The best UK shore dives?

[Simon Small]

Can anybody give ideas on your favourite sites for shore dives, now were getting better weather, would like to visit coast more often, and take OD & SD trainees along and leave the quarries behind.

[sharkbait]

Can anybody give ideas on your favourite sites for shore dives, now were getting better weather, would like to visit coast more often, and take OD & SD trainees along and leave the quarries behind.
You could do with telling us how far you are prepared to travel and from where...
Anyway:

Chesil cove -the bit where chesil beach meets portland is very nice. Lots of big lumps of rock at the north end, decent fish, no current and if your real lucky, good vis. Don't even think about it if the waves are breaking over 1m high on the shore as it is a b?gger to get out on the steeply shelving shore. Probably best to have some shore cover for that reason and bring a rope. A SW blow will wipe it out so check the weather. In fact even a moderate swell on a fine day can stuff it up.
The vis a few mile of the coast last week was a good 8m so it might be good now. Depth about 12m if I recall.

If you don't mind a foreign legion march- buy "dive dorset" and have a go looking for the tank landing craft and Royal Adelaide further up the beach. It makes a good drift and if your lucky you could hit three wrecks in succesion. (I have only managed two.)

If you are blown out jump in at Newtons cove in Weymouth on the other side. Not brilliant but if you swim out you'll find a reef and some fishes.

[cgsac]

Can anybody give ideas on your favourite sites for shore dives, now were getting better weather, would like to visit coast more often, and take OD & SD trainees along and leave the quarries behind.

Depends on part of country.

St Abbs is cracking (Scottish borders)
Porthkerris in Cornwall is v. good.
I quite like the submarines off Pendennis Point, Falmouth.

The list is endless.

[Neil Carter]

Then again, there's a rather special site, again probably only known to locals, and of course to readers of Dive Dorset. As always, as long as the wind's in the right direction, Worbarrow Bay is excellent, probably the second best shore dive I've had in the UK. Deep in the heart of the Army's Lulworth Gunnery Ranges, you will need to enquire whether the Ranges are open on any given weekend by ringing the Range Control Info on 01929 404819. Clean uncluttered grass to kit up on, short sandy entry, and depths down to about 12 metres. Loads of life - marine - but very little - human. The downside is the three quarter mile trek from the Tyneham Village car park. So far we've always been lucky in cadging a lift, for all the kit, there and back in the Army Range Wardens Land Rover. BUT, BUT, they have absolutely NO obligation to offer this service, it is purely at their discretion on the day, and no way can be booked in advance, plus, they'll probably want to collect the kit for the return journey not much later than half past three. And of course, they may be nowhere to be seen when you arrive for your dive, so Plan B had better be added to the day's Dive Plan, Lulworth Cove, perhaps. But there's no current in the Bay to worry about, entry and exit is easy and safe, and for the shore party and the pic-nic lunch, Worbarow Bay is idyllic. Plus there's the added benefit of walking round the abandoned but restored village of Tyneham, which the Army took over in the 1940's, and which has been deserted ever since. The schoolroom is restored to the long forgotten world of the thirties, it's just as if the kids have popped out for their break, while the Church, which has been de-consecrated, houses an exhibition about the village, including the poignant note left on the Church door when the last villagers left, asking the Army to "Look after our Church!!" Do make sure in advance that the Ranges, and Tyneham Village/Worbarrow Bay are indeed open on your chosen day, most summer weekends are OK, and have an excellent day out.

Then again, again, if you don't mind diving in a shallow 4 square mile rock pool, (depths below about two and a half metres require dredging in advance) Kimmeridge Bay takes some beating. Ideal for safe first Open Water dives, or for budding underwater photographers, the light at so shallow a depth is dazzling, and the underwater life is prolific. Not far from the Fisherman's Slip entry point, the profusion of Snakelocks Anenomes cover the sea floor like an underwater garden. Oh and the grassy bank for kitting up and post-dive barbies, is again mere metres from the Slipway. Deep it ain't, I finned for about threequarters of a mile with a trainee on one occasion, and we were still just about able to stand up to take an above the surface bearing - no, it wasn't the compass navigation practical!!!

Sorry, didn't quite hear the question, say again - "what was the first best shore dive?" Ah, I was hoping you wouldn't ask that, a bit sad really, FX - whispers - "Chesil Cove". Crystal viz, 15 metres just off the shore, abundant life, dog fish galore, and even several extremely amorous Cuttle Fish, doing whatever Cuttlefish find it necessary to do to make baby Cuttlefish. My trainee on this occasion was absolutely gob-smacked, and most loath to leave the water. Disadvantages, parking can be a nightmare, and carrying all the kit back up the beach is not a procedure to be carried out without first having completed an SAS obstacle course, and chances are, the blokes are going to have to give one or two of the girlies a hand. But hey, that's diving.

Neil Carter
ISIS Divers