We do the majority of our inland training at Stoney
Cove in Leicester, it is the perfect venue for introducing divers to UK
diving conditions. It also offers guaranteed diving conditions when the
weather offshore is a unsettled.
Also known as the National
Diving Centre, it is world renowned and very popular. conditions are
usually excellent and visibility good. it can get busy at weekends but we
book parking spaces so our students get waterfront position. The fresh
water lake is full of interesting wrecks and artefacts including a sunken
tug boat, Wessex helicopter and a reproduced model of Jules Verne's Nemo
Submarine. there are various training depth levels from 7 metres to 36
metres so is an ideal place for beginners to the more advanced.
Click
for an underwater plan
Water temperature in the
Summer can get up to 20 degrees. It gets quite cold in the winter but the
visibility can be excellent, up to 20 metres on a good day.
All in all Stoney Cove is a great day out and the perfect place to hone
the skill needed to become an accomplished diver, some of the worlds
greatest divers cut their teeth here.
Diving fees
£15.00 per diver for each diving session
£8.00 per
diver for diverlog registered divers
opening times
GMT
mon - fri: 8:30hrs - 16:00hrs
sat - sun: 07:00hrs - 15:00hrs
BST
mon - fri: 8:30hrs - 16:00 hrs
sat - sun: 07:00hrs - 16:00hrs
evening dives 1st & 3rd Wednesdays of every month
evening dives are charged as a separate diving session
Stoney Cove
Sapcote road
Stoney Stanton
Leicestershire
LE9 4DW
tel: 01455 273089
Some History...
In 1978,
Stoney Cove Marine Trials Ltd was formed to develop the full potential of
Stoney Cove for scuba diving and commercial underwater activities. Since
then there has been a continuous programme of improvements which began
with a tarmac surface for the waterside parking area. A shower facility
and that most important item, a pub, followed soon after. September 1999
saw the completion of a new access road and entrance to Stoney Cove.
Beneath the new road is a drain system that directs rainwater and silts
from the cliffs and banks away from Stoney Cove during storms. This has
significantly improved underwater visibility during rainy periods.
But that's not all. The Stanegarth, the U.K.'s largest inland ship wreck,
and the Nautilus submarine have both provided major new attractions.
And the development of Stoney Cove continues apace with work now started
on a state-of-the-art dive centre building containing new breathing gas
production facilities and a medical centre
Stone quarrying first began in Stoney Stanton at the beginning of the
nineteenth century. Granite from local quarries was used to repair roads.
Around 1850, a railway line was built to move granite out of Top Pit. The
railway line ran through a tunnel and surfaced near St Michael's Church in
the centre of Stoney Stanton linking the village with the busy Birmingham
to Leicester line.
During the quarry's working life, the spring water was a constant problem.
Pumps were used to prevent the quarry from flooding. When all quarrying
ceased in 1958, spring water was allowed to flood the quarry workings.
Five years later, the flooded quarry had already become popular with local
pioneers of diving and waterskiing.
The discovery of North Sea oil was important to the development of Stoney
Cove. During the 1960s and 1970s, the flooded quarry was used to train
commercial divers en route for the North Sea. The facility was also used
for developing and testing underwater equipment destined for use in the
oil fields. |
