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TENERIFE LOG BOOK EASTER 2009 (posted on DiversInc - Home by Alex Carruthers, Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Sub-Aqua Club
DAY 1:-
As we all a bit parched in need of some lubrication after the flight we found ourselves unable to refuse a free lift to Playa de la Americas, we dumped our bags, donned our pulling shirts and headed off. After drinking Harleys bar dry (4.30pm) it was off to find some scran (food). After much searching and developing calf muscles like Arnold Swartzanager we found a restaurant on the beach, sometime later after much refreshment and our bellies refuelled, we relieved ourselves of some more Euros and moved on to Veronicas where I felt it would be a great idea to walk backwards, inebriated up the street. Thanks to Telefonica and there sighting of a rather large communications device I was developing a rather large bruise on my right shoulder, taking it like a man and feeling no pain we carried onwards and upwards to the next bar where we were served our pints in glass wellies. After much dispute over 1 Euro we left to find a kebab, no kebab but a Burger later we found a taxi out of this hell hole back to the Golf de sur.
DAY 2:-
7.30 am and feeling in need of some black coffee we left the bat cave in search of some caffeine, several hours later we left the cafe and after a unanimous vote we decided to purchase a jar of caffeine along with some nibbles and staples. With much haste we returned to our abode situated, high up in Gotham City as we were getting picked up by Mike from Los Abrigos divers at 1.00pm. After we were all suited, booted and with the gear loaded we headed North Eastwards out of Los Abrigos to our dive site. The first dive of the day is Black Cove. The air temperature was now hitting 23 c. This site has a gentle slopping bottom down to around 19m, water temperature 19 c on the bottom, we came across an Eel garden full of garden congers there were also blue Damsel fish, various species of Sea Bream, puffer fish, violet sea urchins Ornate Wrasse, Sea Cucumbers and long spined sea urchins everywhere with the visibility at around 25m what more could you ask for A bigger tank perhaps! After a surface interval of 35min and with our tanks changed we fit our crampons, ropes and karabiners and clamber down the cliff to our second dive The Pool. The entry point A naturally formed swimming pool completely sheltered from the prevailing wind A giant stride later we descend to 3m and exit stage left via a nice little swim through we head along a rocky reef with anemones poking out of the crevices we come across a cave at around 12m, on the ledges around the cave mouth are growing various species of soft corals and anemones on the ledge to the right of the cave entrance there is a small statue of a Buda as we head away from the cave we spot an angel shark on the sea bed on closer inspection it turned out to be deceased but it was still an impressive sight as we near the end of the dive the surge could be felt at 4 m maximum depth on this dive 13m
DAY 3:-
7.30am and theres a green vapour hanging around the other bed room, visibility down to nil and the unmistakeable smell of flatulence in the air, with my regulator in my mouth manage to ventilate the apartment and reduce the methane content of the air to a non flammable level. I put the kettle on the other guys must have smelt the coffee as I was soon joined in the kitchen. A shower and several cups of coffee later we head down the North face of the Igor for some breakfast. With full English devoured we head over to Los Abrigos for 10.00am we arrive at 9.45am only to be told that we were on holiday and our expected time of arrival was actually 10.15am, anyway I digress. With our gear loaded we head off to Costa Selencio our first dive is on a site known as Yellow Mountain after a quick look at the site it was decided to leave our cameras in the Montera as the swell and surge were something else! After gearing up we head down to the entry point. This raging beast was in need of taming and we were the crazy sods made for the job. Our entries were going have to be timed perfectly so after studying the wave and swell pattern for several minutes we had the job sorted. After nearly being washed of the rocks mike took his leap of faith into the washing machine of death, followed by Rodger, Nik and then myself after regrouping our decent was hastily commenced, even at 5m the surge was still powerful Just when I thought my computer was going to have a coronary, we reached 8m were the effects of the swell were minimal The dive itself was similar to our first dive reaching 15m in depth with similar species of marine life apart from a few Barracuda there was a nice little swim through at 8m, describing as swim through description is a little inaccurate it was more of a suck up and spit you out through! The exit however was something else on reaching the ladder in front of me it was suddenly 10m to the left then 10m to the right. Once I got a limpet grip on the ladder removing fins proved to be a bit problematic with only one hand operational. (Please note we did all survive just about) An absolute cracker of a dive!!! With us all back ashore, Mike missing a fin strap and after retrieving his Fin from the raging surf we headed back to the dive centre for running repairs and fresh tanks. 1.00pm we arrive at our second site of the day El Peurtito a small village untouched by tourism apart from divers, a relatively shallow dive off a sandy beach with gentle waves maximum depth 12m and 19 c water temperature it was a nice relaxing dive, a far cry from the exhilaration and adrenaline fuelled washing machine dive of this morning. After a fairly lengthy fin we come across a rocky reef two minutes later we were joined on our underwater adventure by a male Loggerhead Turtle about 1m in diameter, he seemed to be as interested in us as we were in him and he stayed with us for around ten minutes posing for photographs. On the way back we came across a nudibranchs on the sandy bottom, this dive has to be very high up on my list of memorable dives. Mike certainly delivered the goods on this dive
DAY 4:-
Today is an early start so up at 7.00am and a cafe conlechie, later we head over to mikes apartment for a days boat diving. With the gear loaded we head off to Las Galletas marina to catch our RHIB, at over seven meters in length and a 125hp Honda four stroke out board, she is a beauty with loads of space for bodys and gear. Out on the water we head of towards Playa De Las Americas round the coast thirty minutes later we arrive at our 1st dive site of the day La Arena the maximum depth of this site is 65m although our planed depth is 40m. We tip off over the side and descend to the sea bed at 18m after regrouping we head off over the cliff and swim along the cliff face heading on down to 40m where we come across a small cave entrance. While we are hanging around and taking some photos a young lad arrives in the cave entrance with his torch and was disturbing the silt and ruining our photos so we backed out of the entrance, where the young lad got a bit of a shock after realising he did not recognise any of us and was not with his diving party, who were at least 15m above us. We head back up over the cliff and along a canyon with some small overhangs on the walls where there is an abundance of black coral growing we left the lad as he was now reunited with his party there are a few trumpet fish hanging around. With our air now at a premium its now time to start heading back with our party all now safely back on board we see the Spanish group putting a tank overboard on a rope. It becomes apparent that the lad who got lost has accumulated some decompression time and is running low on air. With the Spanish party all safely back on board their dive leader asks Mike what our depth was, after Mike tells him 40m he looks extremely disapprovingly at the lad and says something uncomplimentary in Spanish. We now discover that the Spanish party have been all diving on a 36% nitrox mix not too clever at 40m. We all head back alive to Las Galletas for lunch and some fresh tanks. Back on board we head out to our second site about 500m off Punta de la Rasca lighthouse. This site called Sharks Cave about 23m in depth although a site known for Angel sharks we never encountered any apparently its the wrong time of year to guarantee sightings. None the less there was still plenty to see at 20m there is the cave full of fish with Trumpet fish hanging around the entrance the 40 minutes we spent underwater on this dive flew by and I was a bit disappointed when my camera SD card memory became full.
DAY5:-
10.30am start this morning, so a full English breakfast is on the cards this morning. We head down to our favourite restaurant and order, after consuming another breakfast and several cups of tea we find our self discussing life in general. After checking our watches we realise the time is now 10.25am and with a 15minute stroll to Los Abrigos ahead of us we pay the bill rather hurriedly and make haste for our destination. We arrive exactly 7minutes late as Mike kindly informed us. We load up and head off up the East coast for Punta Prieta unfortunately the wind has swung round and is now a South Westerly and blowing about 20+ knots as indicated by the wind sock on the side of the motorway, Mike informs us that a South Westerly is the worst direction for our proposed 1st site of the day but we carry on anyway as the wind might die down before we get there. On arrival we take a walk down to the entry point well says Mike what do you think being ruffty tuffty Scottish divers we all said in unison ok lets do it but mike taking another look said no as the entry was much too dangerous as there were too many large boulders to be smashed against while fighting the surf to get in. So with the dive sacked, the alternative site would also be undiveable in a South Westerly we headed for our second site for the day to dive it first. Arriving at Punta de lass Abides we gear up and head off over the sandy beach to the water this beach has shallow sloping bottom and we have to wade out quite a long way to get any depth, with Fins now attached we start our dive visibility is almost nil until we fin clear of the stirred up sand. The maximum depth on this site is 10m. On reaching the start of the rocky reef Mike points out a Seahorse hanging on for dear life in the surge, we would all have missed as it was very well camouflaged. Unfortunately my photos of it did not come out well, with the viz now good we found ourselves in an Aquarium off life on the sea bed we see a Crown of Thorns, a Green spinney Star fish, the only predator of the black spinney sea urchin that colonizes every crack and crevice in the rocks. All the small fry can only indicate how much better this excellent dive would be later on in the year. With all the gear loaded we head off for some lunch. Due to the change of plans in the morning our second dive sees us return to the pool at los Abrigos on a reverse profile, Shh! Dont tell anyone, although we limited our depth to 13m.The dive itself was much the same as before apart from one funny incident involving Nik, a broken suit zip and a cable tie repair. As funny as this was, the most humorous part was his facial expressions as he hit the water and his suit filled up with coldish water. With the gear washed of and the suit dumped in the bin we head off back to our apartment for some beer and relaxation. We had arranged to eat in Los Abrigos tonight in a fish restaurant called El Medano as it came highly recommended by Mike and Hazel, As tomorrow was our last day diving we were meting up with them later on for a few pints I can highly recommend the Red Snapper, although beware of its Crocodile Jaw bone.
DAY6:-
We arrive at Mikes exactly on time this morning, we load up with the gear and a new suit for Nik and head off to Playa Parasio. We gear up and head across the road to the steps leading down to the beach. In this heat and after descending a million or so steps I was expecting to bump into Satan himself, however that was not the case we head out into the sea, don our fins and of we go it turned out to be a long, rather boring fin over a barren sandy sea bed I was beginning to think this was going to be a very average type dive, but these thoughts diminished as we were joined by a Common Eagle Ray, although an impressive sight they didnt seem to be that common as this was the only one we seen. After this encounter the dive just got better as we ascended up the wall from 22m to around 15m the top of the reef was quite something with loads of large Bream of different species, Ornate Wrasse and Damsel fish to mention but a few we spot some nudibranchs on the rocks on the way back. Average to superb on one dive what more could you ask for 3 hours of step climbing later we arrive back at the vehicle dump our gear and head off for some lunch. 1hour later we head back to the jeep and started to gear up again. Unfortunately, Nik true to form, broke his zip again but this time repair was easy and the suit was at least still serviceable, now everything was ready we head off back down the steps to the beach. This dive, The Anchor although the entry point is the same we are heading out to the right hand side this time so once again after much finning and an encounter with a Cuttlefish we hang a right and head up over the reef and then a second reef running parallel to the first this second reef consists of huge boulders probably weighing around 5 tonnes each piled on top of each other, apparently these boulders were thrown out of El Teide 25 miles away during an eruption its hard to imagine the awesome power it must have taken to do this. At around 5m the surge can be felt strongly and it takes a bit of practice to achieve an effective finning technique after we clear the top of the reef we descend to around 10m and continue unhampered with the dive we spot the Eagle Ray in the distance, after realising my air is getting rather low after the exertion of finning in the surge I head up to 3m with Nik to make my safety whilst following on behind Rodger and Mike who are still at around 10 m. With my air now at 20bar we head to the surface and snorkel the 300m to the shore. With ourselves and gear dropped off at our apartment we say our goodbyes and thank Mike for giving us 10 memorable dives. As we sit on our balcony watching our kit dry it occurs to us with our 10 dives we have hardly even scratched the surface of what Tenerife has to offer the diver
DAY7:-
Relaxation, Beer, some shopping, a coffee or three, more shopping and more beer. The perfect diving trip (SEE PHOTOS IN GALLERY THANKS FOR YOUR ATENTION)
DAY 1:-
As we all a bit parched in need of some lubrication after the flight we found ourselves unable to refuse a free lift to Playa de la Americas, we dumped our bags, donned our pulling shirts and headed off. After drinking Harleys bar dry (4.30pm) it was off to find some scran (food). After much searching and developing calf muscles like Arnold Swartzanager we found a restaurant on the beach, sometime later after much refreshment and our bellies refuelled, we relieved ourselves of some more Euros and moved on to Veronicas where I felt it would be a great idea to walk backwards, inebriated up the street. Thanks to Telefonica and there sighting of a rather large communications device I was developing a rather large bruise on my right shoulder, taking it like a man and feeling no pain we carried onwards and upwards to the next bar where we were served our pints in glass wellies. After much dispute over 1 Euro we left to find a kebab, no kebab but a Burger later we found a taxi out of this hell hole back to the Golf de sur.
DAY 2:-
7.30 am and feeling in need of some black coffee we left the bat cave in search of some caffeine, several hours later we left the cafe and after a unanimous vote we decided to purchase a jar of caffeine along with some nibbles and staples. With much haste we returned to our abode situated, high up in Gotham City as we were getting picked up by Mike from Los Abrigos divers at 1.00pm. After we were all suited, booted and with the gear loaded we headed North Eastwards out of Los Abrigos to our dive site. The first dive of the day is Black Cove. The air temperature was now hitting 23 c. This site has a gentle slopping bottom down to around 19m, water temperature 19 c on the bottom, we came across an Eel garden full of garden congers there were also blue Damsel fish, various species of Sea Bream, puffer fish, violet sea urchins Ornate Wrasse, Sea Cucumbers and long spined sea urchins everywhere with the visibility at around 25m what more could you ask for A bigger tank perhaps! After a surface interval of 35min and with our tanks changed we fit our crampons, ropes and karabiners and clamber down the cliff to our second dive The Pool. The entry point A naturally formed swimming pool completely sheltered from the prevailing wind A giant stride later we descend to 3m and exit stage left via a nice little swim through we head along a rocky reef with anemones poking out of the crevices we come across a cave at around 12m, on the ledges around the cave mouth are growing various species of soft corals and anemones on the ledge to the right of the cave entrance there is a small statue of a Buda as we head away from the cave we spot an angel shark on the sea bed on closer inspection it turned out to be deceased but it was still an impressive sight as we near the end of the dive the surge could be felt at 4 m maximum depth on this dive 13m
DAY 3:-
7.30am and theres a green vapour hanging around the other bed room, visibility down to nil and the unmistakeable smell of flatulence in the air, with my regulator in my mouth manage to ventilate the apartment and reduce the methane content of the air to a non flammable level. I put the kettle on the other guys must have smelt the coffee as I was soon joined in the kitchen. A shower and several cups of coffee later we head down the North face of the Igor for some breakfast. With full English devoured we head over to Los Abrigos for 10.00am we arrive at 9.45am only to be told that we were on holiday and our expected time of arrival was actually 10.15am, anyway I digress. With our gear loaded we head off to Costa Selencio our first dive is on a site known as Yellow Mountain after a quick look at the site it was decided to leave our cameras in the Montera as the swell and surge were something else! After gearing up we head down to the entry point. This raging beast was in need of taming and we were the crazy sods made for the job. Our entries were going have to be timed perfectly so after studying the wave and swell pattern for several minutes we had the job sorted. After nearly being washed of the rocks mike took his leap of faith into the washing machine of death, followed by Rodger, Nik and then myself after regrouping our decent was hastily commenced, even at 5m the surge was still powerful Just when I thought my computer was going to have a coronary, we reached 8m were the effects of the swell were minimal The dive itself was similar to our first dive reaching 15m in depth with similar species of marine life apart from a few Barracuda there was a nice little swim through at 8m, describing as swim through description is a little inaccurate it was more of a suck up and spit you out through! The exit however was something else on reaching the ladder in front of me it was suddenly 10m to the left then 10m to the right. Once I got a limpet grip on the ladder removing fins proved to be a bit problematic with only one hand operational. (Please note we did all survive just about) An absolute cracker of a dive!!! With us all back ashore, Mike missing a fin strap and after retrieving his Fin from the raging surf we headed back to the dive centre for running repairs and fresh tanks. 1.00pm we arrive at our second site of the day El Peurtito a small village untouched by tourism apart from divers, a relatively shallow dive off a sandy beach with gentle waves maximum depth 12m and 19 c water temperature it was a nice relaxing dive, a far cry from the exhilaration and adrenaline fuelled washing machine dive of this morning. After a fairly lengthy fin we come across a rocky reef two minutes later we were joined on our underwater adventure by a male Loggerhead Turtle about 1m in diameter, he seemed to be as interested in us as we were in him and he stayed with us for around ten minutes posing for photographs. On the way back we came across a nudibranchs on the sandy bottom, this dive has to be very high up on my list of memorable dives. Mike certainly delivered the goods on this dive
DAY 4:-
Today is an early start so up at 7.00am and a cafe conlechie, later we head over to mikes apartment for a days boat diving. With the gear loaded we head off to Las Galletas marina to catch our RHIB, at over seven meters in length and a 125hp Honda four stroke out board, she is a beauty with loads of space for bodys and gear. Out on the water we head of towards Playa De Las Americas round the coast thirty minutes later we arrive at our 1st dive site of the day La Arena the maximum depth of this site is 65m although our planed depth is 40m. We tip off over the side and descend to the sea bed at 18m after regrouping we head off over the cliff and swim along the cliff face heading on down to 40m where we come across a small cave entrance. While we are hanging around and taking some photos a young lad arrives in the cave entrance with his torch and was disturbing the silt and ruining our photos so we backed out of the entrance, where the young lad got a bit of a shock after realising he did not recognise any of us and was not with his diving party, who were at least 15m above us. We head back up over the cliff and along a canyon with some small overhangs on the walls where there is an abundance of black coral growing we left the lad as he was now reunited with his party there are a few trumpet fish hanging around. With our air now at a premium its now time to start heading back with our party all now safely back on board we see the Spanish group putting a tank overboard on a rope. It becomes apparent that the lad who got lost has accumulated some decompression time and is running low on air. With the Spanish party all safely back on board their dive leader asks Mike what our depth was, after Mike tells him 40m he looks extremely disapprovingly at the lad and says something uncomplimentary in Spanish. We now discover that the Spanish party have been all diving on a 36% nitrox mix not too clever at 40m. We all head back alive to Las Galletas for lunch and some fresh tanks. Back on board we head out to our second site about 500m off Punta de la Rasca lighthouse. This site called Sharks Cave about 23m in depth although a site known for Angel sharks we never encountered any apparently its the wrong time of year to guarantee sightings. None the less there was still plenty to see at 20m there is the cave full of fish with Trumpet fish hanging around the entrance the 40 minutes we spent underwater on this dive flew by and I was a bit disappointed when my camera SD card memory became full.
DAY5:-
10.30am start this morning, so a full English breakfast is on the cards this morning. We head down to our favourite restaurant and order, after consuming another breakfast and several cups of tea we find our self discussing life in general. After checking our watches we realise the time is now 10.25am and with a 15minute stroll to Los Abrigos ahead of us we pay the bill rather hurriedly and make haste for our destination. We arrive exactly 7minutes late as Mike kindly informed us. We load up and head off up the East coast for Punta Prieta unfortunately the wind has swung round and is now a South Westerly and blowing about 20+ knots as indicated by the wind sock on the side of the motorway, Mike informs us that a South Westerly is the worst direction for our proposed 1st site of the day but we carry on anyway as the wind might die down before we get there. On arrival we take a walk down to the entry point well says Mike what do you think being ruffty tuffty Scottish divers we all said in unison ok lets do it but mike taking another look said no as the entry was much too dangerous as there were too many large boulders to be smashed against while fighting the surf to get in. So with the dive sacked, the alternative site would also be undiveable in a South Westerly we headed for our second site for the day to dive it first. Arriving at Punta de lass Abides we gear up and head off over the sandy beach to the water this beach has shallow sloping bottom and we have to wade out quite a long way to get any depth, with Fins now attached we start our dive visibility is almost nil until we fin clear of the stirred up sand. The maximum depth on this site is 10m. On reaching the start of the rocky reef Mike points out a Seahorse hanging on for dear life in the surge, we would all have missed as it was very well camouflaged. Unfortunately my photos of it did not come out well, with the viz now good we found ourselves in an Aquarium off life on the sea bed we see a Crown of Thorns, a Green spinney Star fish, the only predator of the black spinney sea urchin that colonizes every crack and crevice in the rocks. All the small fry can only indicate how much better this excellent dive would be later on in the year. With all the gear loaded we head off for some lunch. Due to the change of plans in the morning our second dive sees us return to the pool at los Abrigos on a reverse profile, Shh! Dont tell anyone, although we limited our depth to 13m.The dive itself was much the same as before apart from one funny incident involving Nik, a broken suit zip and a cable tie repair. As funny as this was, the most humorous part was his facial expressions as he hit the water and his suit filled up with coldish water. With the gear washed of and the suit dumped in the bin we head off back to our apartment for some beer and relaxation. We had arranged to eat in Los Abrigos tonight in a fish restaurant called El Medano as it came highly recommended by Mike and Hazel, As tomorrow was our last day diving we were meting up with them later on for a few pints I can highly recommend the Red Snapper, although beware of its Crocodile Jaw bone.
DAY6:-
We arrive at Mikes exactly on time this morning, we load up with the gear and a new suit for Nik and head off to Playa Parasio. We gear up and head across the road to the steps leading down to the beach. In this heat and after descending a million or so steps I was expecting to bump into Satan himself, however that was not the case we head out into the sea, don our fins and of we go it turned out to be a long, rather boring fin over a barren sandy sea bed I was beginning to think this was going to be a very average type dive, but these thoughts diminished as we were joined by a Common Eagle Ray, although an impressive sight they didnt seem to be that common as this was the only one we seen. After this encounter the dive just got better as we ascended up the wall from 22m to around 15m the top of the reef was quite something with loads of large Bream of different species, Ornate Wrasse and Damsel fish to mention but a few we spot some nudibranchs on the rocks on the way back. Average to superb on one dive what more could you ask for 3 hours of step climbing later we arrive back at the vehicle dump our gear and head off for some lunch. 1hour later we head back to the jeep and started to gear up again. Unfortunately, Nik true to form, broke his zip again but this time repair was easy and the suit was at least still serviceable, now everything was ready we head off back down the steps to the beach. This dive, The Anchor although the entry point is the same we are heading out to the right hand side this time so once again after much finning and an encounter with a Cuttlefish we hang a right and head up over the reef and then a second reef running parallel to the first this second reef consists of huge boulders probably weighing around 5 tonnes each piled on top of each other, apparently these boulders were thrown out of El Teide 25 miles away during an eruption its hard to imagine the awesome power it must have taken to do this. At around 5m the surge can be felt strongly and it takes a bit of practice to achieve an effective finning technique after we clear the top of the reef we descend to around 10m and continue unhampered with the dive we spot the Eagle Ray in the distance, after realising my air is getting rather low after the exertion of finning in the surge I head up to 3m with Nik to make my safety whilst following on behind Rodger and Mike who are still at around 10 m. With my air now at 20bar we head to the surface and snorkel the 300m to the shore. With ourselves and gear dropped off at our apartment we say our goodbyes and thank Mike for giving us 10 memorable dives. As we sit on our balcony watching our kit dry it occurs to us with our 10 dives we have hardly even scratched the surface of what Tenerife has to offer the diver
DAY7:-
Relaxation, Beer, some shopping, a coffee or three, more shopping and more beer. The perfect diving trip (SEE PHOTOS IN GALLERY THANKS FOR YOUR ATENTION)
