Newsletter Autumn 2006

Welcome to our Newsletter

This is the first of what will be a set of occasional newsletters to keep you updated on the changes that are continually happening here at Davy Jones Diving. Many of you have enjoyed your diving enough to come back again, so we keep changing (and we hope improving!) so that you always get the best possible diving experience here. In this first newsletter you can find out about our new map and compressor, our new online photo album, new canarian laws, news from the reserve, and updates to the website. We also have some special offers for the winter.

award for excellence

We were all delighted recently when we were awarded a PADI 'Certificate of Recognition for Excellence' following positive customer comments to PADI about our Digital Underwater Photography course, reinforcing our position as one of the best places in Europe to learn and take underwater pictures.

our new reserve map

Earlier this year we decided it was time to upgrade our compressor, and as the law has changed since the last one was installed, this has also required removing our old wooden divider with the map of the dive sites, and replacing it with a new concrete wall, on which we have created a new three-dimensional map. Today, five months of burocracy and hassle later we have the new 3D map of the dive sites on the wall, a set of cables to provide 3-phase electricity, and a brand new compressor ... but they are not connected to the mains and have all sat here for one month facing one official hurdle after another. We could write a whole newsletter on this in itself, but we expect it to be all connected fairly soon (??), when our new compressor will help us turn around tanks faster, and reduce the noise in the dive centre. The new map is however complete. Being in three dimensions it gives you a much better understanding of the relationship of different parts of the reserve to each other, and includes in the model features such as the Hole in the Wall, the Arinaga Arch, the principle caves and the Arco Pequeno. Later this year we will add alongside it a miniature reef' so that we can show the different marine species in their individual habitats.

diving highlights

One of the highlights of this summer has been a family of triggerfish who seem to have taken up residence near punta de la sal, close to our rare Abade Capitan. We have often seen both species on a single dive making this a great attraction. We have also been lucky this year with increased sightings of Dusky Grouper and Unicornfish.

new online photo-album

We have added a complete new underwater photo-album to the website in order to feature many of the stunning shots we have of the marine life here. This year we also started offering the new PADI Digital Underwater Photography Course, and this album shows what can be achieved. The photo album is divided up into 'photo-dives' each relating to a specific dive route, so that you get a great idea of the species that feature on each dive. You can select slideshow mode to skip though the shots, or browse the thumbnails, and even view the pictures in a larger size/ higher resolution. The album controls are also multi-lingual, and we will be setting the captions into a variety of languages as we develop this in the future.

new canarian diving laws

In April this year, a new law was passed by the Canarian Government to register and manage dive centres. All dive centres in the Canary Islands must comply with these new safety requirements, and fortunately we already met them all. Our application for registration has now been filed and we expect confirmation within the next six months. The new law also clarified the situation for children, confirming that any child under 16 may dive with the explicit permission of the parent. This differs from the rest of Spain where the outdated law still states 16 years old and over, although in many areas this is and was widely ignored.

angelshark survey

We are currently undertaking a research project in conjunction with the University of Las Palmas into the distribution of Angelsharks in this area. Every time we see one we now record the details for the University to anaylse later.

new DVD service

We can now offer an underwater DVD service, so that you can take a record of your dive home with you, courtesy of our underwater videographer, Siobhan. For those who want to improve their diving we will also offer a 'video tune-up' where we film you underwater and then discuss features such as buoyancy control, finning, attitude in water, and overall control by reviewing the DVD with you back in the dive centre.

special offers this autumn and winter

We always like to see old friends back to dive with us in Arinaga, so for this winter we have some special offers. Come diving with us between the 1st November and 20th December, or 7th January and 15th March and we will give you a discount of 10% off our normal prices.

looking for something different for christmas?

If you want any of our branded clothing, log-books or mask wrappers, or want your 'next' PADI manual for christmas, then please let us know as if we get your request early we can post them to you in time for Christmas.

website changes and additions

We have added lots of new pages to the website - there are now over one hundred pages in four languages!. First we have replaced the old comments page with a new on-line guestbook. You can now add comments yourself directly, and we will add emails and handwritten comments from the paper comments book. We have also added a News-Blog where we will try to keep you updated with all the little things that keep happening - sightings, special events, changes here etc. There is also an automated Contact Form to make it easier to contact us; a page of our Instructor Profiles, and an English translation of the local environmental group's Leaflet on El Cabron. Finally we have added some new pages in German, and added additional pages in Spanish. Many of pages are being changed internally and renamed, so apologies if you have bookmarked a page but it does not now load!

and finally..

A thank-you from all of us (Brian, Annette, Marilyn, Eduardo, Andy and Siobhan) for your visits during 2006, for being patient when things have not quite gone to plan, and for being a great group of people to go diving with.