Scuba diving always was something I wanted to do but never got around to doing. Until August 1998 when I was on holiday at the Santa Barbara complex in Tenerife. I had a try dive in the pool and although I didn't have the time then, I decided that the next time I was in Tenerife I was going to take a diving course.

So I saved and in july 1999 I returned to Santa Barbara only to find that the 'Golf Divers' dive school had been sold to a couple of young lads (well they are 15 years younger than me). However they are nice enough lads and I found them both knowledgeable and reassuringly responsible, so I enrolled on a PADI 'Open Water Diver' course and put my life into the hands of the Clubs qualified PADI Instructor, Tim Culloty and his partner Darren Gilmore.

The course consisted of: 5 academic modules, 5 confined water skills modules, 2 watermanship tests, 4 open water training dives, a final exam, 1 fun drive (boat), The total price was £200.00.

Diving is fun!

The whole course took 5 day and included reading and learning the contents of a 260 page Diver Manual. After each session in the sea we went on a pleasure swim, this is where a diver gains experience and the theory is put into practice.

The sea life in the waters of Tenerife is just fantastic and Santa Barbara has one of the few dive sites on the Island with coral. Some of the sea life encountered included Octopus, Barracuda, Rays, Cuttlefish, Moray Eels, Trumpet Fish, and all manner of smaller tropical fish, along with hundreds of black urchins.

In July 2001 I took Nicola, Tina and Tee's Friend Hannah for a holiday on the Island I was ill with the flu for 10 days but they dived a bit again with Tenerife Divers. If you want to look at the picture story of the trip it's here

For further information about Diving with Tim who now has his own Dive Shop called 'The Dive Shop' on 'The Patch, Las Americas. The SCUBA diving center is in The shopping Centre 100 metres from the beach, above The Surf Shop. Visit his web site at www.thediveshoptenerife.com/

In June 2006 I went back to see Tim and friends for a weeks diving armed with my new rig and a pair of 'Force Fins', man they were easier to put on and remove (needed for a big bloke like me).

Well I took some half decent pictures and thought i'd put them up here They take a long time to download so be patient.

These are direct links to some AVI's: Octypus Cuttlefish Tim Me and the Turtle.