Menai Strait, Wales is a shore accessible salt water dive site, located at Menai Strait,, Menai, Bangor,wales, United Kingdom. The maximum depth is 51-60ft/16-18m. The average visibility is 11-15ft/3-5m.
Menai Strait, Wales
The
Menai Strait (
Welsh:
Afon Menai, the "River Menai") is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about 25 km (16 mi)
[1] long, which separates the island of
Anglesey from the mainland of
Wales.
The strait is bridged in two places - the main
A5 road is carried over the strait by
Thomas Telford’s elegant iron
suspension bridge, the first of its kind, opened in January 1826, and adjacent to this is
Robert Stephenson’s 1850
Britannia Tubular Bridge. Originally this carried rail traffic in two
wrought-iron rectangular box spans, but after a disastrous fire in 1970, which left only the
limestone pillars remaining, it was rebuilt as a steel
box girder bridge,
and now carries both rail and road traffic. Between the two bridge
crossings there is a small island in the middle of the strait,
Ynys Gorad Goch, on which are built a house and outbuildings and around which are the significant remains of
fish traps, no longer used.
Menai Strait west of
Britannia Bridge showing the memorial to Admiral Lord
NelsonThe strait varies in width from 400 metres (1,300 ft) from Fort Belan to
Abermenai Point to 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) from Traeth Gwyllt
[2] to
Caernarfon Castle.
It then narrows to about 500 metres (1,600 ft) in the middle reaches (Y
Felinheli and Menai Bridge) and then it broadens again. At Bangor,
Garth Pier, it is 900 metres (3,000 ft) wide. It then widens out, and the distance from
Puffin Island to
Penmaenmawr is about 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi).
[1] The differential
tides at the two ends of the strait cause very strong currents to flow in
both directions through the strait at different times, creating
dangerous conditions. One of the most dangerous areas of the strait is
known as the
Swellies (or Swillies –
Welsh Pwll Ceris) between the two bridges. Here rocks near the surface cause over-falls and local
whirlpools,
which can be of considerable danger in themselves and cause small boats
to founder on the rocks. This was the site of the loss of the
training ship HMS Conway in 1953. Entering the strait at the
Caernarfon end is also hazardous because of the frequently shifting sand banks
that make up Caernarfon bar. On the mainland side at this point is
Fort Belan, an 18th-century defensive fort built in the times of the
American War of Independence.
Adjacent to Snowdonia National Park, the Menai Strait in Wales offers
one of the most diverse marine habitats in the UK and is a proposed
conservation site. Poor visibility hampers conditions at this fantastic
UK dive spot but when the water clears to a visibility of 3 to 4 metres
you will be able to see some of the 1,000 odd marine species that
inhabit this area. As it is yet to be granted the status of marine
reserve, powerboats and jet-skis use the strait also - be extra aware
of this potential hazard and avoid surfacing in the main channel.
- The Swellies
is a name given to a popular dive with reference to swellies rock. You
can access this dive from the shore by using a submarine cable. The
cable, going down to a maximum depth of 17 metres is highlighted by
yellow signs situated underneath the bridge that spans the strait, this
makes it nice and easy to find. After only a few metres, however, you
will begin to find brightly coloured sponges of all colours and textures
- too many to mention in one article! Crabs hide amongst the sponges in
great number and variety. You can see spider crabs, velvet swimmers,
scorpion spider crabs and edible varieties in abundance. Fish common to
the Menai Strait include butterfish, conger eels hiding away and even
large bass may be found sheltering behind large rocks. Be aware that
there is a strong current running down the strait but you never more
than a short swim away from shore.ook harder and you can find small congers in some of the crevices and
you might come across lots of edible crabs delicately breaking barnacles
off the bedrock – a handy pre-packed snack. Occasionally you might bump
into less common creatures such as lumpsuckers and bass.
To
the west of the Suspension Bridge, on the south side of the Strait, lies
the ‘Platters’ – a rocky plateau visible only on extreme low tides –
scene of the sad loss of the last wooden warship built in Britain, the
HMS Conway. The wreck can be dived and a few baulks of timber (pickled
oak) still survive, but do it by boat unless you are very good at tides
and navigation.
Pie and a pint: Eating out is not a
problem in the area. The town of Menai Bridge has many hotels and pubs,
as does the quainter town of Beaumaris a few miles to the east.
Useful contacts:
Air is available from Anglesey Divers in Holyhead a 30-minute drive up
the A5 dual carriageway (tel: 01407 764545 or see the website www.diveanglesey.co.uk).
If you want to explore the Strait further, Scott Waterman runs the
Endeavour dive boat from Menai Bridge (tel: 01248 716923 or see the
website www.questdiving.co.uk).
Insider knowledge: The
Strait is extremely tidal! Slack water at the Suspension Bridge is
about two hours and 45 minutes before low water at Liverpool, but it’s
worth being there well before this and watching the current drop. There
is a ‘tidal shadow’ caused by the Bridge which can lengthen diving here,
but as soon as the current picks up you need to get out. Generally
speaking, neaps are diveable but springs give a very short window and
are best avoided. Lastly, the Strait is a Special Area of Conservation
and should be treated with respect for its marine life.