Dive News

Loggerhead turtles released from Gran Canaria

Two loggerhead turtles that were washed ashore in the UK were flown to Gran Canaria and released earlier this week.

The turtles named James and Dink had washed ashore six months ago on the South West UK coast. They were nursed back to health by a team at Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay before being flown to Las Palmas for their release back into the Atlantic.

The Wildlife Recovery Centre of Tafira receives some 150 turtles in distress from around the islands each year. Pascual Calabuig, the centre's director, claims that 75% of those are injured through man's activities, including polution of the sea.

We wish James and Dink a happy and long life in the waters of the Atlantic.

You can read more about this story here on the BBC website.

Plastic bag ban helps keep the oceans clean

In the UK the Daily Mail newspaper has launched a campaign to ban plastic bags, this is the latest in the growing movement against the bags and towards reuseable bags.

Sign the petition.

Here at Aquanauts we often see the end result on our reliance on plastic bags, all too frequently we spot a "plastic bag ray" wafting past us on a dive. Not only do they spoil the natural beauty of the dive sites, plastic bags are also a threat to marine wildlife that can become entangled in them or be poisened by them when they eat them.

Reduce the number of bags finding thier way to ocean by reusing old plastic bags or better still buy a reuseable cotton shopping bag. Don't forget to bring them it on holiday with you.

Calling aspiring underwater photographers

If you are wondering what you might see when you are scuba diving in Gran Canaria check out the website of the El hierro underwater photography competition.

In September El Hierro, one of the smaller Canary Islands, hosted an underwater photography competition. Divers had three days to produce a portfolio and some of the winning photos can be seen on the website.

I think my favourite is of the nudibranch.

Scuba diving magazine reviews Gran Canaria in depth

If you live in the UK and haven't already seen it, pick up a copy of DIVE magazine for an in depth feature on diving in Gran Canaria. We all know how great the diving is here on the island with rays and angel sharks regularly spotted as well as some wonderful wrecks and reefs. All this and year long sunshine!

As well as being a great destination for divers Gran Canaria also offers plenty of days out and fun for the non-divers in your group. Making Gran Canaria an ideal holdiday destination for all divers and their families.

New Aquanauts shop

We have some great news for you, we have opened an online store where you can buy Aquanauts merchandise.

Here you can buy t-shirts, sweatshirts and mugs printed with our new bubble logo. By the way the little diver in the logo is JB – don't you recognise those legs????

As well as the simple t-shirts we have included coloured shirts, lady fit styles and an organic cotton t-shirt too.

The prices are all in US dollars and include all postage and packing direct to your door.

These products are exlusive to the internet and are yet to be stocked at the centre. Once you have received your order do pleae drop us a line and let us know what you think.

Visit our online store at www.cafepress.com/aquanauts

Summer specials at Aquanauts

We are offering a great new package to our divers this summer.

We noticed last summer that lots of divers are here with their families and can only take one full day to dive, yet with so many great sites we felt they might be missing out. This year we have made a package for divers who want to dive but also want to maximise time with the family.

Tha package consists of one morning beach dive, finished by 11.00, one morning boat dive, finished by 12.00, and one full day of diving at Arinaga, finished by 3.00 pm

The usual price for these dives would be 165 euros with equipment hire, but we are making a special offer price of 150 euros. If you bring your own equipment it is even cheaper at 130 euros.

Call us for free with Skype

We now have a Skype, online phone, account. So if you also have a Skype 'phone you can call us for free. Just add 'aquanauts-divecentre' to your list of contacts, or use the 'call me' button on our webpages.

Now we just have to explain to our families how to set up Skype!

Are you ready for your close up?

This month, February, we received our new digital camera with underwater housing. We chose the Fuji F30 as it seemed easy to use and handle underwater, it also has a video feature. The camera means we can now offer a photo disc of your dive for just 10 euros. Lots of photos and some video too. Not your average holiday snaps!

Canary Islands special report in Dive Magazine

The UK magazine, Dive Magazine, features an in-depth report on diving in the Canary Islands. The five page article features diving in Lanzarote, Tenerife and Gran Canaria and Aquanauts gets a mention on the Gran Canaria diving page.

Welcome to our new website

Our new website is up and running. As well as a redesign we have added a news feature where you can keep up to date with us here in Gran Canaria and check out our diving news. We will be adding a message board soon and are working on an online booking form. We hope you like the new site, remember to check back soon to see the new features and maybe tell us what you think on the message board.

Making divers out of jivers

Here at Aquanauts we are always pleased to introduce people to the wonder of diving and this week we welcome Jive Addiction to the island. While these guys aren't dancing they have been learning to dive with us - maybe they can teach us some underwater moves?

Rays and angel shark

We are having a mild winter here in Gran Canaria, the sun is shining and the water is clear. Just a few days ago we had a round sting ray and baby angel shark in the channel - wow! So if you are in need of some winter sun then book your flights and come see us!