diving in the British Isles

[nvfone]

I'm heading out from Hawaii in mid February for a world tour, hitting up the British Isles for a few months first of all. I just want to put a hook out in the water for some good spots to hit for diving while I'm there. I'll be in London until the beginning of March, but after that gonna head up toward Stratford and Nottingham and take in Shakespeare and Robin Hood culture, then head for Wales and after that Ireland and Scotland. So far I've found these spots on DB:

In Tamworth
Dive Dosthill quarry

In Sheffield:
Dive Ponds Forge 8-930

In Chepstow
Dive SaltFree

I've been diving Hawaii for about six months, although I got sidetracked with surfing for a while there, and am just hitting 12-15 meters (I think I can hit 20 before I leave, but we'll see). Anybody know of a good hook-up for lessons on diving the cold waters, using weight belts, etc. We dive in our skivies around here

Any tips, advice, or pointers would be great. Thanks a lot.

 

[sanso]

Get yourself a 5/6mm elios and enjoy the darkness. Diving in cold, dark waters is cool in more than one way. And with the right suit You'll still be nice and toasty. The scene is pretty lively there, just check out the local forum here on deeperblue and You'll be welcomed with open arms (and a couple of ales, I'm guessing now...:friday)

Have fun!

... and bring Your ice skates and a chainsaw, the way things are looking there right now...

 

[fcallagy]

nv if your heading north west ireland give me a shout but it will be a scenic dive in mid february the fishies don't usually come back in abundance till mid march. Plenty of surfing too though. Water temp will proabably be 8-9 C. I,m in sligo about 2.5 hours from Dublin.

 

[samdive]

please please please come and dive with us at Saltfree! It's always great to have visitors!!

all our dates are on SaltFree Divers - Meets

let me know when you're around and we'll arrange a warm welcome!

Sam

 

[apneaboy]

I know the divers from Ponds Forge and Dosthill. We dive in Wales and Manchester too. PM me when you have a schedule, Hawaii will be an anticlimax after Sheffield but you gotta do what you gotta do

 

[apneaboy]

Oooohhhh just spotted the March date thing.

Yeah, thick wetsuit, Sanso is right, or pool diving is the order of the day. 4 degrees celcius in March

 

[sunfish]

If you're in the southwest of Ireland give me a PM. I know some nice spots in the 12 to 20 metre range.
It's all dependent on the weather but the diving normally starts to get good around May or June when there are plenty of fish and seals to be seen with occasional dolphins, basking sharks, whales, sunfish etc.

 

[nvfone]

wow, thanks for the responses guys, I'm really excited about this trip now in so many ways! Diving in the cold dark sounds like my idea of fun! I'm making notes of all of the locations and will send out messages as appropriate. I'll be in London until the beginning of March (unless I just can't stand it and have to get out before then) so maybe the ice will have thawed by the time I can get out to locations.

So I'm looking for an Elios suit, and a good investment for me as well since I'd like to dive in the Alps and maybe Nepal (during summer). Anybody have any advice on good shopping in London? Hopefully I can also find a place to pick up some used weights.

Thanks again. It's really exciting to find such a great community in the Isles. Looking forward to meeting you all.
aloha,
nathan

 

[nvfone]

tentative scheduling

@apnea boy: do you have contact information for the tamworth group?

@Samdive: Just looked at the SaltFree divers site and think I'll try to make the March 20/21 dive. That gives me about a month to take care of business in London and enjoy the sites around Stratford and Nottingham. Unless I can get the info I need from the Tamworth group I'll probably be needing some lessons in cold/dark water diving from you guys. What's the fee for a class that you offer and how would that work? I've never dove in the dark or with weights (though I have scubad with weights of course) and am not even sure what a lanyard would look like! I did get eaten up by a giant wave the other day while surfing and realized how thankful I was for the leash when I couldn't figure out which way was up! (they teach you to follow your bubbles up in scuba but try getting your bearings when you've just been tossed by a 20 foot wave and your adrenaline is raging!) Should I schedule to come up a few days earlier and get a classroom style course from you guys?

@sunfish and fcallagy: I'll plan to hit Ireland in mid to late April. I really appreciate the invite out to the western parts of Ireland and will definitely be looking you guys up. Can't wait! After doing the interior of England I'm going to hit Wales for some hiking and check out Newquay (so a dive in Wales would be great as well if anybody knows a contact), then cruise over to the emerald isle. After that Scotland (anybody know of any Loch divers?) and it will be time to head over to the continent.

Can't wait to see how you guys do it in the north! I'm currently pretty much in a holding pattern just waiting on my passport, although I can think of plenty of worse places to be in a holding pattern than where I am.

Thanks again!
Nathan