Capernwray

Capernwray is situated in the North West of England at the edge of a little village called Over Kellet. It is about 2 and half hours drive from Retford. You need to get there early as there is always a queue to get in and it doesn't even open its gates until 9.00am. Parking is not really a problem there as there is plenty of room and the car park is not so far away from the water's edge that you have to catch a bus..so I guess that put's it one up on Stoney Cove.

Capernwray is probably only 2nd behind Stoney Cove in terms of the amount of people who first encounter scuba diving in British waters while they are doing their Open Water course but I would rate it number 1 in terms of what it offers and the enjoyment I get when diving there.

There has been much improvement in the facilities at Cape since I was last there. There is a brand new changing room/toilet block all nicely heated and they have sunk another couple of attractions in the lake. Entry is £12 and a membership lasts for life rather than a year, so I would say that beats the other places hands down for value. There is now an additional compressor for air fills so the waiting time, especially at peak times of the year for a full cylinder is reduced. The shop is well equipped and you can hire various bits of kit should you have been a numpty and forgotten to pack anything. The cafe is always busy but my own opinion is that it is over rated and over priced. Service is poor and I was quite surprised to discover that the drinks are not made fresh but merely poured out of a pre made flask! Maybe that was just the tea though.

The lake itself is a former quarry and has a good solid base as it is granite, so the viz is always much better than say somewhere like Blue lagoon or 8 Acres.
Entry into the lake can be done via Giant Stride from the platform or there are 2 walk in entry points either side. One is a purpose built slipway and is excellent for nervous trainee's to go in slowly listening to last minute words of reassurance from Instructor and DM and the other is a little rocky but is good for if you want to explore the other side of the lake. Going back to the slipway entry, part of this is actually separated and roped off to distinguish the trainee area. I think this is an excellent idea as there are a couple of training platforms at 2m and at 6m as well as a couple of "attractions" within easy swimming distance.
On a first dive, there are always problems with buoyancy, nerves, breathing, clearing ears etc and so to have a specific area of the lake that is not too deep and where the light is relatively good is really reassuring and I think brilliant from a safety point of view. Capernwray does of course have its own scramble boat and safety procedures in place in the unfortunate event of a diving incident.

The newest attractions are a hanglider and some giant pigs that are near the gnome garden. Among other attractions are the oil rig ( my favourite), the container swim through, diving bell, gnome garden, a few planes, a few boats ( I am rubbish with names) and of course, Lord Lucan and Shergar.
The lake is teeming with fish life and for £1 you can buy a bag of food. That is an awesome sight, it was this feeding frenzy as at least 50 odd trout, decent sized as well absolutely tore this bag to shreds and of course I got loads of opportunies for some good photo's.

Maximum depth is about 20m over on the far side of the lake but all the attractions are within the 18m OW range and are well marked up with buoys.

I think the only disadvantage really is that it is so far away. It is do-able in a day but would be tiring. Luckily, there are plenty of places where you can get digs so you would be able to do 3 good dives on the Saturday and then a couple on the Sunday morning before heading back home.

I really enjoy diving at Capernwray and would recommend it to anyone. It can be used for training or pleasure diving and although busy, it does not get as busy as Stoney due to its geographical location. Probably my favourite inland site that I have been to.