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I hate diving around Anglesey 13 May 2008

Posted in Diving.

Simon Campbell on the Harold at Penrhos

Being relatively close to us, Anglesey seems like a great place to dive. However, it's rather like childbirth. When it's happening the pain is excruciating, but the passage of time and hormones seem to diminish the horrific experience so much so you do it again!

The picture above is me on the 'Harold' at Penrhos and its one of the three dives where the visibility was good... The picture was taken by Chris Holden when we were researching some of the sites for his excellent book, 'The Essential Underwater Guide to North Wales' (there are two volumes now).

A few years ago I went on Scott Waterman's boat out of Menai Bridge with a plan to dive Anglesey then off to the Isle of Man. It was May and the plankton bloom made the water totally green: I dived a wreck and only found it when I hit the bloody thing with my head. OK, my mistake for booking it in May when Plankton is king, but I (and our club) have been very unlucky with coastal diving around the island..

Monday's experience wasn't that bad. A few people in the club fancied going diving and I thought, no plankton bloom (I called my mate to find out first), neap tides, low rainfall, no wind / waves, good sunlight - it's bound to be great (remember childbirth).

Menai Bridge, telephone cable: 2m visibility and as dark at a coal-hole at 16m (lovely life though) Trearddur Bay, Ravenspoint Road: 1.5m visibility, as dusty as a woodworking shed and aggressive natives (that's the people not the fish)...

Isle of Anglesey County Council have sent me a renewal form for annual boat launching fees - I am on my way to the shredder...

6 comments

Hayley McDonald on 22 May 2008 at 11:16

Simon you’ve hit the nail on the head with this one. Divers beware don’t get sucked into the clear skies and perfect conditions in Anglesey, the minute your 2m under the water you will realise you’d have been better off sticking your head in a cattle trough!

Simon Campbell on 22 May 2008 at 11:53

Now then. I think you will find Chris Holden will have something to say about the vis… Take a look at these shots a few weeks ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/erskinecorp/sets/72157605176935280/

It’s me. Must be a jinx

Simonski

Chris Holden on 22 May 2008 at 7:41

Hi Simon,
Yes, we do get some pretty rubbish visibility in North Wales at times, but it can also be really good only a few miles away. We have had north-easterly winds for a couple of weeks now, and that means that the sandbanks off Beaumaris get stirred up, so all the crap gets washed down the Menai Strait. Add the May-time plankton bloom, and we get rubbish vis at Menai. I don’t go near Liverpool Bay or Conwy Bay in May. However, easterly winds mean that the north coast of the Llyn has offshore winds, giving better vis. Only a few days after your dives, we took my 4.2-metre inflatable out from Trefor, and had at least 10-metres vis. Hopefully, you already have two photos taken on that day courtesy of Tony Gilbert.
Not mega-dives, but shallow, easy ones with tons of life and good visibility. An ideal situation for taking someone on their first sea-dive. Spider-crabs seem to be taking over the world down here, but there were loads of dogfish, pipefish, plaice, wrasse etc etc.
And to really complete a wonderful trip, the dolphins were riding the bow-wave of our club RIB on the way home, on a flat-calm, sunny day. Our major complaint on the day was that the Council hadn’t bothered to open the loos.
I’m expecting similar conditions this weekend (Whit 2008) at Aberdaron, as the winds are still easterly.
Yes, Anglesey can be crap, but it can also be very good at times. We were 6 miles off Moelfre in the middle of February, and had 6-metres of vis at 30-metres. I’m happy with that.
People complain about the vis on the Missouri, but we had over 8-metres there last year. See the photo of one of the boilers, taken by myself. That’s enough vis for me.
However, I’ve been asking around about the vis at Trearddur Bay, as I had expected it to be good there as well during these easterly winds. One of our members thinks that they have been dredging around Holyhead, and have dumped the sediment so that it gets swept back inshore. As yet, I can’t confirm this.
I don’t blame you for not renewing the Anglesey permit. It’s crazy how much they want for launching a boat, especially as each individual council expects you to buy their own season-ticket. There isn’t one ticket to cover all of the launch-sites.
Yes, Anglesey can be crap, but it’s not always like that. Honest.
Fingers crossed for a good diving-season.
Chris H
PS - Beware—major road-works at Clynnog mean long delays through summer 2008.

Chris Holden on 22 May 2008 at 7:56

Hi Simon,
The photos of the spider-crab and the dogfish were taken near Trefor on May 10th, 2008, only three days before you wrote your article.
Chris H

Justin Owen on 23 May 2008 at 9:20

That’s you banned from CSAC trips Simon! Hopefully we’ll have similar viz to above in Aberdaron over the B/H weekend!

Simon Campbell on 23 May 2008 at 10:13

I thought you were going to invite me…

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