Diving - More Adventures underwater
2025 begins
My first dives of 2025 came in early January.
Phil, one of our new intake in 2024, had progressed to Sports Diver and was keen to get some dives in and asked if anyone was interested in a visit to Wraysbury.
5 of us (Tom came with a member from Woking and Tomek and Konrad were there, too) turned up on a wet Sunday morning.
Thankfully the air temperature was a mild 11C as it had been (and would go on to be) in low single digits in days before, so it was relatively comfortable getting ready, although I did resort to the changing rooms to change into my drysuit!
It wasn't a great start to the day as I left my dive computer at home, but I had a watch and a depth gauge and knew I'd be safe enough in Wraysbury for the time we were likely to stay in.
We dropped in from the pier in the car park and found decent 3-4M vis.
I quickly found our way to the Taxi and then to one of the boats, from there I could see the nose of the 737, which was my intended target, so I was pretty happy with that, aided by the good vis.
We swam around the plane and then on for a while to the lifeboat, which we swam through, although on exiting it, I got confused and we swam back to the plane!
From there we swam around, hoping to find the 'graveyard' (a collection of wrecks), but we failed to.
Eventually, we surfaced and found ourselves some way north of the shop, so we dropped back down and swam into there, surfacing near the slip behind it and exiting from there.
There were plenty of crayfish around, but I don't think we saw a single fish on this dive.
Between dives, as we ate a bacon sandwich and drank tea, we caught up with Konrad and Tom and Konrad mentioned that they'd seen 3 pike on their way up to the 'cave complex', so I gave into Phil's suggestion of a second dive, even though everyone else just did the one.
We walked down the slip behind the shop and headed to the bus, which was in excellent vis (there were very few people there to disturb it) and after swimming around it, we headed along th edge of the lake, passing the Scimitar and reaching the pit.
You could see the bottom of the pit clearly from the top, so we dropped down into it, Phil recording 16.6M, but I don't think he put his computer right down on the ground and I think the bottom had reached 17M+ at this time.
Along the way we did, indeed, spot 3 pike, 2 very close up, so that made the second dive worthwhile - There was even a biggish Perch in the pit!
We carried on along the edge of the dropoff and finally reached the caves, which we navigated, before heading back, passing the portacabin, which I hadn't seen in some time and then finally exiting via the slip again, 30 minutes being enough for a second dive in 6C water and I was starting to get cold.
Thankfully, the notably warmer air quickly warmed us up, you could feel yourself warm as you walked out of the water, and after kitting up we headed home where I had a long warm shower!
Early february saw me back at Wraysbury (It's close to home and winter is always the best time for vis there) for a dive with 3 like minded club members.
These two dives turned out to be the coldest I've ever done with the water a consistent 4C!
I wandered down to the pier in the carp park to check the vis and could see clearly to the bottom. It's not deep here, 3-4M probably, but if the bottom in clearly visible it's a good a sign.
John and I kitted up (Caroline dived with Phil Heath) and then walked in down the slope by the car park pier with the intention of visiting the plane, the lifeboat and the 'wreck site'.
The water actually hurt to put my face into as I checked the vis beneath me, but luckily I soon got used to it once underwater.
We headed out over the small boat near the pier and to the black cab, now beginning to look very sorry for itself.
From there I could actually see the nose of the plane and we swam over to it and through. Oddly, the vis was worse in the plane than in open water, so we quickly moved onto the lifeboat (again, visible from the plane).
We swam around and then I dropped inside and swam through the lifeboat, watchinfg out for Pike inside!
From there I headed what I thought was North (having remembered to go that way from checking the map before the dive) and we came across a container which we swam through.
As I exited it, I spotted a huge Carp with a swollen belly and some other large fish, possibly Tench, swimming around.
A Tench was relaxing, untroubled, it seemed, by us on top of the container, so we lingered there for a few moments before moving into the 'wreck site' where a number of small boats are piled randomly atop each other.
As we moved into the site, I almost immediately spotted a large pike hovering next to one of the bigger wrecks.

Pike in the 'wreck site'
I moved in closer to get some video footage with my new Insta360 camera, which I was trying out for the first time.
We also saw the large Tench around again and so stayed a while here before heading onward.
Eventually, we came to a boat resting on top of a ridge and off to one side was the 'Die Hard' Taxi (actually just the front half used for static shots in the taxi for the film), which meant I had an idea where we were, but I was trying to orientate myself when John, who had his compass, pointed in the direction to go, so we set off that way.
We eventually found ourselves at the top of the pit, with good enough visibility to see to the bottom, so I dropped in, keen to see if I could match Andy's 18M record from a recent visit.
Sure enough, although it was silty at the bottom, so I can't be sure I found the deepest point, I did get 18M.
From there we headed on, around the bus and then out via the slip behind the shop.
We done 43 minutes, the temperature had only risen to 5C a couple of times and John's suit had leaked a fair bit, so I thought it fair enough to do just one dive, especially as I was still pretty much dry, even down to the merino gloves inside my dry gloves, but after a bit of a break, John said he was happy to go back in, so we got a fill and decided to do a quick dive up to the 'Caves' and back.
I guess the first dive readied me for the shock of the cold water as it seemed less shocking this time and we soon reached the bus, which we swam around and then headed along the bank, towards the Scimitar, passing the pit and then finally reaching the caves.
We spotted Caroline and Phil returning from the caves as we heaeded towards them.
Vis was so good that they actually looked different to me and it took me a moment to recognise what we'd reached.
We did the usual circuit, but then, instead of returning the way we'd come, I'd dropped down the slope on the right side of the boxes that make up the cave and headed that way.
After a while, we found the Portacabin, which I swam into, finding it's still full of furniture.
After that we returned past the Scimitar and the now almost completely corroded remains of the Triumph Spitfire and then, after passing the bus and alongside the confined water training area, we reached the slipway at the 23 minute point, ready to call it a day.
My dry gloves stayed dry on both dives and, although my suit has a tiny leak that always leaves my right knee damp, I had only felt cold in my feet and to a degree in my hands (I was very grateful the dry gloves performed!), so the dives had actually been quite enjoyable.
I was a bit disappointed with the footage from my new camera as the display looked excellent underwater, so I guess I need to experiment with it a bit more, but overall, despite the record cold temperatures, it had been an enjoyable couple of dives.