+34 650 38 86 24 gerard@universo.blue

Happy to receive the award of Elite Instructor 2018

by | 22/03/2019 | Courses, Personal

I’m very happy with the official recognition of my efforts in the training of divers throughout 2018. Not only I could guide a lot of dives with already certified divers or show the underwater world to many new people but I also was able to certify more than 100 divers, among Open Water, Advanced Open Water and Rescue Divers. Thanks to PADI for the official recognition with the Elite Instructor badge!

 

 

Just arrived from Egypt

by | 11/12/2018 | Hot Spots, Trips

I just arrived from a trip in Egypt with several clients of Buceo Hispania Barcelona and the truth is that my mind is still there… what an amazing trip!

Together with Jose from Blue o Two España, the team of Buceo Hispania Barcelona organized a trip through the North of the Red Sea and the Strait of Tiran. 12 passionate people from Barcelona, ​​friends and clients of Hispania (who now became all friends) joined some other people to create an amazing group of 19 divers! 

The route brought us to several renowned reefs and wrecks of the North of the Red Sea. We were able to enjoy 20 dives with Nitrox during the 7 days on board of the M/V Samira. The dive spots we visited were the following:

  •     Poseidon Reef
  •     Giannis D (wreck)
  •     Chrisoula K (wreck)
  •     Dunraven (wreck)
  •     Sting Ray Station (day and night dive)
  •     Jackfish Alley
  •     Thomas Canyon
  •     Gordon Reef (day and night dive)
  •     Jackson Reef
  •     Shark & ​​Yolanda Reef
  •     Thistlegorm (wreck with two day and one night dives)
  •     Siyul Kebir
  •     Shaab El Erg (two day dives and one night dives)
  •     The Mina (wreck)

 

We were able to enjoy the wonderful fauna of Egypt thanks to the spectacular visibility of the Red Sea, as well as the penetrations into emblematic wrecks of the area, such as the Thistlegorm. And even we got fantastic dive with wild dolphins!!

Wanna see some pictures of the trip? Enjoy the blue!!

 

 

Let’s recap on this busy season

by | 15/11/2018 | Courses, Personal

The diving season reached it’s end this year in Barcelona. I’m very happy of the busy summer and a good season in general, despite the usual rains during the last weeks of the season.

 

 

It was actually a wonderful experience to work at Buceo Hispania Barcelona and be able to participate in many activities related to the training of diving or just diving for fun! I could develop my instructor skills and put everything in practice reaching the following outcomes:

  • 84 new Open Water certifications
  • 99 total certifications
  • More than 200 dives (including training and fun dives)
  • More than 300 divers participating in my activities

 

 

Get to know your diving equipment

by | 14/05/2018 | Equipment, Facts

A good diving equipment is essential to dive safely and comfortably. The equipment will help you breathe underwater, protect your skin, regulate buoyancy and make swimming easier.

Every diver must have at least the following equipment:

  • Diving tank: It will provide you with the air (or the appropriate mix according to your type of diving) to breathe as well as to manage your buoyancy devices.
  • BCD: It is one of the most important elements since it will ensure us a good buoyancy.
  • Regulator: It is your source of air, it carries the air from your bottle to your respiratory system. Diving regulators are designed fail-safe, which means that in the unlikely event that they have a problem, they will provide you with more air than normal, but in any case, always air.
  • Neoprene suit: It’s important that the size is correct to be comfortable, and the appropriate thickness depending on the water temperature. Do not forget that water transmits the temperature 20 times faster than air, so it is very normal to get cold even if the water is warm.
  • Mask: We must ensure that the mask adapts well to our face to prevent water from entering and that we don’t need to be constantly adjusting it.
  • Fins: There are several types of fins depending on the objective and your experience. You can consult a professional to choose the ones that best suit your purpose.
  • Weights: It’s very important to have the right amount of weight in order to maintain a proper buoyancy.
  • Dive computer: It is the main element that provides security. They monitor the dive time and guide you so that you never cross the limits.
  • Protective elements: You can include hoods or gloves to protect you from the cold. The head is a very significant source of temperature loss. Keep your head and extremities covered to be comfortable and keep the body temperature well managed.
  • Marker buoy: Warns the surface of your presence below before making the final ascent. Ideal for direct boat pick-up.
  • Diving knife: It will help you to free yourself or your companion after being entangled in an element such as a net, a set of algae or plants.

It is very important to know your equipment well in order to react correctly to any risky situation. Familiarize yourself with the different elements, ask an instructor any questions you have, and practice, practice and practice different skills to find any item or equipment quickly, which will help you to always react correctly.

And if you can afford do buy only some parts, I recommend two elements clearly. The mask, because it gives you visibility, and it is very important that the mask fits well and we feel comfortable (and sometimes it is difficult to find a mask that seems designed for us). And the dive computer, because it is the element that directly watches over your safety!

 

The importance of a good judgment

by | 13/05/2018 | Courses, Environment

The good judgement is a very important quality for all the professionals in recreational diving. We know it’s annoying to meet together for a diving course, having all day booked in our agendas, and cancelling a dive due to bad weather or sea conditions. But all the decisions taken are for the good purpose of offering safe and efficient training! And you should always decide if you enter or not the water according to the performance level of all the participants. People should feel comfortable underwater to enjoy the experience. There is no need to place them in stressful situations. Now, after rescheduling, time to go home 😉

 


 

Jellyfish invasion in Barcelona

by | 2/05/2018 | Environment, Facts

Hello jellyfish!! Today we did a dive with hundreds of jellyfish and thousands of jellyfish larvas and polyps. Jellyfish look like aliens… their smooth movements are really weird but very beautiful! The whole situation, swimming through living particles, was definitely like being in another world…

 

 

Video by Oscar Cobo (@oscar.bhb) of Buceo Hispania Barcelona!

 

New website for Buceo Hispania Barcelona

by | 1/03/2018 | Projects

I was recently working in the new website of Buceo Hispania Barcelona, the only comprehensive 5 Star PADI Dive Center in the city, offering all activities entirely in Barcelona.

 

 

Although I’m not a graphic designer or website developer, I have basic knowledge of all the processes and workflows to create a website thanks to my past professional background, while I was leading projects and teams involved in the production of websites. Fortunately today you can easily create a website if you are a bit smart and patient enough to read and go through video tutorials 🙂 It was a nice learning process for me and I was able to do all the initial set up and development of Buceo Hispania Barcelona new website using WordPress.org and some premium template of Elegant Themes. And it was a pleasure to work with Oscar and his advisors to create a responsive website that matches Buceo Hispania Barcelona current reality.

 

 

Today, the first stage of the website is already online and we are very happy because it really is a step forward. In the future, though, we will probably improve the website, increase it’s content and try to explain more things. Stay tunned!

 

 

 

Visit the website here >>

 

Discover your “raison d’être” with the Japanese concept Ikigai

by | 25/01/2018 | Random

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means “a reason for being”, but in English it’s commonly translated with the french word “raison d’être”. According to Japanese culture, we all have an Ikigai… finding it is a deep and often long process that can only be done by oneself. And the process of finding it is fundamental because when it is found, it leads to satisfaction and the sense of life.

I am not really into Japanese culture. But the other day, when my friend Mariona showed me this concept, I quickly understood that if one can combine passion, mission, vocation and profession, it makes sense to think that he or she will reach considerable states of fulfillment.

 

 

There is a lot of information about this concept, including a talk at TED. I invite you to do some research or at least think about it. And I wish you luck, and wish it also for myself, so that we can all be able to find our place in the world! Let’s get down to business and find the Ikigai!

 

The communication skills of the diving instructor

by | 24/01/2018 | Skills

Diving can definitely be a personal challenge. Scuba diving takes you underwater, a completely new context where you will have to learn again to feel relaxed and calm. Breathing under the water and feeling the weightlessness is a wonder, but it requires some patience and getting used to calm down in a new context. Also, the more relaxed you are, the more slow your breathing will be and the lower the air consumption. Therefore, you can enjoy more time underwater.

Especially during diving courses, but also in any dive, the communication skills of the diving instructor are key to create a climate of confidence.

 

To be a good diving instructor, it is recommended that you should:

  • Provide relevant information and not lie: having all the information, both of the good points and of the possible weaknesses or risks, help to manage the expectations and to solve possible challenges during an immersion. Having the right expectations about the experience you are going to live generates confidence and helps you find a good way to react agains any difficult situation.
  • Use a clear language: we need to convey the messages using clear and direct language to make it understandable. And we have to adapt it to the audience we have: it is not the same to talk with experienced divers, with people who are learning, individuals who put themselves in water for the first time, children…
  • Reinforce nonverbal language: it is important that we control how we behave and communicate physically, so that it is aligned with our verbal message. We have to be calm, feel safe and show it to our audience.
  • Show empathy: we have to place ourselves in our interlocutor’s mind and show understanding of their mood and emotions.
  • Be humble and recognize that we do not know everything: we may be asked complicated questions or issues that we do not dominate. There is no need to invent the answer or presume certain knowledge we do not have. I don’t see any problem to say that the question can not be answered at the moment but it will be investigated to try to provide an adequate response as soon as possible.
  • Give constructive feedback: there are likely to be skills or knowledge that need to be improved by the client. And obviously, by the instructor. Nobody is perfect Therefore, it is important to discuss about it and find ways to improve it. And it’s good to emphasize possible solutions to achieve a continuous improvement instead of feeling guilty or pointing somebody as the cause of a problem.