We set off early on Friday, kit and divers split between 3 cars. Sam’s decision to add the emergency rope and O2 kit to the car last minute was not popular. We drove straight to our first dive site, Porth y Castell on the south side of Holy island, a relatively non-tidal and sheltered site. We kitted up and jumped straight in, leaving Antoni as surface cover waiting for his buddy to finish breakfast.
After a brief search and recovery for Sam’s fin, most of us managed to descend down to around 6m and go for our first sea dives of the year, in toasty 8 degree water. Whilst there was not a ton of life, some crabs and fish were spotted, along with beer bottles and lots of chains zig-zagging across the bay. Erin and Teo were subjected to some flawless Holdaway navigation, guiding them safely back to shore (ish). Thus was born 20 minute Thomas.
Cars were quickly repacked and we headed to the best dive site in the world (undisputed) NEWRY BEACHHH. Despite the large breakwater that protects Holyhead harbour, conditions were surprisingly rough, so many chose to sit out the dive. Antoni, Kien and Chris went in for another weight check, solo diver Jonny visitied the infamous cave, and Erin found a shell. Best dive ever. Fills were gotten at a local club (Deifwyr Môn Divers) who kindly helped out, pizzas were cooked (microwaved) at Anglesey outdoors. We retired to our beds happy in the knowledge that Ben’s snoring must be louder in the other room.
After an early start we sped (some of us more than others) across Anglesey to the Menai, hoping to repeat a rare shore drift dive some of us had done 9 months prior. Visibility was terrible, leading 2 pairs to abort the dive. Sidemount wankers Ben and Jonny donned the twat hats and went to look at some mud for 45 minutes, whilst Sam made use of his buddy line to break every single rule BSAC has about diving with Ocean Divers.
After a quick pub debrief a more sheltered site was chosen for dive two, Porth Dafarch right by our accommodation. After ascertaining that our surface cover was asleep and likely to stay that way for some time, we made the difficult decision to just ignore the problem and go in anyway. Since we weren’t sure which side of the bay was the best, we split up and explored both. Any allegations suggesting I entered the water with my drysuit zip open are untrue and without evidence. Erin lead her first dive… and didn’t get lost (luck). Kien and I spotted crabs, both big and small, as well as some fish and plenty of cool fauna. Swell increased as we left the bay, so we turned around and got lost.
Cylinders were filled and collected (thanks Chris) and many important topics were discussed whilst we worked our way through a bottle of Malibu.
Our final site on Sunday was to be the best diving and visibility yet. We arrived at Trearddur Bay later than normal, tired but optimistic. After wasting quite a lot of time looking at the RNLI tractor (it was cool) and establishing that the weight belt we’d left behind might be kind of important actually, we finally got in the water. The bottom was shallow and sandy, eventually deepening to around 6 metres. We found Lobster pots (sadly empty) and many edible and hermit crabs. Golf balls and fishing lead were pocketed, although nobody could match Jonny, who found an entire weight belt with 10kg of lead (which now pollutes the pool weekly)
We repacked the cars and headed for home, arriving at the sports hub just in time to leave all the kit behind and go straight to the duck. Overall the diving was good for the time of year, and the trip ended up very cheap (<£80 for diving, fuel and accom). If you want to come on our next weekend trip, keep an eye on our WhatsApp and view upcoming diving here.
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