This section is a bit sparce at the moment, since the GPS unit with all our sites on is stored away with the rest of the electronics until the dive season starts again. Charts for this region are fairly accurate though, so just try picking a site from there - that's what we do fairly regularly; Admiralty charts 105 and 106 and maybe 108 are the ones you want.
· The Amberley N 53.02.928E 00.58.164 European (Great Britain) 1950 Datum - a 2400 tonne collier which sunk in 1973, in 20m.
· The Umpire - a submarine accidentally sunk in a collision in 1941. Now lies in about 18m. N 53.10.011 E 00.06.083 also European 1950 Datum
· The gullies - there are gullies off Sheringham and West Runton. Look about 1/2 mile out from Sheringham lifeboat house, and around where all the lobster pots are off West Runton (but please leave the pots well alone).
· The Rosalea - off Weybourne beach. Can be seen at low tide
· The Vera - off Cley beach. Also visible at low tide. Directly north of the large concrete block about 300-400m east of the car park.
· Cromer pier - apparently has the remains of an old church on the east side (much of North Norfolk is gradually falling into the sea).
We generally launch from
Weybourne, a steep shingle beach. You will need to contact Chris Thomas (phone
01263 588 391) who has a tractor and does launches and recoveries. There is a
pay and display car park at Weybourne, about £3-4 for a days parking.
Other options are:
· Sea Palling - There's a tractor here too, contact details when I find them out.
· Walcott - A free public slip and parking. Dries at low tide, but with a firm sandy beach from which landings can be made.
· Blakeney - A harbour with launching facilities. Dries about 3h either side of low tide.
· Morston - Another harbour, again dries at low tide.
· Cley - Not strictly speaking a launch site, but has car parking (pay at the hut, about £1) and a cafe and toilets if you're diving the Vera.
If you can't face towing your RIB all the way up the A11, there are a couple of hard boats operating in this area. They are: Desert Moon, skippered by John Martin (01604 407611) and Mayflower, skippered by James Holt (01328 821192)
Air fills are sometimes available from Rowley Nurse, our club president (phone 01263 712180). Shops around the area include Norwich Scuba Centre (Norwich 01603 440900), AquaImage (Norwich 01603 788407) and Kings Watersports (Blundeston, near Lowestoft, 01502 730182). All do air fills as far as I know.
Slack is normally about 3 hours after high or low water offshore, and about 2 hours after inshore. Currents can be quite fast and the window of slack short (although normally at least 1-1.5 hours) so get to the site early and be ready to get in once slack arrives. Closer inshore, shore dives can generally be done at any state of the tide.
North Norfolk is filled with camping and caravan sites (many with static caravans) and bed and breakfast accomodation. Try www.northnorfolk.co.uk, www.north-norfolk.gov.uk/tourism or www.norfolkcoast.co.uk for information on accomodation and attractions in the North Norfolk area.
For a much better researched article than I can
provide for the moment, look at the report on diving in
Norfolk from Diver magazine last year.
If you do visit North Norfolk to dive, and would like to know anything else, or
can add to/correct any of the information that I have on this page, please let
me know (Tom Leaney).
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Site maintained by Tom Leaney
Last modified:
17 June 2003