Bergen, Norway
Bergen has the sad statistics of being the rainiest city in Europe: averaging 231 days of rain per year or 19.3 days per month. It rained every day from 29 October 2006 to 21 January 2007, that's 85 consecutive days! However, Bergen has it all: city (it is the second largest city in Norway after Oslo), mountains and fjords making it a popular gateway to explore western Norway.
​
Site 1: Nordra Rotøyna
Diving Conditions:
GPS: 60.42523, 5.08373
Location: Northern Rotøy Island
Depth: 10-40m
Currents: Tide independent - there might be some slight current running between the islands but it is easy to find a tucked in place.
Type of bottom: Gentle sandy slope with boulders
Interests: Scenic dive, boat dive
Water Temperature: 6-8°C in April
Visibility: up to ~15. In April, the plankton was beginning to bloom so the first 5-6m the visibility is quite low.
Description: It is about 15-20minute high speed boat ride from Bergen. Initially we were going to dive in the channel between Nordra Røtoya and the island to its West. However, due to a bit of current running we dived the bay right before the channel. It was a nice sandy slope with ledges and big boulders covered in squidgy life. In the sand there were lots of hermit crabs racing around and scallops hiding.
Dive Sites
Site 2: Skorpo Nord
Diving Conditions:
GPS: 60.176329, 5.302031
Location: Skorpo Island
Depth: 10-50m
Type of bottom: Wall with ledges
Interests: Wall dive, scenic dive, boat dive
Water Temperature: In April it was 6°C.
Visibility: up to ~15. In April, the plankton was beginning to bloom so the first 5-6m the visibility is quite low.
Description: Lots of life. One part of the wall was completely covered in really big tube worms that retract as you swim by. There were very big spiny spider crabs as well as edible crabs, flat fish. Also quite a few rock cooks and wrasses and pollacks and cod hunting along the slopes. It was a very scenic dive with nice rock formations.
​
Siggi V
Site 3: Skorpo Øst
Diving Conditions:
GPS: 60.17096, 5.31816
Location: Skorpo Island
Depth: 5-40m
Type of bottom: Rock and Sandy. Kelp forest in the shallows (<6m).
Interests: Boulders and sealife, boat dive
Water Temperature: 2-4°C in winter reaching 14°C in the summer. In April it was 6°C.
Visibility: up to ~15. In April, the plankton was beginning to bloom so the first 5-6m the visibility is quite low.
Description: Dropped down in the bay a shallow sandy patch then swam to the wall and followed it around (wall to the right). As you go deeper and to the south the rock formations become deeper and steeper. The big rock formations with swim through at about 15m which are covered in lots of fish hiding in and swimming around the rocks. Mostly lots of colorful cuckoo wrasses, giving the dive a tropical feel. Lots of life in the sandy patch as well: heremit crabs, spiny spider crabs and edible crabs digging holes.
​
Logistics
Diving:
We went diving with 1 Dykkeklubb.
Gravdalsveien 262,
5165 Laksevåg
Phone: +47 90 51 91 95
Email: Post@1dykkeklubb.no
​
Fantastic and extremely friendly and helpful. They are a relatively large and very active club with close to half of their members female and there are a lot of families involved. They run trips every Wednesday afternoon as well as Saturday and Sunday at noon, all year round and on Tuesday afternoons they have technical diving trips. They have a 32-foot dedicated dive boat (hard boat with jet engine but no shelter from the cold and rain) which you can walk in and out of fully kitted.
Nemo Classical Diving. a 5-star Padi facility and dive shop where you can rent equipment and fill tanks.
Gravdalsveien 262,
5165 Laksevåg
Bergen NORWAY
Phone: +47 56 11 47 00
Email: nemo@nemo.no
Hyperbaric Chamber: NUI AS, Gravdalsveien 245, 5165 Laksevåg (near Bergen) T: +47 55 94 28 00
​
Emergency at Sea number: 120
