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Davy Jones Diving - Laatste NieuwsDit is een informele Nieuws Blog om u op de hoogte te houden van de dag-tot-dag gebeurtenissen in Davy Jones Diving Centrum in Gran Canaria. We zullen de roddels, de waarnemingen, de hoge (en misschien wel de dieptepunten!) hier.
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We hit the million mark! This week, we have passed the Million mark in terms of pageloads on the DavyJonesDiving.com website! We have been tracking our pageloads since about 2004, when we installed the StatCounter software on our website, and this confirms the steady progress we have made to this point. Since 2004 we have changed a lot, and now have pages in German, Dutch, Spanish, Norwegian and Swedish, and have recently optimised all the pages for viewing from a smartphone. I am sure it will take less time to reach the 2 million mark! Brian  Brian Looking for News about Davy Jones the singer and actor? It was sad to hear that Davy Jones, former singer with the Monkees, died in his sleep from a Heart Attack yesterday. The only connection between us and the singer was the common name. We obviously pass our best wishes and condolences on to the family and friends of Davy, and would like to reassure all our friends that all the team here is fit and well. Brian Winter Storm uncovers exciting discovery A couple of weeks ago there was a strong storm here in Arinaga, which prevented us from diving for a couple of days. When we got back into the water we made an amazing discovery, as in one part of the Marine Reserve,the storm has moved away the sand and exposed what appear to be the remains of an old wooden sailing ship. The timbers that have been exposed are over 6m in length and very heavy, consistent with the external planking used on sailing ships of the 18th aand 19th century. This is hardly a 'wreck' dive, but should be regarded as an archeological site of potential future importance. We will be organising regular dives in the area to determine the extent of the find and to assess, measure and record in more detail. We will be talking to the Island's expert on marine archeology to get more information on likely ships that have been lost in the area. Brian They are mending the road! Yes, you have all complained about the track to El Cabrón and asked how it damages the vehicles. Well, for the last few days the Cabildo has finally got round to not only filling the surface, but also back-grading it and actually compacting it with a roller. We could here the vibrating roller underwater yesterday! Brian
Eduardo to the Rescue! We never know
what we will find from one day to the next,
and today we came across a small turtle,
trapped in a discarded plastic bag, while
diving in the El Cabrón Marine
Reserve. The Turtle was having difficulty
moving with the bag attached, but fortunately
the bag slowed it down enough and Ed was able
to catch it, remove the plastic bag and set
it free. The Turtle was able to swim away on
its own. The lucky turtle has no doubt had
its life extended by the swift reaction of
Eduardo to the problem, and the lucky divers
saw not only the rare sight of a turtle in
the Reserve but a good example of protecting
and supporting our marine ecosystem.
Brian
Hammerhead Sharks near the Reserve One
of our friends from the Windsurf community
told me that this week while surfing 2km up
the coast from Arinaga he saw a Hammerhead
Shark! It was about 2m long, on the surface
with its dorsal fin showing, about 500m out
from the coast. This is not the first report
of offshore Hammerheads we have had, as
windsurfers see them a couple of times each
year. Underwater we are less lucky,
apparently Hammerheads are cautious of divers
and will move away from them before we detect
the sharks. I have only heard one report in 9
years of somebody seeing a Hammerhead well
overhead when they were at Punta de La Sal in
30m. Still, you never know what you might see
in the Marine Reserve!
Brian 
Brian 
Brian 
Brian
Crazy weather! We can see SNOW today
from in front of the dive centre! Yes, up on
the tops of the mountains the dusting of the
last two days is clearly visible from down
here! It's very rare to get snow at all in
GC, and this is the first time it has been
visible from Arinaga. Strangely, the diving
in the Marine Reserve has been uneffectd ..
the storm has hit the other side of the
Island and we are in the lee.. but with air
temperatures below normal, it is actually
warmer in the sea than in the air! The
forecasters tell us it will all blow over in
the next two days and warmer weather wil
return.
Brian
First price rise in 5 years It's now
five years since we last changed our prices
in 2006, and the recent increases in fuel
charges, along with increasing costs of
safety items (such as more frequent testing
of Oxygen bottles) mean that from the 3rd
April we will be applying a small increase in
most prices, of around five euros per day.
However, if you confirm your booking now
before the new prices are introduced, then we
will honour your booking at our current
prices.
Brian
Royal Philharmonic entertained by Davy
Jones Diving while in Gran Canaria It's
always nice to entertain other professional
entertainers, so we all enjoyed hosting
members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
from London when they visited Las Palmas last
week. The Orchestra was in Las Palmas for the
XXVII Festival de Música de Canarias,
and several members took time out from their
busy schedule to spend a day diving with us
in the Marine Reserve in Arinaga. So on
Friday we were able to show them the 'diving
fantastique' in the Marine reserve in
Arinaga, while on Saturday they played
'Symphonie Fantastique' by Berlioz to an
aprechiative audience in the Alfredo Kraus
Auditorium.
Brian 
Brian 
Brian 
Brian
More Tiger Shark Teeth Further
investigations have produced another Tooth
from a Sand Tiger Shark in a special area in
the Reserve. However it looks like they may
have been there for a long time and are not
recent as we originally thought.
Brian 
Brian
... and now Manta Rays in Arinaga! If you
read the old guidebook to the reserve it
talks about the possibility of sighting
Mobulus Rays (a small type of manta ray) in
the El Cabrón Marine Reserve. Till
this year it was simply one of those divers
myths... But then in July one of our reliable
friends claimed he saw a group of three, and
after a couple of other reports, last week
our instructors Uwe and Graham came across
one, followed a couple of days later by
another sighting. Over the next couple of
weeks we want to do some more controlled
dives to try to find out is this a lone
individual or, as we find in the north of the
Island, a family group... watch our sightings
for more updates! oh, and by the way in the
same week a windsufer saw a Hammerhead shark
on the surface in the same area!
Brian 
As we have no recorded sightings of Sand Tigers, it is not clear wether the group of teeth represent a regular (nocturnal?) visitor, or some historical activity.
Brian 
There are four categories of award, Water Sports, Wellness, Family and Volcanic (for other adventure sports), and they have been awarded to companies like ourselves who deliver a quality service to customers through great experiences, and also highlight or complement the unique nature of the Canarian lifestyle, culture or nature. You can find out more about these seals of approval on the official website of the department of Turismo de Canarias.
Brian 
Early this year however we began to notice large numbers of bleached shells in the Marine Reserve, and after talking to our friends at the University of Las Palmas, we now believe that these are being attacked by some form of virus. Numbers have dropped sharply in many areas over the last two months, although it appears that the 'native' urchin species have not been effected. It appears in some areas that the native algaes and plant life rea returning quickly, so we can only hope that these changes lead to the revitalisation of the reef here.
Brian
We have discovered a new Dive route!
Occaisionally, we explore some of the less
well know parts of the Marine Reserve, and
can often come across unexpected secrets.
Yesterday was a good example .. we dived in a
new area, from a known entry point .. and
discovered a really nice little cave which
you can get right into to explore. This cave
is the only one with a blowhole back to the
surface, which you can swim up into! It is
not very deep, but will only be diveable in
certain weather conditions. So, if you think
you have done all the dives in the Marine
Reserve, we now have something extra to show
you!
Brian
Congratulations to Graham! After lots of
study over the last few months and hard work,
he has become our first diver to 'go all the
way' and become a PADI Instructor, passing
his Instructor exam first time over in
Fuerteventura recently.
Brian 
Brian
John Liddiard's article now online.
You can now read the review of diving in Gran
Canaria, that was originally printed in the
February 2010 edition of DIVER magazine in
the UK. You can read John Liddiard´s
article
"Tapas Diving in Gran Canaria"
here.
Brian
Prices held for another year We know
that many of our customers are being more
cautious in these times of poor exchange
rates and financial crisis, so for the third
year we have held down our prices at the 2007
levels. We are continuing to make savings on
utility bills, changing insurance providers,
lower fuel prices and other small changes
without effecting customer safety or customer
service.
Brian
Congratulations to Helen! Our eldest
daughter came to visit us last week, and
finished off the week by running the first
ever Marathon in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.
She finished in a time of 4 hours and twenty
three minutes, coming in as the 17th woman
overall and 6th in her age group! None of our
'very fit' staff felt they could have managed
this feat, although Uwe and Nicole had been
tempted to do the half marathon.
Brian
Gran Canaria a major feature in Diver
Magazine this month!. Finally, Diver
magazine in the Uk has printed the review of
Gran Canaria, based on John Liddiard's diving
trip here last year. It covers all the best
sites .. El Cabrón of course, as well
as the wrecks of Las Palmas, and the diving
on the West Coast near Mogan. Grab yourself a
copy while it is still on the newstand and
enjoy some of John's great photography and
reporting.
Brian
Wow, what a month January has been. This
winter we have had a continuous spell of
great diving here in Arinaga. Day after day
we have posted 'excellent' for the
conditions, caused by a very stable high
pressure system over the Canaries. Over
Christmas this produced some storms on the
West coast, but fortunately Arinaga was
largely uneffected. The water temperatures
are still high at 21C, and I haven't put my
semi-dry on yet!
Brian
Angel Sharks return at same time of year.
Just like the last two years, Angel Sharks
started to return to the Marine Reserve in
mid November this year ... but unlike
previous years the water is much warmer. The
research we have been carrying out withe the
University of Las Palmas suggested that they
preferred a temperature of 21C, but this year
temperatures are above average, still just on
22, yet the Angel Sharks have all returned
... looks like we will have to keep on with
this research project!
Brian
The Christmas Tree is back! As in previous
years, this annual highlight has been put in
place by the local dive clubs. Join us for a
dive and we can all sing carols around the
tree, wear silly christmas hats etc. Water
temperatures have remained good this year
taking the 'nip' out of the dive.
Brian
...and the great conditions
continue...
Yes, diving during November continues the trend of this autumn with calm conditions, great visibility and gentle currents. Some northerly parts of Tenerife were effected by heavy rain and flooding in the middle of this week, but Arinaga was totally uneffected!. This week seems to have instead been full of really special dives... The Cape lobster that jumped onto me on Wednesday; the stingray that kept investigating us on the Night Dive; A mother stingray giving (live) birth to baby stingrays on Friday .... and slightly to the surprise of all of us, the return of the adolescent and adult angel sharks this week.
Brian 
Brian
Another stunning autumn here in El
Cabrón and the good weather continues!
Since late September we have had a really
stable warm air stream which has given us day
after day of excellent conditions. And with
the conditions have come lots of exciting
sightings. Mobulus rays at Sardina, Baby
angelsharks in the bay, seahorses, lots of
rays including family groups, a new type of
nudibrach we have never seen before. Several
divers this week said they enjoyed diving
here more than in the Red Sea! When asked why
they said it was less crowded (No Russians!),
and had more variety of diving sites, and our
style was more chilled out. So if you are
thinking of a late autumn break before
christmas, don´t delay, give us a call
now!
Brian
Good news for travellers from the UK and
Ireland! Ryanair have planned a lot more
flights from the UK to Gran Canaria for this
winter from Late October. There are now cheap
flight opportunities from Birmingham,
Bournemouth, Bristol, Dublin, East Midlands,
Glasgow, Liverpool, Luton, Stanstead, Shannon
and several other European destinations.
There are lots of bargains to be had at the
moment so check out your dates quickly.
Brian
We have just had a stunning week,
weatherwise, with lovely air temperatures,
low winds and great visibility. In one week
we have had so many diving highlights as
well! We saw the (very rare for us) Spiny
Pufferfish on two days, saw a mother Stingray
with six or seven babies around her, Angel
shark swimming, stingrays, and lots more
besides. When conditions are like this we can
come across virtually anything, and to prove
this on a recent night dive we discovered our
first ever Small European Locust Lobster - so
small we had to photograph it and then look
it up in the book! This Spring we seem to
have seen a lot more nudibrachs than normal,
and we have also come across more Sea Hares
during the day then we normally do. Once
again the Marine Reserve keeps it's
reputation of being full of surprises.
Brian 
Brian 
We had some great dives during the week, including the wrecks of both Las Palmas and the West Coast, and of course a real exploration of parts of the El Cabrón Marine Reserve. So keep your eyes on Diver and this summer we hope to see some exciting pictures which really showcase the diving in Gran Canaria.
Brian 
Brian |
