| A lot of people have similar preconceived ideas that | | | | One of the most rewarding shore diving locations for |
| diving in the Britain is dark, dangerous, cold and there | | | | novice divers is the "Blue Lagoon" at Aberieddy. This |
| is nothing worth seeing anyway. Quite the contrary, | | | | is an old quarry, connected to the sea, but is actually |
| in Pembrokeshire, West Wales there is a unique | | | | confined water and not affected by the tide too |
| environment - this is the only coastal marine reserve | | | | much except on spring tides. The location is beautiful, |
| in the UK. There is an abundance of varied and | | | | the water a deep blue, great cliffs and, on this |
| fascinating sea creatures, many small coves and | | | | particular day, we had sunshine and a curious seal to |
| reefs to explore, hundreds of shipwrecks (many still | | | | share the lagoon with. It's a bit of a trek getting up |
| undiscovered) that in turn become home to more | | | | the path with all the gear, but well worth it. As we |
| species. | | | | always say, diving is the sport you want to keep in |
| As for combating the temperature, it's actually not as | | | | shape for! |
| cold as one might think most of the time. Divers use | | | | The visibility is generally about 5 meters, not brilliant |
| thicker suits than in the tropics or dry suit systems in | | | | but adequate. The sunlight dancing off the walls |
| any case. | | | | covered in; limpets, "Dead Man's Fingers" (a soft |
| The visibility varies and depends on the location, | | | | coral) and anemones. Spider crabs, blennies, edible |
| prevailing winds and plankton blooms. Some of the | | | | crabs and some gorgeous golden brown swaying kelp |
| best visibility to be had is offshore when the wind is | | | | can be seen. Old structures of the quarry appear - |
| low. Of course when the weather really gets bad | | | | kind of spooky in the half-light. It usually takes about |
| that's the time to stay off the sea and lovingly repair | | | | 15 to 20 minutes to circumnavigate the lagoon and |
| and service treasured diving equipment. | | | | this is plenty for a first timer to get an idea of what |
| Some of the advantages of learning to dive in the | | | | it's like to scuba dive. |
| UK are that legislation here is much stiffer than | | | | Great Barrier Reef versus West Wales, well there is |
| abroad, so instructors tend to be on the whole more | | | | a special attraction to diving in British waters; you |
| diligent. They also want and expect customers to | | | | have to want to discover things, taking your time. |
| return to participate in further training and go on | | | | It's subtle, less obvious, even more mysterious. In |
| diving trips. Furthermore the conditions are challenging | | | | crystal clear waters, full of brightly coloured fish, that |
| and therefore require a higher standard of training | | | | kind of diving has its own lure, but it is easy to |
| than in more temperate climes. | | | | become quite blase after a couple of days, even |
| Divers that train and participate in diving projects in | | | | complacent. It's what you get used to. |
| their home country tend to keep up their pursuit, | | | | Some people make the mistake of not checking out |
| stay in practice, purchase their own kit and are | | | | what is on their doorstep, making excuses based on |
| generally much more responsible and safety | | | | assumptions about what it's like to dive here and fail |
| conscious than fair weather counterparts. | | | | to explore the adventure that is to be had. |