Belfast Lough

Contacts

John Kenny, Becca Taylor and Beth Brint have all run trips here. Dave Vincent, of DV diving was also very helpful to Beth when she was organised her trip up here in 2004.

Boats

You can launch and moor the boats in the Bangor marina, +44 28 9145 3297.It costs 10 pounds to moor the boat and this includes a launching fee. Access to the slip is through remote control gates so you do have to check in at the marina beforehand. The marina is manned 24 hrs.

Another option is Groomsport, 3 miles further down lough from Bangor, but it's more expensive than Bangor.

Finally, there's also Whitehead on the far side of the lough. It's tidal and can only be used two hours before and after HW but it's closer to certain wrecks (including the Chirripo).

You can get petrol for the boats in Bangor, but only if you must as petrol is still far far more expensive in the north.

Sites

The Lough is littered with wrecks. We haven't dived many of them so to get a good overview have a read of the following:

• Irish Wrecks Online - South Antrim Coast
• Irish Wrecks Online - Belfast Lough
• North Irish Lodge

S.S. Chirripo

The S.S. Chirripo was built in Belfast and was acquired by Elders & Fyffes in 1906, as part of their fleet used in the banana trade between Jamaica and Avonmouth. In 1917 while outward-bound from Belfast, she struck a mine layed by UC-75 half a mile South East of Black Head lighthouse, and sank.

• Irish Wrecks Online

Here's what Beth had to say of it:

Lovely dive ..really recommend it. Easy to shot. Lying on her side ..about 100m long. Covered in life. Loads to see..max 30m ..Best part of dive around 25-20 so perfect SD dive and get good long dive time

The chirripo lies on the far side of the lough to Bangor approx 6 nautical miles as I remember, took about 20 mins to reach from Bangor

S.S. Troutpool

The S.S Troutpool was built in 1927 in Hartlepool. In 1940 she was on a a voyage from Canada to Glasgow with a cargo of grain. After leaving her mooring in Belfast Lough, she struck a mine and sank.

• Irish Wrecks Online

The Troutpool is a lovely wreckage lying in about 18m of water at high water slack. We dived it an hour before HW belfast and there was little current. She is heavily dispersed with echoes on the sounder coming up up to 70m from our mark and she's very low, the biggest bits of wreckage we found were two or three metres maximum off the bottom. There is very little left of her that is recognisable: she is mainly just plate metal lying along the sea floor, which is mostly made up of silt and shells, some of which were very impressive. The highest bit we found was like a crumpled cone 2m high, it could have been a funnel or a boiler or possibly just a couple of bits of sheet metal collapsed together, I also saw a broken girder or broken cranes or lifeboat davits not too far from there. There were loads of, possibly juvenile pollack, all over the place as well as a conger, stubborn edible crabs and the usual deadmens fingers though she's not carpeted in them like the Guide Me. She's fairly bright considering we only got 2m viz maximum. Worthwhile as a second dive for a bit of a rummage if there's not too much tide. She's unlikely to have a shot on her.

Back up sites

Belfast Lough is actually quite exposed. If the weather is uncooperative the likelihood is that Strangford Lough will be diveable.

Safety

There is a very busy shipping lane in Belfast Lough. Be very careful where and when you dive. Some sites such as the Troutpool are quite close to the shipping lane. Be aware of where the tide will take your divers. Remember large ships can take up to half a kilometre to come a complete halt and often have no visibility for several hundred metres below their bows.

You need the usual boat safety equipment: O2, 1st Aid Kit, flares, VHF, GPS. Also make note of the following:

Belfast Coastguard

VHF Channels 16, 67, 04, DSC 70

Working channel

72

Emergency services

112 (or 999) on land

Recompression chamber

Craigavon Area Hospital Lurgan Road Portadown

Day time phone numbers +44 1762 334444, Emergency phone numbers +44 1762 336711, Principal medical director Dr John E Galway, 24 hour cover, on site hospital helicopter/winch point, 60 minutes chamber mobilisation time

Nearest hospital

Belfast city hospital, +44 28 3833 4444

Lifeboat (RNLI)

Bangor

Local Facilities

Dive centre

Accommodation

On Becca's trip we stayed in a lovely self-catering house on Queen's Parade, overlooking the marina.

The house was very comfortable and modern inside. The kitchen was well-equipped if fractionally small. There was a dining room downstairs and a spacious living room upstairs with comfy sofas. There were at least three bathrooms. The house had beds for 10, though double beds were in the majority.

It's really handy for the slip: approx 10 minutes walk to the marina. There was also a small area outside the kitchen where you could put dive gear or leave things out to dry. There is room for one boat at least immediately outside the house but we were warned against leaving it there by a neighbour. We talked to the harbourmaster and left the boat near the marina carpark the second night.

Amenities

Bangor is quite a large seaside town so ATM, supermarkets and petrol stations etc are not a problem.

Entertainment

On the previous two trips to Bangor, the houses that we stayed in were so comfortable that we've yet to venture out in the evenings. So no pub recommendations as yet.

If you're blown out and don't fancy Strangford, there's a nice walk starting at the marina and heading west along the coastline. There's ice-skating in Belfast too.

Info

You can get more information about the area from the following sources:

• Underwater Ireland book
• Chart 1753
• DV diving
• Northern Ireland Tourist board
• Bangor marina

Getting there

To get to Bangor, take the M1/A1 to Belfast and the A2 in the direction of Holyhead and/or Bangor. Bangor is 12 miles from Belfast.