Location - Port Solent, Northern end of Portsmouth Harbour. The centre offers a 1000m long seawater lake, which was created for use by the Defence Diving School for Army and Navy training. The lake is divided into 3 zones, each with two training platforms at 6m depth. A number of underwater attractions have been dotted about the lake bed, including armoured personnel carriers, helicopters, aircraft fuselages, a recompression chamber, and 30m of tunnels for divers wanting to practice wreck-penetration skills. Maximum Depth: 6.5m (Zone 1) Fills available on-site but only to 200bar.

Horsea lake is unusual for several reasons. It is an inland man-made lake, it is sea-water & it is owned by the MoD. Entry to the site requires pre-booking with the operators & visitors need to obtain permits to enter the site from the portacabin near the entrance. Given the nature of the site, we decided it was best to drop off our kit near the main diving platforms, and then park at the far end. Maps are obtained free of charge from the main office to assist with the planning of dives. There is clearly enough here to keep a diver happy for many trips without visiting the same area twice, although a surface swim to the far end would be a challenge. It is quite clearly a site that attracts many dive schools, therefore many (PADI) divers with obvious consequences - at times low visibility, shouts of 'Pizza' from the water & the sight of divers dragging expensive regulators across the ground. Our dive plan was to follow the roped route from near the main platform, thereby ensuring we would see the most in our limited time. This route is at about 5.5m deep, but it is just possible (by digging a hole) to get 6.5m! We saw a number of attractions - the start is a small boat, followed by a Landrover, platform, ambulance, helicopter to finally a floating mine - which was not floating at all! Life underwater included eels, fish (some quite big) & about a million jelly fish from about 2cm diameter to 6-7cm diameter, all friendly. We saw other divers too, but not too many to worry us unduly, most are staying close to the shore practising their skills, but on the surface we did see a few groups of trainees heading off for a dive with a single leader. How an instructor keeps track of 8-10 trainees in murky water is beyond me, but that, as they say, is not my problem.

There was a mixed reaction to the dive. Me, I enjoyed it immensely, but others in the group didn't because there was 'nothing to see' & 'the visibility was poor'. Hmmm, I couldn't help wondering out loud what they expected in an inland waterway - dolphins, Whales, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, SETT levels of visibility? It is a military training area for heavens sake! The group spent a few minutes trying to convince me that I didn't actually enjoy the dive, & of course, failed - they obviously don't know me very well! Sadly I was out-voted & reluctantly had to agree to leave - One dive in a day is just not enough for me. The site staff have thoughtfully provided showers for divers' use, so we took full advantage & washed the salty water from the kit to save having to do it when we got home.

Footnote: On our way to Selsey yesterday, we called in to check out the site & whilst doing so, came upon the Historical Dive Society. They were busy kitting up a diver in lead boots, hard helmet & traditional gear as would have been worn by early divers. It was fascinating to watch them get the diver ready - it must have taken over half an hour to complete. Once in, he was down for about five minutes before surfacing, followed by a further fifteen minutes of de-kitting. The air supply was provided by an old-fashioned pump worked by hand! I could just imagine the reaction from Peakwoman if I bought home ½ ton of lead boots & helmet & suggested we nip down to Dive1895 to purchase a hand-cranked pump. 'But it will be good for your arms darling'. 'Sod off darling'