Tuesday: AM Penwin, PM Carmarthen.
Wednesday: AM Raglan Reef, PM Mohegan (drift)
Thursday: AM Volnay, PM Mohegan (slack)
A dozen Dacorum Scuba members escaped the heatwave engulfing the south of England and headed south to Porthkerris Divers, a family-run site on the Cornish coast just south of Falmouth.
This is an impressively equipped site, with self-catering apartments, well-appointed campsite pitches, a very comprehensively stocked shop and most importantly a cafe/bar and restaurant. And that’s before you get to the dive boats; Celtic Cat and Celtic Kitten.
With decent viz throughout the trip, warm waters touching 18C and beautiful scenic and wreck dives; and this is definitely one of the must-visit UK areas for diving.
As hardboat diving goes, boat access was definitely one of the more unusual many of us had seen. Entry consisted of a large movable metal pier, which is pre-loaded with equipment and kit, then brought down to the waters edge by farm tractor. Once near the edge divers climb on board and the tractor then pushes the pier out to sea, so that the hardboat can come to the end. Lines of divers and crew then move kit down the pier and onto the boat. Exit is the same procedure in reverse. Definitely unique.
Diving included wrecks and reefs, in some excellent topside conditions varying from flat to calm, with winds equally benign at a light breeze.
The Celtic Cat had the crew on an upper deck, giving all the divers ample space in the forward storage/kitchen area, a middle covered kitting-up area and the back deck. No inclement weather (apart from perhaps a little too much sun) meant the dive team could spread out and enjoy the space.
Dinner on Tuesday was at the White Hart and on Thursday at the Three Tuns Hotel, both in St Keverne. On Wednesday, Roskilly’s Farm offered some great beers, excellent food as well as enormous ice creams, the latter courtesy of their 125 Jersey cows.
The Wednesday Mohegan drift was a definite favourite. All sites provided some great wildlife, especially octopus which seemed to be popping up everywhere, including on the shore dive some members tried out on the final day. Edible and spiny crabs, lobsters and crayfish galore added to the rich backdrop of life seen.
Overall an amazing trip: great sites, perfect weather and all brilliantly organised by our Diving Officer. Something to repeat next year.
