Second Dive Reef

General dive planning data.

The reef lies in the English Channel wherever the marshal says it is. It is thus easy to find and the depth can be tweaked according to the divers in the party. As a tip to the marshall when finding the reef, if the seabed is really flat, turn the scale up on the echo-sounder until a pebble looks like the mid atlantic ridge, you will then find that the divers will happily jump in. Similarly, when you want to get the divers into the water, point to any features on the shore that happen to line up, this will convince them that you aren't just sending them in anywhere.

The reef is nice and close to the launch site (or the wreck that made up the first dive if it is a "one trip" dive day) as this helps to save the club's petrol. The dive is also always a "drift dive", but be careful to note that there are local eddies which prevent you from stating accurately which direction the drift is in - that way the marshall does not have to bother reading the tide tables. SMB's must be used so that you can haul the divers up when you're bored of boathandling, and because of the depth (!!) they must have a time limit that is convenient for pub opening hours.

The reef is always to be quoted as pretty rock pinnacles covered in jewel anemones, as this is what seems to get reef divers excited.

History.

The reef was discovered some time ago by a wreck diving group who didn't have enough divers to make the trip viable, so wanted somewhere to promise the "reefies", so that one of them would come along and boathandle. It was rediscovered some years later by a group of instructors who after doing a great dive in the morning, wanted somewhere to throw the novices in during the afternoon.

Reef layout and features.

Not too much can be said about the layout of the reef, as it is variable (it moves from trip to trip). But it usually has lots of Ballan wrasse, pollack, dogfish, crabs, anemones and other common stuff.

The Second Dive Reef reef is closely related to the famous TBA reef but there are important differences. The TBA has reached mythical status because of its apparent elusiveness. In fact as any dive marshall knows the TBA can be dived at any time and by any diver.

Dive information sheet:  Richard Wood, December 2001.