Pudcombe Cove

Nice sunny day and it looked like it might be ok for some snorkelling in the Cove below the NT house at Coleton Fishacre. After a long walk along the coast-path, nearly 2 miles(!), we arrived above the cove at a nice shady spot with pine trees and a good view over the bay. After a bit of ferreting about in the undergrowth I found the disused path and scrambled down; there were stones and dilapidated steps to negotiate at the bottom. On the beach I donned my FJ suit and made my way in. The beach, as the tide ebbed, was bouldery and rocks slippery [I was barefoot because still using full foot fins] and I hurt my ankle. The dried seaweed was also very sharp and scratchy. I had seen some swell stirring things up but hoped that away from beach a little it would be better, but there was too much swell and vis was nil. It was quite unpleasant swimming down through murk.

After getting out and changed back - enjoying the privacy, I took a few pictures of the massess of butterflies and climbed back up to Yas; she had wisely elected to wait at the top. We continued in the Kingsbridge direction and stopped at the Naval gun emplacement - more good views. I had diarrhea,.. which wasn't very nice, and slowed me down a bit. Good day out but shame about the sea state - might be worth trying again when conditions are better.

Lydstep Cove

We had been looking for a way down to the cove between Old Castle Head and Manorbier, and driving around the cliff-top backroads near some desolate military camp [it is actually possible to get down to the sea at Skrinkle Haven]. Anyway, it didn't look possible so we went to Lydstep. Lydstep is an attractive sandy bay with interesting rocky sides, there's an NT car pack at the top of steep hill above the bay, and access is though a sort of holiday village/park.

The weather was perfect, hot and sunny; and visibility excellent, even though we were close to a spring tide. I first had bit of a swim around the sandy west side of the bay enjoying the good visibility and shoals of SSF, then begun to explore the rocky extremities and make my way round to the caves I'd seen on the map. There was also a nice arch here that's good to swim through.

In the submerged gullies going out of the bay there were lots of spider crabs clinging to the sides, and the white shells of very many more piled up on the bottom. Around here I saw a small round jellyfish - perhaps a very small moon-jellyfish, and some wrasse. Found some prawns in one of the caves, and around the arch on the way back a colourful variety of sponges - green, orange, and yellow. This was a really good swim/exploration and I was pleased with the pictures I'd taken. Later, when I got back, there were jet-skiers speeding up and down very close to the beach and between swimmers, sometimes towing or with passengers (I don't think they even noticed people in the water): I later learnt that this is all organised there! If you want a proper swim and are eccentric enough to be outside the rather small yellow-flagged section (however close to the shore) you are in their way. [I don't know if it's like this all the summer, or if it is still like this today]. Otherwise it was really nice- we stayed all day- and people there were very friendly.

Caerfai Bay

Caerfai Bay was the first of just two, but really great, snorkel dives I managed to do on our holiday to Wales. Looking back I think this was because, although the weather wasn't terrible, I was skin diving with just basic kit and I wanted some sunshine on me. Caerfai looked likely on the map and we had taken a detour on the way home the previous day to have a look at it. The next morning we arrived early, and because it was a bit cool and overcast I thought I'd have a look around the sides of the bay from the cliff top and see where I might end up. It was very cold getting in, but the visibility was excellent and the best I'd known; the wind was very light, and later on the sun got out properly. Caerfai Bay is sheltered, good for swimming, and has varied scenery. I would like to go back there one day. I saw a few fish, wrasse I think they probably were, spider crabs, blue jellyfish, a big horrible spiny starfish, but the best encounter was a big blue spiny starfish. The beach got very crowded later on but away from the beach it was nice and quiet.

Watcombe

A short swim with basic kit around the sides of the cove. Visibility was very good and the water was warm enough in the shallows and there were those nice warm spots here and there. Took my first decent close-up picture of a fish, a tame blenny; they seemed to be quite common on the rocks just below the water's edge. I saw a bright purple/blue jellyfish. Got stung to legs. The stinging was very mild, less painful than nettles, but I understand it can vary from person to person, and I suppose on the jellyfish too and how much of it you come into contact with. There was a small compass jellyfish washed up on beach.

Teignmouth

First go with camera underwater, an early evening swim opposite the Jubilee shelter again [hoping for better visibility there, or even some scenery if the tide was low enough]. Visibility was not great, but could have been a lot worse. I took a few pictures of crabs and stuff. Saw a nice little flatfish. Not only was it great to take pictures underwater, but to have a water-level perspective. I also experimented with the movie recorder, also making some accidental clips which started off with the thing I'd actually wanted to take a nice still picture of. And so here is one of my first underwater wildlife pictures! A crab on one of those barnacle encrusted groynes.

Teignmouth

Bad weather in July (and a lot of June) meant I couldn't go in the sea. This picture, looking from Teignmouth sea front along the railway line to Sprey Point, was taken on one of those days; a very stormy Sunday morning. It was raining too. I think it was about this time that the topknot, a bouldery lump that always did look a bit precarious, fell off Shag Rock.

Maidencombe

A short swim with basic kit around the sides of the cove. Visibility was very good and the water was warm enough in the shallows and there were those nice warm spots here and there. I didn't see 'very' much and my dives needed practise, but all in all it was a very agreeable afternoon at beach. There was another snorkeller around, and later a pair of scuba divers surfaced at the side of the cove. We had walked over from Teignmouth (getting some good views over the Ness and back along the coast) so very gratefully got the bus home.

Teignmouth

Another go at snorkelling opposite the Jubilee shelter. It was sunny and the water was bearable (though chilly getting in) but the visibility was poor and I didn't see very much - not that there was very much to see, some shore crabs and a few sand eels. Though I was still pretty awkward and my dives weren't very good, I could feel some improvement - and it was a touch longer before I started to get cramps [looking back, it was a very good job I started with those nice flexible fins].

Learning to Snorkel

My first go with basic kit (fins, mask, and snorkel), was off Teignmouth one evening after work. I tried to pick somwhere good to go in [but it doesn't make any difference if the visibility is poor] and went in opposite the Jubilee shelter. Setting up the aranging the snorkel seemed fiddly; water splashed in easily and it all felt a bit yukky. Somehow I managed some shallow duck dives, and to give myself agonizing muscle cramps. I was in the water for about 20 minutes only, but I knew I would try again and it would get better. There were a few shore crabs here and there on the sand, and feeding on the barnacle encrusted groynes - so that's what they do! Doesn't sound like much but I was entertained and I was quite pleased with the start I'd made.

Shopping

A few days after my swim at Lulworth I went to the sport shop JJB in Exeter and bought a Speedo mask/fin/snorkel set (Speedo make swimming costumes and stuff like that). The mask was sturdy and had tempered glass, which I knew that was important. The snorkel had a sort of reservoir to collect water that might splash in the top; which I liked the idea of, thinking back to having tried a U-shaped one as a kid and hating it - I remember it was orange and had a horrible hard mouthpiece. My new snorkel had a purge valve too, whatever that was. The fins (full foot) looked liked they'd work ok. When I got some fins the right size sorted out, it was time for a trip to the beach and try it all out.

How I became a diver

On a long walk along the Dorset coast from Durdle Door to the Petrified Forest, the scenery was something out of a holiday brochure, and the water clear and inviting. After taking a steeper and far more laborious route than we needed that took us above Lulworth Cove, we had little water, and I wanted to cool off. Floating around in Lulworth cove (discovering I didn't have to flail about to prevent drowning), I was wishing I had a mask, or just some goggles even. Though I wasn't a very good swimmer and not even sure if I could do a duck dive, I made up my mind to get a snorkel set as soon as possible. The Petrified Forest is well worth a visit, by the way, with brilliant white (in the hot sun) bouldery stumps of ancient trees and fossilised algal mats to clamber around; there is also an amusing educational sign with a painting that shows a caveman hunting dinosaurs.