I’m writing this on the way back from the Mull trip whilst it is all fresh in my mind. Apart from being absolutely knackered, I am returning home chock full of diving memories from the week spent in Balamory (I mean Tobermory). The fun started before even arriving and diving. I had only been to Scotland to visit Edinburgh so the trip provided an excuse to travel through some of the Highlands. Ben (my designated driver) and I were exposed to some jaw dropping scenery and we may have overused the word beautiful to the point of irrelevance.
When we finally arrived at the house, we found it perched on top of a cliff overlooking the bay and the view was magnificent. An absolutely brilliant find by Paul on this house because beside having enough beds for us all, it had a pool table. And it was at this moment our diving holiday became a pool holiday with diving on the side. Almost every evening people would gravitate around the pool table and many a black ball was potted (I will not go into further detail on how many times this was done as a foul…).
Our first day of diving was scuppered by boat troubles but the isle of Mull provided plenty of alternative activities, such as the barmy idea of swimming in the sea in just swim wear. I still do not know how Ann-Marie can do that as a hobby because I was in and out of that sea faster than you could say the word cold. Oh and Ben decided to go and explore and summit a Munro as a casual stroll (Ben More)…. Ruth and Andy meanwhile struggled to find Otters (I think they found them but can’t tell us where for super secret reasons). This day also had a big win with Scott passing his dive leader theory exam! He was so jubilant he didn’t mind that Sean thrashed him for the 15th times at pool.
The diving itself was phenomenal. Whether it was because of the plankton bloom which would spell doom anywhere else or just that vibrant Scottish, all the marine life were out in full force, feasting and making merry! On one dive alone Sue claimed to have seen 9 species of Nudybranchs! The sound of Mull boasts many a wreck and wall. All of these places being havens for fish, crabs, nudybranchs and as Ben put it “plants and stuff that make it feel like it’s an alien world”. Even an octopus was spotted by the prodigious animal spotter duo of Anna and Sue. Never a dull moment is spent on the boat, with my realisation I left my regs at the house (thanks to pretty much every member who offered their spare regs) and the conveyer belt of snacks coming out of Sue’s many reusable shopping bags. Let’s not mention the time Andy had to find some rocks to act as temporary weights for my first dive on the loch floor (you begin to appreciate how dense and compact lead is).
My favourite dive was the wall at calf island, hyped up by Sean who touted it as one of the worst wall dives in Mull. When we went down there we were completely blown away by the amount of life to the point Sean had to re evaluate his wall rankings.
Many other memories abound from this trip that I shall not record simply for lack of space but if anyone is thinking of choosing a trip next year I would recommend this one… Or I may not so no one takes my spot for next year! A shout out to Ruth who whilst didn’t dive, bravely snorkelled in a wetsuit one day and took awesome wildlife pics from the boat the other days. Alongside this provided teas and coffees to blue divers after dives.
By Alex
