Derek’s Dive Domain

Day two dawns, and its back into the dive bus down to the bunker in Torviscas, and a nice leisurely kit up session with coffees all round.  Back into the bus and we travel around the coastline on TF1 around to Punta Prieta, which is a beach entry dive from a small cove at the bottom of a local village.  This is the first time I’ve entered by shore ever, and there was a reasonable swell in the waves (nothing unmanageable) enough to make me find it really difficult until I realise its pretty easy to just use my bouyancy to float on the surface whilst I put my fins on instead of trying to stagger around on one leg whilst being pushed by the waves

All ready, we head out into the bay and the bottom is nice and rocky with lots of wildlife to look out as it begins to gradually slope away.  It then turns to mostly sand, as we make our way down to about 20-22 metres.  Then its over the drop off, down to 31 metres, where there is a small cave-like structure in the rock, which goes back a few feet before ending in a wall where there is plenty of stuff to look at.  Then its along the wall down to almost 35 metres, where I saw my first ever ray, a common stingray.  With the computer just starting to register deco, we head back up the wall, and slowly make our way back up the slope towards the beach The deco clears during the leisurely ascent, as it was only asking for a few minutes at 3 metres, and by the time we reach our regular safety stop point, it has cleared anyway, so after the regular stop we surface back at the beach.  During this dive I saw parrotfish, damselfish, white bream, garden eels, and bastard grunt to name but a few.

Back to the bus and after a sandwich, its off to Las Eras just along the coast.  After the surface interval, involving drinks sat around in our wetsuits at a local cafe, its back to the bus, kitting up and walking down the ramp onto a slipway and into the water via another beach entry.  Las Eras was one of my favourite divesites of the week, as its a real good dive for bimbling about on, just looking at the fish, as there is plenty to see.  We headed out around the man made rock corner, and over the sea bed at about 10 metres.  Nothing really spectacular until we reach roughly the turnaround point, where we come up to a rock wall with some interesting features on it.  Then its into a swimthrough, which after some hesitancy, and nudging my kit into the rock in a false start, I manage to half swim and half drag myself through

Out the other side into a small basin, and then its a big opening back into the main water, and we head back along a rock wall where there are loads of trumpetfish and a shoal of barracuda back where we do our safety stop, giving us loads to look at on the way out.  Exit too about 10 minutes as there was so much to look at.

Back to the dive centre where we dekit with some more deco juice, and then its back home to Abades, and an evening of frivolity in the Blue Bossa.  Can life get better ?  Apparrently, it can…

Dive 3 (60)  34.9 metres, total dive time 45 minutes, deco 2@3

Dive 4 (61)  17 metres, total dive time 48 minutes