Finding My Fins: Porth Ysgaden

This weekend saw my first sea dive, in the Porth Ysgaden bay. No, I don't know if I've been saying it right, so I can't tell you how it's said. I normally just resort to "somewhere very Welsh". Naturally, before hitting the water, I needed to get some gear. Over the last couple weeks, my partner and I have paid our local dive shop, ScubaTeks, a number of visits. You may have seen on my instagram me testing some of this in Lake Dearnford.

BCD, regs, fins, gloves, mask and weight pouches.

We now have 90% of the stuff we need to dive, with many thanks to ScubaTeks and their very helpful staff. We were well looked after and got the gear best suited for our skill and needs. Once we were all kitted up, we were ready! (Aside from a few things the club so kindly let us borrow.)

Porth Ysgaden is deep into Wales. We stayed at campsite near Abersoch the night before. The gentlemen who owned the campsite has been diving for a long time. There were pictures of him in the communal kitchen sporting some very old fashioned diving gear. It is clearly a campsite frequented by diving clubs. I wish I had taken pictures. Next time!

The views at Porth Ysgaden were amazing, even though it was cloudy that morning. The water was still and so many shades of blue. The club's Dive Officer had already been there for a while and he said the water was looking really clear. It was all getting very real and exciting, especially once we were in our suits. We plodded down the cliff path to the beach. When wearing two wet suits to act as a semi-dry suit, one can only plod. With the boat loaded up with diving gear and divers, we were off!

The club RIB. Photo: Paul Bulmer, of SSAC

We sailed out to a point called "Big Rock", creatively named because, well, it's a big rock. As my partner and I are recently qualified Ocean Divers, we can only go to a depth of 20m. Big Rock provided a perfect platform for us. The rock itself created a shelf at 9m and the surrounding areas averaged at 20m. Once the shot line was dropped and our buddy checks done, we were ready to roll off the boat. (There is video evidence of this on the SSAC facebook, it is not graceful.) I was partnered with our Dive Officer, while Chris was with the trip's Dive Leader. They were two of the most experienced divers on our trip, so it stood to reason they'd be with us rookies. I felt very safe and well looked after.

Under the water was incredible. The visibility was so clear and possibly as far as 15m. I am not very good at gauging distance, so do not quote me on that. Our dive was timed to be at slack water, which is when the tide is about to turn so there is very little movement in either direction for the water. This made it easier for us to traverse as we wouldn't have to worry about currents and drifting. We descended the shot line. As with anything remotely new, my brain likes to panic me so when my mask got a little tight and I couldn't clear my ears I nearly threw a wobbly. But I kept calm, adjusted my mask and remembered to put water in my hood. I had a brief pause at the 9m shelf to get myself sorted, I can tell you it is not easy to equalise and descend at the same time. There are not enough hands!

Once I was happy, we ventured deeper. It took no time at all to see the first signs of life. It was everywhere! As a kid I always assumed British waters were boring. We have no "exciting" wildlife on land, why would the sea be any different? Guppy me was an idiot. There was so much to see and so much colour around me. I wish my air cylinder had been infinite so I could just watch it all forever. Seeing all that beauty up close with my own eyes has made me more determined to fight plastic pollution.

There were dogfish all about, which I'm sure Dylan will be insanely jealous about given they are a type of shark. One of the more experienced divers told me that they are really friendly and that you can even touch them sometimes. I breathe far too heavy and the bubbles scare them off. Not that I was actively trying to touch anything, my eyes were too busy boggling for me to remember that I had hands. There were sea stars in varying colours and number of legs. Purple ones, orange ones, short legs, long legs - one, two, three lots of legs! (Hats off to you if you get that reference.)

Another prolific creature was the crab. We saw definitely two species, but possibly more. Some had seaweed growing on their backs and looked like little walking forests. Unbelievably cute. I was told afterwards they were spider crabs. There was a huge one, just chilling on a rock, almost like a king presiding over his kingdom. There were even a couple picking a fight with each other. Tucked away in rocky corner was a giant lobster. It was a gorgeous shade of dark blue and it wiggled its antennae at us as we passed. One of the best things I saw, dogfish aside, was this teeny tiny jellyfish just suspended in the water. It was a few inches away from my face at best. I can almost hear my sisters freaking out at the thought of it; but I was just fascinated by the way it moved. The ripple movement, the way it just hangs there; I could have watched it for hours. I need to learn how to not guzzle air!

On the technical side of things, I struggled a little with my bouancy, but not nearly as much as I thought I would. I shot upwards a couple times, but easily corrected it by dumping air. And my buddy was never so far away that he couldn't grab my BCD (or leg!) and drag me back. It was noted that I need to slow down which is something I am going to practise in the pool as soon as I can. When I got low on air, we started our ascent with the 3 minute safety stop at 6m. It was over too quickly! We were under for 35 minutes, but still! I seriously need to stop guzzling!

Back on the boat, we waited topside while the rest of the party had their dive. Even though the sea was as still as it can be, I was feeling a little green. I'm ok, so long as the boat is moving. But bobbing? Bobbing is less ok. Still, I kept breathing through my mouth and was advised to watch the horizon. Lucky I was in scenic Wales and had lots of pretty hillsides to look at while I concentrated on not yarfing. Note to self, when trying to not feel seasick do not think of the word "yarf". It does not help.

Dogfish. Photo: Paul Bulmer of SSAC

Sea star with all the legs. Photo: Paul Bulmer of SSAC

Crab. Photo: Paul Bulmer of SSAC

Things learned for next time:

• Find sea sickness tablets. To hopefully avoid seasickness. But if not...
• Bring ginger ale. Bring salt and vinegar crisps. They help settle my stomach so that I can eat proper food.
• Buy a hood. We borrowed from the club and are very grateful that we could. I just want to own everything.
• Work on breathing. I'm going to try meditating on the bottom of the pool on my next session, to see if it helps.
• Get a camera!

Our next dive trip is to Anglesey at the end of August. I am so excited for it, now I know what lurks beneath. There may even be a possibility of a wreck dive or two. I cannot wait!