Following three weeks of glorious summer, ODD set off for the North Pembrokeshire coast in pouring rain and strong winds. Typical! The three days prior to our arrival had chopped the sea up considerably and visibility was expected to be somewhat poorer than the excellent record the area had apparently had of recent. The fact that the forecasters got the prediction for Saturday completely wrong, didn't help, and a substantial swell meant our diving would have to be wherever we could get some shelter from the prevailing winds. The first dive on Saturday produced visibility of less than a metre and we were thinking Lady Luck had stayed in Dartford. The mood was lifted, however, by the arrival of dolphins on the journey to our second dive site. I would challenge anybody not to smile when these enigmatic creatures put in an appearance (apart from Sick Vic, who was busy on the other side of the boat!).

Mother Nature must have felt sorry for us as we rose on Sunday to calm seas and clear blue sky. We steamed towards Strumble Head, looking for porpoises and dolphins, drinking in the scenery and praying the massive black cloud behind us would sod off (which it did). Mark, the owner and skipper of the hardboat Wandrin' Star, dropped anchor in a beautiful bay under the watchful eye of Strumble Head lighthouse, and we could see straight away that the viz wouldn't be an issue this day. The twenty metre dive around the gullies and reefs was just what we all needed and the site was crammed with sponges and corals, and for the photographers, plenty of accommodating dogfish, lobsters and crabs, nudibranchs and flatworms. It was that good, we asked Mark if we could stay at the site for the second dive, but Mark promised us the next site would be better still!

Off we steamed around to the next bay and the scattered wreck of the "Dan Beard", to be greeted by turquoise waters with a stunning granite backdrop of cliffs and caves, with their resident flocks of seabirds circling above. As we dropped anchor one of the local grey seals popped up to say hello and that was it; the race to kit up and be first in the water was on. Needless to say Deb was off like a rat up a drainpipe and in my haste I started my giant stride without my fins on (that'll be the F in 'BWRAF' then!) The dive itself was nothing short of sensational with visibility in excess of twelve metres! Plenty of life, the golden wreckage of the Dan Beard scattered all around, dramatic kelp forests with swim throughs, caves and caverns to explore and a seal 'buzzing' us. It was just a shame that the seal was camera shy!

The journey back had everybody with ear to ear grins and raving about a great day. It was clear that Lady Luck had caught up with us as we tried for a few mackerel on the way back to Celtic Dive Base. We all feasted on beautiful, fresh, barbecued mackerel on board Wandrin' Star with plenty left for Sunday dinner. As we approached harbour, a porpoise put in an appearance by the boat just to round off a perfect day.

We would like to thank Mark Dean and the crew at Celtic Diving for a great weekend. The bunkhouse accommodation was clean and comfortable, Wandrin' Star is a magnificent fully equipped hardboat with heaps of space for a most comfortable day at sea, and Pembrokeshire, on its day, could rival many of the top diving destinations in the world. We'll be back next year!