Capernwray Diving and Leisure

...dive sites in the country, Capernwray as its more commonly known.

Capernwray has been open as a managed divesite for around 11 years, since then the site has very much improved from a mucky hole in the ground with a gravelled carparking area. These days the site above water has a small but well stocked shop, where both air and mixed gas fills are avaliable, dedicated kit service centre, the Porthole restaurant with its outdoor terrace ...
...be asked to show your Capernwray card, hand over your cash (£10 for the day and as many dive as you can safely do) then find a parking space. If you arent registered then it costs an extra £7.50 for the lifetime registration, take the slip, drive on to the carpark. I
f you have to register take your slip up to the shop and fill in the paperwork they hand you (its been a while since i did this so cant actually remember what they require, at ... more

Jackdaw Quarry, near the small village of Over Kellet is the slightly unlikely sounding place to be one of the best inland dive sites in the country, Capernwray as its more commonly known.

Capernwray has been open as a managed divesite for around 11 years, since then the site has very much improved from a mucky hole in the ground with a gravelled carparking area. These days the site above water has a small but well stocked shop, where both air and mixed gas fills are avaliable, dedicated kit service centre, the Porthole restaurant with its outdoor terrace on which in nice weather is to be found the BBQ, licenced bar (for the none diving or driving visitor), two sets of toilets and changing areas, one in portakabins on the carpark the other fully heated and with showers in the main building, secure partially concreted carpark, kit hire centre, and a well respected PADI dive school.

On arrival there is frequently a que on busy days, at the entrance to the carpark you will be asked to show your Capernwray card, hand over your cash (£10 for the day and as many dive as you can safely do) then find a parking space. If you arent registered then it costs an extra £7.50 for the lifetime registration, take the slip, drive on to the carpark. I
f you have to register take your slip up to the shop and fill in the paperwork they hand you (its been a while since i did this so cant actually remember what they require, at least name, address, and qualification). Rejoin the rest of the newly arrived folk and get in the que at the Porthole - i cannot recommend enough the bacon butties, sausage and egg butties or even the burgers (on a typical visit i'll have one of each, no idea how im not huge by now). Once fed you'll consider heading back down to the car to actually do the diving you came here for! One thing to note is that Sandra behind the bar taknig your order has an exellent command of anglo-saxon so annoy her at your peril!

So get kitted up and head for the water, so what can you expect to see?
If you're training you're first sights will be the training platforms at 2 and 6m where you'll preform the skill assessments for you're instructors. For everyone else the options include, one of the 2 Wessex helicopters, the horses (Lord Lucan and Shergar) from Blackpool Pleasure beach, the Podsnap- a Dickens class Minesweeper, the Cessna, the Oil rig, or one of the many other smaller wrecks placed in the Quarry by the owners for exploration.
All of these lie within safe recreational diving depths, as indeed they would have to given that the deepest area of the quarry lies at 20m at the Sump (bouyed by a large Goose!), the shallowest of the attractions are the horses at between 6 and 8m.

Entry points to the water are via the jetty, or the two sloping entry points the one to the left leads down to the main training area, the one to the right is known as the reef and is slightly harder to exit by due to the rocks underfoot, by comparison the other side is concreted down to around waist depth allowing an easier walk - and if you ever tried walking in fins you'll appreciate it!

Once in the water the temperature ranges from 19c on the surface to around 9c at depth, depending on the time of year (those are the kind of temperatures to be expected at this time of year). The visibility currently is around 10m though can drop to inches in areas where it gets stirred up, particularly around the sump as it is a silty bottom.

There are a large number of trout to be seen, also a white sturgeon, among others. The trout in particular can usually be seen around the jetty and can be fed, many people bring bread or buy bags of food from the shop, this provides something of interest to the people left ashore. Obviously due to the nature of the site there isnt much for none divers to do, but sit around the Porthole, explore the shop or watch from the jetty area.

The safety procedures in place are excellent, and work well, should (and i hope it doesnt) a problem arise there is a phone beside the jetty with a direct line to the shop, as soon as the call is received trained staff will come down to the waters edge if the diver needing the assistance is still in the water they will take the small rescue boat out and bring them back in, meanwhile, if it is necessary they will radio the shop and request that an ambulance is called, on occasion this will be the helicopter. They claim that the emergency services can be on site within minutes of being called, in my experiences of the unfortunate occasions this system has been tested (thankfully never with anyone i knew) these claims have been proven. All of their staff are first aid trained and many have dive specific training so they do know what they are doing.

Should you want to buy kit the shop is a good place to find advice, though usually the kit can be found cheaper elsewhere. Also as can be expected on busy days it can take up to an hour to get your cylinders refilled and due to the sheer numbers of cylinders occasionally the fills can be on the 'light' side, but this can be an issue at any busy divecentre.

The opening times are 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday. Closed mondays, except bank holidays when it opens 10am to 4pm. Also during the summer months the site is open until 9pm on Wednesdays, for divers wanting to do a 'night' dive it is slightly cheaper for entry after 4pm, down to £8. All days the last permitted dive time is an hour before the gate is locked, realistically giving you a maximum 45 minute dive time so you're car isnt locked in over night.

One thing that should be noted is that in disagreement with PADI and i believe BSAC standards no diver under the age of 12 is allowed in the water, personally this i agree with my training was at the age of 14 and even as a relatively strong 14 year old girl i struggled with the weight of kit and cold of the water and i am a firm believer that it is a rare girl younger than 14 who can cope with the stresses involved with the cold dark nature of british diving, but i love to be proved wrong, so anyone who wants to prove me wrong feel free to get in touch and we can dive.

As a dive site its not somewhere that I would visit every weekend as eventually like anywhere else you'll start to get bored, but as a training site i personally have never seen better. I was trained here in 1999 and the improvement in facilities since is amazing (sadly so is the increase in entry and registration prices), i am now a divemaster and my school still uses the site for our new Open water trainees.
Also as a site to test new kit or just to check the old gills after a landlocked period its fantastic, its been awhile now since i was visiting weekly and on my return dive i was still able to navigate between my favourite attractions comfortably. Also the costs of entry can seem quite high when within a short drive are a multitude of free sites such as many in the Lake District but these are obviously not best suited to training, and the safety facilities at Capernwray make it in many cases the more attractive proposition for inexperienced divers or those with kit to test.

The ratings below obviously arent all relevant, Ive never seen the guesthouse so have no idea what the rooms would be like, equally i wouldnt expect it to be a family friendly place, the cleanliness is as good as can be expected when its designed around what is basically a messy sport. 

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