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An introduction to Divers Down
Swanage, on the South Coast in Dorset, has much to offer, with its
rolling green hills to one side of the Bay and Peveril Point to
the other.
But undoubtedly the main attraction for divers is Divers Down, Britain’s
oldest dive school, established in 1958.
Swanage has always been a popular dive site for all standards of diver
and this year Divers Down celebrates its 55th Anniversary.
Nestling nicely on the pier to the South of the town, Divers Down has an
ideal location, with the underwater world of wonder lying
directly beneath it, attracted by the confines of the wooden pier framework.
A variety of other dives including many wrecks lie in
deeper water outside the bay.
STOP PRESS......
We still have spaces for dives this week and at the moment the tides and the
weather are looking good:
Saturday 25th May
10.00 Kyarra, 12.00 Fleur De Lys,
13.30 Old Harry Drift, 16.00 Valentine Tanks, 16.00 Betsy Anna
Sunday 26th May
10.50 Kyarra, 10.50 Carantan
12.45 Old Harry Drift or Fleur De Lys, 14.45 Fleur De Lys or Old Harry Drift
Monday 27th May
09.30 Fleur De Lys
11.30 Betsy Anna, 11.30 Kyarra
14.30 Old Harry Drift
If you go to the Boat Charter Page we have a more comprehensive list of dives available
over the next few weeks.
If you would like to reserve spaces on a dive or would like more information
then please do not hesitate to contact us.
Email: medina@madasafish.com
We are sorry the camera is no longer working. We put it back in and it worked for a few days then failed
completely. It's gone away for repair and hopefully will be back before long.
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Testemonials - What People Say About Us
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Dear Sir,
I am writing to you express my gratitude to and commend the crew
of SAR helicopter G-CGIJ who deployed to the assistance of the
dive boat SKUA out of Swanage on the afternoon of Sunday 20th May.
I would also wish to commend the actions of the boat's skipper
Mr Dave LAUT who worked calmly, effectively and with clear
determination to manage the delivery of first aid to one of my dive
buddies; Nick Coletta, whilst recovering divers from the water,
mounting a search for three overdue divers, whilst calling for
assistance and liaising over the radio with your communications
centre during what was undoubtedly an extremely stressful time.
Dave LAUT was assisted by his colleague Mr Dave BROOM who
assisted in recovering divers onto the boat and de-kitting them
whilst keeping lookout for surfacing divers.
Between 11:30 and 11:50 hrs ten divers entered the water to dive
on the wreck of the Warwick Deeping off the Isle of Wight. At
about 12:00 hrs my dive buddies Nick Colletta and Paul Fassolas
decided that the current had picked up too much and that the
dive was called. During the early part of the ascent I became
separated from my buddies as I was reeling in onto the DSMB
at about 24 metres due to the current. My buddies deployed a
second DSMB and continued with their ascent, however at about
15 metres Nick became distressed and was suffering with some
exhaustion and difficulties in breathing and then suffered a rapid
ascent to the surface missing a small deco obligation and safety
stop. Paul continued with a separate normal ascent. When I
surfaced I saw that Nick was out of his dive kit and on oxygen
and been tended to by Dave LAUT and his crewman Dave BROOM.
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Once I was recovered to the boat I assisted Dave LAUT with
monitoring Nick's condition, whilst he continued to liaise with
the coastguard control room, recovering the remaining three
divers in the water in close proximity to Skua whilst directing
them to keep a lookout for the three other divers who were
utstanding, having entered the water first, but not yet overdue.
Dave continued to liaise with your control centre and monitor
Nick's condition, handle the dive boat, direct the other divers
o keep looking out for the other divers and work with SAR
helicopter G-CGIJ as it approached and deployed the rescue
crewman to SKUA. Whilst the sea state may not have been
the most challenging it was good, and provided much
confidence to all, to see all elements; flying, winching,
boarding and the boat working seamlessly. The rescue
crewman, whose name, to my shame I have forgotten,
provided comfort and reassurance to Nick whilst he
administered first aid in the most professional manner.
As the rescue crewman assisted Nick, the outstanding
divers became overdue and it was agreed between the
skipper and the rescue crewman that as Nick's condition
was not too severe that it would be sensible for the
helicopter to continue to support the search for the
missing divers as other vessels had yet to arrive in the area.
After a short period the divers were spotted and recovered
to SKUA and Nick was airlifted to hospital thus bringing a
happy conclusion to an eventful afternoon.
I would be grateful if you would accept my recommendation
for some form of formal recognition of the professional
efforts of the crew of G-CGIJ in all of their roles and those
of the crew of SKUA in particular Dave LAUT who had so
many matters to deal with at the same time.
Yours sincerely
Gus Kennedy
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Dear Swanage Council or to whom it concern I Have been wanting to
write this letter for some time only now and have just got around to it,
so my apologies. I made my first visit to Swanage in August 2012 to
do some diving. I would like to commend several people whom names
I do not know, as they went the extra mile to make my visit very enjoyable.
Fist of all I would like to commend the skippers of the diving boats. They
were excellent and did everything they could to make my visit special.
They went the extra mile in hospitality and made
my visit great. The dive shop on the pier was also very keen to be helpful.
The Pier staff who locks up were also special as when we were late back
one day they stayed behind to man the gates to let us out without any
moans and with a smile. Swanage was very clean and it was a pleasure
to walk around. My hotel was also very helpful. All in all these people
made my visit special and I will certainly be back this year.
Yours truly Mr D. Mapp.
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Hello Divers Down, (Peter),
Just a quick e-mail to thank you for turning our rather unlucky weekend
diving schedule into a Dive on the Fleur from your new boat Spike.
All of us enjoyed the experience, in less than ideal conditions, we all
thought Spike was a great boat. Thank You
Ray & I would like to thank you for giving us the Bridge Rubber & Plastics
contact, we did a little business with Ken, 2 tins of anti-foul and undercoat.
we are most grateful, it saved our club quite a bit of cash.
For future reference, is it possible to book "Spike" say for 2 or 3 dives
over a weekend period next year, what would the cost be, and how
many divers can you take? Also what are your booking conditions?
Once again many thanks for saving our weekend.
Kind regards,
Shirley (Painter)
Secretary,
Croy-Tech BSAC 187
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Check out the Hall of Shame for your recent exploits and join us celebrating over 50 Years of excellence!
The Dive Shop on Swanage Pier, providing Boat Charter, Air, Nitrox, Hire Equipment and Shop Sales. The shop is open 7 days a week during the diving season - March to October, to supply you with all you need to carry out your dive. At weekends the air filling station opens at 08.00 and closes between 17.00 and 20.00 depending on demand. If for any reason the shop is not open during the day when you require something, please just phone us on 07977 142661, as we are never usually more than a few minutes away.
This aerial view of Swanage proves that we do have good visibility. You can view a location map and contact information on our contact page.
Visit our weather station
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Click the play button below to view our live streaming underwater webcam.
get.adobe.com/flashplayer
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