CLUBFOCUS
Ocean Diver pool training
New safety equipment funded by National Lottery Community Fund
local community shops , the Solway Coast and Marine Project , the Wigtownshire Sports Council and individual donations . Due to the sparse population , fundraising opportunities at local events are limited .
What training is going on in the branch ?
Our instructor team is six Open Water Instructors and three Assistant Open Water Instructors at present . Lacking an Advanced Instructor means we can only offer limited Advanced Diver training . The team aims to get trainees qualified as Sports Divers , so that they can easily participate in our diving activities . When we have sufficient
interest , we run Dive Leader and Advanced Diver courses . The plan over the next few years is to become self-sufficient in terms of Diver Coxswain and to carry out more skill development and rescue training .
What dive trips are you planning ?
This year , we will have one of our regular visits to Oban to dive the usual wrecks and the Garvellachs . We are also off to Northern Ireland to dive Rathlin Island , which we last visited more than 10 years ago . Both these longer trips are on charter boats to make the diving more relaxing , as we spend most of the time organising and running dives from our own boats . We also try to get away on at least one foreign trip a year . This is often to the Red Sea , but last year we went to Rhodes , where one of our members had dived before . Here we dived with Lepia Dive Centre , a very professional outfit . Given the scarcity of fish life , they made the diving surprisingly enjoyable . The wreck of the Giannoula K was a highlight and made the visit well worthwhile . In fact , the club is returning this October , which shows how much we enjoyed ourselves .
I don ’ t think many UK divers know much about your area . Tell us about your local dives .
The Wigtownshire coast is quite rocky with interesting underwater topography . Our best scenic sites are on the stretch of coast from Cairn Head , in Wigtown Bay , around Burrow Head to the south and then north into Luce Bay as far as St Ninian ’ s Cave . Here , where the craggy cliffs meet the sea , they form finger-like ridges of rock and reefs which stretch out down to a depth of 18 metres . At this depth the mixed ground shelves away to a silty seabed at a depth of 30 metres . The coast here is subject to strong tidal streams , which make for a dynamic environment particularly enjoyed by filter feeders of all kinds , from plumose anemones to scallops .
Are there good local shore dives ?
Despite our coastal base , due to the nature of the coastline and strong tidal streams there is little possibility of shore diving in Luce Bay . For shore diving we would need to travel to Loch Ryan in Stranraer , so most of our diving is carried out from our two RIBs . At the beginning and end of the year we often do two-day dive trips to Capernwray to help with training and to get diving when the sea viz is poor .
Enjoying great viz during the Rhodes trip , 2023
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