Diving the Aland Islands Trip Report

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

poleinahole

Registered
Messages
35
Reaction score
0
Location
Luanda, Angola
# of dives
500 - 999
Aland Islands, August 27, 2007

I thought I had lined up two days of diving with Jan-Ola Karlsson at Sirius Dyk (E-mail: jan-ola.karlsson@aland.net. www.aland.net/siriusdyk/english/contact.html. Mobile: +358-40-584-5122. Tel/Fax: +358-18-19019) three months ago. I had told him I was coming to Scandinavia for ten days from Africa just to dive and sent him e-mail reminders 2 and 4 weeks before my arrival but got no sign of life so I started calling. He assured me this would be fine and even offered accommodation in a house and sent me helpful weblinks about the islands. But now there was no answer on either his mobile or regular number. Finally, the day I was supposed to be flying to the Aland Islands from Helsinki on Air Aland, I got a response to my text message saying he had boat trouble and parts would take two weeks to arrive. He was sorry he couldn’t take me diving. I immediately texted him back about doing a shore dive. No response and again no response when I tried to call. Was he even on the islands?

This is the 60ieth “country” I have dived in any I never cease to be amazed at how lackadaisical most dive operators seem to be about serious dive inquiries. They go through all the trouble and expense of having a nice website, even have an English translation for foreign visitors, but then don’t respond to e-mails or return phone calls. But then many of these same operators are quick to complain about how fickly divers are…

I searched the web fruitlessly for another dive operator in the Alands, but flew out to Mariehamns, the capital of this Swedish speaking self governing province of Finland on Air Aland anyway. (Buy your tickets from Stockholm or Helsinki at www.airaland.com. The flight is about 50 minutes. You can also get to the islands by frequent ferry from either of these two Nordic capitals). I spent the night at the very pleasant and reasonably priced Park Alandia Hotel in the center of town. This hotel is owned by Viking Line so you need to book through them or directly with the hotel. E-mail: parkhotel@vikingline.fi. Tel. +358-18-14130. The hotel had some tourist material and lo and behold, there were two other operators listed as offering divers I had been unable to find via google.

First thing the next morning I called Oxygene Aland, Elverksgatan 12 in Mariehamn. www.divealand.com or www.oxygene.se. Tel. +358-18-21010. Mobile: +358-407-068045. Lennert Lunquist (aka “Ville”), the owner and NAUI and IANTD tech instructor told me that it was the end of summer and so there were only dives going out over the weekend because they needed a minimum of three divers to go out. I didn’t have time to spend a week on the islands and offered to pay to go out by myself. He told me this was possible for 180 Euro. including large boat hire (shore dives are apparently not very good on Aland and so only used for training dives), divemaster and dry suit and equipment hire. Fifteen minutes later the divemaster picked me up to go the well equipped dive center—a world record on flexibility and service!

Oxygene Aland mix nitrox, blend trimix and supply argon and even have a room with sauna and 2 bunk beds where guests can stay at moderate costs. A two tank dive is 80 Eur. A 2 day/2 night package with dives is 220 Eur. 3 days/3 nights and 6 dives is 300 Eur, 4 days/nights and 8 dives is 385 Eur. And 5 days/5 nights and ten dives is 465 Eur. Oxygene Aland also offers ice diving courses in the winter. Water temperature ranges from 2C on shallower wrecks in the winter to 16 C on the surface in the summer. The deeper wrecks range from 2-4 at 30 meters pus year around.

There are plenty of wrecks (Russian, Dutch and Scandinavian), including some old wooden schooners and the brackish Baltic Sea water and strict laws which prevent penetrating the wrecks and removing artifacts means that many are well preserved. Aland islanders apparently bought up loads of the old wooden sail ships very cheaply when steam ships came into vogue in the early 1900s, and by the 1930s had the biggest fleet of wooden ships in the world. There is a unique four-masted wooden ship, the Pommern in the harbor which you can visit and a maritime museum next door which will give you a better idea of what you are diving.

After picking up gear at the dive center, we boarded a spacious boat with lots of deck space and a cabin which was berthed just around the corner from the dive center. Half an hour later we dove the Plus, a three masted barque (similar in design to the Pommern) sunk in December 1933 on her way from London back to Mariehamn for Christmas. The captain was from Mariehahm and grew impatient that there were no pilots available to take the boat in due to a fierce storm. He thought he knew his home port and decided to try to enter the harbor without a pilot but one of the lighthouses had lost its lights in the storm and he steered off course. The captain and about a dozen other crewmen perished when they couldn’t find the shore—only 4 men survived. The masts were blasted off because the boat sank in the middle of a shipping lane (where ferries still pass overhead today), but most of the wooden structure is intact. You can also see the ship’s figure head which looks like a doughnut, davits, dead eyes and portholes. The ship lists to one side and there is a layer of silt on it so it is very easy to inadvertently silt the wreck by stray fin kicks. Viz was 5 meters at the surface and less than 1 meter on the bottom. Bring a strong light.

This was a most enjoyable dive with a high quality operator. The standard of diving, divemastering, seamanship and equipment is all first rate and excellent in every respect. I especially liked the fact that they accommodated me on no advance notice and were still willing to let me do a dive even though there was no organized dive for me to join. Highly recommended place for technical training and or simply diving.

The tourist office also lists Hagge.nu in Mariehamn as offering diving trips with accommodation on board, but I ddn’t contact them so am not sure whether this means they do liveaboard diving. Mobile +358-40-552-8572. The tourist office is very helpful and may also be able to help. Tel: +358-18-24000 or www.visitaland.com.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom