c_m_wood
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Got back today from a great week in Cyprus. We booked it all fairly last minute and didn't really know what to expect. We started off by emailing a few dive centres around Larnica for prices and some advice. Alpha Diver's responded within half an hour with 2 pages of information on the area and local hotels for us. We booked a week in the 'Princess' hotel on an all-inclusive basis and arrived in the evening of Sunday 9th. Monday morning was spent looking for the nearby dive centres of which there are three withing 15 minutes on foot. We decided on Alpha divers and booked 6 dives each for the three of us. The owner, Chris Martin was very good and not at all pushy. He said he would use the first 2 dives to gauge our skill level and even do a quick skills refresher for us as its been nearly a year since we last dived and then take us to the Zenobia for the next 4.
It was also the first time I would be using my new regs, computer and some other stuff and he offered to test the pressures on the regs and fine tune them if needed (great as I had assembled the rig myself).
So, Chris picked us up early Tuesday morning and tested my regs whilst we tried on wetsuits (5mm long john and 5mm shortie). No problems with the pressures so I hooked it up to the cylinder and opened up the valve. Bang. Oops. Guess the quick release on the computer wasnt quite tight enough. My fault but Chris could see I wasnt filled with confidence for my it so offered to fit one off his own SPGs to it as well as the computer (an AI oceanic datamax pro).
The two dives that day went without a hitch at Xylofagon (Sheep dip) and then Cape Greico which was an interesting tunnels and caves dive with a 12 foot entry and blow hole exit.
The next day we dived the Zenobia from the 'Zenobia Queen'. The first sighting of the Zenobia is truely fantastic. It was difficult to imagine quite how big she would be until then. Kitting up for the second dive of the day, however, and my computer completely failed! Gave a reading of 7 bar for a cylinder charged to 230 bar according to an analogue SPG! Needless to say I did not dive with it!
Borrowing a set of regs, the dive was great however.
The next day we did the nitrox course with the 2 qualifying dives on the Zenobia, diving from Alpha Diver's boat Kalypso II. On the first dive we touched 40m and watched the instructor juggle eggs from one of the lorries and on the second we ventured inside the wreck for a quick swim down one of the corridors.
We all had a fantastic time and I would definately recommend Alpha divers. Its owner Chris Martin and divemaster Matt are both great guys and do their best to ensure you have a great experience
It was also the first time I would be using my new regs, computer and some other stuff and he offered to test the pressures on the regs and fine tune them if needed (great as I had assembled the rig myself).
So, Chris picked us up early Tuesday morning and tested my regs whilst we tried on wetsuits (5mm long john and 5mm shortie). No problems with the pressures so I hooked it up to the cylinder and opened up the valve. Bang. Oops. Guess the quick release on the computer wasnt quite tight enough. My fault but Chris could see I wasnt filled with confidence for my it so offered to fit one off his own SPGs to it as well as the computer (an AI oceanic datamax pro).
The two dives that day went without a hitch at Xylofagon (Sheep dip) and then Cape Greico which was an interesting tunnels and caves dive with a 12 foot entry and blow hole exit.
The next day we dived the Zenobia from the 'Zenobia Queen'. The first sighting of the Zenobia is truely fantastic. It was difficult to imagine quite how big she would be until then. Kitting up for the second dive of the day, however, and my computer completely failed! Gave a reading of 7 bar for a cylinder charged to 230 bar according to an analogue SPG! Needless to say I did not dive with it!
Borrowing a set of regs, the dive was great however.
The next day we did the nitrox course with the 2 qualifying dives on the Zenobia, diving from Alpha Diver's boat Kalypso II. On the first dive we touched 40m and watched the instructor juggle eggs from one of the lorries and on the second we ventured inside the wreck for a quick swim down one of the corridors.
We all had a fantastic time and I would definately recommend Alpha divers. Its owner Chris Martin and divemaster Matt are both great guys and do their best to ensure you have a great experience
