1st March 2011. Black Cove

The morning was spent at Black Cove with Neil, Tom & Alexander from Russia. There were lots of Octopus round which was nice and Alexander had a good dive.

The afternoon was spent at Abades Beach with Mary, Neil, Jonny, Steve & Sian. As part of the referral we had Open Water Dive 1 and Sian was great in the water and looked very relaxed. Afterwards she told us how nervous she was, it never showed on this dive.

We would like to also welcome Rachel Westbrook to the Amarilla Divers Team. She will be with us for 3 months completing her Dive Master course. She comes to us as an Open Diver and will be completing her Advanced, EFR, Rescue and DM plus some specialties too.

2nd March 2011. Boat Diving

We went along to Las Galletas for a boat dive and went to Los Chuchos with Alexander, Neil, Dave, Tracey & Tom. There were a few sting rays around but the larger ones seemed to be having a few days rest.

Poris Pier with Sian

Sian was very nervous today with dives 2 & 3 as she was worried about the mask skills. Poris Pier was lovely although the visibility was not at it's best. Sian completed her skills and was elated that she managed to do the mask.

We completed both dive 2 & 3 here this afternoon and now only have dive 4 for Sian to qualify.

3rd March 2011. Black Cove Moon Pool

Dave & Tracey were back this morning for a dive at Black Cove, so torches in hand and off we went. The Moon Pool is a stunning dive and is great from the inside where you can see all the overhangs and life. Many Anemones live here to, which is great for pictures.

Black Cove Beach

For dive 4 we went to Black Cove as the entry & exit are nice and easy. Sian was a little nervous but calmed herself down quickly. We managed to do all the skills and have a great dive. We did the last mask skill at the end of the dive and Sian was shaking her head at Mary who was saying 'yes please Sian'. After the skills had been done and we had surfaced, Sian was se eager to know if she passed. Mary had to compose herself as she congratulated Sian on her Open Water diver. This is the first student that has had Mary our Instructor in tears.

Well Done Sian we look forward to taking you to see the turtle and showing you how good diving can be ..... without skills!

4th March 2011. El Puertito.

Dave & Tracey were in for their last dive and so along with Neil, Tom & Rachel we went to El Puertito to see the Turtles. We were lucky enough to see a few of our underwater friends and they were happy enough to be photographed too.

We say goodbye to Dave & Tracey and we are pleased you found us. We know you had a good look round, obviously you chose well ;)

5th March 2011. Skill Circuit

So we had all our Dive Master interns in the pool for some skill circuit practice and scoring. Tom, Mick, Connar & Rachel were joined by instructors Mary & Neil. Tom & Connar were being marked whilst Rachel & Mick were practicing their skills.

The session went well and the scoring was great. The results were good and have high hopes for all our Dive Master interns.

7th March 2011. Advanced course with Rachel.

Rachel Westbrook our newest DM Intern was out in open water for her Navigation dive with Neil. Tom & Connar were off doing 'dive site set up' for Neil.

The dive went great and although slightly off course, Rachel completed the dive well. Only 4 more dives left.

El Puertito.

We went to El Puertito with Connar, Mary, Steve & Sian in the hope of finding a Turtle. Well we was very lucky today as we had 4 Turtles with us for most of the dive. The 3 adults and one baby were happy enough swimming with us and eating our bubbles. This was a great dive and there was lots of other fish life today too. Sian had an 'excellent 'dive which was fab.

We hope to see you guys soon and wish Steve the best of luck with the courses he chooses.

Night Dive

Rachel was on her first Night dive with Neil & Tom and has decided she likes Night diving more than Day diving.... maybe working in Iceland would be a good move ;)

We did see lots of life though and fond about 10 Spanish Dancers and a stingray.

8th March 2011. Boat Diving

Alexander was back for a boat dive before flying back to Russia in a few days time.

This time we went to Los Champinones with Neil & Rachel. This was the first time Rachel had dived off a RIB. She did very well and the dive was great. The vis was good and we also saw Los Arcos as we drifted.

EFR with Rachel

Neil was in the classroom teaching Emergency First Response this afternoon with Rachel and she had some excellent exam scores. We will now concentrate on finishing her Advanced course with Deep, PPB & wreck dives and will then be practicing Rescue.

9th March 2011. DSD

This morning we had Gary in from Scotland for a Discover Scuba diver course. His mother-in-law Lorraine had won the prize from Volare Cabaret Showbar next door and gave it to Gary.

Gary went in the pool with Neil for the skills and then out to the house reef. He had a great time and completed the skills and open water dive well.

San Miguel Wall

We had Michal from Poland in for a dive this afternoon. Neil took him down to the San Miguel wall where the visibility was good and there was some large barracuda and lots of cuttlefish.

10th March 2011. Discover Scuba Diver

Well we had Ray Wilde from Coast FM in today for a Discover Scuba Diver Course with Mary & Neil. We have been waiting for a while to get Ray in the water and at last we did. Ray was great in the pool and didn't show any nerves at all. The skills went well and both Ray and Mary enjoyed the pool session.

Ray then went out to sea with Neil , Mick, Rachel, Peter and Laura at Abades which was gorgeous today. Laura had been in the pool with Neil in the morning for a Scuba Review.

Well done Ray we look forward to having you dive again soon.

Abades Outer Reef.

Well after Mick, Ray & Laura came back to the center, the rest went for a second dive on the outer reef which was lovely. The visibility was great and there were loads of trumpet fish around in the overhangs.

11th March 2011. Tabaiba.

Neil & the Dive Master interns went up to Tabaiba. rachel was completing Advanced open water dives deep & wreck, whilst Tom & Connar were doing Deep Specialty.

With 2 dives off the wreck with vis of about 20 meters these were good dives for the guys. There was a large amount of Bonitos at the wreck today.

12th March 2011. Peak Performance Buoyancy

Today we finished off Rachel's Advanced course with the PPB dive. Rachel had a lot of 'fun' with the hoops but Neil says she was great once she got the hang of it. ;)

14th March 2011. Abades Outer Reef

Neil was in the pool for a Scuba Review with Per from Denmark, then off to Abades Outer Reef with Per & Rachel. Per was great in the water and we would never have thought it was 7 years since he lasted dived. Per will be back during the week for some more dives.

Mary was in the classroom finishing off some exams with Tom & Connar. The results were good and they are both happy that they have no more exams left. Well done guys.

It was then off to the pool for some more final scores for their skill circuit and Rescue skills practice.

15th March 2011. San Miguel Rays

The water was still and the clarity was almost perfect so Neil & Mary along with Jonny, Connar, Tom & Rachel went for a leisurely dive to see the sting rays. Rachel was completing dive 2 of her deep diver specialty and this was a perfect spot.

We had a few of the larger Atlantic Black rays as well as the smaller common rays. A great dive had by all.

Snorkelling Safari.

Connar & Tom took a couple of snorkellers along the house reef. They did a great job and we think they will make fabulous Snorkellers Heehee.. After 45 minutes of snorkellers the clients were very happy that they managed to see some fish.

16th March 2011. Dive Master training

We had Connar & Tom in the water for some stamina. Connar made good progress with his 100 meter tired diver tow and scored an excellent 4.

Tom was also studying hard for his Enriched Air Nitrox exam which he will be completing soon.

17th March 2011. Rescue Training.

We had all the guys working in the pool today for Rachel's Rescue course. They were dropping like flies, well only pretend of course. Rachel did a grand job of lifting Connar and Rescuing Mick as he 'panicked' underwater.

We will be out to Open Water to practise the skills before Rachel gets signed off.

Well done Guys.

I would also like to congratulate Tom on his Enriched Air Nitrox exam results. He managed a stunning 96% with 24 questions correct from 25. He was a little sad to have one incorrect, but he did a great job and we are very proud of him.

18th March 2011. House Reef.

We took a dive on the house reef today with Mick, Connar, Tom, Rachel, Neil & Mary. We had Connar Lead the dive as part of his Dive Master training whilst Rachel had a few 'Rescues' to make.

The dive went well and Connar did a great job of leading the dive. Neil issued a few minor problems for Connar, who responded well.

Rachel managed to do her rescues well and we have high hopes for her future.

Well done guys.

19th March 2011. Drift dive Jonny's Point.

We had a fabulous drift dive at Jonny's point this morning. The visibility was excellent and the dive was great. With Per, Matt, Rachel & neil we found 7 Angel Sharks along the way, this is the most we have seen in one dive. We also found a baby Eagle Ray, Barracuda, Octopus and the usual critters.

Yellow Mountain.

After dropping Per back at the shop we took Matt & Rachel along to Yellow Mountain Marine Reserve. The visibility here was not as good as the mornings dive, but still a great dive. The guys were very impressed by the rock formations here and made their way through the swim through. Rachel had a few more Rescue scenarios, which she completed well.

20th March 2011. Discover Scuba Diver.

Mary had a great day off in the sun....Whilst Neil was back in the pool with Niina & Patrik from Sweden. They were completing their Discover Scuba Diver course, which they did well. Niina was slightly nervous at first but the session went well and all the guys went to the house reef for a dive.

Snorkelling Safari.

Neil had some more snorkellers this afternoon. With Rene, Denise & Marianne they went down the house reef to find some of the fish life there. We found a lot of fish, but there was also loads of Portuguese Man Of War jelly's there. We have found quite a few of these at different sites recently.

21st March 2011. Deep Specialty.

Today we finished off the deep specialty with Connar, Tom & Rachel with 2 dives at Marazul. The guys did a great job and managed to set the dive up with a stage bottle for use on the safetly stop. Well done guys.

23rd March 2011. Rescue Diver course.

We went down to Black Cove for 2 dives to finish off Rachel's Rescue Diver skills and also to keep the boys on their toes. With Jonny, Neil, Connar, Tom & Rachel we had a great session and everyone did a great job. Rachel successfully completed her skills, well done Rachel.

24th March 2011. Dive Master & Rescue.

We had a very productive day today. Connar, Rachel & Mick had a lot of stamina to complete and had some great scores. We managed to complete the tread water, 800 meter snorkel and the 400 swim.

This was the final part of Connar's DM course and we now say goodbye to Connar and congratulate him on successfully completing his DM with Mary. You will be missed Connar.

Rachel then had her final exam for her rescue diver course and passed with a staggering 100%. Well done Rachel, girl power all the way.

25th March 2011. Digital Underwater Photography

Rachel & Tom were back in the pool with Neil today doing some training on their DUP Specialty. With some new toys to play with, the guys had some time to 'focus' on their pictures.. heehee

We will be looking at the results and may put some pics up to.

They will be taking their skills to the open water tomorrow at, probably the best site in Tenerife for photos, Abades.

26th March 2011. Abades Beach & Outer Reef.

The visibility at Abades was stunning today with loads of life to see. We had 2 courses going on today, Digital Underwater Photography with Neil & DM Interns Rachel & Tom. Plus a Discover Scuba Diver course with Mary, Melinda & Kiko.

Everyone did a great job and hopefully there will be some nice photos that will be added to our Facebook page.

Kiko had a great time and said it was beautiful and he now would like to have another go. Excellent news.

28th March 2011. Bubblemaker

Mary, Neil & Rachel went in to the pool with Twins Sarah & Mark for a spot of Bubble Maker. The guys were great and an excellent time. Mark was great with his signals and really too to diving. Sarah was great and swam through the hoops easily. We had a few pictures in the pool with the Wreck, hoops and instructor. Next stop is PADI Seal Team. Well done guys.

28th March 2011. New Wreck site.

Jonny & Neil went out investigating today to have a look at the NEW Yacht wreck site. This is was a great day for it and the visibility was fantastic and so the guys had a good chance to look round the Yacht. We will be taking some of our more advanced divers down to the wreck, depending on weather conditions.

29th March 2011. Seal Team.

The twins Mark & Sarah came back in this morning for some more fun in the pool. This they were doing their Seal Team adventure.

With this course the guys learnt how to do some of the skills that Open Water divers learn. We completed Regulator Clearing & Recovery, Mask Clearing, Alternate air source use, hovering and fin pivots (buoyancy control). They also learnt to put together their own kit and take it apart. We also had loads of fun with the Egg & Spoon race, pennie drop and much more.

Mark & Sarah will now hopefully be back later in the year with Mum & Dad and will be doing their Scuba Diver course. We are really looking forward to this. Well done guys.

30th March 2011. Advanced Open Water course.

Amarilla Divers would like to welcome Chris for his Advanced Open Water course. We started with 2 dives at Poris Pier for Peak Performance Buoyancy and Underwater Navigation. The visibility was a bit bad here today, but this made a great job for the Navigation.

The PPB went well and we hope to some of it put in to practice over the next few dives.

Many thanks to all the divers, students and staff.

Amarilla Divers.

BACK