Vis in the solent

[Andy Bloss]

Hi all

Looking to do some diving in the Solent this weekend, on the Algerian and Margaret Smith. However, it's been pointed out to me that Dive IOW has the following to say about diving in the Solent:

"Some divers say that vis in the Solent is always so bad it is never worth diving there"

and

"In the deeper waters of the main channel (of the Solent) vis. rarely exceeds 2m".

Can anyone confirm that diving in the Solent is indeed a bit of a waste of time, or is there anyone who has experience/evidence to the contrary?

Any information gratefully received.

Andy

[Ainsleyberryman]

Ive had less than 1m on one occasion and then about 5m on another. Tide and weather and luck dependent.

I have seen on the web somewhere a log of vis for the UK, when I checked it out last year there was a definate seaonal change.

Cant remember the site, someone here may recall it.

But if you dont want to take a risk, go west. It improves steadily as its influenced by the Gulf stream and of course less run off from the land.

[SoggyFox]

http://www.scuba-addict.co.uk/viz/latest.php3

any use?

[TerryH]

The viz in the West/East wight area at the mo is in the 10m range.
The inner reaches of the Solent can get a bit murky, but it does get cleaned
out 4x times a day!

Having dived a bit chunk of the South's wrecks, I can tell you that the area
off the IOW has some fabulous wrecks and great diving.

I can remember doing the Witzee off West wight where we saw the whole
ship at just 5m from the surface. Amazing when you consider that it lies in
35m!!!! I cant remember doing that in the Canaries.

Checkout the pics bottom right of this page .......
http://www.bsac1624.co.uk/Easter_Tango.shtml

Was 10m+ that day.

Rgds
TerryH

[MattS]

The vis in the Solent is described locally as unpredictable. I have dived the same site on high water and low water slack on the same day with 10m and 1m vis accordingly. It is quite common to have a thick layer of crud sitting between 0 and 12m causing no light to penetrate although the water is pretty clear on the bottom.

Diving in the Solent and surrounding waters is definitely worth it IMVHO. There are a loads of really good wrecks and the water conditions attract a great variety of life. It can be quite challenging though with very strong currents to add to the fun. You get used to the vis and tides after a few years though.

At the moment we are between plankton blooms, dredging and stormy weather and the vis has been good for a few weeks.

BTW if you mean the Algiers, it is not really in the Solent which has a bottom consisting mainly of silt. The Algiers sits on shale and the times I have dived her there has been plenty of light and about 7m visibility. Quite an interesting wreck and well worth the effort IMO.

[Andy Bloss]

many thanks to you all for information, much appreciated and great help with the dive planning.

Regards]

Andy