Post date: Nov 2, 2009 6:21:43 PM
Stoney Cove is the most popular dive site for Saints Divers. It’s where we complete the majority of our open water training and it is also the UK’s National Diving Centre. There are lots of things to see underwater – a helicopter, a tug boat called Defiant, Nautilus submarine, bus, aircraft cockpit… not to mention lots of fish!
There are several entry points including a slip way and wooden platform (known as the bus stop). My favourite is the bus stop although I was nervous the first few times I did a giant step, now I get nervous if I start my dive any other way.
Stony is brilliant because it has a 6 metre ledge for beginners, 20 metre section for Open Water divers and up to 35 metres for Sports Divers and beyond. It is an old granite quarry so each level is very well defined and you can swim down the old road to travel from 1 level to another. That is, if you can find the road, I finned past it the last time I was leading a dive. To get the best car-parking places, you need to be there early. Consequently we are often in the water from 7.30am onwards, which soon wakes me up! I started diving in a semi-dry in the last week of April this year and my semi-dry has been great right throughout the Summer and Autumn. Now I’m contemplating trying a dry-suit so I can carry on until Christmas. My sister and brother-in-law, who live in Singapore and dive in temperatures around 25 degrees all year, think I must be mad but as soon as they come back to the UK, I’ll definitely be taking them to Stony.