Now that's what I call a different dive!

We spend years diving. Most of the dives we do are fun, relaxing but don’t necessarily stand out as memorable. After a lengthy period of working away from home it was time for some R&R and a last minute holiday in Lanzarote. This was not our first time, Natalie and I have had a number of holidays in Puerto Del Carmen. Each time we migrate closer to the old town for its vibrant atmosphere and great restaurants. I always dive with Safari Diving, the diving is good, easy and the shop is right on the beach. It is now owned by Steve and Wendy, but previously by Rene van Leeuwen, who is a bit of a character.

I’ve dived here so many times that I know what to expect. Over the years I have seen three Grouper that hang out around Cathedral Cave grow up and the old Wrecks disintegrate into a scrap yard. This year I was surprised to see they have extended the harbour wall; building right over the top of one of the old wrecks!











Today I dived the Blue Hole. There are blue holes all over the world. They aren’t necessarily blue, but are often caves where the roof has fallen in creating a nice swim-through. This blue hole is exactly that. You enter on top of the reef and exit through the cave entrance.

Dropping down we exited the cave and turned to the right. In 30m is a second cave, much smaller. You need a torch. Inside was the first surprise of the day. The cave roof was a mass of shrimps, plus a solitary grouper swam by no doubt enjoying a feast! I have seen many times one or two shrimps in rocky cracks but never a carpet such as this.











Leaving the cave we swam further around and up over the reef and back into shallow water, heading back to the dive shop. In 15m of water an Eagle ray swam by. Then surprise number two, introduced with a mass of bubbles, a lot of noise and kicking up the sand. A submarine hove into sight. Imagine the surprise.












This is Nemo, a wet sub and a new tourist attraction owned by the one and only Rene! Now that’s different I thought. Anyway I snapped a load of pictures, which for once came out alright, and met up with Rene in the café on the quay. It is his first week operating the sub and he had yet to sort any promotional material. So for the cost of copies of my photos I got a ride.

The ride was shared with a local police officer. Rene knows which side his bread should be buttered! To get in it you duck dive and enter a hole in the bottom. The pilot and policeman got in alright. My first mistake was I went into the wrong hole and surfaced in the sub’s ballast tank in the nose looking at the others through a Perspex window. After frantic signals from the others I found myself seated in the cramped cabin.

The pilot adjusts the ballast tanks for neutral buoyancy and then dials into the controls the desired depth. At this point the computer control activates the vertical propeller drives and the sub dives to, and maintains the required depth. Throughout all of this air is injected into the cabin at a pressure so the cabin water level is maintained at hip height. Excess gas is automatically vented and any build up of CO2 is avoided. Throughout this process the cabin goes through various temperature changes as the pressure changes. Condensation builds up on the windows so visibility is not always that good.

What can I say of my experience? It was an experience but will never replace diving. I didn’t feel that comfortable inside.

Now here’s my question. Can I legitimately log 8.4m for 25 minutes if I’m inside a wet sub? I think so……the training officer is not so sure!

Our well another enjoyable holiday in Lanzarote!

Nigel Ealand