Vobster Quay, Somerset
by Chris Moody

Introduction
After 2 trips to Horsea lake as part of my Ocean diver training with the Bournemouth University Sub Aqua club (Or the Bournemouth Barracudas as we like to be known), it was a pleasant change of scenery when we went to Vobster Quay, an old quarry, for my qualifying dive.
Vobster's depth ranges from 6 to 36 metres, offering dives suiting all divers, with various attractions from sunken vehicles, sunken quarry machinery, planes, and even a tunnel!

The location
Vobster Quay is situated in Somerset, only 5 miles away from Frome. On the morning of the trip there was heavy fog. Indeed, I hadn't realised we had arrived at Vobster until Iain, the diving officer, informed me that the white empty space through the trees was, in fact, Vobster Quay.
Later on in the day when the fog lifted, the Quay proved to be very scenic. I was surprised at the tranquility of the place and could imagine a pleasant day just being the surface cover, if the weather is nice!

Facilities
We had arrived early, and so had a short wait in a small queue of other like-minded divers at the gates to the site. Like other inland diving sites, you pay at entry, and each diver and none diver is given a small identifying band to be worn at all times.
There was a fair amount of parking for those who arrived early, though within the first few hours the car park filled up, and some divers had to park at the top of the hill and walk down. The hill's very steep, and is quite a trek.
There is an on-site compressor charging for fills at a good rate. There is also a dive shop, useful for replacing any broken equipment, or something to do whilst waiting for your next dive.
The changing facilities are a little small, fitting maybe half a dozen divers at most. However, at least the facilities are there, as opposed to changing in the toilets or behind your car at Swanage Pier!

Food
There is also the mandatory Burger Bar that accompanies all popular dive sites. The Menu was, like many divers, quite big. The prices were quite good. On glancing over the menu, something caught my eye. This being a "Deco Burger". At just under £5, you had to wonder what was in it. And indeed, the description stated "Ask what's in it". Upon asking, I was told "Everything" indeed, 2 of everything. 2 burgers, 2 eggs, bacon, cheese, sausages. At the end of the day I tackled one of these beasts, it was indeed very nice, and I can't wait to return for another, maybe in a few years when I've burnt off the calories!

Diving
The quality of diving surprised me. I had been warned beforehand that due to the history of the site, there would be a lot of cement dust at the bottom of the quarry, and that it would be kicked up quite easily, and the visibility wouldn't be too great.
For my qualifying dive, we dived the Jacquin II. A wreck sat on average at about 18 metres. The visibility here was good, being deeper, and away from the areas beginner divers would be kicking up silt. The wreck was excellent, and the visibility was some of the best I have had to date.

For the next dive, later in the afternoon I was buddied with Iain and another club member. Upon entering the water, the water was a nice (warm) 7 degrees. On the descent the other club member had a freeflow, and the years of experience showed when Iain took control of the situation and calmly performed a controlled ascent to the surface.
A little later we tried again, and thankfully there were no problems. We saw a sunken aircraft. It'd been broken into sections. We also saw some sunken machinery. The visibility wasn't anything special, but it certainly wasn't as bad as I had been led to believe.

Summary
I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I would like to go back in the future to explore some of the other wrecks, and have another burger. I would recommend if you do visit Vobster to thoroughly clean your kit out afterwards, due to the fine cement particles getting into small nooks and crevices. I'd also recommend you get there early to ensure you get a good car parking space.

Contact details
Vobster
TEL: 01373 814666
FAX: 01373 814678
Website
ENQUIRIES: info@inlanddiving.idps.co.uk

Inland Diving Ltd
Upper Vobster
Mells
Somerset
BA3 5SA

Bournemouth Barracudas
Website Bournemouth Barracudas
diveclub@bmthbararcudas.com


SE England Page
UK main page