Tawali Nov 2007

Tawali was absolutely brilliant - words really can't describe the beauty of this remote idyll in the middle of the jungle!  We were able to do four dives most days at sites that ranged from beautiful coral gardens, through muck dives teeming with critters, to wall dives dropping off to 100s of metres!  We saw pigmy seahorses, lacey scorpion fish, decorated pipefish, mandarin fish, harlequin shrimp, white tip sharks, mantas, turtles and so many different kinds to nudibranches and starfish that it made your head spin!!  The resort itself lacked nothing - food was plentiful and very tasty, rooms were comfortable, and the staff couldn't do enough to help.  
Click here for pics!

12 divers set off for Ilfracombe in the early hours of Saturday morning (some arriving 2 hours early due to the excitement of the trip!!). We all arrived at the harbour to see typical Blighty weather of rain and wind in full  force and looked at the white horses out sea with a sense of disappointment. To our delight we were told by our skipper that it was fine diving weather and once we got to the Island it would would be as flat as a pancake - it was the hour and half crossing that may be slightly bumpy!!
Once we got there the skipper was right the sun came out and the sea was calm - we did two great dives on the first day, visibility was around 5-6 metres and we had great fun in all the kelp forests. The boat was lovely with lots of space to kit up, a big wheel house, lots of cups of tea and choccie biccies in between dives and best of all a Dive Life!! No seals yet but we sill had one more day.
Back to the B&B after a hard days diving for a nice hot shower and drinks in the marine style bar. Kirsty and Ian at the Harcourt were brilliant with lovely room, packed lunches provided and a mean fry up on Sunday morning.
Sunday proved to be another good diving day - even if the weather was slightly rough! And we were even graced with a seal to play with!
A good weekend was had by all and we can't wait for next year!!

Cheryl in a borrowed coat!!                                 Dudley and Kev (in the sexy hat!!)

Scapa Flow, May 2007

Despite a few initial problems, and a really long drive, we made it to Orkney on a very windy and rainy day!  As promised, the wrecks were huge - you cannot imagine the size of the dreadnoughts, until you actually see them - and we only scratched the surface!  Some of our most enjoyable dives were actually the shallower ones - for example the F2 Escort Ship, and the barge alongside which was in the middle of salvaging the F2's guns when it sank during a storm!!

               
       V83 (Torpedo Boat Destroyer)              Crusader (Dive Boat)                        Koeln (Light Cruiser)

Tenerife, April 2007

Eleven divers from Jurassic Coast Diving, along with assorted children ranging from 3 months to 18 years, set off from Exeter for a weeks diving on the Costa del Silencio, right in the south of the island.  Tenerife is a volcanic island, so we were able to pick our depth at most dive sites - from 10m down to 30m!  The volcanic columns are spectacular, and provide nooks and crannies for a huge range of sea creatures to hide in, not too mention the thousands of spiky black sea urchins!  Sting Ray Alley was amazing - a turtle that kept us company throughout the dive, and about 20 rays, of assorted species.

Southern Red Sea Liveaboard, July 2006

Doc and the group had a wonderful time diving around The Brothers, Daedalus and Elphinstone.  Most people saw plenty of sharks - apart from Doc, who turned into a shark-jinx!!  So much so that no-one wanted to dive with him!  As hope, they saw turtles, lots of dolphins, eels of various shapes and sizes!  A small group had a break from diving and went up the lighthouse at Daedalus, which provided spectacular views down on the boat from above, instead of from underneath - they only decided to return to the boat when the attention from the locals got a little overpowering!!  

Ice Divers with Altitude,  Austria 2006

JCD now has 8 brand new Ice Divers!!  On our first day we dived in the Attersee lake behind the Nautilus Dive Centre, having completed the Altitude theory.  The water temperature was about 3º so the two Altitude dives gave us an ideal opportunity to practice the skills ready for Ice Diving the following day - Rope communications with surface support and gas shutdown procedures to cope with the almost inevitable freeflows!  The next two days we concentrated on the Ice Dives.  Luckily the south end of the Attersee was frozen, normally students are taken up to the Grundlsee for the ice dives, but the pass was closed due to snow.  The entry / exit hole had already been cut in the ice, so all that remained for us to do was to clear the reference marks around the hole of snow.  From underneath the ice the reference marks look a bit like a dartboard as the light shines through them, providing divers with an excellent way to find your way back to the hole.  This done, the first buddy pairs were ready to rope themselves together and enter the water.  Three ice dives later, eight new Ice Divers entered the world!!  Some of the more eventful moments included three divers ending up on an ice flow as the hole suddenly got bigger! six 2nd stage free flows on one dive! and not forgetting the walk up the mountain in the snow to a typical Austrian restaurant followed by the sledge ride back down again. 

              Ready to dive!                                          Defrosting Tigger's hose!!