Wild and Temperate Seas

From highlands to islands, wrecks to reefs and caves, this new-style guide will whet your appetite for UK scuba diving. These are over 50 personal favourites at some of the UK’s most popular underwater destinations. Dorset Dives author Will Appleyard and his team of experienced collaborators share their picks as they showcase our beautiful coastal locations. Many of the dive sites featured in this new guide already appear regularly in avid UK divers’ log books. Others are visited by only those with local knowledge and some rarely see divers at all. All are special in some way to those who have contributed and evidence for those to whom the UK underwater is still a mystery that once you tame these wild and temperate seas there really are some magnificent experiences to be had.

As a wise man once said ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong thermal protection’ (paraphrased). So, demist your mask and embrace the emerald, don your drysuit and conquer the cold… this book shows what incredible quality is waiting to be found if you just scratch the surface of UK diving. Wild and Temperate Seas is an introduction to some of the UK’s best dives covering over 50 accessible sites at 15 beautiful locations across the nation. The book includes wrecks and reefs, boat and shore dives. Compiled by experienced contributors and with stunning images by award-winning underwater photographers, this is the perfect gift for anyone new to or considering scuba diving in the UK.

Reviews

‘The pages look bright, the quality of the underwater photography leaves an impression of disarming colour and variety, and the writing is light and bright. Best of all, the book previews the actual dives and takes us for the ride, instead of making us feel like we’re revising for an exam. It makes us want to be at the location… An easy, enjoyable read… Books like this are just what British diving needs’– Diver magazine (Dec 2020).

‘An easy-to-read package that succeeds in showing off some of the best places to go diving in the UK… it’s a colourful journey through some great British diving locations’– SCUBA magazine (Jan 2021).

‘The colourful nature of the book exudes warmth and the contributors take it in turns to provide some of the finest oh-so-lush pictures… Every entry is seemingly a classic of the genre’– British Diver.

Contents include

Map; Divemaster’s Briefing; Introduction; Dorset; Torbay by Dan Bolt; Plymouth; Porthkerris; Rock by Stuart Philpott; Lundy Island; Llŷn Peninsula by Jake Davies and Will Appleyard; Rathlin Island by Alex Gibson; Farne Islands by Kirsty Andrews; St Abbs, Loch Long and Loch Fyne by Elaine Whiteford; Mull by Kirsty Andrews and Dan Bolt; Scapa Flow by Jason Brown; North Rona and Sula Sgeir by Kirsty Andrews.

About the author and contributors

Will Appleyard communicates his passion for adventure through his photography and writing. The author of Discover UK Diving and Dorset Dives, he is regularly commissioned for magazines, adventure-based platforms, adventure outfitting and travel brands – www.willappleyard.com. In this new guide a range of experienced contributors and award-winning underwater photographers – Kirsty Andrews, Dan Bolt, Jason Brown, Jake Davies, Alex Gibson, Stuart Philpott and Elaine Whiteford – share some of their favourite UK diving locations.