Canary Islands
The Canary Islands consists of seven major islands, one minor island and several small "islets" formed by volcanic eruptions. These islands are located just Northwest off of the coast of Africa (100 KM) between the borders of Morocco and Sahara.
Tenerife Island is the largest and most populated of the islands. It also has the highest elevation of Spain with the third largest volcano in the world. The volcano on the island last erupted in the 18th century. BUT this amazing volcano has a crater that is 17km in length at some points.
We chose Tenerife as our 2013 Spring Break Trip for the coastline and for the climate. This island is known as the "Island of Eternal Spring." The weather does not change much from summer to winter (mid 50s to mid 70s) and the sun is very dependable. These were key factors in our decision to visit this island.
We decided to stay in Las Americas, Tenerife. This hotel was a beach resort that was extremely convenient to the beach, restaurants and shops. A perfect location, because our plans consisted of swimming, sunning at the beach, and eating with our family - Grandma and Grandpa McPeak, who met us at the island. It was so nice to see them. We miss our family so much and truly appreciated them flying all the way from America to join us in this adventure.
A view from the hotel
Connor body surfing at the beach
Restaurant
Nate body surfing
Sam chasing the waves
The boys with Grandpa and Grandma
We did leave the comforts of the beach and hotel for a couple of excursions; a boat tour of the island with some snorkeling and scuba diving. The boat tour was amazing. At one point in the ocean we were right next to a pilot whale. We loved watching the whale swim and hang out near our vessel. Once at our destination, the cove, the boys got to snorkel the area looking for all different types of sea creatures. The tour was only a couple of hours long, but it was fun to see the island and explore the water.
The staff on the boat tour
The captain of the boat
The boys snorkeled in this cove
The pilot whale was coming up for air
And it went right back down
So the second excursion, scuba diving, was just for the older boys. That morning they had breakfast and then waited for their ride to pick them up for the dive. They were all excited to explore the ocean -UNTIL; this broken down car with a very scruffy dirty man walked into the hotel saying that he was their ride. I then started thinking; HOPEFULLY the snorkeling equipment was not in the condition of his car or his personal appearance. The boys still left excited and hopeful to have a great dive.
After about an hour of diving instruction, they all left the harbor in a Zodiac rubber raft, looking styling in their full body wetsuits. There were two dive instructors and 3 groups of divers. So, the boys spent an hour or so snorkeling around the cove waiting for their turn to scuba dive.
When it was time, the boys suited up with all the equipment and plopped into the Atlantic Ocean for their second scuba diving experience (their first was last summer in Bodrum). First the instructors made sure everyone was breathing properly through the scuba gear at the surface level. While the instructors were working with Dad and Connor, Nate was already trying to dive off on his own. But he was corralled back to the group for safety.
Then the group dove down to about 25 feet. There were lots of beautiful blue and orange fish along the way. The boys were once again fascinated by the underwater world and were reaching out to touch every fish that came close and chase every cool looking creature they saw.
As a part of the excursion package, underwater pictures were taken of our group. While taking the pictures a couple sea turtles came around checking us out. They were beautiful and very friendly. Nate and Connor got to pet them, making sure not to stick out individual fingers so the turtles did not think it was food.
The boys continue to love scuba diving and are very comfortable under water. They definitely want to get the PADI certification and perform dives on their own when they get a little older. For now, the supervised dives will do the trick. All in all, it was another awesome underwater experience.
Overall picture of the boys- Nate is trying to touch the fish
One of the curious Sea turtles
In the end we had a great vacation with our family. It was so relaxing. Time flew by way too fast, because the next thing we knew -our vacation was over and we had to say goodbye :( BUT we had great adventures with our wonderful family. Thank-you Garold and Mary (Grandma and Grandpa) for coming all the way from America (a very long trip) to visit with us and make the trip even more enjoyable!
