1999 DIVER Holiday Supplement

A clear choice
With excellent visibility and a profusion of oversized marine life, Mark Webster discovers that it's cool to scuba in Scandinavia

edible crab among dead man's fingers

A diving holiday more often than not means a tropical location with waters so warm you just need a light wetsuit or dive skin as thermal protection. But it doesn't have to be that way. There's a wealth of cooler locations to choose from.
One of the closest destinations that offers easy access, excellent diving infrastructure and a very broad range of dive sites is Norway - and it's not nearly as cold as you might think!
The northern North Sea is often considered rough and inhospitable, but in reality the weather isn't much worse than it is around our own shores. If you look at a map of the west coast of Norway, the first thing you'll notice is the thousands of inlets, fjords and islands. These provide shelter in almost any weather, and also offer a massive selection of dive sites, from sandy coves and vertical drop-offs to high-energy drift-dives, not to mention a host of ancient and modern wrecks.
Although you can dive here all year round, unless you're particularly hardy you'll choose to visit between spring and autumn, as the winters can be very cold. Summer temperatures are often much the same as in the UK, and the water temperature ranges from 8*C in the winter up to 15*C in late summer and autumn. This compares well with temperatures in our waters, and anyone familiar with diving in Scotland would consider them quite normal.
Water conditions are also very similar to the UK - a heavy plankton bloom usually occurs in June or July, but either side of this the visibility can be stunning, reaching 30m or so in the late autumn and winter, although there is always a heavy green hue.
There are several dive centres along this coast, but two of the most popular are found north of Bergen at Alesund and Stromsholmen. Both sites offer similar topography and dive sites, and the diving around Alesund was considered so good that the town played host to the CMAS World Championships of Underwater Photography in September 1998.

the Art Nouveau architecture of Alesund

All about Alesund
Alesund is a cosmopolitan shore-side town with a thriving fishing fleet. It is built across several islands and at first glance has the appearance of a medieval fairytale city. The original town was all but totally razed by a fire in 1904 when 800 of the original wooden buildings were burnt down. All the replacement buildings were constructed in the Art Nouveau style and it's this, and the narrow cobbled streets, that give the town its colourful and almost surreal atmosphere.
There are two ways to go diving in Alesund - firstly through the diving centre and secondly through the local diving club, which is affiliated to the Norwegian Diving Federation. The town has a wide range of accommodation, from hotels to bunkhouses at the local dive club.
The Alesund Dykersenter is a retail centre offering equipment sales, hire, training and daily hardboat excursions for both individuals and groups. It is located right on the water's edge and provides changing rooms and wet and dry storage areas. Boats range from fast GRP hardboats to converted fishing boats.

The Aquarius Dykersenter is typical of the Norwegian version of a dive club and is a little more comprehensive than most in the UK. The Aquarius centre provides a large clubhouse with self-catering bunkroom accommodation, air station, wet and dry storage, car parking, its own dock, and a substantial 17m steel dive boat, the Hundsvar.
Best of all, these facilities are open all year round and are available to visiting divers by prior arrangement. The clubhouse is only a short distance outside the main town and even has a very respectable shore dive on its doorstep.

Northern exposure
A little further up the coast lies Stromsholmen, a smaller town than Alesund but with an impressively equipped diving centre. You can choose to arrive with all your equipment, minus tanks and weights (unless travelling by road) or hire absolutely everything. There is accommodation at the centre, along with ample facilities for washing and drying, and for storage of wet and dry gear.
The accommodation is self-catering and there is also a restaurant/pub within the centre, which is the social focal point and organises regular seafood evenings for residents.
Diving is available from the shore throughout the area or on daily trips with the centre's range of hardboats. Boats can also be hired from the centre for group use, or you can bring your own RIB if you travel to Norway by ferry.
Just offshore from the Stromsholmen centre lies the island of Kvitholmen, which harbours yet more facilities for divers who want a little more seclusion. Here there are three self-catering guest-houses for groups of up to 28 divers. Transport to the island is by boat from the Stromsholmen centre, and once there you're left to your own devices to fill your bottles and organise your own diving from the boats provided.
Details of the dive sites are provided by the main centre, and you can also dive with the daily hardboat excursions.

Larger life
But how does the diving compare with the UK? Most of the west coast of Norway is influenced to some extent by the tail end of the Gulf Stream, which provides temperate conditions at these northern latitudes. This means that much of the flora and fauna is familiar, but on the whole tends to be larger than around our own coast.
The fish life is profuse, and even the beach diving here is impressive. Many species that have been all but fished out in our inshore waters in the past 20 years are abundant in Norwegian waters despite the country's highly efficient fishing industry.
In shallow waters, you'll eventually get tired of tripping over monkfish (angler fish) of all sizes, plaice, turbot, soles, gurnards, scorpionfish and literally hundreds of edible crabs and lobsters.

Wolf fish - a large species of blenny - are also very common and are often found swimming about on the bottom in the open. This can be a little alarming until you realise that they're only very inquisitive and not aggressive.
Moving into deeper waters in the fjords you'll encounter shoals of mackerel, saithe and juvenile cod, and on the high-energy sites there are walls of orange dead man's fingers, plumose and dahlia anemones.
Most of the sites have a substantial kelp forest that extends quite a bit deeper than is usual in the UK due to Norway's clearer waters. It isn't uncommon to find the kelp extending to 25m, but the big difference here is that the stypes are widely spaced and the topography consists of deep gullies and large boulders, so access is very easy.
There are numerous wrecks within the shelter of the fjords, many dating from World War Two and later. Some are almost intact and in relatively shallow water, making impressive dives in the clear waters.
Overall, the diving is excellent and you should find sheltered sites in most weather conditions, so the effort of travel is well worthwhile. The Norwegians are friendly and helpful, and speak excellent English.
Norway has always been popular with divers from Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, so perhaps it's time for the British travelling diver to test Scandinavian waters.
Map of Norway

PROS
Easy travel, good diving infrastructure, clear waters, many sheltered sites, conditions suitable for novice and experienced divers.

CONS
Cold water - bring the right equipment to stay warm both in and out of the water. Accommodation and eating out are more expensive than in the UK.

FACTFILE

Getting there:
Taking a car by ferry from east-coast ports such as Harwich, Newcastle and Aberdeen to Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansund (via Denmark) costs around £300. Various airlines fly from around the UK to Oslo, Stavanger and Bergen, with return tickets costing £150-350. There are connecting flights to Alesund (Vigra), and Molde or Kristiansund airports for Stromsholmen, with prices from £70.
Diving details:
Alesund Dykersenter 0047 7012 3424; Aquarius Dykersenter 0047 7013 2828; Stromsholmen Diving Centre 0047 7129 8174; Norwegian Diving Federation 0047 6715 4904.
Accommodation:
Aquarius Dykersenter and Stromsholmen Diving Centre (see above). Staying in a club bunkhouse costs from £25 per person. Hotels are expensive, but group packages are available.
Language:
English is widely spoken.
Money:
Norwegian Kroner. Credit cards and Eurocheques are widely accepted.
For non-divers:
Exploring the unique and lavishly decorated architecture of Alesund, walking along coast, and ferry trips to fjords and islands.
Best time to go:
May to October.
Water temperature:
8°C in early spring to 13-15°C in late summer.
Diving suitable for:
Open-water divers who have experience of temperate waters and adequate thermal protection.
Cost:
Two boat dives per day costs around £35. The Stromsholmen package, which includes diving and self-catering accommodation, starts from £350. There are no British tour operators offering diving packages to Norway, but a typical do-it-yourself trip, including six days' diving, accommodation and return flights from the Britain, would cost from £850.

Appeared in DIVER - January 1999