Wreck diving in Tenerife Video

[UFOrb]

My diving has been limited to Dahab in Egypt, Gozo, Gran Canaria and Tenerife. I haven't been to those bucket list places like Raj Ampat yet. So my opinion on this is very limited. However, from all those places I currently prefer Tenerife for the marine life and Gozo for the wrecks. In Tenerife, I've seen many turtles, giant Atlantic rays, Bullrays, common rays, a pod of bottlenose dolphins (glory glory), etc etc, lots of big cute Burrfish, angel sharks and other interesting life. So, for me, Tenerife has been the best diving for the marine life. Actually planning on moving there in the next few months so I can do a DM internship.

That sounds pretty damn good to me for somewhere relatively cheap and easy to get to from UK
So you actually prefer Tenerife over Dahab!!?? We completed our AOW in Dahab in 2012 and really enjoyed the diving there, in particular the Blue Hole, Gabr el Bint & a very very long day trip to Ras Mohammed & the Thistlegorm! It was our 2nd dive holiday and the last before we became parents (9 months later ). The whole (pretty much) trip was just dive! dive! dive!
We've also dived a little in Malta/Gozo, the highlights being the Blue Hole (another one!) & Inland Sea, but yes, the marine life's sadly underwhelming.
We've mainly dived in Thailand (where my wife's from) and did our OW on Perhentian Besar, Malaysia. We're off to Bali / Gili Air in May

Good luck with your DM internship, sounds great!!

 

[irsubmarine]

The water is a bit cold, I'm still cold now

Ha yea, I can manage with a 5mm covered from head to toe but honestly give me a dry suit here in the winter! I've been diving all over the island really. Sorry you haven't seen much yet. I've seen lot's of turtles (see my latest video for that) and Bullrays. Spotted dolphins too.

That sounds pretty damn good to me for somewhere relatively cheap and easy to get to from UK
So you actually prefer Tenerife over Dahab!!?? We completed our AOW in Dahab in 2012 and really enjoyed the diving there, in particular the Blue Hole, Gabr el Bint & a very very long day trip to Ras Mohammed & the Thistlegorm! It was our 2nd dive holiday and the last before we became parents (9 months later ). The whole (pretty much) trip was just dive! dive! dive!
We've also dived a little in Malta/Gozo, the highlights being the Blue Hole (another one!) & Inland Sea, but yes, the marine life's sadly underwhelming.
We've mainly dived in Thailand (where my wife's from) and did our OW on Perhentian Besar, Malaysia. We're off to Bali / Gili Air in May

Good luck with your DM internship, sounds great!!

Ha, yea I was in Dahab in 2014. The scenery is definitely nicer. The thousand peaks(?) site with the massive coral pillars was awesome. Blue hole too. However, I find I really prefer large marine life and wrecks. Here in Tenerife I see massive atlantic stingrays and dolphins etc. I'm sure if I went to the Elphinstone reef or anywhere center red sea I'd see even bigger fish. I just wasn't lucky in Dahab I think. Oh the far east is on my bucket list... I envy your travels. Take some videos!

 

[Nianne]

Ha yea, I can manage with a 5mm covered from head to toe but honestly give me a dry suit here in the winter! I've been diving all over the island really. Sorry you haven't seen much yet. I've seen lot's of turtles (see my latest video for that) and Bullrays. Spotted dolphins too.

I only haven't seen much in black corals the other day, otherwise Tenerife has a pretty rich marine life.
Played with an octopus this morning and seen a fangtooth moray !

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I thought it was really good.. great for your first try. Not that I am any kind of expert. I can tell (I think anyway) that you are not using a decent tray system, if you were the video would be a little more stable. the camera is so tiny and your arms are neutral - it is really hard to get stable video while holding a weightless and tiny camera.

One of the trick I use, sometimes.. is to play the video back at 1/3 or 1/2 speed. If there is no real action in the video, fish swimming bubbles rising, then even though you may be panning a little or moving, your video is really not more than a still image.. so slowing it down and cheating should work.

Another trick is to get a tray system that you can set down, if you are shooting scenes of the wreck, setting it down makes a big improvement. I thought the shot selection was really good, interesting framing.... obviously the inside wreck shots with a hand held flashlight are going to get what it looked like.. I got no problem with that, but if/when you spring for proper wide angle lights, those shots will be better..

 

[irsubmarine]

I thought it was really good.. great for your first try. Not that I am any kind of expert. I can tell (I think anyway) that you are not using a decent tray system, if you were the video would be a little more stable. the camera is so tiny and your arms are neutral - it is really hard to get stable video while holding a weightless and tiny camera.

One of the trick I use, sometimes.. is to play the video back at 1/3 or 1/2 speed. If there is no real action in the video, fish swimming bubbles rising, then even though you may be panning a little or moving, your video is really not more than a still image.. so slowing it down and cheating should work.

Another trick is to get a tray system that you can set down, if you are shooting scenes of the wreck, setting it down makes a big improvement. I thought the shot selection was really good, interesting framing.... obviously the inside wreck shots with a hand held flashlight are going to get what it looked like.. I got no problem with that, but if/when you spring for proper wide angle lights, those shots will be better..

Thanks for the feedback dumpsterDiver, that's some really solid advice.

Yep, you are totally right, I was not using a tray. I was using a GoPole which is basically a watersport version of a selfie stick which causes the image to continuously wobble back and forth. I now own a Backscatter tray which will hopefully make everything more stable.

That is an awesome point you make about slowing the image down if there is no action happening. I can see that being applied to slow panning shots and many other scenery shots. I will implement that on my next wreck dive, you have given my serious food for thought. Oh and I totally agree on video lights and the tripod. Will have to order those soon to continue my quest for better shots. Upwards and onwards!