Bingham Sub Aqua Club – Trip Report
Pembrokeshire 13th – 18th August 2011
Accommodation – Upper Neeston Lodges
All but Stewart, Bob & Vicky met at St Brides on the Saturday at 14:30 or there about, weather was sunny and sea conditions good. Louise was dragooned into acting as trainee marshal and a shakedown 7 -10 metre dive was enjoyed by everyone with reasonable visibility. Dinner was in the local pub the Taberna Inn, decent food and lots of it at reasonable prices.
Sunday 14th following a breakfast cooked by Matt and lunchtime sandwiches courtesy of Jane’s team (James thinks tuna with mayonnaise is a liquid) saw the same group at Martins Haven, again sea conditions good but a sod to enter and exit at low tide, two dives, one at high tide to prove the point. A no take zone but some depth off to the left, 24 metres and lobster and crab on the ledges. Visibility around 3 – 4 metres, SMB’s a must with the ferry running. Seals came up to observe humans but refused to play water games. Very nice weather with sunburn an option.
Jane & Louise went horse riding down the beach and reported an enjoyable experience. Sunday evening Stewart, Bob & Vicky arrived and a communal casserole with dumplings cook in, followed by cheesecake and the pub rounded off a pleasant day. Leaving the pub at 23:00 for the .6 mile walk to the digs we were lucky to have the services of ‘Torchy’ who guided us faithfully round every road sign and slug.
Monday 15th, the original plan called for a hard boat dive but despite Steve’s best efforts the skipper had screwed up and double booked, his alternative offer was rejected. So breakfast by Matt and then off to Stackpole Quay. The tides having refused to bow to our demands meant a late dive so we planned a walk round Barafundle Beach and the lily ponds. Some navigational errors on the part of the pensioners meant we actually all enjoyed slightly differing arrival times and hence walks and then the rains came, big time. Despite having brought sandwiches the afternoon teas at the café were in demand and a demonstration by James & Rob of how not to keep dry under a sun umbrella confirmed dancing is not their strong point. Having cast the runes at 13:00 the tide finally arrived at 17:30, access to the beach being ferociously guarded by a NT jobs worth. The best diving was probably in the harbour itself and as we had walked all over it when the tide was out, including finding unidentified fossils, it seemed a little pointless. However most enjoyed the dive though no photography was possible and return navigation marginally short of spot on.
Back to the digs and pasta & chicken, sticky toffee or jam sponge pudding with cream or custard, then for a change, off to the pub, though fair to say Jane & Louise had by now lost confidence in the culinary arts of the rest of the group and shot off earlier to avoid the communal food feast. ‘Torchy’ still operational.
Unfortunately whilst we were out in the day the chain that Rob secured his bike with disappeared with no one having a clue where or how, naturally Rob blamed Steve.
Tuesday 16th – Matt under the weather but a 06:30 wake up call saw everyone down at Martins Haven by 08:30 and all but Matt in the water at high tide. The wind was into the bay and the beach entry required some wave negotiation. Down both sides there was some turbulence but a shot out at 15 degrees produced a smooth dive. High tide is definitely the best time to dive this site. Atlantic Divers International had a host of trainees on the beach as we came out, having watched their 45 minute performance at entering the water we all felt very professional.
Back to the digs and with Matt out of action James stepped up to the breach with Dave attempting to supervise and a cooked brunch finally appeared.
Jane & Louise had gone on to agricultural show, so Steve & Lucy joined them, Bob took Stewart & Vicky to Newgale surfing and reliving old times. James, Rob, Becky, Matt (partially recovered) & Dave got organised and went along to have a laugh but word had spread and they had gone, Newgale is a very long beach to search, so having completed the search, the intrepid five adjourned to the pub in Dale.
Back to the digs and mysteriously Rob’s missing chain had returned but now securing the steering wheel on Steve’s truck to his clutch pedal, naturally Steve blamed Rob.
Then off to the pub for a final meal as a group, good food in good company. Discovered everyone appears to have a torch in their mobile, ‘Torchy’ redundant but dead anyway.
Wednesday 17th – Breakfast of cereals then Stewart, Bob, Matt & Becky set off for a dive at St Brides. Stewart reports; “Arrived to find the car park empty, so got pole positions for parking. Tide was well in and almost into the car park!! Bob and Stewart got in just before high tide and had a superb dive. Vis was the best for the week and some photos were actually taken to prove they made it. This would have been a superb dive for a novice with lots of under water attractions: even the seaweed was artistically presented. Most of the animal life was towards the bottom of the bay but no sign of currents so it was possible to venture beyond the headland.” & Bob reports “possibly due to reduced swell, lots of life and no kelp! Sadly we paid for the lack of swell at Newgale where the surf was not as good as the previous day.”
Vicky headed off to work, Steve, Jane, Louise & Lucy targeted the Chocolate Factory, Rob set off on another mystery tour and James & Dave looked round Pembroke Castle and visit friends in the locality then headed for home.
Bob & Stewart got to enjoy one more meal at the pub and a night at Neeston whilst Matt & Becky make a slightly later start for the north and home.
All told a very nice trip with a little less diving than expected but considering the background it worked out well. With the exception of some minor kit problems no one experienced any issues and there were no incidents. Nolton Haven, though not dived, may be a secure site for novices provided they stay within the bay and again only at high tide. Tide timing is crucial for shore diving in this area and high tide at 14:00 may be the best option.
The trip worked out at £20.25 per night for accommodation, lunches, breakfasts, snacks and two evening meals, average cost at the pub was £12.00 for starter and main course so excluding drinks, travel and air average of £27.00 per night.
Air fills were £4.50 irrespective of size with ponies being filled free because of the number filled.
Sean & Mandy at Neeston were very amiable and accepted us moving furniture and crockery from place to place without question and provided valuable information on logistics etc.
Special thanks to Steve for taking the pressure off and organising air fills (in Jane’s truck, thank you Jane), James for taking unmerciful ribbing and driving me everywhere and thanks to everyone else for making the trip, for me, very enjoyable, a great bunch to be with.
DJ 18th August 2011