SCUBA
DIVING
NDAC CHEPSTOW
INLAND DIVE SITES
Sometimes the weather just won't cooperate and stops any chance of sea diving. When this happens we tend to take advantage of the facilities at the National Diving and Activity Centre, based in Chepstow where we will take divers of all grades to practice and develop their skills or just simply go for a dive to increase their level of experience.
Martin Webb
Diving Officer / Instructor
DIVING WITH THE CLUB
The whole point of a diving club is to go diving so some information on the sort of diving we do would seem appropriate !
We welcome all divers of any qualification and agency to join the club and dive with us.
Most weekends and occasionally on weekdays you can find some members of the club diving somewhere year round.
Jason Mold
Dive Leader / Assistant Instructor
WEST WALES
The club owns 2 RIBs (Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats) and both are based near Milford Haven in West Wales. This gives us quick and easy access to the countless wrecks and dive sites off that coast. The shape of the coastline also means diving is possible somewhere at nearly any state of the wind and tide.
Popular areas with the club are the islands of Skokholm and Skomer and the surrounding marine reserve along with the Castlemartin area and when weather permits, to the amazing Smalls lighthouse some 25nm offshore.
We generally aim to do 2 dives per day off the boats and tend to dive a mixture of wreck, wall and reef depending on weather conditions and requirements of the divers out that day!
We often attempt to do a full weekend diving (Saturdays and Sundays) and if that's the case although there are B&Bs in the area a lot of us tend to camp in the compound where the boats are based - this is cheap and very convenient as the yacht club has showers, changing rooms and a bar all on site.
Depending on the experience level of the divers, this will normally dictate the site and depths chosen for the dive. The depths chosen will vary from nice simple 6mt dives with trainees to 40mt or deeper wrecks such as The Lucy for the more experienced divers.
Allan Oakley
Advanced Diver / Instructor
FOREIGN TRIPS.
Although the UK has very good diving it does have a rather dismal climate so its nice to go abroad and get some sunshine once in a while! For that reason we also organise trips abroad in particular The Red Sea. This is a very popular choice and in the past the club has run concurrently Red Sea trips in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 and the club is now planning its next dive safari to the Red Sea in 2021 which members new and established are already excited about.
Members have also organised dive trips to Malta, Cyprus and Spain to name just a few.
Chris James
Treasurer / Instructor
OTHER UK TRIPS
In addition to our own boats in West Wales we occasionally organise trips to other destinations in the UK and use charter boats. There are usually 1 or 2 of these organised trips per year and a few others that club members have organised themselves at other times. Destinations of the last few years have included Porthkerris and Looe in Cornwall, a few trips to Plymouth along with Weymouth and Lundy Island.
COSTS
RIBs aren't cheap to buy or operate and as a result when we use and operate the RIB's to dive from we have to charge for the diving. Currently the cost is £20 per person per day (so typically that's 2 dives). Air fills are available nearby at a cost of roughly £3 depending on tank size. Nitrox is also available from the same place but at an extra cost.
Charter boat prices are dictated by the operator as obviously are trips abroad.