Visiting Pembrokshire

[alijtaylor]

Hi UK Divers
I will be in UK for two weeks in July and look to have a couple of spare days (mid week) in Wales. I've done a bit of googling and it seems most operators only schedule trips at weekends. As there will only be one of me I am not looking to charter a boat, but would be keen to get out for a couple of dives if I can. As diving is not the point of the trip I would also need to hire gear.

Can anyone suggest an operator (or club) that might be likely to run mid week trips in July? I am Padi trained to rescue diver, and used to diving in cool water (12C - 16C), poor visibility and currents. A lot of my diving in Wellington is shore diving and I would be happy to hook up with shore or boat dives.

Cheers

Alison

 

[Adrian Kelland]

Alison,

If the commercial operators only do weekends, then I wouldn't know who else to recommend. It may be worth googling for UK dive forums (there are several) and get a local answer.

Adrian

 

[String]

where in Wales ?

Theres a lot of diving in West Wales but its a fairly big place in terms of getting from one place to another.

Its true that most commercial operators only do weekends though. I've found that the case in a lot of the UK.

 

[alijtaylor]

I'll be leaving Aberstwyth (not sure I have enough "y's" in there ) and heading for St David's so that strech of Coast is the easiest for me to get to.

Alison

 

[String]

95% of all my UK diving is off the Pembrokeshire coast. I'm literally there every weekend with my club.
St Davids is a little too far north for most of the diver operators but its not a long drive to go a bit further south.

Most diving is based around or near to Milford Haven and a number of dive charters operate there.

Just 2 miles from there you have the Skomer Marine Reserve along with the island of Skokholm where you can see seals and so on. A lot of diving is wreck based as well as the walls around the islands. The haven itself has at least 4 wrecks and a lot of them are war related.

If the weather is perfect the best dive site ive done anywhere is "The Smalls" about 30nm due west of there in the middle of the irish sea. Again, full of seals, good vis and so on.

Water temperature in July will likely be around 14c (it was 10c last week) and visibility on average is about 3m occasionally hitting 5 if you get good weather and neap tides.

I know of several charter operators in that area but dont know of a single one that goes out midweek unless its a whole boat private charter.
You could try West Wales Divers (www.westwalesdivers.co.uk) or celtic diving (www.celticdiving.co.uk) or google around for some more.

Failing that you could consider contacting a local BSAC club and seeing if they go out mid week and if so can you join them as a guest. Try looking at http://www.bsac.org/page/203/wales.htm at Pembrokeshire and maybe contacting some of those to ask?

Again, mid week could be a problem but between those and the charters you maybe able to sort something out.

As far as shore diving goes, there is some although i'm not a fan of it. Martinshaven and St Brides are common ones as is Stakpole Quay a bit further south.

Now for the shameless plug:- If you want to see some photos of diving around that area look at my clubs photo gallery: http://www.hvsac.co.uk/gallery2/v/westwales/

Hope the above is of some use.

 

[alijtaylor]

Thanks String
There is a lot of good information there, I will see whether I can dig anything out. I enjoyed the photo gallery - it looks a lot like home - but that is part of the attraction, and 14C isn't a problem.

Alison

 

[String]

Should add i would have offered for you to come out with my club but we only dive at weekends (its a 100 mile drive to get there) and im away working in Crete from June anyway.

 

[alijtaylor]

Have you worked in Crete before? I originally tried to get qualified there in 1999 but their dates did not fit with mine. In the end I was pleased to do my OW in my local waters, but I did try!
Thanks for your help.

 

[String]

No. Worked in Greece before but not been to Crete.
Its a stopgap to get some experience under PADI before i apply for jobs in other places with better diving (greek diving despite law changes is still heavily restricted and generally uninspiring!)

 

[alijtaylor]

I loved Crete but I'll bear the quality of diving in mind if I am ever back that way!

Alison