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| The Falls of Lora | ||||
| The smooth, glassy surface of this stunning sea loch near Oban belies the hairy, rollercoaster experience that awaits the diver beneath. Hang on to your fins – this is not a dive for the faint-hearted! | ||||
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| Legs and co:
above top, starfish; above bottom, hermit crabs
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| The Dive Entering Loch Etive from the south bank next to Skerries Bridge, swim out into the flow and then descend to about seven metres. Keep working your way into the tide or you can easily end up in an eddy that will simply deposit you at the side of the loch. You will see various bits of debris on the sea bed from the building of Skerries Bridge. This is where your speed picks up – don’t be surprised if you experience an easy six to eight knots. Suddenly, you go over a drop-off and you’ll really begin to fly. You’ll be pulled down to about 30m (despite the figure on the Admiralty chart, which states only 20m). Watch out for the eddies at the base of the wall, which are caused by the uneven sea bed. They can hold you there, so swim hard away from the wall and you'll pick up the main current again. As the water becomes shallower, the current will slow, as this is where the loch widens. You will surface downstream from where you started – swim from here to the shore or, better still, have your boat pick you up. The dive itself lasts only about ten minutes, but it’s definitely worth it. Currents and tides At certain times, particularly during spring tides, you need to be prepared for the possibility of separation from your buddy. If this does happen, you may not be able to surface immediately to find him or her, so stay calm and wait until you can ascend safely without overexerting yourself. Remember, you won’t be of any use to anyone if you run out of air or completely exhaust yourself. While this dive can be done as a shore dive, boat cover is strongly recommended. |
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Other
great UK drift dives
If you dive the Falls of Lora and like it, you’ll probably want more exciting drift dives. Here are five other suggested sites around the UK: • Devil’s Bridge, Kirkby Lonsdale, on the River Lune in Cumbria, is a fast, fun dive and is best dived in winter. • Menai Strait, when the visibility is good, provides an excellent drift dive jam-packed with marine life. • Start Point, in Wembury Bay between Dartmouth and Plymouth, is great for getting the adrenaline going, depending on the tides. (Speeds of between one and seven knots have been experienced.) • The Swinge in Alderney, in the Channel Islands, offers a drift dive that will certainly blast away any cobwebs. • And, finally, Portland Races near Weymouth is the place to go if you want to feel what it’s like to be in a washing machine! (An experienced guide is essential for this dive, and a wetsuit is much better than a drysuit for helping you control your buoyancy). For all drift dives, separation from your buddy is an emergency you must be prepared for. Carry a redundant air source so that you’re not wholly reliant on your buddy should you run low or out of air. Remember that in strong tidal flows over a smooth sea or river bed, there’s a powerful drag and the water closer to the bed moves a lot slower than the water one or two metres above it. This means that, if your buddy swims just a little shallower than you, he or she will be going a lot faster, making it difficult for you to stay together. Try to swim on the same level throughout the dive. Except for at the Falls of Lora, take a surface marker
buoy for use at the end of your drift dive – you can easily end
up a long way from your boat. It is dangerous to use an SMB during a dive
at the Falls, as you won’t be able to reel it in and out fast enough
– this could make you lose control. |
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Big fan: a
peacock worm makes the most of the strong current in its search for food.
All photographs by Lawson Wood |
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© COPYRIGHT
Dive International Publishing Ltd, for personal use only |
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