Anyone Here from the U.K???

[Nath]

My Wife & I May be moving over to the U.K in the next 6 months or so. Is there any freedivers there or around that area. That I may be able to dive with. thanks heaps

Nath
NSW Australia

[Alun]

there are many around.... you can join the UK freediving email list by following my www link below. there are only really two places where you can dive to any depth - South Wales and North Wales. i'm based in North Wales. there's a group of people who at the South Wales location - they head over from all over Southern England... check www.saltfreedivers.com -and the saltfree section of the DB forums. if you're heading to the North then drop me a line.
cheers
alun

[samdive]

excellent news, the UK needs more freedivers
come and dive with saltFree - who needs any other reason to move here!

www.saltfreedivers.com

Sam

[Ben Gowland]

By all means contact me if you are coming to Scotland.

A good site to get contact details for various people and places where you can go in the UK is:

www.britishfreediving.org

Hope things run smoothly,

Ben

[Nath]

Hey guys thanks for the quick respose few questions where do you guys think the best place to live is, Can you dive all year round & anyone got any work available haha
Thanks heaps

Nath

[Alun]

you'll find a whole range of environments in the UK - it depends what you're looking for. if you like the mountains and sea like me then you probably want to head north and/or west. bear in mind, some of these places can be pretty remote and could be a major culture shock for you.
for city life - then London, Bristol, Manchester? as we have said the only two places where you can dive deep is in Newport (south wales) or Snowdonia (north wales). the best sea diving (shallow, scenic, spearing) is along the south coast (English channel), west Wales and Scotland. the best places in Scotland are *really* remote and you'll probably have a hard time finding work there. unfortunately there is not much work available up here in North Wales either. it's easier to find work down in the south.

cheers
alun

[Nath]

How far away are the cities from Newport & Snowdonia, & is it expensive to rent appartments & Houses??

Thanks Heaps
Nath

[Alun]

nearest cities to Snowdonia are Liverpool (1.5hrs away) and Manchester (2hrs away) and maybe Birmingham (3hrs away).
nearest citites to Newport are Cardiff (30mins), Bristol (30mins), Birmingham (2hrs?), London (3?hrs).

accommodation costs vary a lot... prices generally increase the closer you get to the south east / London.

[samdive]

Bristol rocks! near Chepstow, nearish the south coast, near Cornwall for good sea diving and on the main motorway and train networks for anywhere else. Not to city-fied, clean, friendly and manageable..... plus we have pool sessions twice a week and open water dives once a month...

having lived all over the place, its my favourite..

Sam

[guy]

If you're regularly going away for the weekend, London sucks. Friday and Sunday evenings were a nightmare last summer. Sitting in traffic for 2 hours can quickly remove all that weekend relaxation.

If you fancy London, but don't really fancy London - try Brighton. Lived there for 2 years and it was nice - it also has a sea of sorts. Expensive, though.

Manchester has good access to lots of national parks (the Lakes, the Peaks, Snowdonia, North York Moors), if you're not able to dive.

Good luck.

Guy

[Cornholio]

Nottingham is a beautiful city. I love it here and have worked with and met a lot of visitors who feel the same. It's not too big and not too small. There are good road and rail links and East Midlands airport is only twenty minutes away. The nightlife is well regarded (apparently; I don't partake myself), the shopping is good and we brew some very fine ale. There are also sports a-plenty including Trent Bridge cricket ground, two football clubs (one of which is the oldest in the world) and the National Water Sports Centre. You shouldn't find it too hard to find employment as there are many opportunities (although sadly none where I work).

The only trouble is, we're bang in the middle of the country and there's no good diving for hundreds of miles. If you want to scuba, Stoney Cove (a flooded quarry) is 45 minutes away, but they don't welcome freedivers. There's not even a pool-based freediving club within sensible travelling distance. Grrr. I've had to join a scuba club who don't mind me training at their pool sessions.

Any other Nott's Lads / Lasses out there who feel the same way?

Wherever you settle, I hope your time in England is a good one!

[Nath]

Thanks guys

We are organising visas & stuff next week Jewls has been already applying for dietician positions around the country,
(she's organised that’s my girl.)

In regards to dive gear are there many shops that stock freediving/spearfishing gear or is it all done by mail order.

Thanks for your responses I realy appreciate it. Its'shelping heaps

Thanks
Nath

[Ben Gowland]

There are very few shops in the UK that sell freediving equipment, and if you want to get a good range of stuff - you have to go mail order.

Due to the very small market, difficulties with availability, and of course cost; I end up either:

Buying straight from the UK importer,
Buying abroad (mail order and whilst on very, very rare holidays),
Buying standard stuff and adjusting it for freediving, or
Making it from scratch

It would be great to stroll down to the shops to buy kit, but it just isn't realistic here.

Ben

[dave]

As far as I know the only British specialist spearfishing retailer that actually holds any stock, is my company, Spearo UK Ltd, www.spearo.co.uk .
We are based in Cornwall, but do mail order all over the world
cheers
dave

[Ben Gowland]

Sorry Dave, I should have mentioned you.

I've always thought of you as an importer that also does mail order, but I suppose that it is now primarily the latter.

Are you going to open a 'shop', or is it just not economical?

Any new equipment or new manufacturers in the pipeline? Not that I can buy anything due to the being ready to



Ben