UK DIVING

Last weekend saw the first Lochaline trip and this weekend saw the first St. Abb's dives, of 2008.

Lochaline was enjoyed, by all, for the lovely weather, great dives including: seals on the first dive and "nudibranch mania" and the outstanding catering of Elaine a.k.a. dive auntie...the cooked breakfast returns!

St. Abb's had 12 metre visibility and conditions like a millpond.  On all of the dives at least one buddy pair saw wolf fish.  On one dive Chris and Tom saw 5!....photographic evidence below.  One another dive Amy (now know as 'Amy-better-photographer-than-Simon-Malham) saw a rare Lumpsucker and Chris saw a beautiful Butterfish, also shown below.

If you are interested in joining us at St. Abb's or on a weekend trip please call us on (0131) 220 3636 or send an email to info@deepbluescuba.co.uk.  A list of all the 2008 trips is also on the UK diving page of this web site.

Wolf Fish - Tom Cavens                                      Butterfish - Chris Ferguson                                 

Lumpsucker - Amy (blah blah) Malham              Wolf Fish - Tom Cavens     

2008 UK TRIPS

Below are the dates for:

• Tuesday and Friday evening dives at St. Abb's
• Saturday and Sunday wekend dives at St. Abb's
• Monthly trips to Lohaline, between April and October
• Small Isles
• Inner Hebrides - Coll and Tiree
• Farne Islands
• Scapa Flow

PLEASE NOTE: BOOKING ONTO BOAT TRIPS
To confirm your place on trips to Lochaline a £100 deposit and on trips to Small Isles, Inner Hebrides, Scapa Flow and Farne Islands a £150 deposit will be required, per person.  The balance of the trip will be required 6 weeks prior to the trip.  If the balace payment is not received by 4 weeks prior to the trip your place will be re-advertised.

To confirm your place on a St. Abb's trip full payment will be required 3 weeks prior to the trip.  If you book your place more that 3 weeks before the trip your place will be held, without deposit, however if we do not receive your payment when it becomes due we will have to offer your place to another diver.

Everyone going on a boat will be required to either have a computer or plan their dives with the RDP and have a dive watch. Similarly all buddy pairs will be required to have an SMB, which can be purchased from Edinburgh Diving Centre or via Deep Blue Scuba. We will teach anyone who purchases an SMB how to use it for FREE!

All paymets are non-refuldable and non-exchangeable.

If you would like more information on any of the trips or to book your place please contact Beth, Paul or Simon on 0131 220 3636 or email info@deepbluescuba.co.uk

St. Abb’s
St. Abb’s Marine Reserve is an outstanding dive location, which we are lucky to have only 1.5 hours down the east coast. The dives are numerous and boast some amazingly diverse marine life; pipe fish, wrasse, octopus, wolf fish…the list goes on. The topography is also outstanding, with large kelp forests and walls encrusted in anemones and soft corals. Almost everyone that visits St. Abb’s goes back.

Lochaline – Sound of Mull
The waters around Lochaline offer some of the best wreck and scenic diving around. The wreck of the Thesis is considered, by many, to be one of the nicest wrecks in Scotland. With the bow in 12 metres and the stern in 30 metres she offers an ideal dive for everyone. She sank in 1891 but is still relatively intact, although some of the ribs are now exposed offering open swim troughs.

The scenic diving is also outstanding, with dives on sites such as Calve Island, Pennygown Quarry and Gray Wall, a site we started diving this year. The life is abundant on these sites as it is throughout the area.

This is where the staff go on holiday, which indicates how good it is!

Farne Islands

The waters around Seahouses and the Farne Islands are one of the richest and most beautiful on the east coast of the Scotland.  However the real stars of dives around the Farne Islands are the population of Gray Seals.  By the time we visit the seal pups have begun to mature and become very inquisitive, often getting close enough that you could touch them! 

The seals are totally majestic in the water and an encounter is an experience you will never forget.

Small Isles
Canna, Rum, Eigg, Sanday and Muck offer superb scenic diving, off the west of Scotland. There is a wealth of spectacular diving here, characterised by walls that start shallow and bottom out in deep water. This means that you can tailor the dive to your experience and interests, by choosing your depth. The walls are topped by kelp forests, which disappear as the wall deepens and give way to sponges, anemones and soft corals.

Sgeir a Phuirt is easily one of the best scenic dives I have ever done. The plumose anemones are massive and extend far off the surface of the rock, in sheets as far as the eye can see. Moving along the reef these anemones gave way to another encrusting life like jewel anemone and patchwork quilts of orange, red, purple, white and pink anemones. The life is so abundant that at many points you can not see the wall. Peppered amongst this colourful background you will see numerous crustaceans and fish life.

Inner Hebrides

The Inner Hebrides offer some of the best scenic diving around.  However the real draw of this trip is the opportunity to dive the wreck of the Labrador.

The wreck is the remotest in Scotland, but is accessible from out base.  It lies in 15 to 28 metres of water and is broken into 2 sections.  Due to it’s location the wreck is rarely dived and, therefore, remains in excellent condition.  Apparently glass still remains in some of the port holes!

Scapa Flow
During armistice negotiations, at the end of the First World War, the German Fleet was held in Scapa Flow. However on 21 June 1919 the entire fleet was scuttled, to avoid the ships falling into Allied hands. At the end of the war a salvage operation raised the majority of the 74 warships, leaving just 8. Although a number of the ships were salvaged those that remain offer some superb diving. For example the Kronprinz Wilhelm is an awesome sight. At 177m long and in a relatively intact state it is a sight to behold, indeed the large guns still remain as a reminder of its original purpose.

Scapa Flow is a real diver's play ground, with too many exciting dives to mention here. The visibility is often excellent and the marine life is most abundant, with encrusting life, numerous fish species, conger eels and nudibranch, amongst others.

Skye
There are many spectacular dive-sites with awesome scenic diving, historic wreck diving, large underwater pinnacles and small caves. Typical of the west coast the sites are a mass of vibrant encrusting life but there is also an abundance of crustaceans and fish life. The visibility is often excellent, due to the high-energy tidal waters.

One of the real stars of Skye are the cetaceans and basking sharks that often swim around the boat. This summer we saw porpoise, whale and 14 basking sharks, in a single day. If you are lucky you can snorkel with the basking sharks, often getting close enough that you could touch them.

If you would like more information on any of the trips or to book your place please contact Beth, Paul or Simon on 0131 220 3636 or email info@deepbluescuba.co.uk