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Sunday was another club diving trip – this time to enjoy the delights of Swanage Pier.
Our group of five divers gathered in the car park, fuelled by bacon sandwiches and hot coffee, to agree our dive plan. Advanced Open Water Diver Nigel was excited that this would be his first sea dive, having dived mostly in the UK inland sites so far. Swanage Pier is a lovely easy dive – steps down to a short surface swim, then a dive in with fairly shallow water of around 4-6m using the pier for navigation. Since we weren’t going very deep we could enjoy a reasonably long and relaxed dive, although it’s definitely good for buoyancy practice!
We descended close to the start of the pier – much to the fascination of the onlookers above! Despite the large number of divers milling around, we got a lot of curious stares.
Under the pier, we made our way slowly further out. Tim was putting his underwater camera through its paces, with the visibility around 3m getting some good shots was quite a challenge. I examined the many remnants of wood and concrete on the sea floor looking for crabs, but they were obviously off having a party elsewhere – although we did find one hiding inside a crevice, and several small prawns waving at us from under the rocks.
Despite the lack of crabs there were plenty of fish, and a few shoals to be seen silhouetted against the light from the surface if you look up at the right time. The pier girders are also covered in barnacles and sea plants.
With the tide moving slowly out but still fairly high, the exit up the steps was nice and easy, and we retired to the nearby cafe to refuel. With the promise of post-dive fish and chips later in the afternoon, Ashley and I restrained ourselves to sharing a sausage sandwich (which was ALMOST as good as the ones in Wraysbury, but not quite).
For the second dive, we walked further up the pier and down two sets of steps to the water. A group of crazy kids wearing thin t-shirts and shorts were showing off jumping into the water from the platform, which was quite a way up above the water.
“I’ve jumped in from here loads of times, even off of that post,” one of them boasted to Ashley.
Ashley looked doubtfully over the edge. “Not in dive gear I bet you haven’t,” he replied, and the rather wet boys laughed. Hmmm, I’d rather be in my drysuit, I thought.
Once we were in the water, Ashley pointed out that I was having a Worzel Gummidge moment with my hair matting around the edge of my dive hood. Tim took a photo to record the evidence (which I thought actually came out rather well and un-scarecrow like!)
We made our way to the end of the pier, where the light was better and the visibility even increased slightly. We didn’t find any cuttlefish or dogfish, but there was lots of pretty anemones and seaweed rippling in the currents!
We swam slowly back along the pier and climbed the steps, the anticipation of vinegary fish and chips making my mouth start to water.
We tidied up all of our dive equipment before meandering down past the children building sandcastles to Tim’s recommended chippie The Fish Plaice. We sat outside in the sunshine munching our tasty lunch and marvelling at the size of the sea gulls as they scavenged for titbits of fried fish. Finally, we finished it all off with a 99 Flake – YUM!!!!
A bit more about Diving at Swanage Pier …
Diving at Swanage Pier is pleasant and easy, especially for novice divers, as the water is shallow and navigation is straightforward – just follow the legs of the pier and the light. Visibility is between 1-4m, and usually better towards the end of the pier – closer to the beach, it can get quite low.
There is plenty of beautiful plant life under the water including seaweed and anenomes, many fish including pollack, and often both spider and edible crabs can be seen, as well as snails and hermit crabs. If you look closely you might find some small prawns in the crevices.
Entry and exit is easy via concrete steps, although they can get slippery. The water is usuallly around waist deep by the steps, although at low tide it is quite a
bit shallower so can be more challenging getting out with dive gear on.
While diving around Swanage Pier, watch out for the many fishing lines. It’s safer to stay under the pier itself to be away from boat traffic.
Divecrew run regular club diving trips to Swanage Pier as well as other UK dive sites – please contact us if you’re interested. Even if we don’t have anything scheduled, there’s always somebody who wants to go diving! (usually me)
Swanage Pier Facilities
Swanage Pier is over 100 years old, built in Victorian times, and owned and operated by the Swanage Pier Trust which is a charity. Many of its planks are sponsored, and embedded with a plaque containing a special message from one of its visitors – you can see these as you walk down the pier.
Entry cost us £2 each. We all took two tanks from Divecrew, but you can get fills from Divers Down. We got coffee and water from the small shop on the pier, which also sells limited hot food. Further along the road by the beach we found yummy bacon and sausage sandwiches and other breakfast items on offer! Further along are fish and chip shops, pubs, ice cream and donuts.
Parking is available on the pier but usually fills up very early, we were lucky enough to get spaces – which cost us £5 for the day. Otherwise there is a car park slightly further up the hill – it’s advisable to bring a luggage trolley for diving kit just in case.
There are public toilets and showers on Swanage Pier, showers have a small fee. The pier closes at 5pm.
The area is friendly and fun, popular with tourists and divers, and in the summer also with sandcastle-building-children! A diving trip can be extended to a great day out or weekend away.
