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Save time when you take your PADI course in Gran Canaria with an e-learning theory package.

Taking your first SCUBA diving course is an important event. With the knowledge you gain you will be able to explore the oceans, see underwater seascapes such as corals, volcanic cliffs or kelp forests, and meet amazing creatures such as cuttlefish, octopus and morays.

One of the biggest objections to taking your PADI course during a short break has been that it will take too much time out of your holiday. For many years, the four-day format of the PADI Open Water Course, with theory lessons and tests, has left anyone staying for a week with effectively only one or two days to either soak up the sun or explore the island.

This has now changed in that with the new e-learning materials now available from PADI for their courses, you can study all the theory before you arrive in Gran Canaria, and then you only need three days to complete your course. Davy Jones Diving are one of the leaders in the use of these e-learning materials with over ten years experience of e-courses and many students who have loved their courses.

This makes your PADI course with Davy Jones Diving much more enjoyable as can save time during your holiday by doing all the theory in the peace of your own home. When you get to Gran Canaria you spend more time relaxing and exploring, and you do not have to include course books and materials in your baggage on your flights.

You still get the same number of training dives in the sea, and you still visit the same amazing dive sites in Arinaga, Gran Canaria. Despite most of your dives starting in shallow depths you still get to see some incredible sea life on your dives in the El Cabrón Marine Reserve. The Playa del Cabrón dive site has all the colourful ‘common’ species such as damselfish, wrasse, parrotfish and bream; but also lots of unusual creatures that are normally only found in deeper water such as trumpetfish, razorfish, blennies, wrasse and lizardfish.

Parrotfish, gold-striped bream and Atlantic damselfish on the reef

Advantages of taking the PADI e-learning (distance learning) course.

+ The biggest advantage of using the PADI e-learning system is that it can reduce the time taken with an instructor and shorten your PADI Open Water Course from four days to 3 days.

+ Many students have a preference for learning from a screen rather than a book, with greater interactivity, and video clips as part of the support materials.

+You have no heavy manual to carry to or from the dive centre

+ You can complete the theory in your own home, at your own pace.

+ Your certificate of completion is valid at any PADI dive centre to complete the in-water training.

+ The PADI App will give you lifetime access to the course manual anywhere in the world so you can always look up anything you have forgotten.

Four steps to take your PADI Course with e-learning

It is easy to plan your PADI Open Water Course with the e-learning system. You just need to co-ordinate the dates for the two parts: the distance learning with the PADI e-learning pack, and the in-water training with your selected PADI Diving Centre. You just need to follow these four steps to plan your e-learning course.

  1. Order the code from your PADI Dive Centre and book your in-water training sessions
  2. Create your training account at PADI.com
  3. Read and watch the learning materials, at home, on the train, on the beach, on your own device.
  4. Complete the practical lessons with your PADI Dive Centre

Step 1 – Plan your course with your chosen PADI Dive Centre and order your digital access code.

You need to use a PADI Dive Centre to complete your e-learning course by doing the in-water skills training and having some fun during your open water lessons. So start by discussing the plan with them. You can purchase your digital access code directly from PADI, but you may find that due to local taxation your code is less expensive if you get it direct from the dive centre. For example in the Canary Islands, the VAT rate is only 7% instead of 20% in much of Europe.

Step 2 – Set up your account in the PADI App at PADI.com

To set up your code, you will need to provide four pieces of information : Your full name; your date of birth, your e-mail address and finally the language you want to study in.

At the time of writing, you can choose from the following languages for your course: English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Korean, Japanese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Norwegian, Swedish, Portuguese, Polish, Danish, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Melayu.

You then need to follow the instructions you will receive with your digital access code to log into the PADI app and access the materials in the ‘My Courses’ tab.

Step 3 -Read and watch the learning materials

It will take you between 5 and 10 hours to complete the training materials, so find yourself a place where you can work comfortably without interruptions. Plan your sessions to suit your personal learning style (i.e. two or three long sessions or several shorter sessions with more breaks). This is not a race, and it is best to allow plenty of time so you understand all the concepts better.

Step 4 – Complete the practical lessons with your PADI Dive Centre

This is what you have been waiting for – the practical lessons in the water! You will complete the ‘confined water lessons’ in either a pool, or shallow open water, and then you complete the four Open Water lessons in the sea, with a progressive increase of depth.

If you take your course in Gran Canaria, then you will probably see

Frequently Asked Questions about the PADI E-Learning.

Q. If I buy my Digital Access Key from one Dive Centre, do I have to complete the in-water training with them, or if I go to another Dive Centre do I have to buy another code?

A. No, your Digital Access code is valid at all PADI Dive centres worldwide. You can even split the in-water training between two (or more!) dive centres, and for example do the confined water training in a pool with one PADI Dive Centre and the in-water training with a different centre.

Q. If I take the PADI Open Water using e-learning is the qualification any different from somebody who has taken the traditional training route, and can I dive as a buddy with them.

A. Yes you can dive with your buddy as there is no difference in the recommendations for limits for people who qualify using the traditional or e-learning routes.

Q. If I take the PADI e-learning theory can I complete my diver training with a different training agency ?

A. No, All the agencies have minor variations in procedures and you should learn the theory and practical at the same agency.

Q. How can I start planning my PADI Open Water Course in Gran Canaria

A. Contact Davy Jones Diving in Gran Canaria and give them as many details as possible about who wants to learn to dive and when, and then they can come up with a personalised plan for your PADI Open Water Course.

Brian Goldthorpe is a BSAC Advanced Instructor and a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer with ‘Elite’ status. He has been diving in the Canary Islands since 2002 where he runs a diving centre in Gran Canaria – Davy Jones Diving

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Five Tips for Dive Travel during the Coronavirus outbreak

For many years we have all become accustomed to very high reliability and certainty when travelling around the world. To travel to another part of the world for a Scuba Diving holiday had become a ‘risk-free’ part of the package.

We could worry about the nitrogen exposure, our fitness, or how the new camera / regulator / dive computer will work, but apart from some minor flight disruptions, flights will get you there, hotels and boats will look after you and you will get home (more or less) in time for work again.

This has led us all to become ‘lazy’ travellers, planning for the best and assuming any disruption will become minor… buying cheap (or no) travel insurance, not making any backup plans… Its a good job we do not dive the way we travel!

The threat of travel disruption for many divers is worse than the threat posed by the virus itself.

So here are five tips to make sure you retain some normality in your diving life, and yet put some better planning back into place. They all have analogies to the preparations we do before a dive..

1. Follow genuine sources for advice and avoid the rumours and half-truths

Today, we learn to dive by taking a course from a ‘trusted source’ such as PADI, NAUI, BSAC, SSI. Take the same approach and use authoritative sites like the World Health Organisation (WHO), NHS and The Foreign Office in the UK, Gobierno de Canarias in the Canaries etc for real advice on travel and avoiding the virus. Much of the advice is international – wash your hands regularly, use paper tissues and hand wash, don’t wear a mask unless you have a respiratory infection.

2. De-risk your journey by choosing well known destinations.

When we dive, we know the risks are a lot lower when we do a dive we have done before, or when we take a shallower dive. During 2020 we can de-risk our travel by visiting locations we already know, or locations that are closer. This is probably not the year to explore some new deep wreck on a remote Pacific Island.

3. Don’t forget your Travel and Diving Insurance.

When we dive, it is normal to have a buddy or partner alongside you. You act as an ‘insurance policy’ for each other. During 2020, review what travel insurance policy you are using. That ‘free’ policy with your Credit Card company may not be as great as you think – we recently had a case where when asked, the Credit Card company said it only covered a maximum of 5 dives to 15m! In Europe, travelling with a European Health Card (EHIC) will give you access to basic health care in the local health service, but that is all. For example in Spain, hyperbaric medicine is NOT included, and all divers (both Spanish residents and visitors) need to have a diving insurance policy which covers these.

An example of a good travel policy was a case where a lady broke her leg in Sri-lanka. The company organised treatment, then extended the stay in a top hotel till she could travel, arranged better seats on the flight, and a taxi to hospital on arrival… for both her and her friend who was looking after her!

4. Use smaller hotels, AirBnB or apartments and rent a car.

We all enjoy a dive more when there are only a small number of people on the dive. Big groups can ‘kick up the sand’ so you miss some of the highlights.

Travel in the same way, and if you pick smaller hotels or use individual apartments from AirBnB or Booking.com, you stand less risk of being quarantined because ‘somebody else’ has contracted the virus.

5. Follow simple strategies to avoid the virus

As divers we know that good preparation and a good dive plan help avoid problems. Don’t swim against the current when you can drift along with it.

For example, use your own mask and regulator, take a personal supply of hand-cleaning gels, avoid big events such as sports matches in pubs or confined spaces, eat outdoors, and keep well hydrated.

Summary

In summary, we need to treat travel preparations with more care, and just like when we plan a dive.. “Plan for the worst but hope for the best”.

Most advice is to continue your life as normally as you can, but take extra precautions. So don’t stop diving completely because of the virus, or next year you will find that some of the options have closed or disappeared. Help the diving industry survive this crisis by supporting them during 2020 we can all blow a raspberry at the Coronavirus!

Author – Brian Goldthorpe is a BSAC Advanced Instructor and a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer with ‘Elite’ status. He has been diving in the Canary Islands since 2002 where he runs a scuba diving centre in Gran Canaria – Davy Jones Diving , where he shows guests around the El Cabrón Marine Reserve.

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‘Citizen Science ‘ data from Davy Jones Diving in Gran Canaria used in new study of Spotfin Burrfish by Las Palmas University.

For over ten years, my instructors at Davy Jones Diving have been recording the ‘special sightings’ every day from their dives in the El Cabrón Marine Reserve.  Sightings of marine life that we believe are less common or more special, such as seahorses, angel sharks, rays, or barred hogfish all get recorded and displayed online.   The data is also saved in a simple text database so you can compare easily sightings from one year or month to another.

This data has been used in the past by scientists from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) to study the frequency and timing of angel shark visits to the marine reserve. This contributed to a better understanding of the behaviour patterns and highlighted two peaks, one in December and another in late spring (May/June).

This ‘Citizen Science database’ has now been used in a second study, which has been looking at the population of the Spotfin Burrfish, locally known as Tamboril espinoso or Spiny Pufferfish ( Chilomycterus reticulatus ) in Gran Canaria.   When combined with data from other sources including interviews with dive centres and specialists, the scientists in the Faculty of Marine Sciences  at ULPGC have confirmed that the population of the Spiny Pufferfish has been increasing with encounters by recreational scuba divers on Gran Canaria becoming more frequent.

The Spiny pufferfish is officially protected in the Canary Islands where it appears on the list of ‘Protected Species of the Canary Islands’ and is officially classified as Vulnerable.

While the species has no commercial value within the fishing industry, it is usually highly regarded by recreational scuba divers, as despite its large size, it can be slow moving and cautious when encountered in crevices and small caves.  Unlike fast moving species such as bonito and garrickfish, you can get a good look at it, and it makes a great photographic subject.

The study by the ULPGC looked at how the range of the spiny pufferfish has increased over the last few years on the islands of Gran Canaria and el Hierro.  By comparing the sightings in both Islands they have shown that as water temperatures have increased in Gran Canaria over the last ten years, the sightings of the spiny pufferfish have also increased.

This reflects our own experience in Arinaga where ten years ago (2009/2010) we probably found the Spiny Pufferfish on only 3 or 4 dives per year.  During the last four years the frequency of sightings have gone right up.  There are now some individuals who seem to have their own personal refuge, and can be found there almost on a daily basis.  There are also some more mature individuals who can be found on a regular (but not daily) basis in a series of special corners and hiding places.

Identifying Members of the population

Diving in Gran Canaria ith Spiny Pufferfish
This individual has a pronounced curve on his back and is instantly recogniseable. As he is one of the oldest (seen over several years) and largest individuals we called him/her ‘alpha’.
Slightly smaller, clean straight back, sometimes seen near ‘alpha’, this individual shows less damage and overall the pattern is of a lot of very small dots, and a large light-brown area between eye and pectoral fin devoid of any smaller spots.

The other aspect of our citizen science is that we have been able to identify individuals by differences in their colour, anatomy and facial patterns.   This came about when we realised that one individual had an easily recogniseable ‘bad back’ which gives him a different profile in his body.  When we then examined some of the photographs of other individuals we identified that the facial patterns are very individual, and can be used to ‘name’ different individuals. 

Scuba Diving in Gran Canaria with Spiny Pufferfish
If you look in front of the pectoral fin there are 5 prominent black spots in the pattern of a number 5 playing card. We have seen ‘Chico’ in three different areas over several years

More recently we have seen one spiny pufferfish that has a distinctive bite mark on his right pectoral fin.. but also has a body colour which in the photographs and natural light is much more ‘blue’ than other individuals, who tend to be more of a brown colour.

Blue colouring, and a big bite on the left pectoral fin identify ‘Barry’ … What fish could make a bite that size? …

This individual appears to be a newcomer in 2019. A slight curve on the back but also a enlarged upper lip but almost no lower lip make the facial pattern distinctive.

The growth in the population of the Spiny Pufferfish in the El Cabrón marine reserve has been one of the diving ‘good news’ stories of the last ten years, accompanied at the same time by the growth in numbers of abade, dusky grouper and other species.  Recreational divers in Gran Canaria are now able to see this species on a more regular basis and experience a contact with a gentle giant of the canarian eco-system.

As the population of this species is vulnerable we do not publish the exact locations, so If you want to see these and other endangered species of the Canary Islands or see the variety of other dive sites in Gran Canaria then get in touch with us, and we can help plan your diving in Gran Canaria so that you see some of these incredible creatures.

Author – Brian Goldthorpe is a BSAC Advanced Instructor and a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer with ‘Elite’ status. He has been diving in the Canary Islands since 2002 where he runs a diving centre in Gran Canaria – Davy Jones Diving , where in between his Radio, TV and Press appearances Eduardo also shows guests around the El Cabrón Marine Reserve.