The beginning of the week was bright sunshine here in South Wales however things are changing in the backend of the week, with heavy rain due Friday as well as strong winds. The actual conditions on the weekend may be acceptable for Scuba Diving, with our sheltered bays being your best option. Swell will be around 3ft - 5ft over both days and whilst there will be a moderate wind, bays such as Oxwich Bay or Caswell Bay in Swansea will provide a level of protection from this.
One of the biggest issues will be visibility. On Thursday and Friday we've got bigger swell, at around 6ft to 7ft and strong, gusting winds. These things combined will create a lot of water movement and likely create some turbid water along the South Wales coast. Whilst this doesn't mean a dive cannot go ahead, you do need to factor the reduced visibility into your dive plans. You should also ensure you are only diving with a dive lead who knows the dive site well.
South Wales is blessed with the deepest inland dive site in the UK, about a 30 minute drive from Cardiff and an hour from Swansea, so you always have the option of heading to Chepstow to have a more certain chance of a dive. Whilst the wind does have an effect on the visibility here, you're not also contending with the swell and tidal water movement, so the effects are normally less severe.
The final option is to pack up your Scuba gear and head abroad to somewhere warmer, although with summer holidays no upon us finding those value deals will be much harder.
No training sessions for us this weekend. After all of the schools training we've been running, not just in Cardiff but across the UK they're all headed off on their trips now. The first weekend in August will see us back in the pool in Cardiff running the PADI Open Water Referral course. Following that, the middle of August we'll be heading to Chepstow to complete the Open Water dives part of the PADI Open Water Diver course, seeing our students become qualified to dive to 18m anywhere in the world and begin their Scuba Diving journey.
We run courses virtually throughout the year, so if you're thinking of getting your PADI Open Water Diver qualification then give Lee a call and he'll be happy to discuss the details, options and timeframes with you.