The hotel was wonderful and lived up to all expectations given on their web site. Food was brilliant, even prepared and cooked in front of you. It then arrived at the buffet counters in small dishes which were being constantly re-placed so it was always hot and freshly prepared. The variety was amazing too, especially when you understand everything has to be imported for the island. Drinks were available almost 24/7 (well you do have to sleep at some point!!) and I was impressed with the coffee machines… first rate cappuccino’s!!

Before leaving home we had done our research on the diving too. There are one or two places which offer diving but we decided on Scuba Caribe as it was reasonably priced and was much more convenient being right on the ‘door step’ of the hotel (walking distance). We had pre-booked and pre-paid a 5-dive package (via pay pal) with the company head office as this gave us a discount. Also we didn’t want to be concerned about money/Euro with an all-inclusive package at the hotel so this was a good option for us.

After unpacking we headed to the dive centre to check-in. The centre was right on the beach in front of the hotel and resembled a dive ‘shack’… it was picture postcard stuff.

The staff were warm and welcoming and seemed to be expecting us; despite us printing off our payment and booking details all the information had been forwarded to the dive centre by head office – how efficient!! After a good chat with the dive team we opted for a single tank dive the following afternoon then two subsequent days of 2 tank dives in the morning. We had taken all our own kit and the arrangements for storage was the usual; hangers for wet suits and a plastic basket for all the other ‘bits and bobs’.

We arrived the following afternoon for our first dive and all our kit had been prepared for us, after a quick check to make sure we had everything we had our first dive briefing. This was a good standard; explaining fully the dive site and included a high level of safety awareness. Hardly surprising as the nearest DCI chamber is a flight away so ‘diving safe’ is of paramount importance. We helped to push the boat off the beach then jumped in for the short ‘taxi ride’ to the RIB just a few meters off shore. No need to worry about the kit – it was all taken care of by the crew. We were the only 2 divers with our dive guide and he ensured that the dive was exactly at the pace we wanted; we like slow ‘potters’ on the reef edge stopping to take the odd photo and we never felt rushed. The guide was keen to point things out and waited patiently while we took our time.

The subsequent 2 days diving took on a similar pattern, the first dive then a 1 hour surface interval while sitting on the RIB then a second dive before returning to the dive centre – just in time for lunch and, as the diving was finished for the day, a well-earned beer!!

We can’t praise the dive centre enough. The whole team were very customer focussed and that was especially the case for the new managers, Luis and Nicole who at only 1 month in their jobs were still finding their feet – although both very experienced and proficient.

They both made time for their customers, wanting to know if everything was good and keen to ensure there were no problems. After our last dive the team even washed all our kit in the fresh water tanks; the wet suits even had a soapy wash and then a rinse – what service!! But in truth nothing seemed to be too much trouble for any of the dive team.

The diving itself was better than we had expected. The fish life was prolific and had an array of tropical fish akin to the Red Sea. We saw nurse sharks, sting rays, groupers, bannerfish, cuttlefish, nudibranch and the list goes on!! Sea temperature was coolish 20 deg C with variable visibility caused by the previous week’s very rough seas.

If you are looking at Cape Verde for a winter diving break then we would highly recommend what we have just done, the hotel was great, the dive centre so close and convenient but most of all the attitude of the dive centre managers and staff was just wonderful.

By Sue Bowler

http://www.bsac.com/page.asp?section=1024&sectionTitle=Safety%20Talk%20This%20Month

Cheers

Andy McKay

Staying Alive!

Few people can now have missed the recent television adverts featuring actor Vinnie Jones promoting chest compression-only resuscitation. Popular culture does seem to allow and accept the incongruous nature of using apparent gangland violence as the platform for such a promotion but it does appear to be getting the message across!

Perhaps because the promotion is sponsored by the British Heart Foundation it is believed by some that the message is that this advert means that resuscitation practice and guidance has somehow changed. It has NOT.

The adverts are targeted at members of the public with no resuscitation training at all. It was developed because untrained members of the public, influenced perhaps by other media programmes like Casualty and ER, have attempted CPR when faced with a casualty and been ineffective at giving Rescue Breaths and reduced the effectiveness of chest compressions.

The message for anyone trained in CPR is that you should continue to follow your training should the need arise.

Andy Procter

NDC Rescue Skills Chief Examiner

http://www.uwpmag.com/

It’s free to download as a PDF, but you do have to register first.

Enjoy

Andy

Obviously we will need to recoup the costs of running the Club equipment so the proposal includes an additional cost of £15 a day for the first 6 days of diving from our club boats (making a total of £25 per day) after that on the 7th dive day the cost reverts to the current £10 a day. For the active divers in the Club this has the advantage of spreading the costs over the first few dive trips.

This change was voted in for a trial period of one year until the 2012 AGM when members will again decide on whether to continue with this membership fee. This decision will clearly be heavily influenced by the income, which in turn will depend on our success in encouraging new members.

I’m sure you will agree with me this change presents a major change in our approach to membership fees and I’m optimistic will encourage a growth in the number of Club members.

* The BSAC subscription is outside the control of the Club and is the same for all members who are in BSAC clubs across the UK. From next March this will be £54 a year.

Martin Rawson

Chairman

Belper Sub-Aqua Club

http://digital.divemagazine.co.uk

The above link is for the PC version but if you register you can get versions for most other digital devices.

After skipping through seems slightly better then the printed version we all got to know and love <grin>

Enjoy

Andy

http://library.bsac.com/etalk/etalk1111.html

I’ve booked our usual room at the Greyhound and have arranged for sandwiches and other nibbles for the event. Non members are welcome, though of course will be not eligible to vote. If any members want to stand for election to one of the committee positions then please either let Steve Price and myself know prior to the start of the meeting or be prepared to stand when we come to elect the committee on the night.

I’ll send out the agenda in the next few days. This will include items requiring a vote on the night.

see you there

Martin R

http://www.uwpmag.com

Cheers

Andy

http://www.xray-mag.com/pdfs/xray45/X-Ray45_locked.pdf

Cheers

Andy