Barracuda, the World Cup, and suspicious GoPros

At midday on a Monday six Imperial College Underwater Club members met at Stanstead Airport. Some having already passed through check in the rest of us hurried to security, which was to delay us for far longer than anticipated, with one member having to have their bag unpacked and swept not once, but twice, due to a highly suspicious item… a GoPro handle (apparently they look like they contain liquid on X-ray).

A long but uneventful flight later, we arrived in Fuerteventura to be greeted by two of the more eccentric staff of the Deep Blue Dive Centre, which was to be the base of our diving. They then drove us and our vast quantities of kit to our accommodation, where we dropped our stuff and went in search of food.

The next five days were spent largely sleeping, diving, and eating, as well as watching the world cup semi-finals and final. Diving at a German run dive centre, the results were far more important than I had anticipated when planning the trip.

Fortunately everything went the right way and we ended up with very happy guides.

There were a variety of dive sites with fantastic visibility meaning that all the sites could be seen in all their glory. A huge amount of wildlife was seen including many octopi, cuttlefish, barracuda, fire worms, shoals of sardines, and eels.

There were also several varieties of coral; one green one looking like an upturned Christmas tree was particularly striking. The weather and water temperature of a warm 21°C were a pleasant change from the Easter trip to Cornwall.

One member also completed their online work induction for a job starting on the Monday after the trip.

Many thanks to the staff at the Deep Blue Dive centre for making it a fantastic trip!