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.

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!

Newry And Mourne Sub-Aqua Club enjoy a week's diving with Davy Jones

We all had a great time over the last week with 14 members of the Newry and Mourne Sub-aqua club. Members went to most of the best sites on the Island, with some diving in Las Palmas in the Catedral, the Arona, Frigorifica and Little Kalais. Others went to Mogan where we dived on the Cermona II. But favourite for most was the El Cabrón Marine Reserve where they dived the arches, the caves, the bays and the Table Top, seeing a wide range of Canarian marine life including Angelsharks, Rays, Cuttlefish, Barracudas, Octopii and much more. We all had a great time entertaining them and having some fun and great dives.

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.

Canary Islands Diving - An alternative to the Red Sea?

With the current unrest in Egypt, we have had several people asking us how diving compares between the Red Sea and the Canaries. While the Canaries are only sub-tropical, the sea temperatures here in winter are only four or five degrees less than in the Red Sea, and the Canary Islands have a stable European government and a much better developed tourist infrastructure than in most parts of the Red Sea. We have put together a new page which looks at the comparison between the Red Sea and diving in Gran Canaria for diving holidays to help explain some of the differences a bit better.