Scapa- a few questions

[JayJudge]

Ok, I gotta get to Scapa Flow, been saying that since I first heard of the place. What I am looking for is anyone that has done this, not through an overpriced shop, but just like we do most of our diving, friends dividing it up. I am looking to only do the main wrecks, my wife might go with, but not sure yet. Who are the best ops? What is the easiest way to get there? I hate flying, but she is a stewardess, so- it comes a bit cheaper.......Gonna need to rent doubles for both of us- do they rent stages, too? Where to stay? Anyone already have plans next year (2009)? What time of year is calmest/best vis? I know there are 2 temps for the water- really cold and even colder, so that doesn't matter too much to me. What should we bring? I guess that covers it....
-J

 

[stu_in_fl]

There are a few options open to you - not the easiest place to get to from the US. The way I did it was fly into London then get an internal flight from London to Kirkwall. I did Delta then changed to BA, which caused a few problems in terms of luggage, i.e. Delta allowed 2 checked bags but BA on the internal flight only allowed 1 (but at least said I could hand-carry the other), so you may want to see if you can get a BA flight from the US (or maybe AA as it is a partner) that gives you the international baggage allowance on the internal flight(s). On the way back the BA rep at Kirkwall wanted me to check the 2nd bag, which was so much easier - I guess just in London they are a pain. Fro Kirkwall, you connect either through Aberdeen or Edinburgh - that last leg is on a small propeller plane.

In general it seems a lot of times groups book an entire boat. Check out Scuba Diving Forums . NExt year is the 90th anniversary, so probably most of the baots are booked solid - maybe the odd space left though (Scapa Scuba being the most likely to be able to get spaces)

There are some boats you can dive from and sleep on (they moor up in Stromness overnight), or you can stay on land and get on a day boat. Scapa Scuba is one of the shops - you can rent gear including doubles/stages from them. They use the boat MV Radiant Queen (Radiant Queen Charters - Scapa Flow Diving - Stromness,Orkney) which I think you can also directly book - other boats http://www.mv-valkyrie.co.uk/ come very highly recommended by people on yorkshire-divers.com message board - also there are scapaflow.com, Diving Cellar Charters, Scapa Flow, Orkney, Dive Scapa Flow with the Stromness Diving Centre, Orkney Islands, Scotland and probably more.

For accommodations, people seem to use either the boats, hotels (Ferry Inn and Stromness Hotel) or a variety of Bed & Breakfast or self catering places. Stromness is a really small place.

I was there end of July - it was 55F (that is as warm as it gets). They generally do 2 dives a day.

 

[JayJudge]

Thank you so much. I now have things to go on- by the way, 55 is warm!
-J

 

[RecDiver97]

This thread is old, but I am interested if you went, what boat and shop you used, how you got there, and would you do anything differently to improve your next trip.

Flying into Kirkwall, did you face a 66 lbs baggage restriction, or were you covered by being connected through an international flight?

 

[flw]

This thread is old, but I am interested if you went, what boat and shop you used, how you got there, and would you do anything differently to improve your next trip.

Flying into Kirkwall, did you face a 66 lbs baggage restriction, or were you covered by being connected through an international flight?

Unless you want to pay way over the odds, the best bet is to book directly with the baot skippers themselves ( the only quote I've seen from an organised US trip, was 3x the cost of doing it independantly) - which is the normal way to do it here.
By preference I would tend to book with one of the bigger liveaboard boats, as they will usually spend a couple of nights tied up somewhere other than Stromness, and they are generally bigger ( and not much different in cost) - I think the cost is around the Ž£300/week liveaboard - but I'm not up to date as we tend to either just go for the weekend or nip accross on the rib
Karin ( Scapa Flow Diving, Orkney & John's Charters - Scuba Diving ), Halton(Halton Charters (01856) 851532: Diving in Scapa Flow), Valkyrie(mv-valkyrie.co.uk), Jean Elaine or Sharon Rose are all good boats, with good skippers who have years of experience between them.
Liveaboards are very basic compared to the US, however it takes all the hassle out of moving stuff around, and the extra hour in bed is very nice!). However, unlike the US there are no divemasters, nor will you be buddied up with anyone, so either take your own buddy, or dive solo, which is accepted practice.
Normally 2 dives a day, some boats stay out all day, most boats will required dsmb's.
BA no longer have the franchise, it's now Flybe, so expect to get shafted on excess weight - there isn't a direct flight from London, you'll need to change at either Edinburgh or Aberdeen - both have reasonable connections