El Puertito Marine Reserve - Tenerife October 31, 2007
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, Pictures, Scuba diving abroad , 2comments
This dive was within a marine reserve project set up by David of Tenerife Divers to encourage marine life growth around the bay of El Puertito. A consequence of encouraging marine growth on the rocks is it provides food to other marine species, including a pair of green turtles. (Although perhaps some divers feeding them has also contributed) Our second dive of the day was to be a gentle bimble along the rocks making up the reserve and hope that one of the turtles comes along to say hi. We were not disappointed. I was first in and down the anchor line to the seabed at 6m. I secured the anchor on the rocks, took a mental note of the surroundings so we could find our way back and waited for Lisa and Rachel to meet me. (more…)
A big thank you to Island Divers Tenerife October 25, 2007
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Scuba diving abroad , add a comment
When booking a diving trip whether in the UK or abroad, it is as much about the people you dive with as the dive sites you visit. This is easy to sort out when one is booking as part of a group on a liveaboard or major dive trip but is somewhat more daunting when travelling on your own and to a lesser extent as a buddy pair or couple. After taking advice from other divers who had visited the islands before and going particularly on the recommendation of friends with whom I have dived regularly, we booked a couple of days diving with Island Divers in Tenerife. We chose Tenerife as it seemed to fulfill our criteria for decent diving in the sun with some good beaches and close enough to do a long weekend away .
As I was (more…)
Finally Lisa dives with a Turtle October 25, 2007
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, Scuba diving abroad, video clips , 1 comment so farIt’s only taken 14 years but Lisa has finally had the opportunity to dive with turtles. She has been in the water before when they are around, 3 years ago when we were diving in Oman, her Dad who was on the neighbouring boat to us saw five on a dive whilst we dived with yet more lionfish. However last week in Tenerife she finally got her chance. Diving with Island Divers, we visited the El Puertito Marine Reserve, set up by a dive centre owner to encourage marine growth. The two resident green turtles had been previously rescued and after recuperation released into the area around the reserve. Finding themselves in save territory they have settled in and are regularly found on the reserve. After just a few minutes into our dive I spotted the smaller of the two off in the blue, eager to see, Lisa followed gently behind, slightly spooking the turtle with her exhaust bubbles when she took out her reg for a picture. Learning from that episode we carried on with the dive, a few minutes later I heard a squeal from behind me, as the larger of the two turtles appeared and nearly bowled Lisa over, this really was a close encounter.
Atlantic Rays in Tenerife October 25, 2007
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, Scuba diving abroad, video clips , add a comment
This video was taken on Saturday 20th October. We were diving with Island Divers, Tenerife. About 10 minutes into our dive we were joined by these two atlantic rays who circled us as though they were looking for something or someone in particular. When they found Graham, you can see what happened.
Absolutely amazing creatures. Truly one of my most memorable dives.
Henry B Plant (41m) & M.V.Teeswood (32m) September 7, 2007
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving, Wreck Diving , 1 comment so far
Lying on her starboard side at 41m of the cool green Dover straits, the Henry B Plant is an impressive wreck, virtually intact with the exception of the midships section heading towards the stern, which was where she was hit by a torpedo in february 1945. Named after the railroad tycoon of the late 19th Century Henry Bradley Plant this US liberty class ship had only be launched on the 11th December 1944. Within 3 months she would be one of the final victims of the second world war. As soon as Paul sent me a message that he had booked Dave Batchelor and Neptune to dive the Henry B, I booked onto the trip, hoping for some of the great visibility that Paul had experienced on her before. (more…)
Diving with Sunfish Charters - Brixham August 31, 2007
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving , add a commentI have been a member of Sunfish Charters yahoo group for well over a year but have not had the opportunity till now to dive with Mike and his brightly coloured rib. The plan was initially to do the Bretagne and Orestone Ledges but the wreck was changed with our consultation a few days before the weekend when an extra 8 divers booked on giving us the full compliment for the boat, so with a ropes off time of 9.15am we were set.
Mike moors Sunfish in Brixham Marina and so we got their early with the car and the kit to get a decent parking space near to the lifeboat station with a short walk with a trolley to the marina and onto Mike’s berth. Lisa and I then wandered back to Mum & Dad’s place to drop off the dog that we had taken for a walk, have a small breakfast and then headed back down to the marina to meet up with the others. We arrived as everyone else was loaded up so even though we were the closest in distance we were the last on the boat - oops sorry. (more…)
Snorkelling off Swanpool beach, Falmouth August 12, 2007
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : General, snorkelling , 3commentsJust got back from a week with the family camping in Cornwall. This is the first time I have been down to Cornwall in the last 3 years were I haven’t taken my dive kit along. Did however take the wetsuits, masks and fins for all the family. It would be wrong otherwise!!!
We had a thoroughly enjoyable week based out of the campsite Summer Valley near Truro, enjoying some of the numerous non-diving activities that one can get up too, body-boarding, chilling on the sandy beaches, cycling, visiting the sights and tourist spots, etc etc. A fuller account of our week away is on our family blog, but for this blog I would like to make mention of the surprise gem of a hours long snorkel I had on Swanpool beach in Falmouth.
After playing on the beach with the children for a while, I donned my mask and snorkel and headed off along the rocky edge of the bay out towards the headland. The sandy seabed gradually gave way to submerged rocks of the headland, the maximum depth I swam out was about 5m but the rocks and kelp beds reminded me of the shallower areas of the manacles and drawna reef just around the headland. As a result I encountered a fair amount of similar marine life, including large wrasse and a huge spider crab wrapped around the swaying kelp, hanging on for all he’s worth. I was very surprised to see such a large crab so shallow, but there was no way of dislodging him from his perch. All this within a few metres of the shoreline.
So even though no diving during the week, that hour or so of snorkelling in surprisingly good visibility considering it is a sandy beach and lots of people were in the water, did go some way to appeasing the need to go diving whilst in Cornwall. No need to fret about not diving though as we’ll be diving at the bank holiday weekend. This time from Brixham, we are going to try sunfish charters and try the Bretagne. Watch this space for the report.
Now I know what F5- F6 off the Isle of Wight feels like July 25, 2007
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : General , add a commentIt was supposed to be a great days diving but most of July has been wiped out by the bad weather. ………. (more…)
