Recommendations for Norway?

[champacs]

Can anyone recommend a friendly dive club in Norway where we could dive this July?
I'm looking for a club anywhere along the coast where we will be able to rent kit and have a guided dive.

 

[Imla]

You might be out of luck. Renting kit is not very common, and guided dives is defined by a divemaster on land.
However, depending on where you are:
Oslo: Kits may be rented at Oslofjorden Dykkesenter, FUE.no, Divestore Gylte and ProDykk Svestad. These are all diveshops.
Oslofjorden Dykkesenter usually have divedays on sundays with shorediving and divemaster on land.
FUE.no doesn't do guiding.
Divestore.no Gylte has shorediving at the shop with guide on land, and ribtrips once in a while.
ProDykk Svestad has shorediving.
Drøbak Undervannsklubb does boatdives on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. No guide in the water.

Sandefjord Dykkeklubb does ribtrips
Moss undervannsklubb does ribtrips
A-Dykk in Kristiansand runs divetrips to some of the famous wrecks (They can probably also provide gear)
Mandal Dykkeklubb has an amazing boat with a lift, and superkind members.
Flekkefjord Dykkeklubb does ribtrips
Stavanger Dykkeklubb often does boatdives. Don't know about gear, but Jæren Dykkesenter (if they still live can help you there)
Slettå Dykkeklubb in Haugesund is amazing. Lots of happy people. Lea Dykk kan probably fix gear.
Nemo in Bergen is one of Norways biggest diveshops.

Gulen Dive Resort a bit north of Bergen might be your best bet of where to get guided dives. Fully stocked divecenter with world renowned wrecks. They beat Lembeh in the Nudi-category in the CritterShootout in 2016, and can boast about 70 nudis on the house "reef"

In Ålesund you have Ålesund dykkeklubb. They can support both diving and lodging, but you need to fix gear on your own.

Trondheim has the famous Draugen Dykkeklubb. Very active people. Lots of diving.

In Mo I Rana, abit inland, you'll find Visit Plura. The only place where you can do caves easily in Norway. Ina and Jani have fixed a divecentre, so you can fly in, rent tanks, enjoy the cave and fly out again. Easy Peasy. (And they have amazing chocolate cake.

Bodø sports some of the best diving in Norway. Saltstraumen is famous as the worlds biggest maelstrom. And you can dive there. This is also one of very few places where you may have a proper guide. This is also one of the places where you just don't dive without one! (Wrong time, wrong place... you may die...) Saltstraumen Dykkecamp will take proper care of you.

Further north. On the west tip of Lofoten, in Reine, Runhild Olsen lives in Catogården (AirBnB) She can put you in touch with people who can fix proper diving for you.

Narvik is also worth a visit... however I have no info there.

The complete info about Norwegian dive clubs can be found at www.ndf.no

Just remember... Norwegian waters are cold. Drysuit is recommended.

 

[Dan]

PM @mgjell as well

He’s been posting his diving videos here since 2014.

A little video from Norway, Bergen

 

[Matt S]

I dove with Lofoten Diving in Ballstad (in Lofoten) this past July. Was able to rent all gear, including drysuit; the only thing I had brought was my computer. There was a good pre-dive briefing in the shop before each dive (I did one in the morning and one in the afternoon). Both dives were off of a RIB and were led. I would recommend them. Plus, Lofoten is absolutely beautiful.

 

[mgjell]

Like Imla says. In my area Nemo might have som school equipment for rent.

 

[RainPilot]

@Storker any inputs?

 

[Storker]

@Storker any inputs?

I think @Imla has covered all the bases. I really can't think of anything else to say.

Except that I fully support her recommendation about a drysuit

 

[FinnMom]

Norway is an amazing long coastline so you might want to clarify where exactly you were going. Nonetheless you seem to have gotten a huge geographical range of recommendations.

Gulen is the we-flew-in-and-rented-eqipment site I see in English-language dive magazines most often, you should be able to find some articles about them online.

 

[George Ivanov]

I'd add Stromsholmen as another friendly place in terms of renting dive gear. Diving there is OK, good drifts.

 

[Sbiriguda]

Hello, do you have any specific suggestions on spots to visit in Norway?
I am curious about the orcas dive, did someone try it? Is it worth it or perhaps they just feed them like the do with whale sharks in Oslob, Philippines?