Scuba Mike's blog

You’ve just emerged from a long, deep dive. The gear is heavy and you can’t wait to get it off.

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

And someone wanders over and starts to ask you questions!

Know the feeling?

It should be:

• Four wheel drive for finding new dive sites off the map
• It needs a tow bar for the rib
• It must have room in the boot space for two sets of diver’s kit
• It should have wide opening doors to provide some cover when changing
• And a wide opening tail gate to shelter from sun or rain
• There needs to be a “non chip” key that you can take diving with you
• It must have a “wipe clean” boot floor
• It needs strong air conditioning and heating to cool or warm

Divers have pretty unusual needs when they are on a trip focused on getting as much diving in as possible. Somewhere quiet to rest, plenty of space to chill out, kit cleaning and drying areas, and a decent breakfast!

All of these are available now at Dangerous Pete’s!

Pete is a very experienced diver who has been coming to Lanzarote for years. He has a villa in Las Casitas de Femes, which he’s turning into a perfect venue for divers heading to Lanzarote looking forward to their sun holidays.

The villa has two sets of accommodation – a large room that sleeps up to four people, and a smaller, twin room. The former has en suite facilities, and the latter a nearby bathroom. There’s a whole area with wet room for kit washing, and a fabulous huge sun terrace with pool and jacuzzi.

John Rayner, who is a member of the internationally famous FCDC dive club in Lanzarote, submitted some excellent images from recent dives on the island and he’s kindly agreed to share them with us.

The local visibility and abundance of sea life seems to produce some of the best diving photos you can see on the web.

As a follow up to the Christmas “Find the reindeer” dive, there’s one this Saturday to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.

I had an email the other day from Ken Martin.

It seems that Ken had his basic PADI dive training years ago in Fort Dodge, but he never completed the paperwork to get certified! He emailed me to ask if I was the “Mike” who trained him way back in 1972.

Having assured him I was still at primary school then, I suggested he simply does the open water course now, and I think he’s going to take me up on the suggestion.

This is such a cool little gadget, and fantastic value for money – every diver should have one!

It’s no substitute for medical oxygen in a diving emergency, but maybe a can of oxygen should be in every diver’s personal kit?

Do you remember reading all about reverse squeezes during your training?

So do I.

Broken fin straps are a pain! In fact, they’ve cost me two dives over the years. And yes, I know, I should have been carrying a spare.

My most recent break happened at the end of a dive, so whilst I didn’t miss out, it did make me determined to solve the problem once and for all.