November - December 2011

Emma´s Big Day!

Finally the event that Emma and Michael have been planning for 2 years arrived – their wedding blessing and reception. And what a day it was! Emma looked stunning and everything went according to her carefully laid plans. Thanks to the lovely climate here the whole thing took place outdoors in a beautiful finca in the midst of banana plantations. Many members of both families came from the UK and Germany to celebrate what we are sure will be a long and happy marriage.

Most unusual underwater attire

Keeping to the wedding theme, we had an unusual request from some Discover Scuba candidates – that they wanted to wear their wedding outfits for the dive so that their friend could take some underwater photos. None of the group of 6 had ever tried diving before so the team here had their hands full, but of course managed brilliantly. Perhaps we should mention that the wedding had already taken place so the outfits were considered redundant.

For shark lovers!

Since Madge's son Ben left Aqua-Marina last year he has been working as a dive instructor in Sharm el Sheik. He and his new friends and colleagues there have formed a charity called The Tank Bangers which aims to raise awareness and funds for charities supporting conservation of our marine environment. With this in mind, they have just produced an interesting (and rather shocking) video called Our Blue. Please click here, take a look, enjoy, tell your friends and, if you agree with the lyrics, donate!

Best Dive Ever

Instructor Paul just reported his Best Dive Ever - quite a claim for someone whose dives run into thousands! And luckily one of the divers, Tim, had his camera so we have some evidence: a manta ray, butterfly ray, round ray, angel shark, grouper and 2 spotted burrfish were all seen on Baranco del Agua, as well as the usual suspects. Think this site might be featuring quite heavily on our itinerary over the coming weeks....

Season´s Greetings

Finally, how many of you recognise our friend 'Diver Dan' here? Usually he is modelling a Dive Rite harness but at this time of year no outfit is complete without a Santa hat! Dan and his friends at Aqua-Marina wish you all a very happy festive season. And don’t forget that this is traditionally the time to be planning your next holiday – come and see US again!!

September - October 2011

New skipper on board

We have recently been advised that as of November 2011 our RYA skipper licences would not be accepted in Spain. Professional skippers are now required to hold a Spanish qualification. As this was not achievable for any of our crew in the timescale, we have taken on a new skipper with the correct qualification. Over the coming year, Ray and Andy will undertake the required training so that eventually they also should have it, and Ines, who has already done the theory, will be signed off for driving the requisite number of hours. Our new skipper Pete is already proving to be a great addition to the team and we are glad to have him on board, so to speak.

Group fun

September and October have been popular months with groups this year. It started with 18 of Ben Morgan's pals from the BSAC club of the University of Cardiff - click here to see their super entertaining video. As you can imagine there was plenty of fun and games both in and out of the water! Next up was Richie Boshell's group from Ireland, who know how to party just as hard as the students! Finally was Chris Kelly's group making their 2nd visit this year - but without Chris who unfortunately had to pull out. Better make sure you're fit for the next trip, Chris!

Trio of Century dives

We've recently had no less than three divers celebrating their 100th dive - congratulations to Micha from Germany, Robby from Belgium and Philip from Scotland - and thanks for the beer, Micha! Here’s to the next 100!

Beginner´s luck

One of our newest divers, Nanette, had a super treat on her first time out. On a discover scuba dive from Las Vistas beach she saw 3 different types of ray: a roughtail stingray, a butterfly ray and a heavily pregnant Atlantic stingray. Let's hope that when the new babies arrive, they stick around Las Vistas too.

Discover Tec Diving

David Etherington has become our first diver to try PADI Discover Tec. The programme takes a day and includes 2 dives with a Tec gear set-up, ie with redundancy built in. For example the diver wears a wing with double bladder so that if one bladder ruptures there is still buoyancy available via the second. Redundancy in air supply is provided via twin tanks each with their own valve. And there is the opportunity to speed up off-gassing with a nitrox mix.

July - August 2011

Manta treat

A group of divers were treated to a very special encounter with a beautiful manta ray a few days ago at Neptunes Cave. No-one had a big enough armspan to quite describe it - the excitement was immense! Steve was back-up guide and was in his usual position hovering above the group and literally came face to face with the ray. How ironic that he and Madge went to the Maldives in January hoping to see mantas and leopard sharks without success and now he has been able to tick off this particular wish on his own doorstep. The super photo is courtesy of repeat diver Chris from Germany – thanks Chris:).

Turtle tantrum!

Everybody loves to see turtles - so graceful, so beautiful, so friendly. But a recent dive to El Acuario re-wrote this set of assumptions. Philip and Speedy both suffered an unprovoked attack from a very grumpy specimen, which even drew blood! Philip was bitten on the temple and Speedy on both elbows. Fortunately the injuries were not beyond the capabilities of Nurse Emma, although Philip did need to go to the hospital to update his tetanus protection!

Souvenir must-have

Prepare to update your divewear wardrobe with one of our new dive T-shirts. There is a choice of 4 designs, all also branded with the Aqua-Marina logo. They are printed locally so if you prefer a different colour or we are out of your size we can sort you out within a few hours, the next day at the latest.

Go Speedy!

Speedy has just made his 200th dive with Aqua-Marina: quite a landmark (or should that be seamark)! He is only the second diver to make this number, the first being Dave G, who is happily diving again following a perforated eardrum back in June. So it doesn't look as though Speedy will ever get the chance to catch up with Dave, especially as they dive together whenever they can. In case anyone is wondering, Speedy got his nickname from the name of the Mexican restaurant he used to run, and not from his habit of arriving for the diving usually last but getting kitted up in a flash!

Gute Reise Paul!

Paul is cranking up his ever growing responsibilities on the servicing side of Aqua-Marina by attending two courses in Munich at the headquarters of Bauer Compressors in October. He will then be able to service and repair our compressors. Hurrah - no more waiting around when repairs are needed, and doubtless a much better service all round!

May - June 2011

Visit from Scuba Travel

Recently Lee Carter, the manager of specialist dive tour operator, Scuba Travel, came to visit Aqua-Marina accompanied by a couple who have many years of experience of diving with disabled people - Andy and Lydia Woods. Primarily they were here to inspect the facilities of the Mar y Sol Hotel which, in the event, wowed them. They also had a few dives with us, but unfortunately the conditions were not at their best and it was pretty tricky getting on the boat. Even on their last day when conditions were good but diving was not an option before flying, Madge took them up Mount Teide with passes booked for the peak - but it was too windy and the cable car was closed. Doh! Despite all that they are already investigating the possibility of a group trip so we must have done something right! Click here to read Lee's glowing trip report.

Doctor! Doctor!

We don't know what's going on with the guys here at the moment but we've had a run of health problems amongst staff and repeat customers, including a bizarre case of Ines being diagnosed with an old perforated eardrum injury that she is told will not heal. She cannot understand how she has apparently been diving like this for years - and has no intention of giving up either! Dave G, of most dives with AQM fame, also has a perforated eardrum and has been so sad to have been unable to dive for several weeks of his current trip - he keeps calling in but his face is getting longer and longer. Kev and Edith were here for a much anticipated holiday but poor Edith had her ankle in plaster and couldn't dive (but she made up for it with lots of shopping). Steve recently had a skin cancer spot removed from his ear (a warning call to all of us who are in the sun so much). And well, Ray's problems, trust me, you don't want to know!

Beach Clean up

We're spring cleaning ready for the summer! Together with our neighbouring dive centre our instructors made a dive of over an hour gathering rubbish dropped or blown into the water next to our beach. Not only is this important to us for aesthetic reasons, it is potentially a lifesaver, with much of the rubbish being plastic bags and fishing line which are such a hazard for turtles in particular. In the end they found less rubbish than expected and less than the last time we did this exercise, which is good news all round.

Diving and Gardening

Any gardening enthusiasts living in the South of England may be interested to hear about a rather unlikely exhibit at this year’s Hampton Court Palace Flower Show to be held from 5th – 10th July. Keen diver and gardener Barry Chambers is presenting a design inspired by the poem ‘On the Sea’ by John Keats. His aim is to create an effect like a dramatic seascape with foam, spray and waves created by the planting. Whilst certain seascapes can look like underwater gardens, creating a garden to look like a seascape is not going to be so easy and we look forward to seeing the final result of this unusual project. Good luck Barry!

30 April 2011

Diving for all

We are super pleased to have recently signed a contract with a hotel here in Tenerife specialising in accommodation for disabled guests (Mar y Sol – translates as Sea and Sun) , which prides itself on offering a range of sports and training options, one of which is diving. In the past guests of the hotel have dived with us and reported back, favourably ?, to the manager, and in this way Aqua-Marina came into the frame for providing diving services. Our instructors have recently completed some training to better equip them for the different scenarios they may now encounter, so we’re all set! If any of you would like to know more about the facilities at the hotel Mar y Sol, please get in touch and we will be happy to advise you or introduce you to them.

BSAC Combined Training Event

Last week saw the number of BSAC Instructors and Advanced Instructors grow as Dennis Wigg signed off 5 happy and relieved candidates - congratulations to Bob and Dave on their AI qualification and to Laurie, Carol and Keith on their Instructor qualification! All went smoothly apart from a delay with the delivery of training materials, which Dennis and co-pilot Dave coped with like the pros they are. Now next year´s event is already in the diary - 16th to 23th March 2012, so all you budding BSAC Instructors have got 11 months to prepare and no excuses!

Las Vegas (Tenerife)

Ok, we said it would be just a few select excursions that we would be selling, but we found that people were asking for a wider range, so wider it is! And we have been amazed at the amount of action available. One of the surprises for us has been the number of different trekking routes on offer and for holiday makers who’ve just packed for diving and beach, everything is provided from pick-up and picnic to backpack and boots. As someone who has flown far and wide for trekking holidays, Madge’s curiosity was roused and she recently completed a circular trek around a hamlet called Las Vegas and declared her half day trek one of the most beautiful, dramatic and tranquil she has found anywhere in the world!

On yer bike!

We are now also renting out bikes, which is proving hugely popular both with the fantastically fit folk who want to cycle up the mountain and with those who want simply to amble along the promenade or get from A to B without any parking problems. Special rates for you guys!

Little and Large

Once again we are back to the time of year when the water is teeming with balls of tiny fry that we hope to see survive and prosper. And just a few days ago Paul was doing a training dive from the beach with one of our customers and saw an Atlantic ray with approximately a 2 metre wingspan. Now that's what we like - nice surprises

17 February 2011

BSAC Combined Instructor Training Event April 2011

We are delighted to be hosting this year’s BSAC instructor training in Tenerife from 2 to 9th April. This is an event where training and examinations are combined in a one-week residential programme run by BSAC’s National Instructor, Dennis Wigg. If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a BSAC Instructor, please contact Dennis directly on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or contact us and we will do our best to answer your query. Further information about the training can be found in the BSAC on-line bulletin, Events 2011. Accommodation will be in Compostela Beach, next to the dive centre – but places are limited, so we recommend that you book pronto!

First group of 2011

This month we welcomed our first group of the year, organized by Chris Kelly of The Dive Shop in Poulton-Le-Fylde, Lancashire. Chris and some of his party have dived with us before so they knew what to expect – fun and silliness from Emma and verbal abuse from the guys, amongst other things... but they had a great time despite all that! In fact they had such a good time that plans are already well underway for a repeat visit in October - we can't ask for a better endorsement than that! As Chris put it: ‘Everyone, from our novices to instructors, were absolutely knocked out by the help, care, fun and all round good time you gave us from start to finish.’ Thanks, Chris!

Welcome Walter!

As mentioned in our last newsletter, we are now up and running selling selected excursions and ferry trips. In addition to the must-do Mount Teide trips and whale-watching we are also arranging sailing, trekking, car, motor bike, scooter or push bike hire and many others. The interest generated already proved to be a bit much for us girls in the shop – we don’t want to keep our divers waiting while we sell tickets – so we have enlisted some assistance in the form of multi-linguist Walter. Walter is a great salesman so be careful when you stop to say hello - you may walk away clutching a ticket to La Gomera, wondering how that happened!

Big Scuba Show

This new show held earlier this month at London’s Olympia exhibition centre was sponsored by BSAC which also hosted its annual Diving Officers Conference at the same time, so Madge and Steve took Aqua-Marina´s most senior BSAC Instructor Andy Molloy along with them. In the event they needed all the help they could get - our stand was far busier than ever before. We weren't sure if it was our lovely new banners with some stunning photos of Tenerife´s marine life, or the fact that BSAC had worked very hard to produce a fresh and stimulating show or, perhaps most likely, divers searching for a 'safe' destination not likely to be subjected to riots and civil war. But we'd like to think it was our new banners - what do you think?

15 January 2011

Palm Mar Roncadores recovers its former glory

Having lost its crown of our favourite site 7 years ago, Palm Mar Roncadores last week at least shot to the top of our fave sites once again. Emma’s group saw angel sharks there on two separate occasions and on another dive, also in the same area, one very, very pregnant angel shark, so we should be seeing babies soon, maybe even on the house reef. :).

Ines does Belgium

For New Year 2010/2011 Ines turned up as a surprise (but, it’s OK, she was invited!) guest to a reunion of her old SE Asia colleagues in Kalken. What better for a bunch of dive enthusiasts than to spend the last afternoon of the year diving in the world’s deepest man-made pool. According to Ines it was a bit surreal, not least because it was dark and very warm (32C), and quite narrow so you are very aware of other people passing up or down. No doubt this is a fantastic training facility if you are unable to do the real thing at Palm Mar Cave or Baranco, etc, etc. Sorry, can’t pass up the opportunity for a plug for Tenerife...

Aqua-Marina expands its horizons geographically

Any of you who have spent more than 10 minutes in our shop will know that we get numerous enquiries about Fred Olsen ferry trips and have finally decided to wave the white flag and just sell the tickets. We will also be agents for other quality excursions that we feel confident to endorse. This is work in progress and your requests and comments will be received with interest. (Naturally, we will do our best to secure special prices for Aqua-Marina customers :) )

State of the nation address

We wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2011! We are delighted to report that Aqua-Marina saw a small increase in turnover in 2010 compared to pre-recession 2007, so we are definitely in post recession recovery. Phew! And I guess that means the same for most of you, as you are the ones creating our turnover. Let’s party!

17 December2010

The deed is done

So Emma is now back from honeymoon (well the first one anyway) proudly sporting her dazzling ring combo – you have to see it to understand... Of course a great time was had by both her and Michael despite a bit of upset Egyptian tummy and a mozzy bite in the ear (ouch!). But the best news for Aqua-Marina is that Emma even found us some new customers – what a salesgirl! Seems that their fellow divers preferred to dive with her rather than with the designated dive guide and several now intend to make Tenerife their next dive destination. Good work, Emma, especially on your honeymoon! And welcome to any of Emma`s new friends reading this – we look forward to meeting you!

The Big Scuba Show

Anyone interested in attending this new show to be held at London’s Olympia on the weekend of 19 and 20 February 2011 should check out the show’s website urgently as tickets bought on-line before the end of the year are on special offer – 2 tickets for £15, saving you £10! (Xmas pressie for a diver friend?) Aqua-Marina will be exhibiting and we are looking forward to seeing how the new show goes down - it certainly seems to be gathering momentum.

Christmas (and chocolate) just around the corner....

To help get us in the festive spirit our good friends Kev-lar and Edith have very kindly sent us approximately half a ton of chocolates – just judging from the aromas coming from the shop you could mistake us for Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Boss-lady Ines is not issuing any golden tickets until a few days before Xmas so we just have to dream and dribble until then! Thanks K and E! We presume the diet sheets are to follow soon?

Here’s wishing you all a very happy and chocolatey (and whatever else you fancy) festive season!

06 December2010

severe weather beating

Many thanks to those of you who were kind enough to contact us regarding news of a nasty storm that hit us at the end of November. It is really touching that while most of you were waist deep in snow and suffering previously unheard of temperatures you could still spare a thought for us. Well, believe me, you guys had it worse! We lost a couple of days diving, but it still wasn’t cold enough for coats! Viz is already back to its usual 20 or so metres and the water temperature is 22C. Come on out here, you deserve a break from the white stuff!

Rare event!

I (Madge) actually went diving this week and saw the biggest Atlantic ray of my life, dozing under an overhanging rock with a much smaller ray asleep on top of her, so this would have been either a juvenile or maybe a male, as they are much smaller in size. Other highlights included a very inquisitive octopus, checking out first Andys’ then Steves’ tapping fingers, a scorpion fish getting a clean-up from a couple of shrimp, and finally a cuttlefish changing colour as it swam along. What a lovely dive! So here comes Aqua-Marina’s first New Year resolution (only a few weeks early): Madge will spend less time in the office and more time in the water!

Check out December’s issue of Sport Diver

You may remember the previous news that our oldest customer, Philip, was still busy progressing his dive training aged 78. Well the editor of Sport Diver also considered this newsworthy enough to feature it in the current issue of the magazine. A nice bit of publicity for Aqua-Marina and another 15 minutes of fame for Philip! (Page 25)

20 November 2010

Dive Show 2010

Thanks to all of you who came to say hello to Steve on the Scuba Travel stand or Madge on the Canary Islands stand (or both) at the Birmingham dive show at the end of October. It can be an exhausting weekend so it’s good to see familiar faces and relax for a bit. We are always asked if we had a successful show, and as we are not there selling goods and taking spondoolies it’s really hard to say, but our first diver from the show just checked in for a 6 or 8 dive pack (yes, Tim, it’s you!) so we´re optimistic. Next show for us will be the new ‘Big Scuba Show’ to be held at London’s Olympia on 19th and 20th Feb 2011.

More romance in the air…

Following swiftly on the heels of the wedding blessing of Gavin and Maria in the summer, it is now the turn of our very own Princess Emma to marry her German boyfriend Michael (see, we’ve got a royal wedding too – well it feels like it anyway). Having lived in Tenerife for 10 years and 12 years respectively, they really wanted to get married here, but after several months of visits to embassies and various administrative bodies they finally had to wave the white flag – it proved impossible to produce the uniquely Spanish documents that were required. So on 23rd November they will be married in Gibraltar followed by a honeymoon, diving (really!) in the Red Sea. But Emma is not one to go for a quiet celebration – there will be another opportunity for her to really, really dress up when they have a church blessing and reception a year from now – yes, an entire year to plan, shop and get excited! Current plans are that this will be followed by another honeymoon (yes, diving) in the Maldives. Well, more about that later… In the meantime our heartfelt best wishes to you both – you deserve each other – and we mean that in the best possible way!

Costa Nerja Diving

It’s hard to imagine but our Instructor Ray was of course an Open Water student once, and this has been highlighted this week by a visit from his first Instructor, Bernabé.

Bernabé used to have a dive centre here in Tenerife called Dip n Dive but moved to Southern Spain about 10 years ago and started up Buceo Costa Nerja. He’s visiting this week with several of his more recent students, many now also dive professionals, showing them what the waters of Tenerife have to offer. A good time has been had by all and we feel sure that equal amounts of fun could be found diving with them in Spain – if you´re looking for some diving in the Malaga region, check out www.nerjadiving.com.

20 October 2010

¡Felicidades a Gavin y Maria!

Repeat customers Gavin and Maria from Ireland brought a little romance to our hearts this week by returning to Tenerife for the blessing of their wedding in the church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, followed by what promised to be a fabulous party at the swanky Hotel Villa Cortez. We saw them a few times in the days before the wedding as Gavin tried to fit in as much diving as he could, but strangely have not heard from them in the 3 days since! We wish you both all the best; in the words on Emma’s card: Gavin and Maria took the plunge in Tenerife… and lived happily ever after. We sincerely hope so!

New skipper

In order to allow our instructors to complete their Tec training, co-owner Steve has finally completed his powerboat skipper training and is now happily driving his own boats for the first time – about time Steve – it’s been 6 years that you’ve been threatening to do this! It’s been a real baptism of fire with some seriously big waves, but Steve managed just fine and got everyone to and fro safe and sound. He’s earned the nickname Daisy (from the film Driving Miss Daisy, remember that one?) as he’s been taking it nice and slow – but there’s nothing wrong with that!

Tec 50 ready!

Our instructors, Ines, Ray and Andy are now ready to take Tec training all the way through to PADI Tec50 having completed the final stage of their own very rigorous training with Course Director Kev from Lanzarote. Kev shows no mercy – you can be sure that our guys have been put through their paces and really know their stuff and are ready and waiting to share it with you! Question is, are YOU ready?

Dive Show 2010

Yes, it’s time again for the annual pilgrimage to Birmingham’s NEC for the Dive Show, this year to be held on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st October, starting at 0930. Steve and Madge will for the first time be located on the Canary Islands stand (number 310) which is close to the entrance of Hall 10. In previous years, Tenerife has not been represented on this huge stand, which struck us as a crying shame, so this year we will do our best to rectify this omission and spread the word about how good the diving here really is! Do come and say hello if you are attending the show.

Speedy Dives Rite!

30 September 2010

One of our first converts to a Dive Rite wing has been long-term customer and friend Dave “Speedy” Jones. A little put off at first by the price which is a bit higher than an average BCD, he was persuaded by the enthusiasm of the vast majority of the team (including Madge who hardly ever dives but has also taken the DR plunge!). And we have been unable to wipe the smile off his face since he set foot in the water with it. He’s halved his lead weight, finds buoyancy control on the 5m safety stop an absolute breeze, and has the in-water profile of a total pro! It just goes to show, you just need the right tools for the job! His comment “I wish I’d got one of these years ago - and believe me that is an understatement!" makes the point clear.

You’re as young as you feel!

23 September 2010

Our oldest customer (and proud of it!), 78 year old Philip Calvert, keeps taking us by surprise. First of all, 3 years ago after several snorkel excursions with us he asked to try a Discover Scuba. From that moment he was hooked on diving and during his next holiday in Tenerife took his Open Water course, aged 76. Since then he has progressed through Advanced Open Water and Enriched Air Nitrox, then most recently opted for Deep Diver Specialty, aged 78! Back at home in Scotland his favourite activity is mountain biking – you might have guessed it really. His advice is this: “Forget the kids’ inheritance, spend your money on something sensible like diving (or mountain biking)”.

01 September 2010

200th dive record

Congratulations to our most loyal client, Dave Graham, who made his 200th dive with us today. Dave is lucky enough to make several lengthy trips to Tenerife each year and usually makes 1 dive a day whilst here, so many of you have met him, and several of our regular divers are good friends with him. As Dave himself says: “Diving with Aqua-Marina is as much about having a laugh and socialising with both the staff and other customers as it is about the diving. Having said that, I never tire of the diving either. Although I’ve dived all the sites within reach of Aqua-Marina many times they all have the capacity to wow me with the variety of marine life which changes from one dive to the next.”

Formación Básica

Andy, Ray and Ben recently completed a Spanish skipper course all about safety at sea, with a little help n the Spanish department from Bea who at the time was completing her Divemaster course with us. You can imagine how much they enjoyed dressing in full protective gear for fire fighting here in the August temperatures of Tenerife. But perhaps the icing on the cake was that even though they are qualified EFR instructors they were made sit through the EFR video and training as if they were students. Bet you all feel much safer knowing they have this training under their belt!

Dive-Rite

Aqua-Marina is now the dealer for Dive-Rite gear in the Canary Islands. Our first shipment in July was totally gobbled up by our instructors, but now we have received a second shipment so there is actually some stock available for purchase. If you wish to try a wing before you buy, this can be arranged. Plus anyone undertaking any tec training will be using our school Dive Rite gear. It´s good stuff!