Diving Pembroke Whilst the rest of the country sweltered under a cloudless sky eight of our members shivered their way from Neyland Marina in a monster RIB or RIBs belonging to Pembroke Dive Charters, run by Steve Lewis. Saturday at the B&B looked to be a hot day, however a few hundred metres from the marina we were enveloped in a fairly chilly sea fog which stayed around for most of the day. However we were still able to dive, the RIB being equipped with radar to aid the navigation around the islands!

Our first dive was on Skomer, a national marine reserve of outstanding beauty and interest located a few miles out from Milford Haven. Our dive was on the north face of Skomer. A very pleasant dive albeit a little silty, but plenty to see. For the avid nudibranchophile the cameras clicked incessantly, recording the sexual antics of these remarkable little balls of slime, well whatever turns you on. for the hungry amongst us it was look but don't remove as this is a marine reserve!

From Skomer to Skokholm, not far, another dive onto a tumbled junkyard of scrap, the remnants of several wrecks, the "William and Caroline" sunk 26th October 1880 and an Austrian barque sunk on the 1st November 1880. It must have been a busy week for Lloyds! The wreck sites turned up some anchors, various bits of scrap and a plethora of enormous, aggressive spider crabs. There were even a few lobsters, described by the jealously lacking as prawns and, I might add, returned from whence they came. I still maintain the ones you see in Sainsburys are a damned sight smaller. Sunday was an entirely different day, cloudless skies, sunny, hot, a little breezy but otherwise ideal diving conditions. We don't get many days like this in the UK. Another couple of wrecks this time, the "Bury" which managed to hit Skomer at full speed in dense fog (ooops) sometime in 1889, a smallish vessel of some 151 tons and the "Angelica" which went down in 1895. Again two good dives, plenty to see, not particularly taxing conditions. By the end of the day everyone had faces resembling freshly smacked arses. John and Sara set off home and the rest of us went to the pub!

Monday saw another cold day and some fairly rough seas in the entrance to Milford Haven sound and around St Anne's head. Once cleared we had the luxury of flat water off Skomer. The first dive was onto the wreck of the "Lucy", this is a very impressive dive. The wreck is actually recognisable as a ship, I thought these things only occured in Scapa Flow or Truk lagoon. About 35 metres to the deck and 40 to the bottom. Portholes with glass!! All manner of companion ways to explore. The deck planking has gone allowing access to the rather dark, deep and dodgy looking holds. There is so much to see on this wreck we need to visit her several times more.

The afternoon dive was on the Hen and Chicks, a series of rocks and reef some 15 meteres deep. This is a rummaging dive, there are plenty of beastlets to see, lobsters, crabs, squat lobsters, prawns, spider crabs, starfish, nudibranchs (oh no), jewel anemones (pity the sun wasn't shining). There is plenty of good and reasonably priced accommodation in the area, the pubs do good food, the beer isn't Timothy Taylor's but it isn't bad, there is even a decent curry house in Milford Haven.

Our thanks must go the "Pembrokehire Dive Charters. This is a thoroughly professional outfit, very well equipped and efficiently run. Their skippers are local divers who know the area well. Their knowledge and dive briefings are very helpful in planning the dives. We will be back with them soon. I can also recommend The Lodge, B&B accommodation in Neyland, ably run by Lyn Beattie. The house is surrounded bya wonderful garden, a lot of work and time must have gone into creating a very peaceful and colourful haven. Lyn can be contacted via E mail.

Thanks to Penny, Sara, Mark, John, Danny, Richard and Phill for causing me no headaches and impressing the skipper with their efficiency. Now they know how good we are as a group we might like a go at a few of the more adventurous drift dives next time, like Red Cliff,the Crow and Bull Slaughter (mmmmmm....).