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Monday, June 28, 2010

Whale-Watching eco tour tomorrow afternoon - still some spaces available on the "Wave Chieftain", departing Baltimore Harbour at 2 p.m.
Sightings this week included killer whales, basking sharks, harbour porpoises, dolpins & seals.
Cost €40 adults / €30 youngsters under 16 & hot drinks provided. Call Rianne to book your space(s) 087-7961456 or info@aquaventures.ie

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Congratulations to Graham Waters & Richie Cahill on successfully completing the TDI Advanced Nitrox and Deco Procedures. Nice dives too on the Kowloon, Illyrian, Alondra, Arches, Spain & East Kedges and a basking shark during the surface interval outside Barlogue yesterday. Well done lads.

Friday, June 25, 2010

The TDI advanced nitrox and deco procedures is progressing well. The lads have done their theory and 2 of the 6 dives (with the exam this evening). Tomorrow's dives will include the Kowloon Bridge and Sunday's the U260 (weather permitting).
Jerry took a couple of professional photographers to the Fastnet lighthouse yesterday evening for some stunning pictures of the sunset and full moon. Check them out on http://ping.fm/Nthhs

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

TDI course starting tomorrow. Still some spaces on the boat this weekend email: info@aquaventures.ie

Monday, June 21, 2010

Diving the West Cork wrecks in superb conditions

Saturday morning's early sunshine promised another fine day of diving with light winds forecast. Everyone enjoyed a great breakfast with home-baked breads and a leisurely timescale to get the gear set up for diving the Kowloon Bridge on the noon slack. The viz was great at 12 to 15 mtrs, plenty of life but the most surprising element of the dive was the water temperature - a balmy 16 degrees (really!). Not so for the Sunday morning dive on the Submarine.

Again a good forecast and very pleasant boat journey out with a 7 mtr basking shark near the Sherkin breakwater. We didn't have time to jump in however as we had to hit the slack for the U260. The temperature going down the shotline dropped quickly from 16 at the surface to 12 at the bottom (around 40 mtrs) but with good viz and a relatively short bottom time of 15 minutes this didn't seem to bother anyone, including those in semi-drysuits. Every one enjoyed the dive, which is so special when you can see the whole wreck (66 mtr long and 5 mtr wide) in one go including the conning tower, open hatch, periscope, df aerial, propellers, gun mounting, ballast tubes etc etc. Also note-worthy was the fact that all 12 divers came back onto the boat with 100 mtr plus bar in their tanks so a safe dive profile for all.

The other 2 dives were a drift along the south Kedges on Saturday afternoon with beautiful gullies and walls covered in sponges and anemones with the occasional conger and crayfish watching us, and the Sunday afternoon on the Arches where a seal finished off another great weekend in Baltimore with Aquaventures.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Dolphins

Dolphins were spotted in Baltimore harbour this morning, both from the ferry and other boats as well as from the shore. A great sign of active marine wildlife close-up with sightings of basking sharks continuing too. The good weather will be with us for a little while longer as high pressure surrounds us. Long may it last........

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Another lovely dive on the Kowloon Bridge today with a group from Dive In Scuba (Joe & Audry Pryme) with sunny conditions and basking sharks on the return journey near Trafraska. The afternoon dive was on the colourful "Spain Reef" - a wall with jewel anemones, large lobsters, congers and blennies which everyone enjoyed. After a couple of drinks in the square everyone returned to the centre for a BBQ (cooked superbly by Prue = a true Aussie who says that's the only way they cook at home) followed by apple & rhubarb crumble. We're all looking forward to tomorrow's diving......

Friday, June 11, 2010

Guided Snorkel Tour


The Ballincollig YMCA came on a guided snorkelling tour yesterday and the rhib "Vagabond" headed out to the Kedges, hoping to catch a glimpse of some wildlife along the way. The sun was shining and the views of Sherkin Island & the Baltimore Beacon were breathtaking - as always you are reminded of the raw nature of the coastline, with no houses or man-made structures except for stone walls that were probably built over 200 years ago.
The boat navigated around the Kedges to look for the calmest spot and we ended up in the northwestern point - what we call "The Arches" - where we were joined by about 25 seals including with the group, even nibbling a fin here and there for the very calm amongst us (make a sudden move and they're gone). Somehow you lose track of time when snorkelling or diving but after an hour and a half everyone was ready for the entry back into the boat and a hot cup of chocolate, tea or coffee and a cruise back to the harbour.
We didn't spot any basking sharks or dolphins but everyone enjoyed seeing the seals, urchins, anemones, starfish, wrasse, pollack and big kelp leaves moving gently in the gullies.
Anyone interesting in a guided snorkelling tour - you have to be in good general health, be able to swim and all equipment is provided including diving wetsuits (very warm), mask, fins & snorkel, booties, gloves and snorkelling vest (buoyancy aid) and the guide is in the water with you for extra safety and pointing out interesting marine life. Minimum age is 6 and suitable for families and groups of 4 people or more. Give Rianne a call for further details or visit http://www.aquaventures.ie/snorkelling.htm

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

June bank holiday - Got wrecked !

The bank holiday weekend provided us with much better weather than the forecasters had predicted. We had very calm but overcast conditions on Saturday and dropped 22 divers on the Kowloon Bridge. Viz was between 14 and 18 mtrs and a number of divers had never dived it before - this is one super big wreck (920 ft long) and needs to be dived a number of times to get acquainted.
The afternoon dive was on the Alondra for the hardboat and the Arches for the rhib. Wave Chieftain on Sunday did the U260 (great sunny weather although wind picked up in the afternoon)and the pinnacle or 78 Rock (beautiful scenic dive for those who can't/don't want to dive to 40 mtrs) and the East Kedge on the return leg. The rhib did the south Kedge and Spain Reef. Monday's weather started "soft" and windy but still gave us a nice trip to Crab Rock in the Gascanane Sound, and a couple of us did an Advanced Open Water Diver course in the afternoon with navigation skills and a night dive. Great weekend overall and thank you to all who dived with us for your support and great craic.