Taking the Waters - Intro - UK Diving

"Loyal - some might say addictive - divers, sunken double-deckers and helicopters, Fred Flintstone, dodgy caravans, Action Men and mud soup: Brendan O'Brien explores the singular world of England's diving lakes and quarries

Flooded quarries are to divers what artificial ski slopes are to snow-skiers. So what motivates hundreds of divers to take the plunge every weekend, into what an outsider would consider nothing more than a dark, cold and miserable water-filled pit?

We visited six of the UK's most popular inland dive sites to find out. A day at an inland site isn't just about the diving, especially when you have to pay for access, so we decided to include a check-up on the site facilities at each location.

Most of the site managers wanted us to visit during the week, when it would be quiet and visibility would be at its best. But that's not what you want to read about, is it? So we made a point of visiting each centre over the weekends when they are at their busiest, to see how they cope under pressure.

Appeared in DIVER - October 2000