UK Dive sites - A whistle stop tour.

[Owenter]

OK Boys and girls here is your latest assignment.

I've been known to organise a few dive trips for the Norwegian boy and girl divers and am contuously asked to arrange trips to the UK. Scapa I have sorted, Oban no problems, Farne Islands if I could find a reliable dive centre.

But what would be good would be to organise a 1 or 2 week tour taking in all the best that UK waters has to offer.

What would your suggestions be? Suggest a few sites or areas or perhaps a full itinery. Recommendations for boats, skippers, dive centres, accommodation would also be useful.

Oh and please, the bad as well as good.

We did Stoney, never seen 11 Norwegians so gobsmacked as at the site of 2-300 people in dive gear in Stoney on a Sunday morning. But Stoney would be on the list.

A starting point would be Stansted.

So go for it, let's see what you've got.

[Dave R]

At least a couple of days from Weymouth ( South Coast )
They probably have the best dive boats in the UK and very good selection of dive sites: wrecks, reefs, drifts


contact: weymouth diving

[Digger]

Right, hit Dover first. Do something close in, so they don't get any decent viz, otherwise you'll have them the whole trip thinking it's crap viz. Until you've done Dover mid-winter (can you make it a mid-winter trip) you've not seen bad viz. Unless you've dived Anglesey.

Anyway, great wrecks out of Dover, and personally I'd suggest the Loanda. Nice shallow start, get them used to being in UK condition (but probably not that different from Norway!) and you're likely to be able to get a few beads or a clay pipe or two. Nice souvenir, if they're into that sort of thing.

Then across the south coast. If you've got time Brighton or Littlehampton is worth a visit.

Hit Plymouth. Scylla and JEL are good wrecks, even if they get dived to death, for a tourist they're dive sites worth doing. There's also some great shore diving at Babbacombe which is cheap and easy, and marine life is good.

If you want to go crazy hit Porthkerris, I don't know a lot about the place, but it's on the list. Lots of options, wrecks, reefs, pasties...

Then sod it for the south coast, you've seen it all.

Head for west wales is my advice, lots of good dives round there, Pembroke has nature reserves, and I'd reccomend the Lucy. It is a good dive, and should be nice in summer months.

Drop in to Anglesey, you can remind them of the Dover viz, which will hearten them no end when you travel up to Oban and it's much better. Follow on to Sound of Mull if you can (this is where I'd spend the majority of the trip, as it's great), then head back down to the Farnes, down to Stoney to wash the gear off.

Then back to Stansted. Just in time to fall asleep on the flight home.

Digs.

[Snash]

Have to say, if I had a two week trip, I wouldn't want to cram too many destinations in, as you will spend a hell of a time travelling and losing out on the diving.

I would look at a 2 stop tour - Sound of Mull would be a must-do based out of Lochaline, so good weather prevailing you can get out of the Sound to Coll or past the backside of Ardnamurchan

and then either one of 2 options:

1) South Coast - based out of either Weymouth, or Plymouth, or Falmouth

or

2) bit of a curved ball - a week in and around Rathlin. Mega wrecks, some of the best cliff diving there is and also lots of squidgy things to prod. A quick trip mid-week to Bushmills on the mainland of NI is also a bonus (purely to aid the midweek bend prevention de-fizz process of course ).

Cheers

Snash