DIVE FEST 2009
Report by Barry C Manning for O2Dive
Hi just returned from the first Dive Fest, which was held at Pentewyn sands in Cornwall. The Holiday site has its own private beach and a resident dive school, SAL Diving. We arrived on the Thursday 14th May, the fest started on the 15th, Friday @ 6.00pm. The picture below is of Mevagissey, where the hardboat diving was run from. I planned to dive on the Saturday, but as with UK diving there is always a risk, we had rain and wind like you would never believe, 2 low pressures collided over Cornwall, and you guessed it no diving sat or Sunday.
The bad weather left many divers and ribs high and dry, but there is always something to do. There were many stands and various lectures taking place over the three days, I attended the extreme diving and Monty Halls provided a very humorous talk on his TV series, Beachcomber cottage, and for those who have seen this, Ruben was also here, causing mayhem, Ruben is Montys dog, known as Rubes.
There were various activities on the beach, but the weather did cause these to also be difficult to run in the bad conditions.
There was sand sculpting on the beach, and many have a shot at this, the main scup lure was of a diver of course.
The turnout was very good with dive clubs coming from as far away as Scotland and Holland, there were some 20 or so private ribs waiting to dive, none went in all weekend.
The party sprit was not dampened, and many huddled round the camp fire on the beach. There was a hog roast and very good entertainment in the main tent, you cant keep a good diver down, we all had fun, and a bit more of a hangover as many were confident that there would be no diving on Sunday.
Some locals enjoying the water. So was it a success, YES, due to:
· Excellent organisation
· First ever Dive Fest
· Good bands
· Excellent site / club
· Cornwall has lots to do if diving is blown out
· Free hog roast
· Free beanie hat, I have never seen so many red heads.
Equipment and cameras were demonstrated at the pool.
We even had a guy on a wing, although he said it was a very exciting flight, which he only did once due to the high winds.
So who will join me next year, I have tried to book my place but this has to be done from 1st November onwards. This would be a good club trip, a long way but if rolled in with an extended stay, I stayed for a week overall, a very worthwhile trip.
The cost is £30 each for dive fest, camping is on top ranging from £12 per night to £17 per night on a pitch right next to the sea. Diving is approx £25 for 2 dives from a hardboat. I will be attending next year, event is same place and will be the first BH in MAY so a true 3 day event. The view from the beach camping pitches can be seen below.