Learn to dive in Sussex, Kent and Surrey with Sussex Scuba diving courses

Saltdene Ledges

This year we have decided to do a few mid week, early evening dives aimed at novice or UK virgins. Monday nights dive was the first of the summer and it was a great success and enjoyed by everyone. For most people it was their first or second UK dive and for this reason we kept it relatively shallow. That doesn't mean it wasn't good - ask pseudo techy Dion. The site is made up of ledges and trenches cut into the rock and chalk. Each trench can be up to 50 m long and a 1-2 metres deep. It is an excellent dive for testing your buoyancy as you explore the nooks and crannies cut into the gulleys. Wildlife is abundant and we saw literally hundreds of velvet crabs, common crabs, and spider crabs peeping out of their holes in the rocks. We also saw a few lobsters. My groups spent the whole dive grubbing around on or near the bottom seeing what we could find. We were down for almost an hour and had great fun. Highlight was the 5lb crab we caught which can be seen partially on the pictures below. By the way for the people who are still reluctant to try UK diving the water was 18deg, and no one complained about the cold.