- Tom Ryan's trip Dives 2018
First dive of 2018. Clear skies and Sandycove was absolutely packed with people, even at this hour of the morning. So we headed for Mourners Point (The Outfall, The Ladies Steps). There was a rather large swell, building as the morning went on. It was also choppy, winds coming from the east. Also the tide had turned (HT was at 09:27) and current was travelling southerly. Upon entry we headed north for about 15 minutes then caught the current and drifted back to our entry point. A short dive, getting familiar with our gear and working out the little kinks after a long winter.
A dull morning in Dublin. Cloudy and misty rain. The rain eased off for our dive though so we were nice and dry suiting up. The morning was a bit chilly with a light breeze. Calm seas, LOW TIDE at 08:28 so the bay was filling as we began our dive. Very few swimmers about at the start of our dive. A couple of rib boats in the bay as well with other divers but they were much further out in the bay. We set off heading north out of the bay to get into a bit of deeper . Too shallow in the middle of the bay for our dive. So relaxed for the second dive of the year. Saw many different species in the bay and a kind of a pipefish which I've never seen in Sandycove before. It was long and very skinny with a long snout. Reminds me of one i saw in Thailand some years back. There was the usual crab about, lobster, star fish, Goby's, plaice, hermit crab and a few compass jelly fish. Came across a beautiful white sea urchin about the size of a basketball. Beautiful. Near the end of our dive the sea was becoming choppy as the wind picked up and there was a bit of a swell developing. The bay was becoming busy with divers, kayakers and swimmers. All in all a lovely dive and it was nice and relaxed.
High tide was at 17:46 so we were diving at an outgoing tide. The Sandycove side of Dun Laoghaire was jam packed with people and there was no where to park so we set up at the Outfall (Ladies Steps also known as Mourners Point). We were conscious of completing or dive before the tide had gone out so much that we wouldn't be able to get back to our entry point. The entry from the Outfall can not be accessed at low tides due to rather large rocks/boulders. The visibility wasn't great at a mere 2-3m at best. We saw one crab and one lobster, not much else. Fish were present but at a distance and a blur beyond 3m. Near the end of our dive I got separated from Mick. Did a sweep for 30 seconds or so then surfaced to find him a good distance from me. We were reminded of how fast this can happen on a running tide. The dive was challenging on the surface with a rather large swell and a running tide but we were well up to the task. Enjoyable dive but we wont be making the mistake again of diving here when the tide is going out.
Sandycove was crazy busy with people. Mick got there early at 18:30 and got a parking spot at the cove. I got there at 18:55 and it took about 10 minutes before I got a parking spot. When the sun is shining its a crazy area for parking. The tide was low but filling, low tide being at 16:54. Entry was so easy with only a few swimmers about. The majority of swimmers enter at the "40 foot" which is around the corner from Sandycove. The dive was nice, temperature at 16 degrees, visability 6-8m which is good for sandycove. I somehow managed to forget my ankle weights which made the going a bit slow as the depth was only about 6m, averaging 4.3m. Every now and again my feet would fill with air when i wasn't paying attention. Annoying but it didn't detract from the overall dive. Plenty of life about, lobster, large edible crab, wrasse, prawn. Beautiful evening, almost flat calm seas, no current. A big difference from our last dive at the Outfall (Mourners Point).
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