Best Shore diving in uk

[fragle2112]

Looking for some good shore dive options for the weekend. Dont mind where but need something intresting to see etc ...any sugestions greatfully recieved

[Harlequin]

You could always come jump off a RIB with us

[hopper]

Originally Posted by Harlequin

You could always come jump off a RIB with us

Not sure if that will be EXTREME enough Yeah come on Fragle, don't you fancy something a bit less EXTREME?

[angleseydiver]

Vis off Anglesey is great at the moment- ave. 8m or so. Treardur bay/Porth Dafarch offer great shore dives, N.Anglesey has a couple of decent sites.
Heard that Trefor pier is good (Don't do shore diving myself) reports are unconfirmed - Try a YD search for it.
ATB,
Terry

[milldog]

Firestone bay in Plymouth
or durdle door in dorset get to see the sunken tanks plus a few big lobby's

[sch]

There's always Chesil Cove down in Portland - depths from 6m-18m depending on how far you want to swim and always plenty of life - wrasse, pollock, crabs, lobbies, cuttlefish etc.

Its a pebble bottom, so generally has good vis.

Here's some pics - and there's a few more here.









Simon

[Scuttler]

Chesil is good depending on when you go but one thing to bear in mind it can be a PITA to get out. Also if you don't fancy a 500m walk across the pebbles then dive off the Portland end (Chesil Cove) and not halfway across the causeway!

[sch]

Originally Posted by Scuttler

Chesil is good depending on when you go but one thing to bear in mind it can be a PITA to get out. Also if you don't fancy a 500m walk across the pebbles then dive off the Portland end (Chesil Cove) and not halfway across the causeway!

All very true - I did a shore dive from the Ferrybridge end of the causeway once, never been so knackered in my life Definitely concentrate on the Chesil Cove end, a lot more to see there anyway.

The cove is generally sheltered in anything except a sw-w wind, but if the wind is blowing into the cove at anything more than force 3 and you're not used to surf entries/exits then stay out of the water. We spent an interesting day down there a couple of years ago, basically dragging people out of the surfline because they hadn't realised how difficult it can be.

Simon

[Buoyant Babe]

Last weekend I did three shore dives at St Abbs and Cullercoats (just North of the Tyne) and they were great.

I had heard horror stories about trying to get in from the shore at St Abbs, but the sea was flat calm and our first dive was on slack water so the tide was still really high. There was a long walk to the entry point around St Abbs Harbour, so I was glad I had brought my 10L tank, and a bit of a scrabble down the rocks to get in but nothing too taxing. We did Cathedral Rock and I saw big wrasse, pipefish, blennies, three different kinds of nudibranch’s, dead men’s fingers, lobsters and crabs. The viz was up to 10m and I got a depth of 14.8m with a dive time of 58 minutes.

By the second dive the water had dropped quite a bit, but entry and exit were still manageable, although I wouldn’t fancy trying to get out if there was a swell.

We did Green Carrs and I saw as much as on the first dive, got to 15m again and the dive lasted 65 mins. There was no noticeable surge or current despite being long past slack water by this time (I understand slack hits St Abbs/Eyemouth at 90mins after high tide).

Sunday I did Brown’s Bay in Cullercoats. Viz was pants at 2-3 metres and grainy, but I saw pipefish, scorpionfish, flatfish, blennies (I think they were blennies?) lobsters and crabs. My mates went in there yesterday and played with an octopus.

Other North East/Borders shore dives I can recommend are Eyemouth, Beadnell, Howick, South Shields and Roker in Sunderland. The only problem with shore diving local to myself in South Shields and Sunderland is that being between two rivers the viz is often badly affected by the wash-out from the Tyne and the Wear. Slack here is about 1 hour after high tide.

HTH

Helen xxx

[gordon]

Martins Haven and St Brides in Pembroke are good (were especially good bank holiday) But it will take you about 9hrs to get there and its a long way back up the hill from martins haven.