Bubble Makers graduate

End of the school term approaches and the Easter holidays are about to begin so our class of young Bubble Makers did their last dive session with us on Friday 20th March .

On the way to Bay Ternay Marine Park

A very happy Liliey  after her shallow dive surrounded by black and white stripped  Sergeant  Major fish.

Graduation  Day is Divemaster Mike giving out  a completion certificate   to Liliey

Liliey gets certificate from Mike

On the surface after the dive

Liza and Sebastian receive certificates from Divemaster Yannick

Underwater photos from Matt and Paul

Octopus  taken by Paul

As I said the boys sent us lots of photos so here we go again!!

Marbel Ray ...photo M Flood

Octopus are always fun and this one was hiding form Paul Jennings ...........note the white colour  telling quite clearly that " I see you and I'm unhappy about it" . Also note the one big eye that never leaves  sight of the camera man !!







We are so lucky to get lots of different rays in our waters and  its always great to see a large Marbel Ray resting on the bottom .
 Its OK to get reasonably close ..........just stay away from the back end were the tail and spike is . NEVER swim  on top  / over a ray just in case the tail is raised ...........like the photo stay in front and don't touch . Just have a really good look .

YES this is one of the rock alleys at Shark Bank .....it just has to be !!
Single file traffic of sting rays .. an amazing sight and a wonderful photo . Thanks  Matt

These natural rock formations act as safe haven and right of passage  for larger pelagic  fish  such as these rays,  passing or resting sharks and some big Parrot fish groups

Just in case you forget who  the UK Dive group were check them out with the staff going left to right:
Birthday girl Jenny, Paul without camera, Instructor Sabrina in the grips of Matt behind, Matt Flood and DM Mike  in red, DM's Lauren and Yannick hiding behind, and last on the right both DM 's Aless and Mette .
Sad to say good bye  to both the group and the Divemaster girls  as they move on to other careers ,

I love Seychelles campain

All over town there are large and small posters with the 2015 message of '' I LOVE SEYCHELLES'

Posters are written in English " I Love Seychelles" , French " J'aime les Seychelles" and Creole " Mon Kontan  Sesel " showing scenes of beautiful beaches and the famous Seychelles granitic rock formations . Find this one on the main road just outside of the Emirates Office .






Surprising was to find one poster outside the post office showing Lillian , our Instructor on a dive  to Shark Bank surrounded by the Yellow snapper ..........always a great photo shot . Although an old photo its just  as good today











As I find more posters  I'll  let you see them!!  There are dozens around .

Repair work never ends!

Berjaya Resort maintenance department  are always  busy but last week they found time to repair the showers with new heads and wooden frames .
We are lucky to have 2 fresh water showers at the back of the wash tubs  so no need to form a line!

The lower section of the dive centre  is for the after  dive disassemble of equipment, washing and hanging up to dry all BCD's and wetsuits and washing off the salt.

Drying racks for drip  drying.

Divers departing for morning dives

We are so lucky to be able to back the Dive Boats onto the shore line and for divers just to walk from the Dive Centre to the boats .

Reef Diver HC 239 ready for depature

The ladder is to the back on the left hand side of the boat . NEVER climb up the ladder with equipment on but do the DEEP WATER exit procedure of  handing up tot he skipper / assistant the weight belt first, tank and BCD combo next and last the  fins .....best to keep the mask around your neck so as not to drop  it!...its amazing how it can happen .

Bubble makers hit the water

Our class of  weekly  SCUBA Bubble makers  is coming along really well with a trip to the Bay  Ternay Marine Park ..although only in 1 1/2 to 2 meters of water they saw a turtle, reef fish and octopus!!
They were delighted

National Geographic Film crew arrive

The Yellow Square everyone knows!!

It has been a few days  of exceptional diving and we were glad to show the National Geographic film crew some of our best sites.
Filming for a new TV series they are looking at  the best of sites both on Mahe plus the outer islands and Aldabra

Jose Anibas, Neil Gelira, Manu San Felix ....the 3 man film crew 

Tony and Yannick lead the  expeditions to the long range sites of Shark Bank, Brissaire Rocks and Dragons
Teeth,plus trips with  the Seychelles National Parks rangers to Marine Park sites . Although we have not seen the footage yet  below are some of our latest photos of these great sites

Yellow snapper at Shark Bank........... M Flood    

The series is Pristine Oceans  .......cant wait to see it on TV.

Underwater photos from Matt and Paul

They boys sent us a lot of photos and I want to share them with you  so here is a second batch :

Eagle Ray ...photo by Matt Flood

      

Hawksbill turtle ....Matt Flood

L'Ilot Island from water level..........Matt Flood

Nudibranch..........Paul Jennings

Picture the 3 islands viewed from the Dive Centre

Having a Dive Centre directly on the beach means that we get to look out over the sea every day.........and just out

Shilouette Isalnd

side  on the horizon there are 3 islands :

The biggest is Shillouette Island were you can stay in the Labriz Hilton Hotel and Spa. The hotel ferry takes about 35 minutes to cross from Mahe . The Island is owned by Seychelles Island Development .

North Island

Just next door is North Island made famous by the
glamorous people that stay there...most notable lately being Prince William and his new wife Kate  during their honeymoon . Private island and hotel guests only.

L'Ilot Island

Last island out in the bay is L'Ilot Island to the north of Mahe. This is a regular short distance boat dive. with the rocks going down to 18 meters..........so suitable for both Openwater and Advanced divers .
The trip takes only about 15 minutes with our fast boats . Due to its position  there can sometimes be current between the island and the main land to the right of the picture ....but this is were you find the fan corals  .

Tierd Divemaster Mengbo

It has been Chinese New Year  and Mongbo has been  busy in his other life with the local tour operator company taking  lots of visitors around Mahe .. on a day off he comes to the Dive Centre to dive and enjoy and relax underwater!! But after 2 morning dives he did need to take a nap!!

Just woke up in time!!

Photos from our UK Dive Group

Bat Fish .photo by Paul Jennings

It was wonderful seeing the guys from the UK  after so many years ........and the weather and sea conditions were outstanding !  So we managed lots of  dives to both short and long distance dive sites with amazing photo results. . So lets share them over several blog posts!

Brissaire Rocks , Tony and  Yellow Snapper ..photo by Paul 

Lion Fish .....photo by Matt Flood

Hard corals over Seychelles granitic rocks with hidden Cromis fish

..photo by P Jennings

Sea Cucumber ..front end. Photo by P Jennings

Granitic Rock site , corals and diver . Photo by P Jennings

I hope you enjoy the images................lots more to come..........Thank you boys for sending them to us

PADI Rescue class

Instructor Tony demonstrating Fireman's Lift egress

We have  been busy with a large Rescue class as a pre-requisite for the PADI  Divemaster training program
Rescue is a demanding course with both theory , exam and lots of practical training ....but it is lots of fun  as well

Students practice egress .its harder than it looks!!!

Students worked hard to master all techniques for underwater search patterns, various  ways to exit  a victim , to control crowds and arrange for  emergency evacuation via the Ambulance service.

Rescue Diver certifications

We wish everyone well with their next step of training in the PADI Divemaster internship .......3 months well spent  learning the first of the PADI professional courses