We have several annual trips that are run every year, which are complimented by additional “one off” trips that are organised across the entire year. Destinations of these trips have in the past included: Scapa Flow, Farne Islands and Egypt! If you want to get involved and organise a trip get in contact with us and check out the trip planning page on the website!
St Abbs is a small fishing village on the East Coast of the UK, just the other side of the Scottish boarder. Known affectionately in the club as Stabs, it is the first trip of the academic year and is effectively a welcome trip designed to introduce new members to the wider club.
In general, we head up to Scotland the Friday evening, staying at Eyemouth holiday park, which is at the top of a cliff face with great sea views, just a short walk from Eyemouth town centre. On the Saturday we make the short drive to St Abbs, where we do a days shore diving from the harbour wall, where there is an excellent café and lifeboat station to keep people occupied when not diving.
Sunday we dive off a local hard boat, again out of St Abbs harbour to some offshore sites. Once the diving is completed, we head back to the caravans to get showered and changed. There is the option of staying Sunday night in Eyemouth, but most cars head home Sunday evening.
The diving in the St Abbs marine conservation area, is widely regarded as some of the best in the UK, with kelp forests, lobsters and the occasional seal there to provide some spectacular dives!
Capernwray is our annual training trip, where we run off north with our trainee ocean divers to complete their Open Water training dives. As with most of our weekend trips, we depart Friday afternoon, generally arriving around 8 in the evening. Although the purpose for the trip is mainly training, a lot of the club generally attend for the social weekend and to do a bit of diving.
As for the diving and the training, this is done at Capernwray inland dive centre, a fantastic location to carry out training, with a dedicated training area and lots of underwater attractions to see. Importantly, it also has a wet café, that you don’t have to change out of your drysuit to grab a hot drink and warm up! We dive at Capernwray both Saturday and Sunday, which is plenty of time for trainees to complete their ocean diver dives and get signed off!
The Saturday evening is a great social event, after the trainees have cooked the dinner and the instructors have debriefed at the pub, the newbies are introduced to some of the clubs games and traditions over a few drinks in the evening!
The Lakes trip is one of the favourites that we run throughout the year, and for a diving trip it ironically has very little diving! During the cold end of February and start of March, where water temperatures are at their lowest, we make the short(ish) drive to the Lake District. Here we stay in caravans, a short trek from a pub and hotel/restaurant. Friday evening everyone arrives before congregating at the pub for a few drinks.
Saturday is usually a relaxing day, often with the group splitting into two groups, one diving at a local dive sites such as Hodge close an old slate mine, that has a spectacular network of caves which unfortunately we cannot explore properly, however it is a unique and spectacular site that is well worth a visit. The other group tend to go walking wherever conditions allow.
Saturday evening an unusual phenomenon occurs, NUSAC scrub up! We head out for a black tie meal at the nearby hotel, where we have an amazing meal with the President’s annual address, and then we often stay at the hotel bar until the wee hours of the morning.
Sunday is a day of recovery before we slowly make our way out of the caravans for the trek home.
The Easter Trip is the most variable of our annual trips, traditionally a weeklong trip for more advanced divers, recently it has been run as a long weekend over Easter and has welcomed divers of any level. The trip is simply an excuse to take the club boats somewhere, run of the winter rust and get diving!
In recent years we have run the trip to places such as Oban or Penzance. Although previously the trip has been run on liveaboard boats around the Scottish Islands or to places such as Anglesey or Pembrokeshire in Wales.
Ideas and volunteers to organise the Easter Trip are always welcome, so get in touch if you have any exciting ideas that people might enjoy!
As great as cold water diving is, sometimes it is nice to leave the drysuit at home and jump in some warm water and go swim around a coral reef. That is what our abroad trips is for! The trip is aimed at divers of all levels. It is usually run towards the back end of the Easter Holidays or during the Summer Break.
Traditionally a weeklong trip to some Mediterranean location or the Canary Islands, we jet off to some hot, foreign location for some sunbathing and the occasional dive. Recently we have run trips to Tenerife, Lanzarote, Egypt, Malta and more!
The trip often consists of 4 days worth of diving, plus some time to explore and enjoy local culture while we are there, whether that is taking in some spectacular history, or exploring the nightlife scene on a tropical island, there is always something for everyone and it is guaranteed to be a great trip!
Summer Trip is by far the favourite trip amongst NUSACers. We drag the club boats on a weeklong escape to the west coast of Scotland. After suffering 12 hours overnight in a cramped minibus, passing Loch Lomond under moonlight, we emerge into some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. Traditionally Summer Trip heads off to Skye or Oban but other locations such as Islay and Mull have been visited.
The trip is open to any member of the club, new divers are encouraged as it quickly introduces them to the greater part of diving, from driving the boats, to dive planning everyone can have a crack at whatever they want under the supervision of experienced members of the club.
The trip is the highlight of the club year with awards and president handover at the end of the week. Leaving the day after term ends for the summer, it is the perfect way to sign off the academic year.
See below calendar of our current planned events and trips:
