Welcome to the Northeast Diving site.

Updated 4-6-2017

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This 'site will be of interest to divers planning to visit this beautiful and often under-rated part of the United Kingdom. Whilst the information given is mostly intended for those planning shore-dives or using their own boats, divers who are chartering hard boats and relying upon the skipper to put them on the best sites will still find it of some use.

The 'site isn't by any means intended to replace or compete with the growing number of printed dive guides but is intended to provide an overview of some of the not too challenging sites visitors may like to try for themselves.

Neither are the pages filled with unnecessary images, the few there are are pertinent to the section. Besides which, we all know what anemones and urchins look like, so why wait those extra few seconds for unwanted pictures to load?
However, there is a page of photographs of shoredive access points for those new to the area. This should help them visualise the type of terrain they'll encounter.
For those that want them, plenty of colourful underwater pictures can be found on several other sites designed specifically for that purpose (see the links section of the ukrecscuba site listed below).

The 'site is divided into the areas listed below, alternatively, click an area on the map;

In addition, there's a page dedicated to working out when slack water will occur. Many divers - even experienced locals, are reluctant to take the risk of working it out for themselves prefering to leave its mysteries to others; with the help of this article they should have no excuse for remaining ignorant.

The described sites vary from simple shore dives at St Abbs, Howick and St. Mary's suitable for all grades, through to offshore sites around The Farne Islands suitable only for more experienced divers.
Whilst I've taken every care in producing these descriptions, I would urge anyone new to the area intending to dive any of the sites to act prudently and when possible, to seek local advice on the day.
The North Sea is not the place to discover that training in sheltered inland sites or the Red Sea has not fully prepared you for real open-water conditions.

I assume that Dive Marshals will be able to convert the "modern" grades of Club and Ocean Divers to the "old style" standards of Novice, Sports etc. that I've retained throughout.

Whilst year-round shorediving is possible (weather permitting), the best visibility during the winter months occurs offshore and unfortunately, access to the few launching facilities is often restricted to the summer months - usually April through to October.
Water temperatures vary from an unpleasant 6-7 degrees in the winter to a bearable 13-14 degrees in the late summer; therefore a good fitting 7mm semi-dry-suit should be considered the minimum requirement for year round diving.

As well as the Coastguard (tel: 999 or VHF ch 16), probably the most important telephone number for ALL divers to know is that of The British Hyperbaric Association: 07831 151523
Please note this and do not hesitate to use it in the unfortunate event of decompression problems appearing after the day's diving, the line is manned 24 hours a day.

The following links should be of use to divers and prospective visitors to the region.

Local accommodation for divers is extensive, some to be going on with are:

Alphabetical list of known dive clubs in the area covered by these pages.

If you've any comments/suggestions or to report any obvious mistakes or omissions, please e-mail me.

Happy and safe diving!

Top of page,

St. Abbs & Eyemouth,
The Farne Islands,
Beadnell & Newton
Howick.
St Marys Island.

Shoredive entry point photos.
Calculating Slack Water Times

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