Dive with us
We organise a varied programme of diving opportunities of UK diving, generally between April and October, but hardy members can be seen diving in almost any weather!
Although not directly on the coast, Bath is conveniently placed to take advantage of the many South and South West ports from which diving can take place, as well as futher afield in South Wales.
We are also conveniently close to Bristol Airport and also to Heathrow, for trips to warmer waters.
Our boat
With a 130hp Honda motor, radio, depth sounder and full diving equipment, the Bath Diver is an ideal way for us to get to a varied selection of dive sites that commercial operators do not serve, and to get the best out of our time on the water. We normally keep the boat in Plymouth during the diving season.
We very much encourage members to learn to drive the boat and if you are interested you can qualify as a boat handler or driver coxwain, and help make our trips possible.
A day on Bath Diver will normally start quite early as the drive to Plymouth is about three hours, and according to the tides we like to get away from the quay around 09:00. It will take about 30-40 minutes to get to one of a number of dive sites outside the Sound. We are fortunate to have quite a selection of wrecks and reefs to choose from, one of our favourites is to go out to the Eddystone lighthouse.
After the first dive we will either eat lunch on board, or if there is time head over to Bovisand to come ashore for an hour and get something hot to eat at the cafe there, before heading back out to the second site.
Club members taking a breather between dives (we need a pic of a RIB trip...)
Hardboat trips
There are a number of commercial companies running either shuttle or charter services from Swanage, Weymouth, Teignmouth, Brixham and various other ports that can be reached within a couple of hours driving from Bath.
Dive types vary from a number of well-known wrecks, to reefs and scallop drifts (according to season - and sometimes a permit for collecting shellfish is needed).
It's easy for members to get together for a day or weekend using such services, and it makes a great day out. For a two-tank dive we might leave Bath around dawn and be back early evening (though ropes-away times of course are tide-dependant).
Club members on the way to a dive on a commercial hard boat
Inland sites
The nearest dive to our club is only 10 miles away. Vobster Quay is a disused quarry that has been transformed into an inland dive centre.
It boasts 36-acres of fresh water diving in depths ranging from 6m to 36m, divers of all levels and although aquatic life is on the thin side, there are numerous underwater attractions such as a helicopter, boats, vehicles and such like to be explored.
Vobster is a good place for Ocean Divers, Sports and all other diving qualification levels, but it's a day's diving in its own right.
A little further afield, but perfectly do-able in a day, is the NDAC in Chepstow, another very well-organised inland dive centre that offers a further selection of possibilities.
Vobster is very convenient from Bath and we use it often
Dive trips
During the year there will be at least a couple of opportunities to take part in longer dive trips with the club to get a chance at some more sustained diving. In past years we have been on liveaboards to destinations such as Scapa Flow, the Red Sea, Cyprus, Norway and Oman.
In addition to officially organised club trips open to everyone, there is often the chance to buddy-up with other members for diving holidays, for example members have recently visited the Scilly Islands, Madeira, Indonesia and the Maldives.
Here's some video of our trip to the Red Sea in 2019
Exploring a wreck in the Red Sea on a club holiday.