Moving to the UK in March

[delbuort]

So, I'm moving to the UK in March and I've been looking around online recently for diving spots. I figured the whole country is an island, so it shouldn't be too hard to find somewhere to get wet. I'll be in Lakenheath, I guess that's close to Brandon. I'm not really sure what else is close. Any suggestions before I get there? I did find somewhere that the UK has the most wrecks of any country in the world.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[dougaldiver]

Hi

If it's the Lakenheath I know it's somewhere in Cambridgeshire. The nearest coast would be on the eastern side of the UK. I believe there are some diving operators there but it's not as common as on the south coast or further north into scotland. Either way you will probably need to drive a way to get some decent diving

A lot of the diving in the UK is wrecks and some very good ones there are as well. We're often at the mercy of the weather which can be unpredictable but when it's good it's very good.

I don't know where you've been diving so far but UK diving can involve cold water and variable visibility. It often requires deployment of a delayed SMB. If you're not used to that then it may be a good idea to seek out a dive centre that will send you in with a DM or Instructor to get you familiar.

 

[String]

Hmm. Ive never yet seen a UK charter that has a diving DM for normal trips, ive only seen one charter that even had one on a boat. Some sort of refresher/familiarising with an instructor is one idea or join a local club which maybe an easier option.

--

I assume you mean at or near RAF Lakenheath? In which case its the east coast and North Sea. There is diving there but its not as good as the diving off the south or west of the UK unfortunately. You may need to travel a fair distance to get to the better dive sites.
Water temperature will range from 4-5c in march to 15c in september and visibility maybe 3m (10ft) on average. A drysuit is pretty essential not just due to water temperature but also the air.

You could search for a local padi club if one exists or a bsac club (http://www.bsac.org/branches/eastern.htm).

You probably want to ask this on: http://www.yorkshire-divers.co.uk
Those forums have literally thousands of UK divers spread all over the country so local knowledge is generally better than here and you may get some more accurate suggestions.

 

[delbuort]

Yep, I did mean RAF Lakenheath. I'm supposed to be there for three years and I can't wait to get over there. I've spent most of my adult life outside of the U.S. I'm really looking forward to living in the UK for a while.

That's kind of what I was finding online here. It seems that the most interesting diving is all on the south and west coasts and up north. I've found a couple dive shops on the east coast I'm going to have to check out, mostly around Lowestoft.

The conditions around there sound about like what I'm used to. I do a lot of diving here off the California coast in Monterey in the kelp forests. It's usually about 10-11c year round and the vis anywhere from 3 meters - 25 meters.

 

[dougaldiver]

So long as you are prepared to do a bit of driving to get there then you can get some excellent diving in the UK.

If you need to familiarise yourself with cold water, potentially low vis diving then have a chat with a local dive school, they may be able to sort out a way to get you into it with some instruction specifically focused on the skills that you need.

I do know of one place in Portland that runs an Intro to UK diving course.

Check out http://www.underwaterexplorers.co.uk/ and look at the skills development section

 

[delbuort]

Thanks for the advice. I'll have to check it out when I get over there. I'm pretty used to having to drive a ways to get some decent diving in. It's about a 4-hour drive for me to Monterey. I don't think I will have a problem with the vis over there, but I'm certainly going to invest in a drysuit. I'm tired of being cold and numb at the end of my diving over here and 4-5c over there doesn't sound to appealing in neoprene.

 

[BAWSAC]

There are so many options to dive in Scotland that it would be mad to miss any opportunity. My personal favourite is the SS Breda in Ardmucknish bay, North of Oban.
Check out www.divernet.com/wrecks/wtour91199.htm for some more details.
From there you can try the Sound of Mull which has numerous wrecks.
temperature can be lower, I have dived in 8 degrees c, but if you can go midweek, when there is less activity on the wrecks, the vis can be amazing! I do say can be!
Whatever, dive safe and enjoy the UK.
All the best

 

[String]

Oban is near 800 miles by road from there ! Hardly condusive to a weekend or day trip diving. Assuming GOOD traffic 7.5 hours drive each way.

The south coast is between 2 and 3 hours depending on exactly where. That is doable for a day or weekend.

 

[delbuort]

BAWSAC, I've been looking around at a couple sites to visit in Scotland. All of my mother's side of her family is from Scotland so I'm going to try to take a few days and look some of them up, hopfully do a little site seeing while I'm up there... preferably underwater. I'll have to find it again, but I found a website a couple days ago that said there was a sunken fleet of something like 26 ships in one of the harbors. I really want to check it out.

Sting, is traffic really bad enough to double a 2 to 3 hour trip to the coast during the day or weekend? That almost sounds like California traffic. That sucks!

 

[dbulmer]

Delbuort,
String's advice is accurate - that said my advice would be to book a Bed and Breakfast and make a weekend out of it. Bear in mind that because of tides you may be getting up very early for a dive and a 2/3/4 hour drive may not be your cup of tea.

BTW Oban is superb diving - there are walls and wrecks. The SS Breda is fantastic but so are the Rondo (my favourite) and the Thesis. One thing though, you need to have some UK dives under your belt - the conditions in Oban can get a little difficult.

Portland is a good place for you to get acquainted with UK diving - UE is an excellent dive centre and if you are a tech diver or want a DIR friendly centre that's where to go. (Try a dive on the Countess of Erne inside the harbour - it's a 14 metre dive and is often used as an intro dive to UK diving - my first UK dive!)

My advice to you would be to try and join a BSAC/SAA club and let some of the seasoned divers show you how to put up a DSMB. Irrespective of diving agency, it is the norm over here for buddy pairs to have a DSMB and be proficient in its use.

UK diving is largely wreck diving - there are plenty of wrecks over here and I'm not talking about the divers There are also some fantastic scenic dives - Plymouth in the SouthWest is superb.

And .. you want a drysuit seriously! While air temperatures over here don't get that cold compared to other parts of the world we do get a lot of wind from the Atlantic which means that you'll chill very quickly

As for traffic - yep it can get bad - we're a small over populated island and our roads are narrower than the US. Driving over here is more aggressive than the US.