Diving in UK?

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Great Salty

I live in the 3rd igloo on the left just past the Iceberg with the sign "I SUNK THE TITANIC".

Look forward to seeing you.

Aquamore
 
Hi Boz,
Have you ever tried to drink warm Aussie larger? I think only a desperate man could drink warm Swan lager. They've got to freeze it to kill your taste buds. Great stuff cold, you can get Aussie brands here but it is not as strong, maybe its weaker in Oz these days, in the 60s it was liquid dynamite, and was sold it in tiny glasses. I found out the hard way, those small glasses must of had the same alcohol content as one of our pints. I think Yorkshire is the best county for beer, anyway there are lots of beers and traditional ales here. The service is quite uniform nationwide and many places now serve a draft that tastes like soda water and vinegar.
The North and South have the best diving in the UK I think. The further North you go in Scotland the better the vis. Regards the dry suit get a good thick undersuit 100 grams is not enough.


:D
 
Cheers for the advice,
the more I hear about the cold, more I am starting to re-visit that "happy place" in my head that makes the bad things go away...

Not keen on goosebumps and fishing my testes out of my body after a dive, at all... and I am slowly farewelling my tan, been a long time since we were apart for more than a few weeks... ha!

However, the show must go on and dive I shall, worse comes to worse there's always the Adriatic...

I am also hoping for that the "Ja-Ja girls" support crew is always on standby at the local for some warming up, I don't think the beer's enough on its own...

Good to hear about the Soda/vinegar mix, was just getting used to some quality moonshine that turned my nails and teeth green, I might just combine the beer with my salads, that's if there is anything green/vegetable to eat.

Cheers

Boz
 
Hi Boz,
Talking about food in Oz, I had quite forgotten the usual cafe T' bone steak and eggs for breakfast, and the side order of rabbit food with every meal, ice water on the table. I think meat prices are a lot higher here and the rent 's, about equal with an average wage. Paradoxically the really bad thing about this place is its full of whinging Poms.
Regards,
Budgy
:D
 
Hi Boz,

If you're not too much of a girlie you'll love diving in the UK. Ok so it's different from Oz, but good all the same.

There is loads of wrecks dotted all round the coast.There is loads of life on the seabed, there's seals to play with. All you have to watch out for is the jellies, nothing is going to try and eat you here.

A good undersuit to get is a Weezle, they keep you really cozy, I've surfaced after a dive to 40m in water of 5 degrees sweating.A titanium lined hood and either 5mm or dry gloves and you'll be well sorted.

Trust me I'm a diver!
 
I learned to dive in the UK, and dived here happilly for several years. I agree that there are some great wrecks etc, but diving here is very different from tropical dips.

The cold and generally low viz combine to make even fairly simple dives rather more challenging than a PADI resort diver may be used to. This makes the social side of UK diving that much more important, it always seemed to me that the biggest part of a UK divers time is spent not diving, but talking about how terrible the vis was, or how the dive site couldn't be found, or how cold it was, or how one of the group got lost. Now the fact that most of this occurs in the pub probably has something to do with UK diving's popularity, its certainly one of the areas that I miss. Mind you, it also has a little to do with the average waistline of the UK diving comunity (opens himself up for a good flaming with that one!!!).

Personally I never made the transition to dry suit and had the joys of thawing out a frozen stiff wet suit, the need to empty your bladder almost as soon as you enter the water (its a cold reflex you know, can't be helped!), blue lips and fingers, getting into a wet wet suit in the snow.

This combined with the joys of hail storms while at full pelt in the RIB, breaking the surface ice before you can get in, freezing open second stages at 30m, and viz regularly in the less than 2m range
suit all conspired to make me a total wus who now only dives on holiday, and always in the warm tropical seas where I can see things beyond the range of my fingers.

Give me a decent dry suit, and some free weekends though and I'd happily give it another go...

As long as you realise it will be very different from what you're used to I've no doubt you'll enjoy the challenge. Enjoy !
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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