On the May bank holiday weekend twenty-two divers and three boats descended upon the small
fishing village of Portmagee for the second dive weekend of the year. Most of us arrived on
Thursday afternoon, with the rest joining on Friday. The Lir, Danu, and Lucozade™ (kindly brought
down by Luke for the weekend) made it in one piece, and despite Neill’s car breaking down, the
compressors also made it. An advance party present on Thursday moored the boats, checked in,
and headed straight to the pub. With the weather reports looking hopeful, we were ready for a
weekend of diving
On Friday morning we headed to Dromgour, a local dive site, for the first dive of the weekend. The
sun was shining and the sea calm, apart from milky visibility we couldn’t have asked for better
conditions. Just as I was about to hop in the water panic struck as I realised the back of my reg
fell off. Thankfully I was able to borrow Sarah’s and the dive went off without a hitch, and Jimmy
was able to fix it once we reached dry land. We also stayed local for the second dive of the day,
with plenty of wildlife being spotted including crabs, lobsters, and walls upon walls of colourful
anemones.
Without a doubt the highlight of the trip was diving the Skelligs on Saturday. Again, the weather
was on our side, and we had a calm 40-minute boat journey to Skellig Michael. The island was
teeming with life both above and below the water, with many puffins, dolphins, seals, fish, crabs,
lobsters, and even a basking shark spotted. After our first dive, we headed onto the island for a
bit of lunch and a private tour, as we had all brought two bottles, we had plenty of time to explore.
A few remained by the boats whilst the rest of us climbed to the top of the island, the sun was
splitting the stones as I undertook the ascent in a wetsuit (which I wouldn’t recommend!). We
were treated with fantastic views of the surroundings and our next dive site, Skellig Bheag. The
second dive of the day went similarly well, and by the time we returned home we were in
desperate need of a feed and a rake of pints. We swarmed the local bar (the moorings) to watch
the Leinster match and socialise. As it was May the 4th, there was a Star Wars festival on in town,
which gave the place a great buzz.
On Sunday, we ventured out to Lemon rock and battled strong currents during our morning dive,
with divers being blown out towards the Skelligs. Other than the currents the conditions were
great with calm seas and pleasant weather. We then returned to puffin island for my last dive of
the weekend, with Niell kindly dry coxing. Again, we descended upon the local pub, and there
were a few that dove on the Monday morning.
Overall, it was a fantastic weekend, and we could not have asked for better weather. A massive
thanks to everyone who chipped in to make this a fantastic weekend, in particular the towers,
coxswains, DO and assistant DO. I am well and truly hooked!