Dive Report : Molle, Sweden

Background

As part of a birthday present by my girlfriend which was to take me to Sweden for my birthday, i also got to go diving for a day. The holiday was fire just under a week and we had some great experiences, you can read more about it in her very detailed blog here. 

Diving Day

The day started at 7am, slowly for me - not just because I am naturally rubbish in the morning but because between the high pitched, vocal seagulls and a group of Swedes coming home very drunk and had parked themselves on the benches outside our flat and were keen to make sure that all of Angelholm knew.

Breakfast was much like the previous day : meats, yoghurt and cheese. And coffee!

We left for Mölle at about 845 and we arrived at Kullyn Dyk dive centre by about 915. I met Lasse, a very friendly gentleman, and we quickly got a full set of equipment ready for me. I even got a brand new wet suit!!

It did feel very strange getting a BCD Jacket rather than a harness and wing, although Lasse did mention he had one, a Halcyon one too (!), I kindly refused because of the time it would take to get the harness how I like it.

A short drive down the road to the Mölle harbour where we found the boat.

Gear at the harbour.

It didn't take long to get loaded up and the rig built, and then I wanted to start getting into the wetsuit on because I was worried about the size. It did take about 15-20 minutes of stretching, pulling and grunting but it was on. I had to jump in and cool off after all that though! After a gentle float to cool off, we took off and I got to know my guide, an instructor called Ingrid.

Time to cool off!

The ride was only about 20-30 minutes and the water was like a mill pond!!

Silky smooth water!

We arrived at the dive site, a place known as Paradise Harbour, so named because historically, captains would bring their ships into this harbour to shield them from bad thunderstorms.

Before kitting up I looked over the edge of the boat to splash some water on me to keep me cool while I kit up, below me I can see the reef. Looking good!!

Getting into our rigs we entered the water using a backward roll off the boat, this is without a doubt the first time I've ever used this technique since PADI Open Water course!

About to jump in!

Entering the water was a welcome relief from the heat. Having not dove in a wetsuit with single tank for years I had no idea about weighting. Lasse had made a weight belt up with 9 kg for me, but I was paranoid, so put an extra 16 pounds in the jacket pocket! I knew about 30 seconds after I started swimming I was way Way overweighted!

Dive Narration

Nervous about my weighting I left my BCD inflator alone while I dropped down into the reef. We were moored on a pebbly area and surrounded by a kelp-like forest. Looking up I see the boat and the sun shining beautifully shimmering slightly through the rippling water. GoPro out ... On .. Video recording on!

Kelp-like forest

At this point Ingra led us through the underwater forest for nearly 50 minutes, for the most part I was grinning with a smile the whole time. The water was lovely and warm and the visibility was fantastic. The environment felt like I was diving in am aquarium! There were quite a few jellyfish floating about and lots of starfish which ranged in size from tiny to the size of dinner plates!

I'm glad I had my GoPro because writing this blog because I can't remember much about the dive!

At the end of the dive I was down to about 50 bar so decided that this would be a perfect time for a weight check. Just passed the anchor was a pebbled area that I could kneel down on (the shame!).

Dumping all of the air from the BCD I landed on the seabed. My BCD had quick release pockets, each one had an eight pound lead block in, pulling one out I put it on the ground, still holding on I tentatively let go .... Still on the seabed .... Big breath in .... Still on the seabed ...

Now let's see what happens with the second pocket ... Pull it out (the pocket! You dirty minded sod!) and I'm still there! This is great, it will mean I can leave all that lead on the boat and it will make the second dive so much easier!

Surface interval

We elected for a one hour surface interval and diving the same site, although Ingrid and I would be diving the southern edge of the reef this time. After getting out of the rig, and swapping cylinders, I jumped back in to do some snorkeling around the area of our first dive to take some more footage. I paddled around for about 20 minutes like this until I came back to the boat to prepare for dive #2.

Dive #2 narrative

In much the same way as dive #1, Ingrid led and it was very much a blur. Thankfully I could remind myself by watching the video footage back again.

One of my favourite pictures!

Return

The cruise back was gentle and pleasurable, Ingrid and I chatted some more while we took apart our equipment and sun bathed. Just as we arrived at the harbour, I spotted Charlotte and Marcus sitting under a small lighthouse.

A quick boat unload to return to the dive centre to pack away equipment. For 950 Kr, just £72, I got full equipment rental (wetsuit, mask, fins, gloves, two cylinders of air and boat fee) for two lovely dives.

Paradise Harbour, Molle, Sweden from Chris Armstrong on Vimeo.