The Diver Good Dive Pub Guide

STAR BARS The Good Dive Pub Guide

Wales
Brendan O'Brien & John Liddiard

Amlwch in Anglesey is a place that time nearly forgot. At half past midnight in the bar of the Bull Bay Hotel I meet Pat, a salty old BSAC instructor. Pat retired to Amlwch from a brief spell of superstardom in the 1970s in a band that some of you might remember.
The Bull Bay Hotel

The regulars are winding Pat up with a drunken rendition of Mouldy Old Dough, the one and only hit of Lieutenant Pigeon. He tries to ignore them, but that just spurs them on.
When the laughter dies down Pat introduces me to Andy, his latest trainee. Andy asks me if I've ever used a stab jacket and tells me how Pat's training him to do his Third Class Diver. He dives in a wetsuit and horse-collar ABLJ and uses the 1975 BSAC training manual. He dreams of diving in waters where he can see his buddy from more than 2m away. I suggest he tries some pool training, but he just shakes his head. I guess that's not how things are done in Amlwch.
You can't miss the hotel, which looms over the bay just above the convenient free slipway for launching RIBs. The bar has a pleasant ambience and a reasonable range of beers. In the restaurant the specials are a pleasant surprise. B&B is available in comfortable en-suite rooms.
Dave Jones, the licensee of the Adelphi Vaults in Amlwch Harbour, also skippers the dive charter boat Cirrus. His pub is handily placed next to the slipway and has a small bar with seafaring decorations and a reasonable range of beers. It's a place to stop for a "quick one".
The rather plush Trearddur Bay Hotel has a choice of a conservatory or a snug bar with roaring fire. There's a good selection of beers and the bar/restaurant has an impressive menu. The afternoon tea with homemade biscuits is a delight.
In the Bull Bay Hotel

The decor and view over the bay are impressive but you'll pay for this luxury if you stay over. It lacks that after-dive, take-your-boots-off-and-warm-your-feet-in-front-of-the-fire feel. Still, if you want a bit of class, it should suit you.
The bar at Anglesey Diver Training College is the place to go if you want something a little more raucous. The fact that this drinking hole has no name says it all. It's where divers, windsurfers, kayakers and climbers meet to drink beer. What else is there to do? I'll tell you what - you could traverse the ceiling, circumnavigate a table without touching the floor and of course, practice a variety of games with a broomstick. There's no bar food, because dancing on the tables is almost compulsory.
Food and wine lovers beware! You may not be able to drag yourself away from the Boathouse Hotel in Holyhead and Renato's excellent seafood (try the monkfish) and Italian wine selection. He selects the wine during his many trips to Italy. Call ahead and the chef can prepare something for those after-dive munchies.
The rooms are very good value, and it's the sort of place where you can feel comfortable wandering around in your undersuit. Some divers wear a lot less! Renato's wife says she has witnessed numerous dive-related "goings-on".
The hotel overlooks the breakwater promenade - it's well placed for diving this area or for an overnight stop if you're taking the ferry to Ireland.
St Tudwal's Hotel in Abersoch is the sort of place where you'll rub shoulders with dreadlocked surf dudes and the owners of luxury yachts. Its popularity among the Abersoch diehards seems to come in waves - one year it's the in-place, the next it can be the quietest pub in the village.
The range of beers is OK and the food pleasant, but you visit this pub for its ambience. The other pub in the village, the Vaynol, often has a Club 18-30 feel about it (or am I just getting old?).
Ty Newydd

The Ty Coch at Porth Dinllaen, Morfa Nefyn is unusual - there's no vehicular access. Steel yourself for a mile-long walk over a golf course or a half-mile stroll across the beach. Once there you can relax in the maritime atmosphere or sit out and daydream by the secluded bay. Food comes at lunchtime only - check out the homemade leek and potato soup. A walk to the headland to watch the sunset and sealions playing in the surf is a must.
The place to be in Aberdaron is the Ty Newydd, which now features takeaway food at closing time for the post-beer munchies and new decor. The pub offers an exceptional view over Aberdaron Bay, and its rooms are comfortable and clean.
The Halfway Inn in Talysarn is a cosy pub with locals who are used to hordes of Dorothea Quarry divers descending on it, and they don't mind hearing all those boring anecdotes about shark attacks, giant congers, treasure ships etc.
Many a squabble has broken out over who's going to warm their toes by the wood-burning stove first. The Halfway Inn serves a decent pint, and if you want to call ahead, the kitchen can prepare after-dive food such as bowls of chilli, pizza and so on.
The small beer garden overlooking the mountains is a plus when it's warm.
The Griffin Inn

Serving Vivian Quarry, the Heights Hotel in Llanberis doesn't look much from outside, and the inside isn't much better. What it does have is a strong following among climbers. With karaoke folk nights (they even provide the guitars), guest beers, good cheap food and a wooden floor to which your feet stick (why would that be?) you have to ask yourself: "Why should climbers have all the fun?" Rooms are available, from dorms to doubles.
Heading south to Pembrokeshire, if you launch at Dale, you can hardly miss the Griffin Inn, right next to the slip. It's small inside, but having recovered your boat you can sit on the harbour wall and sip a pint while watching all the other groups of divers working hard to recover theirs. Kindly remember to take your glass back inside.
In the evenings, you can't beat the gammon steak at the Brook Inn at St Ishmaels. A quiet little village a few miles from anywhere, this is a mixture of a local's pub and one that visitors who know it make a pilgrimage to get to. And finally, for those diving from Martin's Haven, the Lobster Pot Inn at Marloes is very convenient for catching a bar snack on the way home from the beach.

Appeared in DIVER - May 1999