Andy Torbet makes the case for heading inland to keep up your snorkelling fix during the British winter
In search of the plane wreck in Red Tarn
TORBET ON THE TUBE
PHOTO : IAN TANNOCK
Top Five Inland Winter Snorkels
Up close and personal with High Force waterfall
Andy Torbet makes the case for heading inland to keep up your snorkelling fix during the British winter
Winter weather can often make the seas around the British coastline un-snorkellable . The winds and weather can soon stir up a storm , destroying visibility and creating wavy conditions that make snorkelling and water entries / exits plain dangerous . The question is , should the UK snorkeller pack up their tube until April ? Perhaps not !
Although wind-driven weather is seldom restricted to the coast , its effects tend to be more subdued as we move inland . The nature of the landscape naturally provides shelter from the wind ; the smaller size of a lake allows less surface area on which the wind can act , making any waves much more manageable . I often find that winter can produce better visibility . The algal blooms that tend to occur in warmer months have long since diminished and I can dive in lochs in Scotland and llyns in Wales , with their feeder streams frozen and the waters still . The viz can be outstanding , though it ’ s not a precise science .
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