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!