Company Booked through:    Active Adventures

Location:                                Costa Te Guise, Lanzarote

Reason for booking:              Warmth and Diving

Star rating:                                ****

Dates:                                       16th Jan to 23rd Jan 2011

I decided that I needed some warmth I have been too cold till now.  I had a week booked Annual Leave from work from the 15th Jan to 23rd Jan 2011 and I had spoken with Active Adventures previously just before my car broke down and so had to prioritise my holiday.  So I contacted and spoke to Angie who was very helpful and arranged a week in Lanzarote with 10 guided dives, equipment hire included (actually deal stated £1 for equipment).  Accomodation was included which was at the Celeste Appartment (self catering which suited me fine).  Twin bedroom, Bath/Shower/Toilet, Living area with three seater settee, arm chairs, tv, coffee table and kitchen area in the same room, only two hobs with microwave more than suitable for me.  There was a little patio area with table and chairs, just by the small swimming pool.  There was plenty of restaurants, bars and karaoke all over the place, short walk from the apartment.  She arranged the flights for Sunday to Sunday which was excellent, I stayed at a nice hotel the night before which had 8 days parking, breakfast and free transfers to the airport for £60 this I booked myself however, no issue with getting caught in traffic Sunday trying to get to Gatwick on the morning of the flight.

All went well and I arrived in Lanzarote the flight was delayed by one hour but that was no big deal, was collected by Active Adventures person along with another person Andy who was booked for Surfing for the week.  We arrived at the accommodation and spoke to the rep Greg who explained all to me with maps of the area.  The Dive centre was literally across the road and round the corner from the apartment however on my first day I did manage to get lost, should have taken a compass ;-).

The Dive company Calipso Divers were very friendly, Peter the owner, David & Joe Instructors and Curtis Instructor in training.  Peter is hilarious and kept the momentum going when he was leading the dives on the journey to the site and in the briefing.  David is a marine biologist and was great at pointing out marine life on the dives, the best one he led was his favourite dive which included showing us 4 seahorses, 2 female and 2 male who were pregnant, we were told quite clearly how to approach and view these so that we did not disturb their environment.  Joe was really good at making sure we all had nice dives, interesting when one was next to a Nudist beach, we were fully kitted up walking through an area where they were completely starkers.   We were advised not to put out hand up when breaking the surface as you never know, mind you don’t know if I want my head breaking the surface first either still I took their advice and I survived the experience.

I met some lovely people on the trip and went out every evening for a meal with company which was great.  As the week went on people left and joined on different days luckily we all got on well so added to the experience, we all said we would keep in touch but you know what its like life sometimes just takes over.

I met four people from the Marine Unit of the Kent and Essex Police, small world, Clive was their organiser for the trip and came out independent of Active Adventures, his daughter Jo was the instructor so it was a family visit for him.  Clive’s club is http://www.time2scuba.co.uk.

Through Active Adventures rep and I met some other surfers Liz, Greg and Sarah and a diver Sue we went out in the evenings for meals, and they were great company, unfortunately I had to watch my drinking and was always the first to leave, but have to be ok for the dives, didn’t want to spoil them as that was the main reason for the trip.

All in all a brilliant holiday and would promote Active Adventures as a good company to go with for diving holidays.