Terrific Tenerife.

by Norma Pearson

All year round Diving
If you wanted, like us, a holiday that is flexible and fun but majors on diving, then Los Gigantes is for you. With no restraints on the time of year you visit, as the climate is "normally" favourable, Preston Sub Aqua Club BSAC 0870 http://www.prestonsubaquaclub.co.uk/ has notched up two visits in the last 5 months - early December 2001 and Easter 2002.

With a small group of divers in December and a larger group at Easter, on both occasions, we have booked with Neville Widdrington of the Los Gigantes Diving Centre. Why? - Easy answer - we have been very pleased with the diving & high safety standards provided in a spectacular setting, the versatility offered in accommodation and a value-for-money enjoyable holiday.

Nev, is an ex- Geordie (whey he's a grand lad), so there are no language problems, as he can speak "proper " English too! He is a BSAC 3 star Instructor and for further detailed information has a comprehensive web page available on http://www.divingtenerife.co.uk.

Flexibility - whatever your ability, there is a dive for you
Our group included some non-divers, who are happy to travel with us just to enjoy a pleasant holiday break, and our diving group ranges from the very experienced dive leaders, sports divers through to the less experienced club divers with an age range amongst the divers from 22 - 50. For everyone to have a good time, above and below water, that in itself takes some doing.

Dives
The dives are all lead by the staff from the Dive Centre because of their local knowledge and weather conditions. This means that you will always be taken to a site that is suitable for the day you are diving.
We dived from both of their two boats, a wooden hardboat licensed for 10 divers and a smaller Zodiac RIB. The boats were always manned whilst we were diving and a dive briefing was always given by the "leader of the dive" once on the site of the dive.

Amongst one of the popular dives and a must if you have not been here before is Los Chuchos, where you can feed the stingrays and eagle rays at a depth of around 20 metres. An "add-on" available on this dive, is a professional video taken of your dive from kitting up, right through to your efforts at getting back on board! The video taken by Sheila Widdrington of Ocean-Eye Imagery http://www.ocean-eye-video.com is a nice souvenir that you can show off to all your friends back home and remember to give plenty of "OK" signals underwater during the feeding. If you are a photographer yourself, then be sure to have a full roll of film for this dive, as there is plenty to see, including the odd "friendly" angel shark but stick to feeding the rays and just looking on at the other visitors.

Another site we visited with various diving opportunities, is Octopus Cove and for those like me, who are not always great boat travellers, this site is only 10 minutes away from the marina. This location is used for novice and experienced divers alike, as the shallower water in this little bay provides an ideal place to gain experience and confidence for the new or first time diver. The site does go to a depth of around 15 metres where there is a photogenic wall, with sponges, corals and anemones and normally good viz and background light it is a very pretty site.

Atlantis, at a depth of around 25 metres is a triangular platform made of basalt rock, giving an interesting view when you look back at the formation. Below a Spanish Lobster spotted here.

Barranco Seco. Another dual dive, part one can be done by less experienced divers. There is an interesting volcanic arch at around 12 metres and then the more experienced dives can continue down a gradual slope to around 32 metres before returning back to the arch and up the anchor line.

Robertos Reef. An interesting and enjoyable dive, dropping down and through a gully at around 30 metres, plenty of fish and the odd moray eel.

Beware the lovely long spined blue urchins that proliferate most of the dive sites; you can always have a competition to see who has collected the most spines if you lose your concentration or buoyancy.
If you get the chance to visit the fish farm and a dive offered do take the opportunity to go on it - you will not be disappointed!!

NOTE
By Spanish law, divers are required to have medical insurance cover for recompression therapy. As some holiday insurances do not include this cover, always check your insurance cover.

Flight and transport
We now normally book our own flights through a travel agent. We book well in advance as we are a group of over 10 people and wanted to go diving during school holidays - not the best option for value flights as better bargains are obviously available when booking for 2-4 people on non-specific dates. The answer is to keep looking and checking and remember whatever flight time you are initially given they will normally change it by 4 hours just before you fly! Flights to Tenerife are frequent and from most local airports - although we went from Manchester, we may look at flights from Blackpool as being more convenient from our north west location. There are plenty of alternatives also on duration of the holiday, 7, 10 or 14 nights are readily available.
Transfer from the Airport in Tenerife is also easily organised. If there are only 4 people or so, then taxis are economical for the hour trip to Los Gigantes, but first check the agreed price before you get in them. If there are around 10 or more then transit vans can be arranged via the Dive Centre who will book the vans to be at the airport to collect you. These do need to be booked in advance at the cost of 10 euro per person for the two-way trip, and this can be part of your "dive package".

We found some airlines were not too happy about allowing extra "sport " luggage allowance on top of the 20kilso that you are normally allocated. The answer we have found is not to worry too much, as we were happy to hire kit at the dive centre.
Dive Package Costs: (Per dive for 6 or more dives booked and paid for in advance) 27. 50 Euros Using Own Equipment (Tank And Weights Included In Price) 36 Euros for Full Equipment Hire.
They are well equipped and organised to handle all your requirements. Nitrox is not available but, as most of the dives are of a multi-level nature, good times and safe dive profiles can easily be achieved.
Further information available on the comprehensive web site http://www.divingtenerife.co.uk

Accommodation
Spoilt for choice and options - whatever you want is available in Los Gigantes - the Dive Centre has plenty of its own accommodation available ranging from accommodation for up to 10 people together to economic twin-bedded accommodation. If you want a bit more luxury, then apartments are available with access to a pool, and maid service is included. You can have whatever you want at various prices. All the accommodation is in Los Gigantes, which means you are anything from 1 minute to 10 minutes away from the Marina and Dive Centre - depending how much you want to put your calves into training going up and down the hill.

Bars and eating out
Apart from the surprising lack of a good Indian restaurant in the "village" of Los Gigantes you are really spoilt for choice again. A lot of the bars are English-run so if you're feeling homesick go to "Arches" for Bread and Butter pudding with custard or around the corner at the Village Carvery, which serves a good-value breakfast and a very filling evening roast carvery at just under 10 euros per person.
There is a brilliant Chinese restaurant that does an amazing after-dinner drink that puts hairs on your chest!! There are bars but no nightclubs, but try and beat our club record of persistently winning the Highland Paddy quiz. This is on most nights prior to the karioke! And yes, they do screen all the football matches from back home! There are at least two excellent supermarkets that supply all your needs and excellent bakers for your fresh croissants or bread. There is a pleasant Internet tea shoppe, which is adequate for those of us who get withdrawal symptoms if they cannot log on.

Currency
The Euro (cash) is king - gone is the peseta and in are the Euros. Some of us were tempted to take Euro cheques, hoping they could have been used as currency and found only one restaurant that would accept them without charging commission. There are banks and cash points but they do limit you to a 300 euros withdrawal (per day), again watch how much commission your bank charges for these transactions.

Excursions
Options to see the whole or part of the island, via tour or hire-car or bus, there are trips on various boats and catamarans run from the harbour daily to see the dolphins, (if you get the chance you would enjoy doing a dive around the fish farm!). Another full day trip is to take the ferry from Los Cristianos across to the Lovely Island of La Gomera, visible from your apartment on a clear day.
Enjoy your diving holiday in Terrific Tenerife its so good you will want to keep coming back, we do!!

Norma