Anybody done any diving lately in GC? Dive reports here!

[Welho]

I wonder if there is many scuba enthusiasts on the forum?

My wife and I are going to Gran Canaria in two weeks. I was wondering how the diving conditions have been lately? I know sometimes during spring the plankton levels go up diminishing visibility. Any trace of that yet?

Let me introduce myself a bit,

I got certified with my wife on Fuerteventura in 2000. Soon after that i moved to South California, where I have done most of my dives, off the coast and around the archipelago (Channel Islands). After moving back to Finland in 2002 I packed up my dive gear and headed to Gran Canaria, in order to do a Dive Master internship. I did that and worked for Aquanauts in Puerto Rico for some time.

I would love to read dive reports and experiences divers have had in the waters of Canary Islands. Maybe this thread could work as an on-going dive report thread for us divers. You could for example comment on following things:

Where did you dive? What was the name of the dive site?
With which dive school / dive center did you dive?
How was their service? Do you recommend the center?
Did you take a class? (OWD, AOWD, Rescue...etc.)
How much did it cost?
How were the conditions?

Please feel free to collaborate!
:banana:

[Alter Egotist]

Hey,

Went diving Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.

Had two dives in Amadores (vis wasnt great at first but the deeper you went the better it got really, definatley not as good as usual)

Had another two dives in up north yesterday and vis was excellent.

Went diving with PR Diving. Check out there site of the same name before you come over or email them and they can book you in.

[Welho]

Hey,

Went diving Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.

Had two dives in Amadores (vis wasnt great at first but the deeper you went the better it got really, definatley not as good as usual)

Had another two dives in up north yesterday and vis was excellent.

Went diving with PR Diving. Check out there site of the same name before you come over or email them and they can book you in.

Mr. Egoist, thanks for your report. I know PR Diving and Nina´s and Kevin´s excellent service from my previous trips.

What was the water temperature? What thickness was your wet suit? I am thinking wether bringing my own superthick suit or renting a suit from the PR Diving.

[BoBo]

Hi all,
A while a go I saw somewhere a picture of a sunken russian ??? "river" boat???. It was included in a story about cleaning up the shore line after a storm. Think it was near PR /Amadores.
I`m not diving myself but would be very interested in getting to know where this wreck is situated and whats the history behind this vessel.

Ps! Welho, luin että olet sukeltanut PR:n ympäristössä.Tiedätkö sinä mitään tästä aluksesta?

[Welho]

Hi all,
A while a go I saw somewhere a picture of a sunken russian ??? "river" boat???. It was included in a story about cleaning up the shore line after a storm. Think it was near PR /Amadores.
I`m not diving myself but would be very interested in getting to know where this wreck is situated and whats the history behind this vessel.

Ps! Welho, luin että olet sukeltanut PR:n ympäristössä.Tiedätkö sinä mitään tästä aluksesta?


Yes, the boat was sunk on purpose for amusement for divers. It is called Cermona II. It has been completely stripped stripped internally, and it is possible to swim through the hull.

This is a photo of a diver peeking inside the wreck.

By the way, I got e-mail from PR and was told that the conditions for diving in Arinaga Marine Reserve (El Cabron) have been outstanding. Great viz and hardly any water movement at all! Cant wait to go next tuesday!

[BoBo]

:ph34r: Thanks for the Info :ph34r:
Regards BoBo
:thankyou:

[Ghoulie]

used to dive many years ago - quit in 1985 - back problems. Qualified in 1970 up to old BSAC 2nd Class. Mostly dived uk - but then worked in middle east - so dived Indian Ocean & Persian Gulf - off the Emirates.

excellent sport.

Looked in on PR diving last year - gazing at the pictures on show with envy - but my time for all that now passed I'm afraid - enjoy it while you can

[Welho]

used to dive many years ago - quit in 1985 - back problems. Qualified in 1970 up to old BSAC 2nd Class. Mostly dived uk - but then worked in middle east - so dived Indian Ocean & Persian Gulf - off the Emirates.

excellent sport.

Looked in on PR diving last year - gazing at the pictures on show with envy - but my time for all that now passed I'm afraid - enjoy it while you can

Cheers, mr. choulie. Im sorry to hear about your condition. My way of looking things are just like yours - enjoy wihle you can. At the moment I am on my early 30+s, and I want to take the most out of life I can. On my case this means saving up money as much as I can and spending it on exploring the wonder of the ocean - when ever I can. I live very far up north and our ocean does not give me anything to explore. Muddy bottom and zero visibility. And most of the year our ocean is covered by a thick layer of ice....

All in all, one week from now my wife and I will step on airplane with our dive gear and make another exploration with the marine life of Canary Islands. Our photography gear is ready and we are going to document everything we see. I expect to find out if the amount of Glass Eyes has increased and if the tiger moray has grown in the crevice at El Cabron Marine Reserve. I think it is an incredible enjoyment to have pictures - year after year - of the same creature of the ocean - to be able to follow how it grows bigger and bigger. After all, the world beneath the surface is not the world our creator ment us to be in. It is the cleveriness of man that opened us the silent world. Let us show the ocean the respect we can.

[Alter Egotist]

Hey all,

dived in Arinaga and was wearing a 5 mill suit.

my mate was using a 3 mill and was freezing after a deeper dive.

water was 19/20 degrees. Gets warmer as summer nears.

I got all gear when over from the lads.

in relation to wreck people were talking about. Aparently due to recent storms a bit/some of wreck has been destroyed.

I will try get pics of same and send them on.

Cheers.

AL.

[maxine]

Dived in the summer last year in a 3mm suit was freezing to the point of shivering, have had to buy new full lenth suit and gloves. the coral is very sharp and you get a lot of cuts etc.
Am used to diving in the carribean Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Mexico, have also done Cyprus, Red Sea, Thialand, all a lot warmer so was a liitle shocked to say the least when diving here!!! But am waiting for the weather to warm up, have heard they have great Manta Ray dives.
Use Madusa Diving in Las Palmas, they are good and less expensive than the south and cover any were you want to go.
Still have to do my White Shark dive in South Africa, thats on hold now for a while. The beauty of now living here is i can do it when i want, same old thing though, when you can you dont!!:p

[lee&gar]

Hey fellow divers!

I (gar) did my advanced open water padi certificate this week while on holiday. Did it with the guys from Sunset Beach Diving on Amadores beach. Had a brill week, while visibility was quite poor I still managed a night dive in Amadores & a deep dive in Arinaga.

While Lee stayed on the beach sunbathing, lucky girl!:have-fun:

We're going back at the start of june and while there I'll do my deep sea rescue course. Roll on june!!

[Welho]

Hey fellow divers!

I (gar) did my advanced open water padi certificate this week while on holiday. Did it with the guys from Sunset Beach Diving on Amadores beach. Had a brill week, while visibility was quite poor I still managed a night dive in Amadores & a deep dive in Arinaga.

While Lee stayed on the beach sunbathing, lucky girl!:have-fun:

We're going back at the start of june and while there I'll do my deep sea rescue course. Roll on june!!

My wife and I are going in tomorrow, still packing our dive bags at the moment. I will let you know how the conditions turn out.

[Welho]

My wife and I are going in tomorrow, still packing our dive bags at the moment. I will let you know how the conditions turn out.

We got back on monday. My wife and I did 10 dives both. 9 at Arinaga underwater reserve (El Cabron) and one from the Amadores beach. The south coast was very stirred up because of the tide coming so high this time of the year. Arinaga was very good. The high tide made going in and coming out at the pool area (and everywhere else exept the beach) very challenging. The mid-tide was the best time for diving. For those who do not know the El Cabron area, the pool is the name of the spot where most divers go in and come out.

The visibility was good, ranging from 10 to 30 meters. In general at the end of the reef the viz cleared up. During low tide, the wave movement picked up particles from the bottom (sand and plants) stirring up the visibility in the lower depths. On the areas with 20 meters of depth or more, the viz was allways excellent.

We saw loads of marine life - as allways. Not anything big this time, unless you count the shoal of Bastador Grunts of 2000 individuals, big. Many moray eels, Damsels, Barracudas, Gardinal fish, Glasseyes, Mullets, Rock Fish (poisonous), Fire worms (very poisonous), Parrot Fish (of course), and Cernia Rossa.

We really had some good time during our stay. El Cabron diving is world class diving - there is no doubt about it. It may be very demanding for beginners because the rocky entry and exit may be a bit tricky but once you manage the method of going in and coming out, watch the tide and master your navigation, you will love this dive site.

The best feature in my opinion is, that El Cabron provides such many different dives at one location. Shallow water diving, drop offs, caves, drifting (when the tide is pulling in with all its force)...

[shortie]

I heard Didier Drogba has been out here, if thats any help.
:grouphug:

[shirley]

Well!
These undersea diving views are FAB, i dont dive myself cant even swim, and for someone like me,to get to see whats under there, and all the different fish. IS GOOD id never see them, if it wasnt for you guys, CAN WE HAVE SOME MORE SOON?????????