14 EDITION 701 :: 09/08/2013 - 22/08/2013 :: ISLAND CONNECTIONSSpecialFeature

Water sports

The Canary Islands are a favou-rite amongst divers thanks to their combination of clear seas, dramatic rock formations, warm waters, an abundance of dive schools, a fine choice of shipwrecks and a variety of dive locations to suit all preferences and abilities.

The marine life around the islands is also particularly interesting as it is made up of North Atlantic, Mediter-ranean and endemic species. Divers can see parrotfish, octopi, seahorses, moray eels, groupers, barracudas, pufferfish, grunts, cuttlefish, spon-ges, starfish and sea cucumbers, amongst many others. Then there are several different types of the won-derfully elegant rays, along with five species of marine turtle, including the endangered Loggerhead Turtle, not to mention the 26 types of whales and dolphins that can be seen in these waters.

The volcanic nature of the islands has created an underwater play-

ground: swim-throughs, caves, steep drop offs, chimneys, sweeping slopes and stunning underwater arches all add to the spectacular scenery.

All of the islands have excellent dive sites, and the waters off Las Pal-mas, Gran Canaria, have one of the best collections of diveable wrecks anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean, including the popular Arona, Kalais and Frigorifica wrecks. Also worth seeing there is the Catedral dive site, where you can explore huge underwa-ter caverns, as well as the El Cabrón Marine Reserve in Arinaga.

Around Tenerife there are also plenty of good spots to choose from, principally in the south and southwest of the island.

For instance, there is the El Meri-dian yacht that was deliberately sunk in 2005 off the coast of Las Amé-ricas and Los Cristianos; the Palm Mar cave, a long and as yet com-pletely unexplored tunnel; another wreck, the Condesito, located around three kilometres outside Las Galletas

harbour; great diving off El Puertito, particularly if you want to see endan-gered green turtles; the Mushrooms with its crazy toadstool-shaped rock formations and the Atlantis site at Los Gigantes, where columns of basalt resemble a lost city.

Los Gigantes, at the northern tip of the southwest is also famous for its stingray site where these fabu-lous creatures swim gracefully and

elegantly around visitors. So, as it is one of the most popular diving areas in Tenerife, earlier in the year we deci-ded to head in search of some diving novices to follow them on their jour-ney as they took their first great leaps into the depths of the ocean.

There we found eager begin-ners Andrew and Annabel Watts, a father and daughter team, at the Los Gigantes Diving Centre which is

based in the town’s harbour. Andrew, 51, and Annabel, 16,

had travelled over from their home-town of Bishops Stortford in Hert-fordshire, England, for a one-week stay in the resort. They were using some of their holiday time to com-plete the Open Water Course - the first level diving qualification.

Having enjoyed a holiday in the area three years earlier they decided to return there for the course and used the social networking site Trip Advisor to find a dive centre. They chose Los Gigantes Diving Centre because of the favourable reports and it has since been awarded one of Trip Advisor’s coveted Certificates of Excellence, confirming its good reputation.

The dive centre is owned by brother and sister team Sheila and Neville Widdrington who have run it since 1990. On making initial enquiries Andrew was also impressed by Sheila’s communication skills as she answered his questions clearly

With the dive instructor close by

Top quality time together

Dive right in!IF yOu OR yOuR OLDER CHILDREN ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE ADvENTuROuS TO DO DuRING THE SuMMER HOLIDAyS THEN WHy NOT HAvE A GO AT DIvING.