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That's right! Brighton Pier. We don't dive in the tropics all the time...Much as we would like to.
It was early June last year when Malc and I went down for a day under the pier. His daughter Emma had suggested we go looking for the games tokens that get dropped through the Palace Pier by the unlucky. And of course there was always the rumoured pot of gold( bag of tokens) that was supposedly dropped through a hole in the pier several years ago.
Brighton is busy. Lots of cars, so no surprise, we had to put on our kit and walk. Luckily the sight of divers walking along the beach didn't cause any old ladies to have heart attacks, though the weight of our kit almost brought ours on.
After frequent stops on the walk down we finally made it to the Pier. It was allegedly just before slack tide so we hoped things would be pretty settled. Ah the plans of mice and men... The current kept trying to push towards Dorset but after a little acclimitisation we managed to adjust. Not an awful lot to see and a constant battle against the tide, except for a couple of minutes when it was making up it's mind whether pushing us towrds France would be better.
There were some pleasant bits though. Lots of Spider crabs and a couple of Congers to keep us happy.
When we finally surfaced we had a little swim against the tide back to the shallows. By the time we made it we were both puffing like steam trains.
After we had got our kit back in the car and gone for a bit of lunch, as you do, time had passed and we regretfully had to head back without doing a second dive....Okay. You're right, we couldn't be bothered. After all lunch is one of the most important meals of the day!!!!
If you are interested in diving somewhere a little more exciting this year please click on this link to our website. Dive Wimbledon are holding another scuba diving Rescue Diver course in February so if you are interested please check out our website for details at http://www.divebalham.co.uk/Courses/Rescue.htm
Over Christmas my wife and I were in New Zealand visiting my family and we decided to take a trip up to the Poor Knight Island in Northland to do some scuba diving.
We dived with Dive Tutukaka who were a very professional outfit with big comfortable boats and efficient and helpful divemasters. Our divemaster was an English lad spending a year in New Zealand diving while his wife worked as a doctor in a local hospital. All right for some!
New Zealand has had a terrible summer and the water temperature was a toasty 15 degrees. Normally it should have been 20 at this point in summer which would have made things a little nicer.
The briefings were very thorough and it was very easy to visualise the bottom topography. Jane and I dived in a two piece 7mm which was barely enough but it was extremely beautiful underwater. There were kelp forests all over the place and schooling fish in abundance. The only way to see things properly was to get right down in the kelp and push your way through... Before anybody springs up to criticise you should know that these kelp holdalls are far far stronger than we are so we don't damage them in any way.
We had been told to expect stingrays and carpet sharks but they certainly weren't on display. We were a bit disappointed but the dive on the whole was going pretty well. Our time was almost up so we started to move a bit shallower ready for our safety stops. I had my head deep in the kelp when suddenly I noticed a small carpet shark. Having never seen one before I was quite pleased and pointed it out to my wife who nonchalently pointed out the other on a couple of metres beyond. Then of course we noticed the longtailed stingray. Not a bad dive at all!!!
Fakarava - Vive La Difference!
Our diving highlight for 2003 was visiting the island of Fakarava, a spectacular atoll in the Tuomoto Islands of French Polynesia.
After a brief stay in Tahiti we flew on to Fakarava - a white oval sandbar 60 km long encompassing a beautiful blue lagoon.
The island has 2 passes connecting the lagoon with the sea and it is these passes that particularly teem with life. In the larger Garaue Pass we knew we could expect sharks in abundance and we weren't disappointed. Any fears Jane may have had about sharks were quickly dissipated as we swum by watching juvenile sharks just a few feet long, as perfectly formed as their patrolling parents. They were mainly reef sharks, black tips, white tips, silver tips and lemon sharks who eyed us from a distance with no interest at all. We were amused as some nomadic remoras stalked us like movie stars on one dive - after all they had their pick of sharks to buddy with. Of course sharks were just one of the attractions on this spectacular reef, schools of barracuda and napoleon wrasse hovered about over the healthy reefs of their coral homes.
Nothing could prepare us for our last dive in the Garuae Pass. As we descended to the reef we were visited by a female dolphin keen to take a good look at us. This wild bottlenose dolphin has recently become inquisitive and sometimes comes to say hello to divers.
It was one of the most wonderful and surreal experiences of our diving life when she swam up. This is why we learn to dive!
****While in Fakarava we stayed at the Maitai Dream hotel. It was brand new and the only major resort on the atoll. The service was good though the food became a trifle monotonous. The setting was lovely and to hear the water lapping up on the beach at night was special. We even saw sharks cruising past the dock during the day. What a fantastic place, and amazing dive destination.
****To get to Fakarava you need to take a flight from Tahiti or catch a connection on from Rangiroa.
Experience the amazing underwater world of scuba diving with Dive Balham, Dive Wimbledon and Dive Kingston in South West London
Dive Balham, Dive Wimbledon, Dive Putney and Dive Kingston are professional dive schools offering PADI scuba diving training courses from entrance level to Divemaster in South West London.
For non-divers looking to experience scuba diving for the first time we offer a variety of courses.
The Discover Scuba Diving Course is an introductory pool session for those who are not sure if an official course is for them.
If you are looking to become a qualified scuba diver then perhaps our Referral Course with overseas completion or full Open Water Course are what you are looking for.
For those already qualified we offer an opportunity to refresh your scuba diving skills with the Scuba Review Course, join our friendly club, or to just practise on one of our pool nights.
All our training is carried out by our experienced and well travelled instructors who are committed to ensuring your safety as well as your enjoyment.
We use several pools in Wandsworth, Kingston and Lambeth in South West London including Putney Leisure Centre and Tooting Leisure Centre.
Please call us on 02085406874 and we will be happy to help.
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