Isle of Lundy - May 08
Arriving in Ifracombe late on Friday evening I was surprised to see how much it had developed. While the older tourists were out enjoying the warm summer evening strolling around the gardens and along the shore the younger generation were making the most of what Ilfracombe had to offer in terms of night life. So much had changed since I last visited the place nearly twenty years ago. However, as I drove along the harbour road checking out where the boat was leaving from the following day, I was pleased to see that it had retained some of its typical seaside features with souvenir shops full of tacky nick nacks and the fragrant smell of freshly cooked fish and chips.
We were diving with Obsession Boat Charters . It was a large group filling two boats and although the weather reports had been mixed we had three days diving to look forward to. The next morning it was nice to see so many faces that I hadn’t seen for some time and soon we had both boats loaded and were off. What makes these boats special is their speed. I was on Obsession 2 and whilst a sizeable cat it has the speed of a RIB and soon we were hurtling across the waves heading straight for Lundy.
I had high expectations of seeing a lot of marine life given that the waters around Lundy are protected. However, the no take zone lies to the east of the island. Unfortunately this side is more prone to bad weather often making it a problem to dive. Such was the case the weekend we were there and while five of our dives were on the west side we only managed one (Brazen Ward) on the east side. On this dive alone it was clear to see the difference in the amount of marine life living on the two sides.
Another slight disappointment was the lack of seals. They were there but were very shy. On two occasions I was ‘checked out’ by a seal but they kept their distance so no chance of any photos. Having had a ‘taster’ of Lundy diving I really would like to go back and spend a lot more time diving the east coast.
More pics Lundy from Ilfracombe
