Isle of Man 3rd – 6th May 2024 trip report

After what had seemed to be a very long winter, the warmer weather started to arrive and we turned our attention to the new 2024 diving season. All of us had dived throughout the winter period in the local quarries but now we were looking forward to some sea diving with Discover Diving in Port St. Mary.

The format that we had used for the last few years had changed for this year. It was to be aimed at Sports Diver and above rather than designed around our newly qualified Ocean Divers. Most of those going on this trip were on the previous year’s trip so they had a good incentive to work through their Sports Diver training which they duly did.

As with all trips, we started weather watching about one week before we were due to take the Steam Packet ferry from Liverpool to Douglas. The forecast did not look very good to say the least and in particular, the Bank Holiday Monday looked as though it was going to be blown out. We could do nothing but consult the weather charts every day and hope for the best. Thankfully, the weather Gods smiled upon us and the forecast for all three days improved quite significantly. It was game on.

We all met up at the ferry terminal on the Friday and the atmosphere was buzzing as everyone was looking forward to the trip.

After arriving in Douglas, we were picked up by our taxi transfer and taken to Port St. Mary. Once at the dive centre, everybody busied themselves sorting their kit in preparation for the early start that we had on Saturday. Unfortunately, the tides times weren’t favourable so there would be no late ‘ropes off’ this weekend.

The plan for Saturday was discussed with our hosts Michelle and Steve and it was decided that the group would ease in with a couple of shallower dives. These were to be the wreck of the Citrine for the first dive and Stack Fine for the second. Bothof these dives were in the sixteen to twenty metre range.

Once most of the kit had been sorted, all the stages and CCR cylinders were still to arrive as they were being ferried over by Alan Jones but he wouldn’t be arriving until about 9pm, and all the relevant forms completed, we had a couple of hours spare to relax or maybe go for a walk before heading off to The Boathouse for our first meal of the weekend. We had booked in for 8pm in order that Alan (the Major) would be able to join us at 9pm. I think that the entire group would agree with me when I say that the food here is nothing short of excellent. It is definitely worth a visit!

After the meal, the majority of the group decided to have an early night as they were all very tired and also, it was to be an early start in the morning. Ropes off was originally planned to be 9am but changed late on due to the weather potentially closing in. A couple of time changes were made and it was eventually agreed that ropes off would be 7am. Not a great time to start but the tides and weather were not playing ball this weekend. It looked like we had some stormy conditions coming in by midday and therefore might only be able to manage a single dive.

We assembled outside the dive shop for about 5.45am then ferried down to the harbour in the dive centre Hilux and arrived just as Steve our skipper was putting Endeavour on her mooring. We actuaaly kept good time and departed five minutes earlier than schedule.

Despite the early start, the majority of the group were in good spirits and raring to go. So we slipped our mooring and headed for the wreck site of the Citrine.

Dive 1. The Citrine.

We used this dive for a shakedown. The Citrine was a small coaster (650 tons) that ran agound in March 1931 with ten of the twelve man crew perishing. Steve gave everyone the nod to kit up and once they were all ready, dropped them over the wreck. Everyone was in and under the water by 8.07am so we were keeping to our schedule nicely. You don’t need a shotline for this wreck. You just make your way down the kelp covered slope to find what is left of the wreck lying at its base. The wreck is well broken up now but still very recognisable. The stern being the better part of the wreck in my opinion but its easy enough to cover the entire length of the wreck in one dive and return to your starting point. Dive times varied between thirty six and sixty minutes. Everyone was surfacing with a smile on their faces despite the water temperature being a degree or two lower than expected.

Dive 2. Stack Fine.

With the weather holding, we got the opportunity for the group to get their second dive in. This was to be a scenic dive around a pinnacle in Bay Fine. The beauty of this area is that it hasn’t been commercially fished or dredged since 1989 so could be considered pristine. Once again, it was a free descent into 18mtrs-20mtrs of water. The instruction was for the divers to conduct their dive around the pinnacle before setting off in a northerly direction. Members of the group saw a wide variety of life incuding a fair few Nudibranch, huge Scallops, and Dogfish.

So with the days diving completed, we headed back for Port St.Mary harbour. And it wasn’t even midday!

Prior to heading over to the island, we discussed where to eat each night of our stay. The majority of the group stated that they wanted to eat at one of the local takeways called Fresh, Fried & Crispy as generally they have amazing ribs on the menu of a Saturday but you do have to be there early as they always sell out very quickly. I was telling Michelle about this and she kindly messaged Stuart, the owner, to tell him to expect us around 6pm. Youcan actually eat in here and when we arrived, Stuart had kindly reserved two tables for us. He even prepared nibbles for us to eat while our meals were being cooked. He is also licensed so needless to say, a few measures of alcohol were consumed during the meal. The food here is excellent. I know that we will be back there when we are over on our next trip!

Everyone was getting into the swing of things now. They had their first days diving under their belts and were all looking forward to day two. Most of the group headed to the pub for a quick drink or two and just generally chat about their dives and the dives to come the following day which were to be a wreck dive first followed by a scenic dive. The two dives in question were the Afton and the Burroo. Everyone was looking forward to these with great anticipation. We just needed the weather to play the game as the forecast although better than Saturdays still wasn’t particularly brilliant. Once again, it was an early start due to the tide times and the longer journey out to the wreck. It was to be a 7am assembly outside the shop. There was a little confusion but soon sorted out by Michelle and we left the harbour on time once again.

Dive 3. The Afton.

The weather on the way out to the wreck site wasn’t as bright as we would have hoped. This wreck is a great dive when the sun is shining as she sits on clean golden sand that reflects the suns rays to illuminate the site. Thankfully though the sea was quite flat so it was a pleasant ride out to the wreck site. Steve, with the help of Kathryn our deckie put the shot bang on the wreck. After checking and announcing that he was happy with the shot placement, everyone started getting ready but slowly as we had fifteen minutes to spare before slack water. It was a good thing that we had some spare time as one of the group had a minor kit malfunction but we sorted it without too much of an issue and the diver thankfully didn’t miss their dive.

All the divers were in the water by 8.55am and it was time for Steve, Kathryn and I to have a brew. It was at this point of the weekend that I really felt that I was missing out and would have given anything to be with the group. I couldn’t dive though as I’d not long had a cataract operation and was under the consultants orders not to dive for three months.

The wreck is fairly well spread out and therefore Steve told all the divers to deploy a DSMB rather than come back to the shotline. This they duly did and it was now a case of watching out for the buoys breaking the surface. It never ceases to amaze me just how far the group members can be from each other by the end of the dive! One by one though the DSMB’s broke surface and we duly recovered all of our divers.

Despite the overcast conditions, all the divers were blown away with the great viz that they had on the wreck. The general consensus was that it was a minimum of fifteen metres if not more. Now I was jealous!

We made our way back to Port St. Mary harbour now as we had four or five hours to kill before heading out for the afternoon dive which was scheduled for 3pm (heads down).

Dive 4. The Burroo.

This is quite simply one of the best scenic dives in UK waters! It is a rocky outcrop on the Southern end of the Calf of Man. It’s a mixture of cliffs and gullies descending to about 40mts onto a clean sand bed so you can pick your depth. Life is prolific here and just about every available surface is covered in marine life including Jewel Anemones, Dead Mens Fingers, Devonshire Cup corals and sponges amongst others. It can be dived as a drift dive as well a normal slack water dive.

We had to be back on Endeavour for 1.30pm so people went for a bite to eat or in my case, a walk and a little bit of sight seeing. I didn’t venture far but took a look at the Dunkirk Memorial which featured the story of the Mona’s Queen III.

We were on site for about 2.30pm and the divers busied themselves getting ready for the dive which was scheduled for 3.00pm. Once again, the gang did themselves proud and were all in the water on time. Most of the pairings completed almost an hour on this dive despite the cold. And it certainly was cold both above and below the waves with a biting northerly breeze blowing. Eventually though the DSMB’s started to break the surface and all the divers were picked up. There was a clear buzz of contentment on board from a happy group of divers although most of them reported that the viz was not as good as the mornings dive but not enough to spoil their enjoyment.

So our diving for day two was finished and we headed back for Port St.Mary harbour for our final night and a meal in Andrea’s Italian Restaurant at 7pm. The restaurant is only about 100 metres away from the dive centre. The truth is, nowhere is very far from the dive centre which makes the location ideal.

As ever, and with the three venues that we ate in, the food was excellent. All fresh and well cooked. The main topic of conversation around the table was obviously the days diving and also the days diving still to come. Its safe to say that everyone was blown away by the quality of the viz on the first dive. Garry actually rated it as the best we have ever had on any of our trips. After the meal, we all decided that as it was the last night that we would stroll down to The Albert for one or two drinks. We all stuck to the plan as well (honestly) and then strolled back to the dive centre. We did after all have our third early start in the morning as we had a ferry to catch in the afternoon.

Dive 5. Port St.Mary Ledges.

This is one of my personal favourites, especially when done as a drift. Unfortunately we were diving it at almost slack but even so, it is still a brilliant dive. As I wasn’t diving, I couldn’t get any underwater pictures but while out on a walk, took a few landside ones which showed what the underwater topography looks like. As the Ledges are literally just outside of the harbour, It only took a few minutes to get on site. Everyone had mostly kitted up on the way out in order to save some time as well as to protect themselves from the light drizzle that had started. The group were dropped in the shallows and were told to work throgh the kelp and onto the clear rock. They all picked their depth although one pair did pick a different direction to the rest and ended up in 25mtrs of water. Dive times varied between 25 minutes and almost one hour.

Once everyone was back on board, we headed for our final dive of the weekend. This was going to be the Sugarloaf Caves as we didn’t want to travel too far due to having plenty to do once we got back to the dive centre.

Andy Rath, Garry Bolland, Alan (Major) Jones and Tony Smith returning from their dives on Port St.Mary Ledges.

Dive 6. Sugarloaf Caves.

Five of the group had elected not to do the final dive for various reasons so we dropped them back at the harbour which gave them time to sort their kit etc before heading back to the dive centre for a shower and tidy up. So that just left six to go in. The coastline here is nothing short of awesome! Particularly at the exit end of the caves where there are colonies of Guillemots, Puffins and various Gulls all clamouring for nesting sites on the ledges of the stacks.

The exit end of the Sugarloaf caves with some of the nesting colonies.

The divers were dropped in just outside of the small cave. They had all dived the site previously and at least one of them on a few occasions so they all knew what to do and where to go. It felt quite odd really that it was the second dive of the day yet the time was only just past 9.30am. We watched the exhaust bubbles of the open circuit divers disappear into the cave then Steve took the boat to the exit end of the cave to wait for them to finish their dives. One pair exited the cave and into open water then turned back towards the middle opening. They said that it was a particularly nice dive. I’ll have to try that route one day. The other two pairs headed away from the cave and out into open water. I think that Chris and Kate had some Guillemots swimming around them as they thouht that their exhaust bubbles were small fish or Sand Eels. Dive times were between 45 minutes and 56 minutes.

So it was back to harbour now and get all the kit packed away.

We were actually in plenty of time. The few small jobs that needed doing before leaving were all completed and everyone was showered and changed. All we had to do was wait for our taxi to turn up. I’ve got to admit that I was getting slightly twitchy as the minutes ticked by but it was all for nothing as Shaun from Ronaldsway Taxis turned up at the agreed time.

With all the dive gear and larger articles packed into the trailer, all that was left to do was to bid farewell to our hosts Michelle and Steve. Not forgetting Kathryn of course! So off we set back for Douglas. We arrived in plenty of time, checked all the bags in and eventually boarded without any hassle. It was time to relax now and reflect on what I personally think was our best trip to date despite the early starts. Everyone was shattered now and I think that most of the group gave up fighting the need for a sleep. They deserved it.

I’d like to thank our hosts Steve and Michelle from Discover Diving who were ably assisted by Kathryn Fowler who actually changed her work hours so that she could be on the boat with us. The girl must have a screw loose ha ha! Seriously though, thanks to all three of you. You all pulled out the stops to make the weekend work.

I’d also like to thank the group for making it a great trip. I thoroughly enjoyed it despite not being able to dive. So thanks to Garry Bolland, Andy Rath, Chris and Kate Mills, Phil and Angela Coggins, Tony Smith, Paul Hughes, Chris Gold, Alex Naylor and last but not least, Alan (Major Jonnie) Jones who transported quite a bit of kit for the group.