Text and photos by Joanna Scott
On Sunday 28th July, a group of NHDC divers met in the car park at Trearddur Bay before 8am! Kitting up was done at a leisurely pace and the gear only had to be carried to the road where the rhib is parked. The beach is only a minute down the road and it’s easy to get into the rhib once the tractor has moved it into the water.
Dive One – Missouri Wreck
Dive 1 was the Missouri Wreck, a steamship wrecked in a storm at the end of the 19th Century. A lot of the wreckage is still there with lots of marine life around so plenty to see whether you’re interested in the metal or the little creatures! The wreck was big enough for everyone to spread out so that we weren’t bumping into each other all of the time and all above 18m. Sea hares were everywhere you look, several species of fish swimming round and lots of crabs and lobster. This was the first time I had seen Tompot Blennies and one even came out and sat on the sea bed. The mast had a large conger inside, although we didn’t actually get to see it’s head!
Back at Trearddur Bay, all the kit is left on the boat apart from the cylinders which we needed to change over. It was nice not to have to carry all of the gear (or load onto the trolley…) back to the car for once! There was plenty of time for brownies and biscuits instead!
Dive two – Mackerel Rock
Dive 2 was a scenic dive around Mackerel Rock at a shallower depth of around 10m. It was below the cliffs where a few years ago, someone had tried to set up a dive centre on the rocks to make it easy to dive for the treasure supposedly around the area. It was destroyed in a storm but lots of the scaffolding is still on the sea floor, now covered by algae and sponges. Again, sea hares were everywhere you looked! We moved over to the boulders away from the cliff walls where we found lobster, fish and even a large spider crab, although it wasn’t a fan of staying still for a photo!
After dekitting at the car park, it was decided that a late lunch was required at the pub around the corner, which ended off a lovely day of diving! There is always something different to see on the dives around Anglesey, so each trip is well worth doing.
