Falls of Lora

[Kieran]

Annual uni dive trip to SOM for 10 days is comming up this Easter and we get closer to doing the falls every time. However I don't see it as a fun dive, more a notch in the belt. It just looks scary considering the tides! Is it enjoyable in anyway and is it absolutely necessary for equinoxal neap tides?

[Fiona]

If it doesn't look like fun don't do it

I have only done it once and it was a lot of fun, some of the group got washed around a bit before getting "spat" out

Buddy and I kept in contact throughout the dive, which was pretty hard work - if you think Peter Pan and Wendy, you will get the picture.

I always thought if I did it again it would be done solo

[wallsy]

Originally Posted by Kieran

Annual uni dive trip to SOM for 10 days is comming up this Easter and we get closer to doing the falls every time. However I don't see it as a fun dive, more a notch in the belt. It just looks scary considering the tides! Is it enjoyable in anyway and is it absolutely necessary for equinoxal neap tides?

might see you up there. clubs anual trip to oban at easter and northern diver will be with us aswell

[Mark Papp]

Originally Posted by Kieran

Annual uni dive trip to SOM for 10 days is comming up this Easter and we get closer to doing the falls every time. However I don't see it as a fun dive, more a notch in the belt. It just looks scary considering the tides! Is it enjoyable in anyway and is it absolutely necessary for equinoxal neap tides?

It's brilliant - don't get hung up on neaps, you can control the speed of your dive by timing it so you go in as the tide turns to make it slower.

[Mike Halligan]

Originally Posted by Kieran

Annual uni dive trip to SOM for 10 days is comming up this Easter and we get closer to doing the falls every time. However I don't see it as a fun dive, more a notch in the belt. It just looks scary considering the tides! Is it enjoyable in anyway and is it absolutely necessary for equinoxal neap tides?

It is a great fun dive, one of the very best - when handled properly, i.e. with the greatest care in planning and execution.

It is certainly not a dive to attempt merely to add a notch in your belt, though. Get your tidal flows right (they range from negligible to 6kn!), avoid the eddies and you're fine in up to 20mtr either side of the bridge.

Get either wrong and you're in deep trouble (over 30m deep trouble IIRC). Diving on too strong a flood can throw you into a heavy downdraught which certainly passes 30m. Diving on a reasonable ebb lets you enter negative, drop to the bottom and make the North wall at 25-30m. Rise gently to 20m and the drift should catch you.

[see Ridley Vol 1, dive 548 and fig 52 for more info]