Dorothea visitor numbers and future in jeopardy

[gobfish1]

More rules all dives must have a 2m stick to enter the water as it's harder to judge distances under water . No oc dives only CCR divers. Need to reduce the COVID bubbles contaminating the water table .
Plus the pubs will be dead and no food sold unless you booked in a week in advance.
Show your COVID passport at the broader.

[JonG]

Club entry criteria and access details are here:

https://www.nwtd.co.uk/

[JonG]

With a bit more time now, by way of update, after this thread and a similar one on FB the committee, land owners and closely linked advisers debated the option of opening up the access to "recreational divers" provided they had demonstrable cold water experience eg dry suit speciality or similar.

Obviously there aren't large tracts of recreational depth options, but the place is still scenic enough to be a draw for divers.

After sensible discussion and consideration though the decision was to remain with the current criteria, but with an intention to revisit at a later date potentially.

[bottle maker]

I have not dived there for years but I can only remember one dive deeper than 30 meters that I did. . As a proportion of deep to shallow water I would think NDAC has far more deep water.

The interested parties have had a meeting an made a decision regarding Dorathea,. Personally I would be happy for BSAC sports divers to dive there. If they were limited to 30 meters that would be fine.


I would have liked to have arranged a club trip there but unfortunately we do have sufficient qualified members who would be interested in diving a quarry in North Wales.

Graham

[JonG]

I am still hopeful Graham, with time the position may change as opinions mellow.

I still believe it's viable as a recreational option but others may need more time.

[WFO]

With a bit more time now, by way of update, after this thread and a similar one on FB the committee, land owners and closely linked advisers debated the option of opening up the access to "recreational divers" provided they had demonstrable cold water experience eg dry suit speciality or similar.

Obviously there aren't large tracts of recreational depth options, but the place is still scenic enough to be a draw for divers.

After sensible discussion and consideration though the decision was to remain with the current criteria, but with an intention to revisit at a later date potentially.

Dry suit speciality? Have they been sniffing glue? Active UK divers are about least likely people to have that BS, probably find more people with it who qualified in the maldives and have never dived in UK lol

Plenty to see in dotty above 30m IMO, I was in there loads when I was just getting the hours in on my ccr but didn't want to be deep.

[JonG]

AFAIK it gets signed off at club level within BSAC, so with the tie in for insurance it's an easy criteria.

The issue with all of this is the landowner and their remoteness from understanding diving and it's nuances generally.

They are simply marking time with minimal stress as they work towards a hydro scheme for the site if they can pull it off.

In the meantime it's a balancing act between the many stakeholders, the majority of whom don't want divers there.

[MarkA]

Got my drysuit diver sticker in 1988, a year after starting to dive in a drysuit. Was in sticker collecting mode though. I guess nowadays it is almost automatic to get this at the beginning of open water training.

[Allan Carr]

My BSAC Drysuit qualification is dated 1966 - from when the Club I was with did the police diving work and we needed to use the old Navy drysuits to dive in contaminated water!

[Energy58]

They are simply marking time with minimal stress as they work towards a hydro scheme for the site if they can pull it off.

Just like all those golf driving ranges on the edges of cities - someone to look after the land with minimal capital investment while the landowner tries to get planning permission for the "retire to the Maldives" project.