Capernwray / Delph

CAPERNWRAY & DELPH REPORT 3-4 March 2007
	Trevor Saies, a Barracuda partner, is a experienced SSI, BSAC and SAA instructor who has been diving for 15 years and has made many hundreds of dives
Our trip to Capenwray & Delph on the weekend of the 3rd went well, despite the weather not being the best, we all had a great time.  This being the first trip of the year, it was a good time to sort out kit which has been stored away for the winter, and for those of us with new kit to try it out.  For most of us who had not been to Capernwray before the registration fee of £10 made it a total of £15 for the day - but on the plus side it's a life membership fee (this was also true at Delph).  Having not been to Capernwray for some years we were impressed with the facilities; the last time I came just one cabin stood in the car park.  Anyway, on to the diving. The water temperature was 8 degrees and the viz was an excellent 10 to 15m over on the shelf which is the start of most of the dives here.  This is where shoals of salmon trout live, a good start to the dive, the fish are used to having divers around and indeed expect to be fed, so you can get within touching distance.  Moving on over the shelf down to about 18m there is plenty to see even if you don't know your way around or you're not able to navigate you will see plenty to keep you occupied, I liked the entry and exit point, a mixture of beach and stride entries, just a bit of a up hill walk back to the car but not too bad, we had our own food and drinks but the cafe on site looked good serving hot food and drinks. After the second dive of the day we had a quick look round the shop and then set off down the M6 for our overnight stop at Eccleston, which is only a stones throw away from the Delph.  As divers tend to do, we had to make sure the beer was ok so we had early doors and checked out the menu for later, needless to say a good night was had by all, and a good breakfast set us all up for the next days diving.  Sunday was not a good day for diving; in fact not a good day for anything but putting your feet up in front of the tele, with wind, rain, snow and bitter cold.  The less hardy souls in the group decided to retire to the cafe and sit in front of the open fire with a nice cup of tea, which on reflection turned out to be the best option, the viz was nil and the diving day lasted no more than 5 or 10 minutes.  Despite the viz being bad on the day the facilities at Delph are good and more being added, and we all agreed that we would return this season - hopefully on a better day. This is a trip to add to Barracuda's diary and we will be arranging another weekend before the end of the year. Anyone interested in the next trip to Capernwray/Delph (or who has a good idea for alternative destinations) should let Trev know by posting a comment below, or email him at [email protected]