BSAC TRAVEL CLUB - Trip Reports - Christmas in Tenerife

TRAVEL CLUB

CHRISTMAS IN TENERIFE

By Jeanette Dodds

We - my husband Ken and I - decided last year that instead of the doom and gloom of another UK Christmas, we would head off to sunnier climes and decided to give Tenerife a go.
Our first call was to Penny - those of you who go to the Birmingham Dive Show may remember Penny, she was the one that half of the Northern Divers stand admired. Penny is the UK representative and contact for Island Divers and is not just a pretty face, she can offer a wealth of information, contact numbers and if you want, can organise a whole expedition, from flights, accommodation, diving packages right down to where the best place is to eat and how much you would expect to pay.
She very kindly organised a pair of reasonably priced flights from our local airport (Exeter), a one bed roomed apartment and a package of 10 dives to be fitted into our holiday at our leisure.
We left the UK on a gloomy Friday morning and landed mid afternoon into the glorious sunshine Tenerife has to offer. While we waited for our luggage a representative or Island Divers was waiting outside the airport terminal ready to transport us to our accommodation.
Here's where we net our hosts for the next two weeks - Graham and Sonia! First contact with them was charming; we received a warm and friendly greeting welcoming us to Tenerife. Graham is the Instructor/Diver of the family and will spend his waking hours trying to make sure that the dives and dive sites suit your taste, experience and needs. He's also the comedian in the family and you take him on at your peril. Make no mistake, he's very serious about safety but also about making you enjoy what you are doing. Sonia is the "hostess with the mostest" and she makes sure that you have everything you could possibly need from towels in the apartment to how many weights you may need when you dive. She's a diver too, but spends most of her time handling the boat. They work well together as a team and in no time at all your made to feel like part of the family.

Our apartment was situated in Costa Del Silencio, specifically Tagoro Park and was a well equipped clean apartment consisting of a twin bedded room, living/kitchen/dining room with good facilities (surprise surprise, we even had a toaster), bathroom with bath/shower and the customary foot spa (bidet for those who know what it's for!). The complex was quiet and nicely situated, close to all amenities and all in all I would say Costa Del Silencio was lovely place to stay. We found several nice restaurants and bars that were reasonably priced, along with a very well stocked supermarket - although cooking was the furthest from my mind.

On the days that we decided to dive, Island Divers picked us up at the sensible time of 09.30 and took us down to Puerto Colon Marina (Playa de Las Americas) where their rib was situated. It is standard practice out there that everyone mucks in and helps to load and unload the rib (easy to do when working as a team). The rib is a roomy yellow number (For those who are technically minded it's a 7.5m Ribcraft) which is fully equipped with radio, 02, echo sounder, diver re-call system, first aid kit and is always manned by a fully qualified boat handler. Before leaving the harbour we were given a full safety brief for the boat and before each dive we were given a full dive brief. The rib usually anchored while we all got kitted up and once the last diver reached the seabed, the anchor was released. The rib was then free to follow the divers for the whole dive. This meant that at no time was there any need for long surface swims back to the boat - a good safety point which ensured that should there be an emergency situation the boat would be on hand immediately.

Because we were usually out of the harbour by 10.30 we could be back in time for lunch at one of the local restaurants and then out for a second dive in the afternoon. I thought it was quite nice that we all had the opportunity after the first dive of the day to sit together, eat lunch and ooooh and aaaah at the things we had seen. Then after the second dive, Graham and Sonia would drop us off at our apartment and while they went home to wash our gear (bless em!), fill cylinders ready for the next day and continue to instruct students at the Dive Centre, we were still on holiday and could head off for showers and whatever the evenings fancy took us.

The diving in Tenerife was far better than I had expected, having spent many summers in and around the Mediterranean it was quite refreshing to find not only good visibility, but an abundance of marine life, flora, fauna and rock formation. During our stay, although we didn't dive with Dolphins, we were able to see some performing just outside the harbour. The Atlantic Rays (tame and a metre plus in length) Eagle Rays and Angel Sharks were spectacular, there were a lot of Moray eels and we had the chance to gently play with Octopus, feed the fish and admire the Barracuda. In between that there were so many crevices to poke about in and with visibility in the region of 20 - 25 metres, you just didn't know where to look next. There was a chance for wreck diving - not your teckki stuff, but a very good introduction to clear water wreck diving. We found the dive sites to be varied and each one seemed to have its own special features. The water temperature averaged a very comfortable 21 degrees during our Christmas and meant that sem-dry were adequate, however it wasn't really necessary to take any equipment with us as Island Divers had a full range of equipment in all sizes available for hire.

Christmas Day was of course particularly special and everyone met down at the Marina a bit later than normal. Christmas Hats were the order of the day and after the mandatory mad photographs we were taken to the dive site known as "The Steps" (a bit like "The Giant's Causeway). The visibility was incredible and the sight of shoaling fish was one not to be missed. At the end of the dive, when we got back into the rib we were treated to Sangria and Mince Pies before heading back to the Marina. Christmas Day is one memory that will stay with us for a long time.

We're now trying to organise a club trip out to Tenerife, once again with Island Divers who regularly cater for larger groups and are planning to go out some time in the spring. We have had a lot of interest within the club and are looking at taking a group of around 12 divers.
Thumbs up to Graham and Sonia and of course Penny in the UK. Why not visit their web site - www.island-divers.com and see for yourself

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