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Tenerife
Naomi and I were holidaying in Golf del Sur on Tenerife's South Coast when we made contact with David & Yvonne
who run Tenerife Dive at Las Galletas on the Costa del Silencio. I got back into the whole idea very easily but Naomi (who
has quite severe, although controlled, asthma) found it quite hard going from a confidence standpoint. We did eventually
get Naomi to do a try-dive in the calm and shallow water in the Harbour at Las Galletas and although still very nervous
she managed it very well and was likewise hooked.
We have been back to Tenerife since (after a couple more diving holidays in Greece) and Naomi & I had several really
wonderful 10-15 metre boat dives with Yvonne and David. Tenerife, out in the Atlantic, gets much better fish than you
generally find in the Mediterranean, larger and with more varieties. We even found the, by then, obligatory octopus to
play with for a while (See Crete, alongside).
I really can reccommend the Costa del Silencio as a place to dive, and Dive Tenerife in particular. They are a really friendly
but professionally run outfit and can & do cater for every level of diver. Since Naomi and I really love Tenerife we'll
definitely be going back.
Red Sea
Naomi and I had a week in the Red Sea in December 2008 sailing about the Gulf of Aqqaba. Lots of snorkelling and I managed
one dive over the week. The sea-life and corals out there really are all they're cracked up to be and this has definitely spurred
me on to get my PADI Open Water certification during 2009. I didn't have my underwater camera with me in December so no
piccies, but we will be going back.
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Crete
Having got our foot in the door on Tenerife, our next holiday happened to be in Crete. We were based in Rethymnon
but there is nothing worth diving around there and we happened on the StayWet Diving Centre in Agia Pelagia, not
far from Heraklion. This is an absolutely fabulous location, with its own little sheltered cove which is rarely crowded.
The cove has room for the Dive Centre (which has its own cafe), two taverna alongside a shop and and a small
supermarket. The cove looks out towards Heraklion. Max and Beatrice, who run StayWet, are a lovely couple and all
the [French] staff are incredibly friendly and supportive and endlessly patient.
The first time we went there, Naomi was still very unconfident underwater and she and her 1-1 instructor tended to stay
separate from the group but we did about 10 dives over the fortnight we were in Crete and Naomi was fully with us by
the end. THe second week developed into a quest to find an octopus and in the end we did find out, with Naomi there,
and it was a wonderful moment when Naomi was handling it down at about 8 metres.
Since Greece has always been my favourite destination outside the UK this is one place we'll happily go back to again
and again. The last time we went we have Naomi's sister and her family with us and managed to get Judy and her son
Taylor out on a couple of dives with us. Max and Beatrice are wonderful hosts (Beatrice does all their camera work)
and their situation is just idyllic.
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