Basking in the Isle of Man

by Team Devereux

A trip to the Isle of Man
27/06/2008

Late June and a merry band of divers head to the Isle of Man with only one thing on our minds… please let us see basking sharks?!?

We all gathered in the house we’d called home for the next four days. A quick inspection of the fridge found it pre-stocked with a mountain of sausage, bacon, eggs, toms, mushrooms & black pudding… the only thing we had to do was cook it! And a house kitty had been formed, so beer and wine was jammed into the remaining space in the fridge… Bonza!

Diving day one and Team Devereux had left their dry suits at home… Oops!!! Thankfully the NHDC spares bag saved the day and the diving continued, though Mr D took the afternoon off to re-familiarise himself with the Liverpool – Isle of Man ferry to be re-acquainted with the afore mentioned items… thanks Mum 

While Mr D was enjoying ferry fodder, the rest of us squealed with excitement when seal pups joined us on the stunning wreck dive of the Clan MacMaster… They were just as interested in watching us as we were keen on watching them… so cute… and with top pot blennies and a ripping drift to finish with… the dive had it all… we were buzzing!

The following day, our prayers for basking sharks were answered… As we climbed aboard the rib the radio rung out with those all important words… “Basker in the Bay!” Snorkels to the ready our skilful skipper put us right along side and as we slipped quietly (ish) into the water we were greeted with the sight of the most magnificent basking shark only metres away… we could hardly control our excitement!!! Another diving dream comes true!!!

We wondered how things could get any better.... but the Isle of Man still had more to offer and the afternoon’s dive at the Burroo is now one of our favourite dives in the UK… so much life - more seals to play with; white, yellow and orange anemones in abundance; walls carpeted with jewel anemones of every colour and dog fish scattered absolutely everywhere!

A quick call to Mo’s other half back at the house ensured G&Ts with ice and a slice were nicely chilled for us all to celebrate our day’s diving… and after devouring the mother of all Indian takeaways, the European Cup Final finished off the evening (I guess that’s football right?!?!?)

Next morning we headed out to dive the Sugarloaf Caves. Shallow and easily accessible, Mr D was up to his tricks again and found it quite hilarious to decorate Mrs D’s tank with some kelp found broken off on the cave floor… thanks for the video and photo evidence everyone!!!

All in all, the diving was amongst the best we’ve seen around the UK, our skippers Mike and Tom were second to none and went out of their way to look after us. The home from home was perfect, and most of all, it was the people whose company we shared that made our four days diving in the Isle of Man so memorable… thanks everyone, and we’ll be back!!!