In May, this year I organised a liveaboard trip to Shetland Isles, the most northerly part of the British Isles. We were going to live and dive for 6 days/nights, onboard MV Clasina, owned and operated by Bob Anderson, a well-known and respected skipper. He’s been diving in and around Scotland, Ireland and Norway for many years.
After a long drive from Dacorum to Aberdeen, and an overnight ferry to Lerwick we arrived full of enthusiasm, albeit, if not a bit weary, but as soon we boarded, loading bags and all our kit, we were getting ready for the first dive.
Leaving Lerwick, at the end of every day we moored up in a different location, slowly working our way up the Shetland Isles, and each evening after dinner we discussed with Bob the plan for the following day, often a wreck versus reef discussion, but generally I think it worked out to a 50/50 split.
Bob always suggested a walk to a local point of interest or a view after dinner, which gave us a break from the boat and time to experience a little of Shetland from the land as well. My favourite was probably Out Skerries island, the most easterly point of Shetland for its isolation, no pub, one shop and a few houses and probably the best evening weatherwise.
Dive 1: Pionersk wreck, a Russian factory fishing ship, this is a large wreck thats pretty smashed up and is spread over a large area, pretty confusing to work out what is what, but a good shakedown dive at 20m
Dive 2: Noss Head 22m, a lovely scenic dive, a cave to swim through too, and thousands of Gannets swooping over your head when you surface, on their way back to the colony above on the cliffs
Dive 3: Gwladmena wreck, 1918, lovely wreck in 38m, upright but has been swept, the main hull still intact, nice to swim through the bow frames, a lovely wreck.
Dive 4: Jane wreck 1923, 21m, stunning little wreck festooned in marine life, worth another visit in better viz
Dive 5: E49 submarine wreck 1916, 34m, there’s not a lot left above the sand unfortunately, but still an iconic dive, the brass conning tower just lying there on its side is stunning, lots of atmosphere and the reflections from the white sand bottom give it an ethereal feel
Dive 6: Toni Chandris wreck 17m, I loved this wreck, again its smashed to bits as it’s so shallow, there’s two huge boilers up on end, some photogenic prop tunnel frames but the Triple Expansion steam engine sitting upright on the bottom covered in plumose anemones is wonderful. It’s like a colossal idol that you should worship.
Dive 7: Up Skud 43m, scenic.
Dive 8: Scenic reef, off Out Skerries, 27m, interesting to see a pile of cannons lying on the bottom, during a pleasant scenic reef dive.
Dive 9: Muckle Skerry 27m, scenic.
Dive 10 South Baa 26m, scenic.
Dive 11 Glenisa wreck 1917, 44m, upright on the bottom sunk in a collision, in good condition but we didn’t have great viz unfortunately.
Dive 12 Frauch Baa 20m, scenic.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have the best weather, lots of wind from the southwest and chilly too, so we had keep hiding between the islands to get all our dives done. This obviously affected the viz as well; we didn’t get the 20+m I was hoping for, but we still managed over 10m in most places
This was my first ever Shetland Trip and I’m sure not my last; it’s a lovely place and if you ever go do take some extra time to visit all the islands as I did, there’s a lot more to see than just the diving. My thanks to all the divers on the trip and especially Bob Anderson and the crew for all their help on board, we had some great food too, and no one went hungry.
Check out the full gallery of photos from this trip
