Plymouth – finally!
The call a dive leader never wants, ‘We can’t find your booking and haven’t got a boat free’. A small twang of panic and then annoyance as I had booked this last year. A few phone calls and suggestions later and we had found a compromise. James had got us on one of his boats on the afternoon shift, so we were back on.
Friday night was a journey down to be forgotten. It went smoothly until we ground to a halt and had the opportunity to sit and watch the sky turn dark. We finally arrived at about 11pm and found that an afternoon shift didn’t seem so bad after all.
Day one arrived and we decided to have a walk taking the ferry over to the Barbican, following the road up to the Hoe taking in the view as we went. We then headed down the far side to collect a set of twin regs for one of our team. Finally heading back to the Barbican for a coffee.
It was then time to dive. the group on before us were completing ghost net removal form various sites, turning up with bags of discarded nets and a deck black with sea mud. A few buckets of water later and we were off to our first site, The Persier. It was fabulous we descended the line and the visibility opened up to about 15 meters. The wreck was covered in pink sea fans and tucked away among the pipes and debris were several large eels, glaring up at us. we swam to the bow and the large shoals of fish were amazing to witness. When seeing a wreck in this way it is sometimes hard to believe that the oceans are struggling.
Our second dive was on a rock reef called Hilsea Point. It was again full of life it is almost like diving a rockpool.
That night the traditional curry was delivered and enjoyed.
The next morning we decided to make the most of the free morning visiting the Aquarium. It is good to see the amount of environmental work taking place, particularly the sea grass area.
The dives in the afternoon were slightly delayed by the late return of the boat but we headed out. Our first dive was on a rock reef called Fairyland. It was again full of life the highlight being a large free swimming octopus.
The second dive is on a small wreck which is mainly plates and a boiler. The boiler was full of fish and a large eel. We had a few crabs but most sea life was avoiding the area due to the earlier net clearance but visibility was still 8 meters and it proved to be an enjoyable dive.
Dive sites
- Persier & Hilsea Point
- Fairylands & Glen Strathallen
