Published: 24 May 2026
By: Joe
The sun was shining and the heat was rising when PJ, David, Ester and Matteo ventured forth into the cold (not that cold) and murky (just a tad) depths of Vobster Quay. PJ was the dive leader, giving much needed guidance and support to David, Ester and Matteo. David was gaining more experience towards his Sports Diver qualification (after today, just one more skill to accomplish – compass navigation!) and Ester and Matteo were there to gain skills and know-how on reaching their Ocean Diver qualification.
David was tasked with being the Dive Manager by PJ.
It was Ester’s and Matteo’s first time at Vobster Quay but they quickly got to grips with the layout of where to go and what to do (signing in, where to place kit, where to change and where to refill tanks). Later on, they both discovered the Burger Bar (for our much needed lunch after the first dive).
For the first dive, we all performed a stride entry then descended to the first platform found under the white buoy near the shop (I’m sure those familiar with Vobster know the platform that is being referring to).
At the platform, Ester and Matteo practised mask clearing, fin pivots and more – all good and vital Ocean Diver skills. David, at the request of PJ, had to pull a SMB – deployed and at the surface, all around the short trip out to the sunken car, then back again. (thanks PJ! :-p)
Visibility wasn’t that great surprisingly, given the calm water and good weather, but we made the best of it. Plenty of little fish to be seen 🙂
Ascending to surface, to perform our safety stops, the temperature of the water climbed up quite dramatically and when the intrepid explorers exited, we were all greeted by a glorious sunny and hot day. Hello Mr Sunshine!
A much needed rest, partial de-kit (it gets hot in those 7.5mm semis) and a round of burgers and sausage baps (and tea and coffee) was to be had by all – along with some chit-chat before it was time for dive number 2 of the day!
For this 2nd dive, David was to take the reigns of being a dive leader (with PJ fully controlling and supervising).
Following another stride entry and descent to the same first platform as this morning, Ester and Matteo practised more mask clearing and buoyancy control – whilst David paired with Matteo to show assisted breathing (both as a donor and a recipient) using the octopus by giving the “out-of-air” hand signals.
With that all done and performed admirably by all, finally, it was time for David to take the Dive Lead with a view of heading towards the sunken car (with the plan to then go onwards towards the crane and back again).
Unfortunately, half-way-through the second dive, we lost sight of Ester, so David, PJ and Matteo all did controlled ascents (with a safety stop).
Reaching the surface, we quickly located Ester who had taken the good and excellent decision to rise slowly to the surface, swim towards a buoy and wait to see us. Thankfully, Esther didn’t have to wait long and after ensuring that everyone was safe and okay and after some words of encouragement from PJ, we all decided to descend again to continue on with the second dive. This time, we all stuck close – with David doing more stops and checks along the way to ensure everyone was following and being okay.
We reached the crane in good spirits, did a 360, then we all swam back again as a close knit unit to the same exit point. This time, no one was lost! 🙂
Ascending to the surface for the final time, we were again greeted by the sun and the heat – and after another round of teas and coffees and water, a debrief was held and finally it was time that we all departed home!
Personally, I thought that Ester and Matteo did an awesome job and seemed to really enjoy being at Vobster and I’m sure they are looking forward to an eventual return to pick up some more dive skills.
A big shout out to PJ for his clear instruction, patience and good humour throughout the day. He’s a legend!
Recorded Dive Times:
Dive #1: 13.3m, 30mins and 41seconds. Dive #2: 14.3m, 27mins and 7 seconds. Dive #3: 13.6m, 15mins and 10 seconds.
