PADI Night diving Specialty Course fun for us all

Night diving fun for us all with Matthew, a PADI Advanced Open water diver who was doing his PADI Rescue Diver course and a few PADI specialities with us. The first night dive was at Poco Naufragio, this was a really great dive and we got to see lots of night life including a sleepy Common Octopus. Then more night diving fun off to our next dive at yellow mountain, this was a really good I especially enjoyed going through the swim through in the dark. However, night diving is not without its difficulties as I proved by getting lost on the way back to the boat. Fortunately we were not too far away and after a quick surface swim we were back where we wanted to be.

After the night dives we had Matthews confined water for his PADI Rescue course. He did really well on this and breezed through it. The next day we were joined by Tom and Fein. Two advanced divers who had a couple of dives booked with us throughout the week. Our first dive together was at Poco Naufragio. Sadly we didn’t see any of the big rays but we did see a large school of cow bream which was nice to see. After that we moved on to the moon pools, with the sun being on the moon pools were as beautiful as ever. After a nice busy morning we headed off to Complete Matthews Rescue diver course.  Well done to Matthew for pasing his course.  On Wednesday we returned to the Tabaiba to to finish of Lola and Matthew’s PADI wrecks diving specialty courses, we had a great first dive, looking at hazards of the wreck. On dive four we got to go inside the wreck, both Lola and Matthew enjoyed exploring the wreck and did really well on al of their wreck dives. Later on in the week we were joined again by Tom and Fein. This time we were off to see the turtles, on both dives we got to see the turtles, on dive one we only saw one turtle, but on dive two we got to see three and they were curious enough to hang around and investigate us divers. Both the interns did really well by helping out with the customers kit and Ernie led two great dives. All in all a great week with Night Diving Fun and PADI Specialties.

Its great to be back with the Mermaids again

Today i have been on my internship for a week now! It has been amazing to be back in the water again diving, since the last time I went was when I was here as a customer last January! And I enjoyed it so much I have come back to stay for 2 months!
It is also nice to be able to come to some heat and sunshine after leaving a frosty England behind!
The team have been great at making me feel welcome and helping me get to grips with the work I have to do along side the fun diving part. There is also a really nice atmosphere within the team and socialising outside of work has been part of the fun!
Getting back into diving has been like I have never been away! I have seen octopus, barracuda and cuttlefish as well as many others. Fish identification isn’t my strongest skill so I am hoping this will be something I can improve on through out the course.
This week I even got to see some Dolphins from the boat! Which probably highlighted my week!
I was able to shadow an advanced open water course which meant that I got to do a night dive this week, which always makes me feel a little more nervous but I actually really enjoyed this one and could still see pretty far with the torches! It also meant that I got to know the customers, doing their dives with them, which was nice to be able to do and interesting to be able to watch.
This week I also helped with a snorkel around yellow mountain, we swam to a great spot that was quite shallow and we still got to see quite a lot, lots of cuttle fish and trumpet fish!
I am looking forward to the rest of my internship and being able to learn lots along the way and I am still waiting to dive with my first shark!

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

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.

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!

The 40 Dive Mark!!

So glad to announce I have successfully reached the 40 dive mark!

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.

I’m doing the turtle roll!

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 PADI Discover Scuba Diving Experience 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. 

After the awesome two dives we headed off to Melissa’s for Phil’s superduperawesome chicken burgers! A little taste off heaven to finish off a very successful week at Mermaid Diving! 

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!

Great fun on the dives and then came The Tenerife Carnival :-)

This week is Jeff’s last week leaving me alone, but Percys (the boat captain) brother starting next week. Percy’s nice so I sure it will be fine, but no I´ll be the intern that been here the longest. The time flies away even though I spend a lot of it under water…

Monday: to Abades with the couple from S t Louis and Paul. I had my first dive briefing. Didn´t know in before so it could have gone better, but we all survived. I was leading for the first time. Nice dives with nice people and schools of fish.

Tuesday: Yellow Mountain open water students two guys from England. As always a”little” bit cold the octopus was gone. But we managed, Vince teaching his first OPen Water Course, I was really happy for him.

Wednesday: First Poco naufragio with the open water students. Big waves! Hard to do surface skills, and easy to get seasick as one of the students experienced. Vince did get some of the fluids from the student on him. But it´s easy to wash away we are not only close to the sea, we are in it! We saw a common ray during the dive.  Because of the weather and the evil wind we went to El Puertito for the second dive. Always nice to dive with the turtles! Saw a turtle and common ray.

Thursday: We dive at Tabaiba only my second time here, Paul the american are doing his advanced deep so we are going down to the wreck. Nice wreck and some fish. Randall and old intern has come he takes care of a quite couple from Goningen Holland.

Friday: New dive site, Radazul sounds some something from a Tintin magazine. Paul was completing his PADI Advanced Open Water course doing his navigation and search and recovery. It´s easy to go in here stairs and toilets no sand (good when you are going to wash kits afterwards). We saw a big octopus, Vince with the Go Pro went after it when it left he managed to get some good footage. Cool!

Saturday PADI Rescue diver course dive scenarios at the marina Jeff are the victim he patiently puts up with all the attempts of me trying to rescue him. Rescue dive scenario 7, hard to get him up the boat… Have to train on that skill. But fun and good experience. I did the written test afterwards. It went well.
The evening we all go up north to Santa Cruz. It´s carnival! We all supposed to dress up like something from the cartoon Aladdin movie. I´ll try to be the parrot. I end up as the Featherman… Good time a lot of dancing a lot of people and a lot of Ron meile… My memory is a little bit blurry after a while. Stupid as I am I fall asleep outside the bus station. If I just have walked 50m in to the bus station… Instead I lost my wallet. That´s life!

Sunday zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
Blinky,
- Yes, the boat still there!

Week Two and Moving Through

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. I’ve been in the shop sorting out the webpage and maintained the gear.

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! The team has 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 Divemaster. Finally I feel like my skills are improving! Supercool! 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!

I have a serious obsession with diving Tabaiba!

Hey everybody Alan here again, and I can now say that after my second week here at mermaid diving, I am officially a padi certified 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 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 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.

Week two has passed in a blur my internship will be over before I know it

Week two has also flown past in the blink of a eye, on Monday we went to Playa Negra to do a exploration dive on a dive site that isn’t really used by the dive shop anymore, although there wasn’t a great deal to see I got to do my Navigation dive which made the whole dive worthwhile and interesting.

For the second dive of the day we decided to switch site and returned to Abades, I did my fish ID dive for my PADI Advanced Open Water Course, Abades is always full of plenty marine life to see which made my Fish ID really interesting as I got to swim around the reefs naming as many fish as I could and making a note of the ones I couldn’t, then looking them up in the shop book.  Randall and Flounder were off exploring a new reef at abades and came back making me very jealous.

Then I got to meet the Turtles!  we picked up a customer called Craig and took him to see the turtles at El Puertito, El Puertito is home to a family of around 5 turtles on these two dives we saw three of the turtles and spent time  getting to know the turtles.

The next day we went to Radazul, our furthest northern dive site. I managed to  I got to do the  deep dive of my PADI Advanced Open Water Course down to 30meters, which was a first for me so very exciting! on the second dive we saw a really big grouper, probably about a foot long, which got everybody talking after the dive.

later on the week we met Wendell who was doing his PADI Open Water Diver course with us, watching Patrick instruct in both in the pool and in the ocean seemed very weird, as just last week it was me in Wendell’s shoes doing my open water.

In week two I feel I have come a long way in my diving and feel very much at home in the Mermaid diving family, I am already dreading the end of my internship as I just don’t want to leave the Sun and the amazing diving behind.