Walk round cliff base at low tide.(pic heavy)

[andybysea]

It was very low tide(equinox spring tide) when i went out for a walk this morning so i decided to walk round the base of the cliffs where i snorkel in the summer, i got a differant perspective of it walking where i would normally be swimming,

i would normally need to bob down and swim through this hollow in the base of the rock,

a couple of caves,

nice shape made in the rock by the sea(looking from the sea in land)

and looking back through it the other way out to sea,

not much life to see, mainly just this type of stuff,

some nice rock formations, make me wish id could do a bit of climbing,

looking up at my way out,

and nice little waterfall in the distance,

 

[Shewie]

Nice pics Andy, did you have that night out ?

 

[OldFingersGreen]

looks amazing, its places like that that make the northern coast so good. do you see much life there when you're snorkeling? been thinking about taking up a bit of snorkeling/spear fishing this summer if i get the chance.

 

[andybysea]

Rich not had chance for a night out,had a bad sinus infection a few weeks ago,gonna wait till my brothers up in April and get out for about 3days.
Naboo the enigma,re snorkeling yep during the summer there is lots to see,wrasse,pollack,dog fish,flat fish,wolf fish,conger,lobster,crab,urchin's, dead mens fingers,starfish,the odd seal,and once just after we'd got out and looked down to where we'd been we saw 3 minke whales,they are spotted around here every year, if you ever in the area let me know i will take you out to some of the places i know,re spear fishing i dont think you can in this country(could be wrong)

 

[Husky]

Greate pictures, thank you for sharing!
A completly different scenery than I am used to.

 

[OldFingersGreen]

im sure someone on here made a thread about spearfishing in the uk. think he said it was legal? i'll have to have a search for the thread..

if it is legal i'll certainly be having a trip up there as soon as the weather improves a little if thats whats on offer, not that i expect to get anything mind but the chance of being in the water with wales sounds fantastic!

Will have to keep my eye out for a new snorkel.

EDIT: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18534&highlight=spear+fishing

just reading that now, makes it clear that as long as you are free diving its legal.

roll on summer!

 

[andybysea]

Cheers for that info, never saw that thread before, here's a couple of underwater pics,from last summer, ive got lobster ones but ive put them up before so heres a couple of others to get a view of what its like down there,

quite a large dogfish,

a wrasse,

brittle stars,

urchin,starfish,coral etc

 

[Mistwalker]

Beautiful pics as always Andy. I always look forward to more of your seashore photos.
Thanks for sharing those.

 

[OldFingersGreen]

wow! some nice pictures there, the visibility looks much better than i expected. still amazes me just how close you can get to them underwater.

definitely got to try this, the idea of spearing a fish underwater, getting out, building a fire and eating it is great. I reckon it would be more rewarding than all the times ive done it with a rod!

 

[andybysea]

heres a few of the best Snorkeling locations round here ive tried, all pics were taken on the same day, it shows that some bays are more sheltered than others, 1st is of the bay round from pettico wick,where the dog fish pic was taken, (on a very calm day unlike toady)its also where parts of a old ship wreck are,

next is Starney bay just north of St Abbs lots of stuff to see here in the summer,

Finally the beach just down from me(coldingham bay) the good thing about this is you can just walk straight in unlike the other two where youve got to walk down cliff paths, once in head round the bay towards St Abbs great in good weather for things to see.

 

[Mistwalker]

Wow beautiful pictures! I would love the oportunity to kick around a bit on those shores. I'd love to collect some of the bits of things washed ashore.

 

[andybysea]

Cheers Mistwalker, ive got a bit snap happy with the old camera recently, speaking of collecting things was out the other day,and washed up on the shore where two new plastic fish crates, i already have one i use for storing coal in,so i though id have the other two for storing dirty boots etc in the porch.

 

[OldFingersGreen]

^^^^^ sounds like a good find.

amazing pictures again, a few hours down the road from me but i'm itching to have a go at some proper snorkelling.

i damaged my innner ear a few years ago, cliff diving on holiday. jumped off a large cliff, ear hurt like hell. bled for a bit and knocked me dizzy and sick for a few days then got better (just a little deaf). unfortunately it was the day before my scuba diving lessons so i missed that and i have since found out that i will be unable to do any deep scuba diving.

always been gutted because of that but seeing how much fun you can have on one breath of air and without going too deep i can't wait to try.

did you mention something about a ship wreck?? i'd love to see some snapshots of that if you have any?

cheers

dan

 

[andybysea]

Dan,

havent got any pics of the ship wreck (its well broken up)under water a few of the bow,which has been broken off and washed ashore, but i have seen the capstons,lots of anchor chain,plate metal,and the large locking wheels for the bulk head doors,plus the boilers are still visible snorkeling at low tide they are about 4mtrs down, third pic up from bottom,the large rock in left hand side head out about 20 mtrs from it you start to come across parts of the wreck.

 

[OldFingersGreen]

sounds great, i have always felt most at home near the sea and would love to have the chance to poke about some bits and pieces on the sea bed!

work is gaining momentum at the moment so im pretty busy, also have the midlands meet near the NEC to attend soon. as you say the best visibility is may-sept, ill probably be looking at coming up there in may (if youre going before then let me know)

any advice on budget snorkeling gear? i have a wet suit but it is a bad fit so any help much appreciated.

cheers

dan

 

[andybysea]

Dan,
i had loads of diving gear shops on my pc till it crashed,just do a search for the shops and shop around theres good prices to be had, dont go cheap on a mask though,its defo false economy get a good one and it wont leak or fog,you should really try them on though as each has a slightly differant mould,scuba pro,tusa(ive got)mares etc are good stuff,for a suit well i do bodyboarding as well so i just use my old bodyboarding suit for snorkeling as it can take a bit of wear(getting in/out off rocks,co's of barnacles etc) its a 5mm i use 5mm all year round never to warm in these waters just put more rash vest etc during the colder months,try http://www.boardridersguide.com/Default.asp?&cookie_test=1 or somewhere like this,http://www.simplyscuba.com/home.aspx?affiliate=window&source=aw

the first sometimes have good deals on last seasons suits although if you want a diving snorkeling 1 or 2 piece do a look through that type of site as mentioned at top,it dose cost a bit of cash to start,but mask,fins,(boots depending on type of fin),gloves,belt and weights,snorkel and suit,knife once got can give you a good few years service,you can hire suits up here per day,rather than shell out,and if your a xxl you could borrow one of mine, you dont really need the cammo type specialist suits just to go snorkeling, and ive got very near to fish to get used to knowing whats what,although funnily enough the nice edible ones tend to stay that bit further away where ballan wrasse etc swim right up close.