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Kent, southeast England offers a variety of diving activities. Kent
diving consists of a number of interesting shore dives as well
as loads of wrecks off the Dover coast which boasts some of the
most varied wreck diving in the UK. The choice of diving schools
in Kent is large and they offer certification at different levels
and trips to other parts of the UK and abroad.
Air temperature during the year 15 to 30°C (59-86°F)
Kent has a pleasant climate almost all year with most of the rainfall
in the winter months. May to August are the wettest months. When
planning a holiday to the south east keep in mind that it's a
very popular holiday area in England. There is accomodation going
from the very basic to luxurious. As the holiday season falls
at the same time as the main diving season it's advisable to make
sure that hotel rooms or campsites have available space.
Dover and Folkstone area offer great wreck dives
for the novice and adventurous divers. The depth of the wrecks
ranges from 15 to 50 metres (49 - 164 feet) so everyone will find
something to suit their needs. For those who are not into wreck
diving there are many shore dives around the Kent coastline. Some
of the dives accesible from Kent are.
Western wall is a good wall dive. However beware
of the current on this dive. The marine life here includes lobbies
and crabs in the cracks on the wall. Best dived at high
tide.
Gildenburg Lakes are located near Peterborough.
A lot of items have been put in the lake including a double decker
london bus, a raf jet provost aircraft and a broads cruiser. The
depth is approximately 23 metres (75 feet) and the visibility
between 6-10 metres (20 - 33 feet). There's a bar and cafe and
i'ts possible to stay overnight on site. Loanda
is a fairly easy wreck dive. She went down on 31 May, 1908 with
a cargo of general merchandise including alcohol, perfume bottles,
clay pipes etc... some of which can still be seen today.
The wreck, approximately 40 minutes from Dover
lies in about 24 metres (78 feet) of water. You can encounter
bib, crabs and lobsters around Loanda.
Pomerania was an iron steamship that went down
on 25 November, 1878 after colliding with iron-hulled barque Moel
Eilian off Folkestone. She is quite broken but parts of the wooden
deck are still intact. Pmerania lies on the port side at about
28 metres (91 feet)and the visibility is around 4-5 metres (13-15
feet).
Gold and silver coins were recovered. A large
amount of marine life including wrasse, edible crabs,
anemones, dead mand fingers, mussels and starfish can
be found here.
Preussen was the largest ever steel ship at the
time and the only five masted full rigged ship to be built. She
was also the world's largest sailing ship built and designed without
an auxilliary engine. She was sailing from Hamburg to Valparaiso
with a general cargo which included 100 pianos when she collided
with the cross channel steamer Brighton on November
6th 1910. There isn't much of the wreckage left, a few hull ribs
sticking out. Visibility is quite poor and the
depth around 4-8 metres (13-26 feet).
HMS Brazen a British Navy destroyer went down
on July 21st, 1940 under fire from German bombers.The destroyer
Brazen was escorting convoy CW7 in the North Sea at the time of
attack. Attempts made to tow her proved impossible so she was
abandoned and sank a few hours after the attack. She's quite intact
although in two halves at 8 metres (26 feet). Now she is getting
buried in the sand and less of the wreckage is visible, but torpedo
tubes, depth chargers and the guns are still present. Visibility
is good and the dive worthwhile.
Anglia, an auxilliary hospital ship went down
after she struck a mine on November 17, 1915 as she crossed the
Channel from France transporting a large number of wounded. She
lies in about 30 metres (98 feet) of water and most of it is broken.
Please note that this wreck must be treated with respect and leave
all you find intact, she is a war grave.
Strathclyde sunk on February 17th 1876 while
sailing from London to Bombay after colliding with the Franconia,
a German steamship. She was overtaken by Franconia shortly after
leaving Dover, Capt Eaton (Capt of Strathclyde) turned his ship
to starboard and unfortunately at the same time the Franconia
turned to port and the collision happened. She currently lies
in 30 metres(98 feet) of water and the visibility can be 1-2 metres
(3-6 feet) and sometimes a good 5-10 metres (15-33 feet). Some
of the items found on board are perfume bottles, hand painted
teacups and saucers, different kinds of bottles, bottles of champagne
(undrinkable now) and many other items. Apparently, an order was
isuued by Dover Port Control in 2004 forbidding diving on this
wreck. The list is very long and includes other famous
wrecks like Lusitania, SS Komet, SS Strathclyde, SS Cuvier,Katharina
Kolkmann, St. Cecilia, HMT Angelus, UB38, Brandenburg and many
others.
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