UK Diving
Dive trips are organised by Newbury Scuba Diving Club for most weekends from early Spring through to late Autumn and we try to cater for all tastes and experience levels. Diving is typically either from one of the club’s RIBs, from a charter hard-boat, as a shore dive on the south coast, or at one of the inland dive sites.
There is a huge variety of diving in British waters and our nutrient-rich waters mean that there is prolific marine life to see. There are literally tens of thousands of shipwrecks around our coast and most of these act as magnets for the marine life to a point where you sometimes cannot see the wreck through the shoals of Bib and Pollack. There are wrecks to suit all tastes from submarines to luxury liners at depths from 6 to 60 metres.
If you are not into wrecks, then there are numerous reefs, rocks and gullies packed full of marine life that make great scenic dives. Have a look at the member’s photo gallery to get an idea of what you can see on our club trips.
RIB Diving
Newbury Scuba Diving Club owns ‘Newbury Diver’ a 6m Ribcraft, Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) that is custom built for diving. This powerful boat can handle up to eight divers and is perfect for diving sites up to 10 miles off the coast as it is capable of speeds of over 20 kts. Newbury Diver is usually stationed at Ferrybridge Marina in Portland during the summer so that it can be used by any qualified club member at the weekend as the marina offers a launching service. Alternatively the RIB can be towed to another site and launched by any member with a suitable 4×4 vehicle.
RIB diving is probably the most flexible of the UK diving platforms, as all elements of the diving day are planned by club members. For more information about diving from the club RIBs go to the Members’ Zone pages.
Hard-Boat Diving
If you fancy something a bit more luxurious, or you dive with heavier kit such as twins or a rebreather, then hard-boat diving is probably for you. Club members arrange dive trips throughout the summer on a wide range of charter boats around the British Isles from Eastbourne to Scapa Flow. Not only are most dive boats now fitted with lifts to help you back on board, they are probably the safest way to venture out to do the deeper dives that the club arranges. Diving with the Seals in the Farne Islands is a very popular destination – see picture below.
Shore Diving
The club also arranges some trips down to the South coast for shore dives at Chesil Beach, Swanage or Kimmeridge. It is amazing just how much life you can see just a few tens of metres off the beach in as little as 10 m of water.
There are often magical encounters with marine life to be had on the surface as well.
Inland sites
If there are specific training needs to address, or if it’s too windy to dive off the coast, then an inland site is a great alternative. The club is within easy reach of many of the top UK inland dive sites such as: Vobster Quay, Stoney Cove Diving Centre and Cromhall. See the links on our Home Page to these Dive Centre websites.
