Diving in the UK (March 08)

Yes, I'm going to be going back to the mother-country at the beginning of March for a couple of weeks mainly to do some decent shopping (Covent Garden beware!!!) and catching up with friends and family and seeing things that I miss and don't miss....oh and the London Dive Show is on as well :rolleyes:

Anyway, I'm gabbling...I wanna have a stab at doing the dry-suit speciality dives (i think it's only 2) and maybe do a couple of dives afterwards. Also how cold is the water going to be (yeah, I know the british weather is as unpredictable as anything) and I know it's not going to be the 80+F that I have here

Anyone got any recommendations as to the best dive shop to go to where I can do this...

Thanks guys

Lottie,
it obviously depends upon where in t' mother country you are going to be. However, if you are going to be anywhere near Plymouth then I can recommend Aquanauts. A great bunch of folks who will also take you on some great dives. Lots of groovy wrecks and some pretty good scenic dives as well.
( If you do get to dive with them, say hello to Dougie the boat skipper from me:) )

HTH

PS: In March, you will definitely need a drysuit!:eek:

oh jeez...think i'm still narc'd from yesterday and I thought I'd mentioned it - I'm going to be staying in the West London area (around Ealing), but I'm not fussed where I go really as I can hire a car for a couple of days.

Wow, you will be diving in my waters....well all the way on the other side of the pond, but the North Atlantic is the North Atlantic.

I don't know for sure, but I would think the water temps you will see there year round will hover right around the 50F mark.

Drysuit diving is nothing short of amazing, and I am sure you will find it a great learning experiance. It is a strange thing to jump into the water and not get wet.

Ace it won't be the north atlantic, unless i dive on the west side of Ireland or the north-west coast of cornwall or the north-west coast of scotland...and none of those will be likely. Depending on where I go, it'll be either the english channel or the River Thames or some other river inland...

50F...brrrrr..............that's cold!!! ;)

Oh, cool. Let us know as soon as you find out more info.

50F does sound cold, and it IS cold, however you will soon find that dry suit diving in 50F water is like sitting on your couch in your favorite pair of sweat pants but your lips will be cold (unless you dive with a FFM).

FFM?? Care to elaborate Ace? :)

Full face mask- simular to what firefighters use.

Lottie,
Ok, West London is cool ! Gives you loads of options for the South coast. If you hire a car for a couple of days then, as I said before, Plymouth is a cracking spot. Weymouth or Portland have some good diving. Swanage pier is a bit of a mecca for shore divers. YoYo or Andark in Southampton can put you onto some diving around the Solent. Finless, who posts on here occasionally, goes from Eastbourne, I think. Brighton or Dover, both have some pretty exciting wreck dives virtually on their doorsteps.
Further afield, bite the bullet and head for Scapa Flow and dive the wrecks of the German High Seas Fleet - not sure of your chances in March but....- Probably some of the worlds best temperate wreck diving.
Basically, anywhere in Blighty with available water has some diving. Check out Yorkshire divers forum for some real local info, but beware! somebody will suggest that you dive a flooded quarry somewhere. Stoney Cove, Vobster or Wraysbury are inexplicably popular. On no account should you listen to these people, they are all mad!:) Stick to salt water.

HTH

RubberChicken,
Thanks for the info. I think swanage and yorkshire are going to be too far to drive, but Brighton, Weymouth and Eastbourne shouldn't be too bad.

and thanks for the heads up about them being mad on the yorkshire divers forum

Lottie,

I have sent you a private message back re the dive centre we use. I agree with other posts on here - the sea would be more fun than Stoney Cove, Wraysbury etc - which is possibly where our dive centre could end up taking you. That or Horsea Island - where we did our openwater - another inland option. The only time we were mad enough to do UK diving we went to Swanage, did the pier and a rib dive. It was September time and so the warmest our seas can be having had the summer to warm up. Admitedly I was only in a semi-dry but I was shivering before we even descended for the first dive and I shivered for the rest of the day! I, too, have heard from those wearing dry suits that even if the rest of your body is protected it is the cold water in the face that gets you! Enjoy!:eek:

Hey Lottie,

You'd be better heading to an inland site for the dry suit spec/orientation - getting used to the new bouyancy, whilst dealing with UK coastal conditions, lower temperatures, bad vis, currents etc etc is going to add up to a fair bit of task loading! Wraysbury isn't glamarous, but it's good for the job, and not that far from Ealing - March should see it reach a scorching 12 degrees C (if you're lucky!)

West London based dive stores, I would suggest popping down to Dive Solutions in Fulham, chat to Kitty - alternatively drop me a line, I'm London based; if I am in the country I'll be happy to do it for you, if not, I can definitely put you in touch with someone that can.

bubbles - thanks for the info on the PM, I'll definitely look into contacting them nearer the time.
bottlefish - thanks for the info and the temperatures... i think i still have some UK clothes somewhere in the depths of my wardrobe :)