and this week has passed his Discover Scuba Diving Leader internship. 

We sadly said good bye to Ned who passed his Divemaster this week . “Well done congratulations Ned, we are missing you already.” Ned was only back with us for 3 weeks and worked really hard to finish all the final bits off that was still outstanding.. Ned sorted out a farewell BBQ for us all on Wednesday which Buzz hosted at his apartment. We all had a really great evening. 

We all climbed Red Mountain after work this week and were rewarded with some spectacular views from the top.

This week we met Lewis a Discover Scuba diving student and went to Abades. He was really fantastic and quickly started to master his buoyancy control. We had 2 nice dives with excellent visibility and saw lots of different fish types across the  first reef. These included Trigger fish, Goat fish and Trumpet fish. I really hope that Lewis continues his diving development as he clearly enjoyed it and took to it easily.

We also had the pleasure of  meeting Wolfgang and Hirra and enjoyed 2 dives with them at Abades to the first and second reef.  Visibility was good and there are larger fish at the second reef including Sting rays. We also had the pleasure of meeting Alex who is Randalls’ brother and completed his confined pool sessions for open water.

On Friday and Saturday  I taught Andy his PADI Advanced Open Water course and we met Terri his girlfriend who was a Divemaster intern here 3 years ago. We all dived at Las Eras, Abades and did the deep and wreck dives at Tabaiba. We all got on really well and had a good laugh.

The weather this week has been hot  in the high 20′s and the sea temperature is holding steady at 21 degrees. The diving has been excellent and the sea very calm. There has also been very little wind.
It just leaves me to say” What are you waiting for come and join us”

Bring on the stamina tests!

A week of Divemaster reading and stamina tests.

The week of stamina started well as I received 5/5 for my kit exchange which I did with Randall. It was the skill that provoked the most thought even right back at the beginning of my internship and it was the one I was most anticipating. It went perfectly though as Randall and I had talked about how we were going to tackle it before we entered the water and it is surprisingly easy changing full kit whilst breathing from only one regulator if you remain calm and composed. 

The next day I had my practice attempt at the 800m snorkel which felt pretty torturous as I ignored Patrick’s advice of not wearing my wetsuit. I found I was far too buoyant and it was impossible to kick efficiently. It was safe to say I listened to my Instructors advice for the ‘real’ test and to just brave the cold without the wetsuit. It went very well and I received 4/5 after a time of 15 minutes. I also received 5/5 for the 15 minute tread and 4/5 for tired diver tow.

Patrick has started to give me a lot more responsibility this week in terms of giving more briefs and leading dives at the sites with which I have been gaining familiarity with. I have led three dives at El Puertito with customers Brian, Vera, Wendell and Craig.  I also led two dives at Radazul with Vera whilst Patrick conducted Wendell’s open water course. I am thoroughly enjoying the new challenge of this type of diving, as leading and having to navigate dives correctly gives a massively different outlook.

General things in Tenerife are incredibly positive. I don’t think I have seen a cloud in the sky for about a month and the mercury is rising more and more every week. I am very much now in the mood for summer – I think it’s going to be a good one!

Anyway I better go now, I have a night dive in a few hours to prepare for….!

Flounder

Welcome back Patrick, a sad goodbye to Blinky and hello to new intern Buzz!

The last week has passed in a blur we have welcomed new intern Ben aka Buzz to the dive centre, Buzz has joined us as a non certified diver, and so his first day was a nice mix of induction then straight into the practical aspect of the Emergency First Response course.

While I was busy with Buzz and his Induction Patrick headed off to Tabaiba with Zippy, Randall and Flounder, they had a great morning and then straight back into the EFR Course.  Zippy needed a refresher and flounder joined in to complete his EFR Course.

A nice end to the day with a quick drink after work to say goodbye to Blinky, who is off once more on his travels, next stop Amsterdam.  Blinky has been a great asset to our group and we will all miss his friendly smile and helpful attitude!

Then it was time for Buzz to start his PADI Open Water Diver course, he did really well in the pool, and was happy completing all the skills, an ideal student for Patrick’s first Open water course.  Meanwhile I was in the pol with FLounder and randall working through the skill circuit, Randall is practicing his skills for his PADI IDC coming up later this month, and Flounder needs some practice on his skills before he can do the Divemaster Circuit.

Randall has been busy all week studying hard on his theory for the Instructor course.  It’s great for me to keep all my theory fresh and so I have been quizzing Randal on all of the Physics, Physiology and General standards, and its great to see his knowledge is good.

Good news for Flounder off to the sea to complete the Rescue Exercises practice sessions with Randall and Patrick, they had a great fun morning completing all of the Rescue skills as well as a practice run for the 800 meter snorkel. More practice required ….

Next some fun for Buzz for his Open Water Diver course dives 1 and 2 the group headed off to Abades, they had two great dives, and Buzz did all of his skills really well, and was happy to be in the water looking forward to many more dives during his internship.

Flounder, Patrick and helpful stooge Randall completed the Rescue Scenarios, and got a few funny stares and worried looks from other divers in and around the water, and offers of assistance which is always nice to know.  Flounder did really well on both scenarios and now the exam, and the Emergency Action plan and he will be all finished.

Congratulation to Buzz who has passed his PADI Open Water Diver course, first week in and already passed this.  Next week the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver course.

All in all a lovely week with beautiful weather looking forward to another great week ahead.

Divemaster getting closer each day :-)

This week two former female PADI Divemaster interns (yes there are those) joining us, Oz from Poland and Ck from England. Melissa definitely need an operation of her eyes and finally got a doctor’s appointment. When is the operation? Who knows, but I guess it will take a while. Definitely no more diving with Melissa.

Monday: I do the stamina skill 400 m for the dive master I get a three, 1 ½ minute slower than when I began. Stupid as I am I burn myself the first lengths going too fast. A little hard to swallow, I guess I have a little competition Devil in me after all…

Tuesday: El Puertito nice dive with Ck and Oz, Tinman snorkelling above us. Saw two cuttlefish fighting, or what did they do? We saw a ray and of course turtle! Visibility great, best since I started diving here! Nice dive, search and recovery for me at the end. Second dive turtle again. Did rescue exercise seven in the end Ck played injured.

In the afternoon Tinman and me go to a hotel pool to promote Mermaid diving centre. Tinmans in the pool there are some finnish girls, a polish and a Scottish guy who did the try dives. Maybe the Scottish guy is a former customer? Everybody liked it though.

Wednesday: To the Poco Naufragio Tinman, Ck and Oz go down to the wreck. I dive with Johnny who dive his first dive since his open water. His a little bit nervous, but are doing fine. We saw two Rays Trumpetfish and Barracuda. Good dive. . Second dive, Drift dive at Pequino valle Best dive on this site! We go a little bit further out and way. Good visibility, cool valleys, blue anemones and Barracuda.

Thursday: Training in the pool with Melissa doing the skills that´s going to be scored during the dive master course. Good training and good to see Melissa in the water even though it´s just the pool.

Friday: To Radazul with two Norwegians. They get a little bit surprised when I speak Swedish to them, the languages are very similar. Good visibility, didn´t see anything special a big Barracuda and of course the Christmas tree. One of the Norwegians pick a lot of junk from the bottom mainly bottles.

Saturday: Diving with Kevin who has dived a little bit before with a friend, catching lobsters in north of England. His never gone a diving course so now his doing his PADI Open Water course, good move. Pool sessions and Kevin doing his skills

Sunday: We go to Abades, Tinman Kevin and me I do my mapping skill behind, Tinman and Kevin do a fun dive. Then the second Kevin do his skills and I continue to finish my mapping.

What else? Been out with the girls and Melissa a couple of times in San Blas. Not the same places as when I was out with the guys, nice though. We went to a Tapas place good food, but expensive!
Still take a cortado lech y leche and maybe a small beer or two… or three
The boat still there, and I past the written dive master test!

Congratulations (!),

Blinky, who is closer to be a professional…

Two new guys have joined the Mermaid family

On Monday we had two new PADI Divemater interns join the family who have been renamed Alan and Steve. They are two open water divers from Rhode island in America they both seemed to fit in really quickly and seem to get on really well with everyone. 

Also Ned, Patrick and I went to El Puertito with Gary and Owen, two open water divers. This was a really cool dive as Ned brought his Go Pro with him so we got some really cool shots.

Later on in the week we went to the wreck at Tabaiba with Rhiannon, a rescue diver from Bristol. This was also Alan and Steve’s first dive at the wreck so everybody was really looking forward to it. After our two dives on the wreck and seeing as it was such a nice sunny day we all decided to go for a swim, which was a nice way to relax and enjoy the nice warm water and hot sun.

On Thursday, Alan, Steve, Patrick and I took Robert out for his PADI Open water dives 3 and four at the marina wall. Despite the visibility being bad and having a long surface swim on the first dive every one really enjoyed both the dives.

On Friday we had a DSD called Gwyn and we returned to El Puertito which he really enjoyed. He was amazed to see the turtles so close up.

At night time Alan, Steve, Flounder and I went out to Las Americas which was a fantastic night out and we all had a great laugh. After waking up at half one the next day, Ned, Patrick, Flounder and I went go karting at the Karting Club track and after 30 minutes of racing around, we decided we should all go back another day and see who will the fastest out of the mermaid diving gang.

Week 5 has been another brilliant week out here in the sun but i’m a little sad to be already in the second half of my internship.

The past 6 weeks have just flown by….!

I can hardly believe where the time has gone. The last 6 weeks have just flown by. My wife has visited and James my 18 year old son is coming out in 2 weeks time after he has finished his A levels. 2 weeks after that I will be returning to the UK for the summer.

This has been another busy week for the interns. Alan and Steve have completed their navigation and fish ID advance course dives. We are off tomorrow night wreck diving at Tabaiba where we will complete their PADI Advanced Open Water course. They have also completed their Emergency first response exam and practical. We will be doing their rescue course next week in the marina before completing the course in open water. They have also completed their rescue manuals.

Randall passed his instructors exam last weekend which is fantastic. He is just waiting to be processed  by PADI and put into teaching status. “Congratulations Randall well done”.

Buzz and Ned have completed their deep water assessment and only have the rescue assessment to do next week before completing their dive master course. Flounder has had a very busy week working with customers.

We went to Radazul with Yens a customer who did his advance course with us last year to do a deep dive. Yens has bought all his equipment and was keen to try it out. We saw a large shoal of Barracuda. We also lots of Trumpet fish and some Cuttlefish.

On Friday we met Naomi who did her Discover Scuba diving experience with us. After a pool session we went to open water at Abades. The visibility was excellent and we saw lots of fish on the reef.

We also met Brian who is doing his adventure diving course. We went to Las Eras for his deep dive. There we found a very large grouper who was hiding under a rock. It had lovely colours and just stayed staring at us from the shelter of the rock ledge. The fish at this site are larger than at other sites and we saw a large number of big Trumpet fish just floating in a large recess  in the rocks. It was Brian s’ first dive in 10 months and he wanted to go straight back in to continue exploring. We are all looking forward to our wreck and night dive tomorrow night at Tabaiba.

The weather this week has been lovely and hot with days of clear blue skies. The diving conditions are now excellent again after a few days of rougher weather that churned the sea bed up which knocked out the excellent visibility we normally we have. The sea temperature is 21 degrees at the surface which is fantastic. It will now continue to get warmer over the summer.

It just leaves me say “It would be lovely to see you and  have you come and join us whether it is for recreational diving or developing your skills through further courses. Go on treat yourself you know it makes sense”