We're currently enjoying our family holiday in County Tipperary (it's a long way to go). But I would never let such a detail get in the way of enjoying some great diving. Funnily enough, the Scottish Sub-Aqua Club has a well-established & very active branch based at Limerick University. I contacted their Diving Officer & he kindly invited me along on their latest day trip to Co. Clare. I met up with the others at the predetermined location, as this is Ireland it was of course outside a pub. Being 8am though there wasn't time for a Guinness although I dare say that the locals may well have still be in there for a lock-in from the night before!
The weather was decidedly dreich, but at least it was calm. Diving the west coast of Ireland is particularly susceptible to being blown-out (much like the east coast of Scotland). After a couple of hours we arrived at our destination of Bridges of Ross on the Atlantic side of a peninsula just north of the Shannon estuary. Access was a bit tricky down some particularly slippery rocks but wasn't too bad. The tide was low meaning that we had a longer walk than might have been the case. I teamed up with Liam who led us on a glorious scenic dive.
We made our way through a forest of kelp to drop over a lip onto a pebbled seabed. Immediately, I spotted a free-roaming large common lobster: the 1st time that I've ever witnessed one of these critters out in the open. I reached for my camera, but didn't get the best of snaps. I think that Liam was slightly perplexed that I was stopping to photograph sea cucumbers, but the cotton spinner is a species that I'm not familiar with in Scotland. In fact there were many other unfamiliar creatures all around. While we were submerged, a pod of dolphins cruised past the coast, but the viz wasn't quite good enough for us to spot them unfortunately!
The visibility was 8-10 m meaning that it was possible to savour a good look around without risking buddy separation. This was the 1st time for ages that I was using only a single cylinder (I didn't want to take too much kit so left my pony at home) but Liam was a very attentive buddy meaning that I felt completely at ease. The water temperature was a bit milder than I'm accustomed to (15 °C) so I was fairly toasty in my drysuit (despite the zip leaking badly). Liam was wearing a wetsuit but still enjoyed the 40 min dive with no sign of feeling cold. Upon our return, the other group of 3 entered the water to carry out some rescue training.
Meanwhile, I changed out of my wet drysuit while Liam acted as the shore cover. Once the others came ashore we all congregated at the cars & started to get excited about our boat dive arranged for the afternoon. The calm conditions boded well for a good trip.
Meanwhile, I changed out of my wet drysuit while Liam acted as the shore cover. Once the others came ashore we all congregated at the cars & started to get excited about our boat dive arranged for the afternoon. The calm conditions boded well for a good trip.
Unfortunately, fate conspired to throw a spanner in the works at this point. As we all sorted out our kit, the boot of Adrian's car (well actually his wife's car that he was borrowing) was closed. Its security central locking system then kindly locked the whole car down. At that exact instant it became apparent that the keys for both of the vehicles were now safely lodged in the boot! Being a modern car, there didn't appear to be any easy way of forcing any of the locks. With 3 of us standing about in wetsuits in the rather cold & damp conditions, it became evident that something had to be done. As I had changed back into my clothes, I happened to have my mobile phone in my pocket. Adrian's wife was duly called but she said that the car didn't have any emergency cover. Her spouse then bravely (?!) decided that breaking one of the windows was the best course of action.
It was decided that one of the small windows would be a better bet as replacement cost would be less. Easier said than done though! Adrian managed to dent the lead weight that he used without making an impression on the window. Pepijn then took over: he'd obviously done this kind of thing before (although maybe he wasn't quite as self-conscious about smashing the window as he might have been if it was his beloved's car)!
Once the window was breached, we unfortunately discovered that the car's security extended to electronic deadlocks meaning that the door still couldn't be opened. It was therefore necessary for the brave guys to reach through the broken window & fold down the back seat to allow access to the boot. Of course, this being Ireland, Murphy's Law continued with great aplomb as the keys were at the far edge of the boot's floor, well out of reach. Strategic use of a fence stake allowed Denny to liberate the keys from their lair and we all breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was just about this moment that my mobile phone rang. Adrian's wife had discovered that the car did have valid emergency cover after all... oops!
After all of that excitement, we trotted along the coast to the town of Kilkee and the Ocean Life dive centre for our boat dive. After a few refreshments & cylinder top-ups, we had a chat with the divemaster about our itinerary for the dive. As the conditions were calm, it was decided to try a cavern dive (about 25m) which sounded pretty enticing: replete with an exit hole leading right up to the surface. We assembled all of our kit & changed in the excellent changing rooms at the centre. Upon emerging, we found out that Murphy hadn't finished for the day. A force 4 breeze had sprung up from the NW: the worst possible direction for us. The cave dive was a definite no-no and it seemed touch and go whether we would get out at all. It appeared as if my jinx of boat diving this year had struck again... grr!
We managed to get across the bay - through some pretty lumpy seas - but the dive on offer was the 10 m deep kelp-covered reef at Newfee.
Not the most exciting of dives but still OK as the viz was 10m+. There were lots of fish about. RIB diving is always good fun anyway: the skipper did a great job.
We made our way back to Limerick only to find that flash flooding had caused a fair bit of local damage: my route back to Lough Derg (via the curry shop) was fairly treacherous with lots of surface water.
It had been a fantastic day all together. The guys from ULSAC couldn't have been more accommodating and hospitable. The Irish (and Dutch!) really are great folk: they know how to make visitors very welcome. I hope to meet up with the guys in the future & would heartily recommend the Irish diving & the Guinness & the craic!
more photos on my web pages
We managed to get across the bay - through some pretty lumpy seas - but the dive on offer was the 10 m deep kelp-covered reef at Newfee.
Not the most exciting of dives but still OK as the viz was 10m+. There were lots of fish about. RIB diving is always good fun anyway: the skipper did a great job.
We made our way back to Limerick only to find that flash flooding had caused a fair bit of local damage: my route back to Lough Derg (via the curry shop) was fairly treacherous with lots of surface water.
It had been a fantastic day all together. The guys from ULSAC couldn't have been more accommodating and hospitable. The Irish (and Dutch!) really are great folk: they know how to make visitors very welcome. I hope to meet up with the guys in the future & would heartily recommend the Irish diving & the Guinness & the craic!
more photos on my web pages
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