Expeditions help?

[JamieCassels]

Hey!

I've been voted in as my clubs expedition's officer this year and as such need to plan some trips.

Could I have some suggestions as to where to go as the more experienced members of the club are getting a bit fed up doing the same 3 trips every year?

(We are based in Edinburgh and our annual trips are Skye, Oban and mull...of these three only Oban ran last year due to their being very little interest in the skye and mull trips from instructors and dive leaders!)

[PeteM]

Hey!

I've been voted in as my clubs expedition's officer this year and as such need to plan some trips.

Could I have some suggestions as to where to go as the more experienced members of the club are getting a bit fed up doing the same 3 trips every year?

(We are based in Edinburgh and our annual trips are Skye, Oban and mull...of these three only Oban ran last year due to their being very little interest in the skye and mull trips from instructors and dive leaders!)

Well the obvious one is Scapa.

But there are some decent wrecks on the Clyde. If you want wildlife then St Abbs or the Farnes.

And if you are happy to travel (which I would hope you would for an Expedition) then I hear there are one or two dive sites on the South Coast

[Ding]

Also Malta and Gozo, You can organize a non expensive trip abroad if you can get 12 divers....Our club has done this a few times.

[SoggyBottoms]

you don't need to go mob handed to dive Gozo
it works better if there are four of you as it's mainly shore based diving
so four to an apartment, four for the jeep, two buddy pairs

[davebarber]

Do you have ribs at your disposal? You could motor over to Rathlin/Antrim.

Or are we just talking about arranging some holiday bookings?

[Edward]

West Wales.

Or you could be outrageous and do something like Thailand.

Regards

[Gav S]

The Scillies = excellent diving and a significant change from the places listed as habitual for the club already. Bit of a trek to get to though - effectively 2 days really.

South West Wales = again excellent diving opportunities, and a 1 day journey to get to.

Arran/Cumbrae etc - diving out of Largs maybe or similar areas diving from Tarbert?

[Jen - Winged Blob]

I'm just rinsing out the kit after an excellent few days' diving on the Isle of Man - that's an annual trip for us that always seems to go down well. :)

[GaryC]

What about your own doorstep. Our club has been using MarineQuest to access some of the wrecks in the Firth of Forth. I my self have dived U12 where we had 25 metres viz. We had a trip there a couple of weeks ago with similar stories of fantasic viz.

Although maybe a bit deep for a standard club trip.

Gary

[JamieCassels]

Great suggestions so far guys!

Will look into all the sites you have given and see which ones appeal to the club!

[JamieCassels]

Also the club regularly does daytrips to st Abbs and such like in the local area but for expeditions we look for places where we can go away for a few days to a week!

[MSutcliffe]

The Moray firth and Rattray head have much to offer.
The Summer isles, from Ullapool are worth the effort.
The Outerhebrides likewise.

Orkney/Shetland are obvious.

If you're willing to go on a long haul car/minibus journey, then the diving out of Plymouth never fails to blow me away - get out to Hatt rock/hand deeps and it's just absolutely awesome!

[Roz]

Would second the comments about diving the Isle of Man. Dearly want to get back there and dive it again, because the quality of the diving is so good. There are a lot of opportunities for you to get up to much diving mischief there, especially one particular drift dive. This destination would make a cracking exped.

If you're looking further afield and fancy some temperate water diving, check out Ocean Quest Newfoundland. They have access to the Bell Island Wrecks - sunk by the Germans in the last war. In tact, upright, smothered in life and at a sensible depth you can pull some good times. Plus they also run an expedition every year to Labrador. This is a real exped where they take RHIBS overland and you get the chance to dive uninhabited Whaling Stations etc. It's on my list for 'one day'.

[bootneck]

How about out here on the Uists, only two hours ferry ride from Skye and the ferry fares are very reasonable these days. Have a look at Perth BSAC trip report from a couple of weeks ago.

http://perth-bsac.co.uk/2011/06/05/perth-bsac-trip-to-north-uist-summer-2011/