ISSUE 14 ARCHIVE - PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ANGLESEY

Juliet Savigear

I’m sure Wills is taking his new wife to a few of their local dive sites around the spectacular rugged coastline of Anglesey which has some fabulous diving, with wrecks, beautiful bays and reefs to explore, so we can recommend that you join them over there. However, strong tides can be an issue so it is essential to check carefully for slack tides (try to plan your trips around the neap tides) or dive with one of the local dive centres who know the tide times and the best dives to avoid problems. Numerous inlets can provide some protected sites and there are many wrecks that are even accessible from the shore. Boat diving will enable you to get to the Skerries or alternatively over to the Menai Straits to dive in the national underwater park.

Food and Booze

Ah, the benefits of diving the British coastal waters... fresh seafood. Not only that, the Welsh mountains close by have lots of those fluffy white lambs to provide a fine slab of meat on a plate.

A favourite for locals and visitors is the White Eagle at Roscolyn. This pub has excellent food and a great selection of beer and cask ale (no reservations). However, it will get very busy during the summer, so best to go out of season.

Hotel Cymyran also offers excellent food. Local fish is a feature on ‘Fish on Fridays’ here.

A Good Night’s Kip

Dive in ultimate luxury and stay at Rhoscolyn House (Holyhead) which is perched on its own craggy headland.

Min-Y-Don is a diver friendly Guest House.

Anglesey Outdoors has a variety of accommodation options including The Lodge House, yurt or tipi camping and, of course, you can bring your own tent. It is particularly well set up for divers with kit and boat washing facilities as well as storage.

Trearddur Bay Hotel is right by the main launch site and provides excellent accommodation and food.

Blackthorn Farm B&B, self-catering and camping.

A list of a whole load of accommodation of different sizes can also be found at rhosneigr.org.uk.

Out and About

Neoprene is definitely the in thing around this rugged coastline, even if you haven’t got a tank strapped to your back. Both Anglesey Outdoors and Anglesey Adventures offer a whole host of adrenaline filled activities: coasteering, rock climbing, abseiling, kayaking, mountain walking, sea level traversing, gorge scrambling, canoeing, canyoning, tyrolean traverse, orienteering, raft building, mountain biking, bush craft, initiative games.

Or try kite-surfing on the windy west coast at Rhosneigr on the windy west coast with FKS Enterprise.
 Tel: +44 (0)1407 810 598.

Try galloping a horse along Abermenai sands, a mile long stretch of deserted beach with spectacular views across to Snowdonia. However, this is a very fast ride and not suitable for novice or intermediate riders. Other novice rides are available.

Anglesey Riding Centre. Tel: +44 (0)1248 430 377.

Have tea and cakes in the tiled old dairy at Plas Newydd, an
 18th century National Trust property with spectacular views of Snowdonia on the shores of the Menai Strait. Maybe of more interest to you metal junkies might be the military museum here which contains relics from the 1st Marquess of Anglesey’s tenure, who commanded the cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo.

Nature lovers must head over to South Stack Cliffs where there is an RSPB reserve which has over 4,000 pairs of seabirds nesting at the cliffs in the summer. Guillemots, Fulmars, razorbills and puffins can all be seen if they’ve not already been flying around your dive boat. Choughs are also to be found here. The bird life is not the only reason to visit South Stack. The cliffs contain some of the oldest rocks in Wales, dating back nearly 600 million years. The extensive folds in the cliff face are evidence of the earth’s movements and forces that have shaped Wales.

If you haven’t caught your dinner whilst underwater, try a bit of mackerel or herring fishing. Starida Sea Services operates out of Beaumaris.

Local Dive Contacts

Anglesey Divers PADI 5 star dive centre and BSAC Master Scuba Instructors is located in Holyhead offering dive excursions, training, equipment sales and servicing, 300 bar air fills and nitrox (by prior arrangement). Find out the latest news on their Facebook page. Tel: +44 (0)1407 764 545.

Diving Services (Anglesey). Equipment sales & servicing, air and rib charter available, based by the sheltered inlet of Porth Castell, Trearddur Bay. Tel: +44 (0)1407 860 318 – Shop, +44 (0)7866 014 393 – RIB hire.

RIB charter – Aubrey Diggle Licenced by the MCA to carry up to 8 persons. Tel: +44 (0)1407 740 083, Mob: +44 (0)7866 014 393.

Hard boat hire (for the Menai Straits) Scott Waterman Tel: +44 (0)7974 249 005.

Anglesey Outdoors. Tel: +44 (0)1407 769 351.