Day 4 – Vobster Quay, Somerset

5th November

After a slightly frustrating evening battling dodgy Wi-Fi connections, we were up bright and early, excited about the day ahead. Today was all about catching up with our friends from Scuba Blue, the fabulous dive training group from Taunton. We know them well from their many visits to Porthkerris, so it was lovely to have the roles reversed as this time they would be showing us around one of their favourite local dive sites, Vobster Quay.

From the moment we arrived, we were made to feel welcome. The Scuba Blue team really live their motto, “Start Diving, Keep Diving.” Their passion for diving, and for helping others discover the same joy, shines through in everything they do. Vobster Quay is a members-only open-water activity centre tucked away in the Somerset countryside, and we felt genuinely lucky to be visiting. The welcome couldn’t have been friendlier. Staff and fellow divers alike were curious to hear about The Great Scuba Drive, and it was fun to chat about our trip.

Midge and Vicky from Scuba Blue were our guides for the day, so we were in very experienced hands. Our first dive kicked off around 9:30 a.m. Like Wraysbury yesterday, Vobster Quay is a flooded quarry, but this one’s gave out a strong sense of history.

The visibility was incredible, at least ten metres, and the place is packed with fascinating relics from its quarrying days: old pumping pipes, the original rock crusher, and even concrete rooms frozen in time. Over the years, extra treasures have been added including a plane broken into three pieces and a shipwreck, making for a brilliant underwater playground.

We laughed so much underwater that I’m sure most of our air consumption came from that. The highlight? The now-iconic “this is an explosive” signal, less of a hand gesture, more of a full-body performance. Absolute comedy gold.

The landscape under the surface was so different from yesterday, a silt bedscattered with rocks of all shapes and sizes. Even the “shallow” sections are 10–12 metres deep, and the drops are dramatic. Swim towards the centre and you move from an 8-metre platform to 10 metres and then suddenly it just disappears. Below lies a dark, mysterious abyss. The quarry plunges to a depth of 35 metres at its deepest point, home to the freediving platform. The next shelf sits around 22 metres, and when you peer over the edge, it’s just pure black. We were extremely grateful to have been given Mares EOS 20LRZ torches for the trip which helped us enormously. Mick dropped a rock into the void, and there was no indication

that it had reached the bottom. It simply vanished into darkness. Eerie and mesmerising in equal measure.

After surfacing, we headed to the on-site café. A double bacon cheeseburger quickly became the order of the day (and yes, it was every bit as good as it sounds). Add in a great coffee and a fab hot chocolate, and we were ready for round two.

Our second dive took us deeper onto the 22-metre shelf, where we found an old army personnel carrier that you can swim through. This was so much fun! The bottom here was soft mud rather than gravel, and when you reached out your hand, it just kept sinking. It was also our coldest dive yet at 9°C and even with the chill tingling our faces, being dressed appropriately, we stayed toasty warm throughout.

Finally, we explored a wooden barge filled with perch, dozens of them darting in and out of the shadows. One particularly chunky perch seemed to be patrolling the place possibly looking for his next snack. We spent about 30 minutes at 22 metres, with a total dive time of around 45 minutes. Our air consumption was definitely higher due to the depth. This has been another incredible day. We are feeling blessed by the support for our trip from the dive community who are reaching out to us in person or through social media.

Massive thanks to Midge and Vicky for their hospitality, humour, and expert guiding today. You challenged, entertained, and inspired us.

Next stop: Stoney Cove, Leicester. Another new adventure awaits on The Great

Scuba Drive!