Finnmark, Norway
The extreme northeastern Norway. In Finnmark, you will hear a lot that it is where "East meets West", what you really meet are lots of reindeers. The landscape is very dramatic and has a coastline of 6844 km. The Barents Sea and its king crabs make for attractive dives as the numerous wrecks.
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Site 1: Kongsfjord
Diving Conditions:
GPS: 70.723827, 29.350019
Location: Veinnes, Ytre Havn
Depth: 4-6m
Currents: Tide independent - you can see the hourly currents here .
Type of bottom: Sandy
Interests: Scenic dive, shore dive
Water Temperature: 12°C in August
Visibility: up to ~10m
Description:
It is a shallow, sheltered and easy dive. It is a sandy bay and towards the west side there are some rocks covered in sea urchins, barnacles and massive sea cucumbers. Quite a lot of life. You can park right at the entrance of the town across the beach. Facing that bay is also a small art shop.
Dive Sites
Site 2: Magerøya
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Diving Conditions:
GPS: 71.110548, 25.828972
Location: Skarsvåg, Nordkapp
Depth: 4-6m
Currents: Tide independent – you can see the hourly currents here .
Type of bottom: Sandy
Interests: Shore dive
Water Temperature: 12°C in August
Visibility: up to ~10m
Description:
It is a shallow, sheltered and easy dive. Locals say that at the entry of the harbor there is a sunken wreck and if you swim out to the right you can see halibut. The bottom is sandy and with lots of saprophytic animals (snails, sea urchins, starfish). The attraction of this site is that it is the closest, easy access to the Barents Sea near Nordkapp, the northernmost point of the European continent. June Kjellsdatter Alsethfrom from Cape Marina was nice enough to let us jump from their pier. They have boats to rent, so if there are a few divers you could take a boat out to perhaps more exciting dive sites.
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Siggi V
Site 3: The Wreck of Argus
Diving Conditions:
GPS: 70.092583,25.077117
Location: Hamnbukt, Porsangerfjord
Depth: 10-18m
Currents: Tide independent – you can see the hourly currents here. .
Type of bottom: Silty
Interests: Wreck dive, Shore dive
Water Temperature: 12°C in August
Visibility: ~10m
Description:
A broken up wreck from world war II with the superstructure still visible with quite a few swim-throughs. The Argus had a cargo of ammunitions and on August 12 1943 arrived to Hamnbukt. During the unloading operations a fire was discovered in the last cargo area. The captain of the boat wanted to take the ship into deeper waters and sink it but the local military major wanted to save the cargo and finish unloading. Captain and Major stood on the bridge with their guns pointed when the ship exploded. The exact number of casualties is unknown but the estimates state around 500 people lost their lives. Some people believe that the fire was an act of sabotage. The structure is visible and is full of life. Also king crabs are abundant around the wreck. Follow FV181 to Hamnbukt, at the end of the road there is a small marina, a UN pontoon and two red warehouses. The wreck lies right off the end of the UN pontoon. Enter behind the second warehouse swim out between the cabel (which is marked from land) and the pontoon. After about 5-10 meters at 15m depth you will see the wreck.
Logistics
Diving:
We contacted Lakselv Sportsdykker Klub who said that they have a tiny boat for up to three divers. But were very helpful, they also suggested we contact Alta Dykkerklubb as they are a large club with a bigger boat, however they didn't reply to our messages.
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Accommodation:
We were wild camping in the region. However, there are a lot of campsites which have basic huts from 400 kr per night. You can find them along the road and just rock up or google "campsites" in the area where you want to spend the night.
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