The trip from Bristol to our destination took some four hours on a Friday evening although others had travelled from further afield including London. Our destination was the area of Cornwall known as the Lizard which is Britain’s southernmost point and everybody was anticipating a weekend full of spectacular diving. On arrival at the accommodation, we were shown to comfortable and reasonably priced rooms which was given the thumbs up by all the Dive Right crew. After checking in, a sprint to the local pub, The Three Tuns was made as they stopped serving food at 9 p.m.  After a wonderful meal and the compulsory pints of local ale, everyone retired to the digs with dreams of the dives ahead. 

Next morning we were met by skipper of the dive centre in St. Keverne with a well stocked shop and good sized rib outside. It was approximately one mile from the dive centre to Porthoustock Beach where the boat was to be launched. I say beach, it was more of a collection of large rocks and pebbles although this did not stop the Dive Right crew sunbathing between dives :o)

The first dive was to a local site known as Raglan Reef some 10 minutes from the beach. With a variety of ages, sexes and experience levels, everybody jumped in to descend to approximately 20 metres onto the reef. Sadly, and not surprisingly, a number of dives were cut short which was as a result of some equipment malfunctions and slight hesitation in relation to experience of British waters. However, this was only to be a temporary setback with other exciting dives to come. Divers returning from the Raglan Reef dive waxed lyrical about fantastic visibility and indeed beautiful life in terms of Jewel Anemones, Dead Man's Fingers and many other areas of beautiful sea fauna. Was this really the U.K diving we really expected?! We would all find out the next day as we ventured back to the reef again. Other tales of Jon Dory fish and free swimming Congers were swapped on the boat and all those who had completed the dive seemed particularly happy. 

After a surface interval spent relaxing on the “beach”, it was time to enter the rib for the second dive, of the day. Due to the uncertainness of the first dive the captain decided to relocate to a slightly easier destination with an old wreck called Rock Island Ridge, which sat at a leisurely 10 metres. The Dive Right crew all descended to the bottom with a 30 to 40 minute dive enjoyed by everyone. We were able to see a number of interesting sights including crabs and again a Jon Dory which appears somewhat out of place in U.K. waters as do the pretty male Cuckoo Wrasse. 

After a tiring day, the Dive Right crew again retired to the garden of The Three Tuns for some excellent food and ale prior to an early night. 

Day two saw a very misty start on the beach although this was to clear rapidly during the dive. Gary the skipper took the team over to Raglan Reef again where everyone was this time able to enjoy a leisurely dive and indeed marvel at some of the plants and fauna in British waters. Some of the colours were akin to more tropical parts of the globe and it is refreshing to see divers marvelling at the colour and visibility in the Southern parts of U.K. waters. 

The second dive of the day was undertaken on a previous iron ore carrier (called the N.G.Peterson) which had broken up a number of years ago and it was somewhat difficult to distinguish the wreck from the iron ore cargo. The wreckage and sea bed were at about 20 metres which gave a leisurely 30 minute dive for the majority of the divers notwithstanding those who lost their weight belts!! Perhaps the most interesting thing on the dive was some four large Conger Eels together with a proliferation of star fish and crabs. 

The waters on both Saturday and Sunday were particularly calm and everybody enjoyed a leisurely boat trip back from the wreck in Falmouth Bay to Porthoustock Beach for the final time. 

In all, everybody appeared to have a great time despite one or two early concerns. The boat and crew were excellent as was the accommodation. Hopefully we will return in 2010 perhaps for a slightly longer trip to discover many of the other wrecks around the Lizard Point. Thanks must also go to everybody who attended the weekend; without you all it would be difficult to arrange such trips. Here’s to Pembrokeshire in August.