Saturday 22 September 2012

Diving Tenerife ~ September Divemaster Intern update

 This month has been a sad month for Amarilla Divers !!! ahhhh

We have said goodbye to the girls Suzy & Lucy and have also now said goodbye to Duncan too. The summer is almost over and the winter season is kicking in and we are still very very busy at the dive center.

So here is what has been going on.


Miss Suzy Carden-Noad was with us for 3 months and managed to complete all of this....

PADI Divemaster
PADI Assistant Instructor
She taught Scuba Reviews
Guided lots of dives
pulled LOTS of different faces !!! check out facebook for pictures

Suzy came as quite a shy lass who was always tired and took on the name of Snoozy....but soon she changed into a fantastic diver and Divemaster and we are very proud to have know and taught her.

Suzy now goes back to the UK to start UNI and will hopefully be back sooner rather than later to see us and be our 'mapper'..... yes this is a new word in the English Dictionary!!!!

Well done Suzy and we wish you all the very best of luck for the future.


Now we have Miss Lucy Weal who was with Amarilla Divers for 8 weeks. During her time with us she completed

PADI Rescue Diver
Emergency First Reponse Primary Care
Emergency First Response Secondary Care
Emergency First Response AED's
PADI Divemaster
PADI Assistant Instructor
PADI Enriched Air Nitrox Diver

She also conducted Scuba Review, Snorkelling excursions, Discover Scuba Diver course ( under supervision), guided dives, took try dives in the pool and lots more.

Lucy has gone back to the UK but will be with us again soon as she would like to complete her IDC and go on to be a PADI Instructor. This is excellent news and we wish her all the very best of luck.



Duncan came to us as a PADI Master Scuba Diver and was here for 7 weeks to do his PADI Divemaster & PADI Assistant Instructor course.

He successfully completed both these course and also refreshed his EFR skills and certification.

Duncan was very active with Chris our Divemaster on our Urchin project and was diving many dives to clear our reef.

During the time Duncan was here, he blossomed onto an excellent Divemaster and we now hope he is able to find some work in this industry. We wish all the best of luck and know we will see him back here in Tenerife some time soon.


New Divemaster Interns for September.

September has also bought us new Divemaster interns in the shape and for of Walied, a Doctor from the UK and Thomas from Brazil / France.


Both guys join us as Open water divers and so will be training through to Divemaster and possibly Assistant Instructor too. 

Walied has been gaining lots of experience with his diving and practicing his buoyancy and also now moving on to his Rescue Diver Course

Thomas has just finished his Advanced Open water course and is excellent in the water. We look forward to continuing with the Rescue & DM courses soon.

We will also be joined by another new intern Carl this month, so we will keep you updated with the guys progress.




Friday 14 September 2012

Diving Tenerife ~ Tabaiba Wreck

As we are often being asked what dive sites we have here in Tenerife and if we have any good Wreck sites,  I though I would give you a little bit of  information on Tabaiba Wreck Dive site in the North of Tenerife.

The wreck is know as many different names, including El Raton, Tabaiba Wreck, El Penon and many more.

The wreck itself is a shore dive, as you can see by the map below. It is one of the easiest shore dives in Tenerife that offers not only a great Wreck for all to see, but also the different types of life to see too.




Between 21 and 30 metres you can find El Peñón, which means Crag or mass of rock in English, sunken in  August 2006 to create an artificial reef near Tabaiba's coast.

The wreck is Surrounded by lots of life and was heeled 38 degrees to starboard. This old tug boat alledgedly served for 49 years in the Santa Cruz's port of Tenerife.



People have stated that this is actually the third time the wreck has sunk.  The first time was because of an accident while it was helping the mitic British ocean liner Canberra to dock. Then again  during the maneuvers to refloat the wreck, it sank again.

Today the wreck has been absolutely cleaned and adapted for scuba diving wreck visits. El Peñón will remain forever in the coast of Tenerife,  helping to regnerate the underwater life of the zone.

This wreck is excellent for wreck Specialty courses.




Tabaiba Wreck is also used as a Spanish freediver training site.

The engine room and bridge, with it's enormous diesel engines is easily penetrated, with proper training.






Here is a small selection of picture from Tabaiba Wreck.