Why should warm water divers consider the UK?

[dbulmer]

Just to whet your appetite - a picture of a tinpot blenny which you can see on wrecks.

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/03/08/3c/a8/eye-eye.jpg

These fellas are a bit more timid than Nemo but sometimes they get curious

 

[rivers]

If this summer is anything like last summer, vis should be fairly decent for a chunk of it. I'm very much looking forward to splashing in on some rusty hunks of metal with my mates.

 

[FionaH]

Taken a couple of weeks ago in our winter playground. Orkney - a swim between the 2 sets of turrets of the Bayern, maximum depth around 38m, a bit more if you drop into the 2nd turret

 

[lord khram]

Depends what everyone wants from diving, but I live in Thailand most of the year, and used to dive there on a very regular basis. I have also dived many other locations in Asia, the Pacific, the Carribean, that most would probably consider to be the best diving in the world.
Personaly tropical diving now bores me, I thouroughly look forward every year to my 2-3 months back in the UK during the summer, which for a number of years now is when I do virtually all my diving.
I live not 2 miles from the coast in Thailand and have not dived there for 4 years now. When in the UK I live as far away from the sea as is possible in the Midlands and weather permitting dive at least one day per week.

 

[Tassi Devil Diver]

To expand your horizons.

 

[drmwc]

Dive the UK, coz that's the way it is. Huh!

 

[Stoo]

Just a comment from The Colonies... Diving in the Great Lakes, plus annual trips to our (Canada's) left coast... "Warm" water tops out at perhaps 10°C, but 4°C at depth is perfectly normal at depth... This is not diving that one just does "on occasion"... at least not successfully and enjoyably. Mastering a drysuit for most people takes a dozen dives or so on average, and so even if you can rent one, it's very different than diving in a 3mm onsie!

Having said this, it's absolutely worth the effort... but it requires some commitment. The wrecks of Great Lakes are amazing. The cold water reefs of British Columbia are the best in the world (Even Jacques Cousteau thought so, only he thought the Red Sea was perhaps a titch better)

But get proper training and practice in a drysuit, and give it a go...

 

[lord khram]

Dive the UK, coz that's the way it is. Huh!

Briliant

 

[Diving Dubai]

Dive the UK, coz that's the way it is. Huh!

Had to post this on our club site - outstanding..

Here in warm waterville we have similar constraints. DSMB, reels, torches are standard. Vis can be poor I've been on my buddies fins barely seeing the base of their tank, most of us jump into our Drysuits at 23C

And then the summer hits with a vengeance. Vis goes up as does the temps. 45C on the boat, surface temps in the low 30's. Sweating putting your skin or 3mm on - often in the water to keep "cool" as you know there's going to be a thermocline with 24c temps below.

Coming up after a dive with the misery of holing your surface stop in bath water temps. Or worse finding no cool thermocline, my record is 37C at 30m. At the surface there's no cooling off jut Hot hot HOT. Even the breeze on the boat ride home is like sitting in front of a hairdryer. Despite the sue of sunscreen you're like a lobster and then you need to wash the boat when all you actually want to do is head to the A/C bar

But at least we can have great vis all sorts of pretty reefs, some wrecks and often whalesharks. So we can't complain that much

 

[desert diver paul]

Just a comment from The Colonies... Diving in the Great Lakes, plus annual trips to our (Canada's) left coast... "Warm" water tops out at perhaps 10°C, but 4°C at depth is perfectly normal at depth... This is not diving that one just does "on occasion"... at least not successfully and enjoyably. Mastering a drysuit for most people takes a dozen dives or so on average, and so even if you can rent one, it's very different than diving in a 3mm onsie!

Having said this, it's absolutely worth the effort... but it requires some commitment. The wrecks of Great Lakes are amazing. The cold water reefs of British Columbia are the best in the world (Even Jacques Cousteau thought so, only he thought the Red Sea was perhaps a titch better)

But get proper training and practice in a drysuit, and give it a go...

I can't wait to dive over in Canada, I've seen so much great footage, but what to do first!