Dive sites in England in February

[TheSnowBeast]

I will be visiting England (London area then heading up to the lakes district-no solid plans yet and willing to detour if a place is really awesome) in February for a few weeks and am hoping to do a dive or two while I am there. I live and dive in Alaska and have my drysuit specialty so temperature isn't a concern and am AOW if that matters.

My questions are:

How is the viz/conditions in February? Is the diving pretty seasonal or year round?

What sites do the locals recommend? I am down for fish, wreaks, or just general cool things underwater...

Any specific operators that anyone recommends?

Thanks for any recommendations

 

[Vitesse2l]

That time of year the main factor is settled weather. Vis could be really good and the kelp has died back. If it's stormy there are inland sites...

Certainly where I am in the South West the dive ops and clubs try to run all year. We did a club dive in January but that was a lucky break in a run of poor weather and my next opportunity was March (Bovisand Harbour, rescue training, 8C). UK Vis Reports on facebook is a good group to join.

 

[BlueTrin]

There are two operators which are often recommended on the South side, I am sure other people will have other recommendations:

• Scimitar diving (Scimitar Diving)
• Channel Diver (Channel Diving - Brighton, Eastbourne & Normandy Dive Charters & Rampion Windfarm Boat Trips 07970 674799)

Maybe you want to check Plymouth as well if it’s practical to go there, depending of your itinerary ?

Also if you don’t bring your drysuit, you may want to check if you can rent one where you are going ?

 

[KenGordon]

The OP needs to understand how it works here, he will need kit. For some of the inland sites that is easy but for proper diving it is much harder. Some boats, for example in Scapa, provide cylinders and weights as a normal thing. Day boats tend not to. Also you probably need to bring, or arrange, a buddy if you want one.

The weather is a big risk.

 

[TheSnowBeast]

That time of year the main factor is settled weather. Vis could be really good and the kelp has died back. If it's stormy there are inland sites...

Certainly where I am in the South West the dive ops and clubs try to run all year. We did a club dive in January but that was a lucky break in a run of poor weather and my next opportunity was March (Bovisand Harbour, rescue training, 8C). UK Vis Reports on facebook is a good group to join.

Awesome, thanks for the recommendation-i'll check out the group

There are two operators which are often recommended on the South side, I am sure other people will have other recommendations:

• Scimitar diving (Scimitar Diving)
• Channel Diver (Channel Diving - Brighton, Eastbourne & Normandy Dive Charters & Rampion Windfarm Boat Trips 07970 674799)

Maybe you want to check Plymouth as well if it’s practical to go there, depending of your itinerary ?

Also if you don’t bring your drysuit, you may want to check if you can rent one where you are going ?

Thanks, I will check them out and look into drysuit rentals and if I need to pack mine.

The OP needs to understand how it works here, he will need kit. For some of the inland sites that is easy but for proper diving it is much harder. Some boats, for example in Scapa, provide cylinders and weights as a normal thing. Day boats tend not to. Also you probably need to bring, or arrange, a buddy if you want one.

The weather is a big risk.

Thanks for the information. That's why I posted-to get some info from local divers about what to expect and how things work.