Limerick Sub Aqua Club is one of the oldest diving clubs in Ireland, it was founded in 1960!  We have a rich history in diving in Ireland and are very proud of it. You can find archival records and memorbilia going back through the years online in our History Section.  Our club is very active in the Irish diving scene with a busy diving schedule and a great social scene.  We have over 40 members in our club and regularly post to our website on the Diving Blog and update our photo gallery, feel free to check us out. All past, current and future members of the club are welcome (and encouraged) to register an account for the webpage. Contact any committee member or admin @limericksubaqua.com for the passphrase.

Limerick Sub Aqua Club is affiliated to the Irish Underwater Council (Comhairle Fo Thuinn).  The Irish Underwater Council is affiliated to Confederation Mondiale des Activites Subaquatiques (CMAS).

This is the world federation of national diving organisations and operates in some 80 countries on all continents.  The qualifications you recieve as a member of CFT are recognised the world over.

Why Join a Dive Club?

Being a member of a dive club has many advantages. For a small investment in club membership you get access to all the club has to offer including our dive boat, club compressor, 16 sessions in UL pool, CFT insurance, experienced officers and members of the club, local knowledge of dive sites etc... If you want to learn to Scuba Dive at your own pace, you can afford to invest in your own equipment and like to join a group of like-minded individuals then club-diving may be just the ticket.

A Typical Dive Season

The dive season begins around March as according to the dive plan - but our club season starts much earlier than that. In October we meet as a club to elect the next year's committee officers. In early November we host an open night for new members and anyone interested in having a "try a dive". Prospective members are encouraged to get in the water and see if scuba diving ignites a passion for more underwater action! Throughout the winter our club trains every Tuesday evening at the UL Sports Arena in their fabulous 50m indoor pool.  Guided by the experineced and knowledgable Peter Walsh we work on our snorkling technique in order to stay fit in the off-season. New trainees will also attend diving lectures before the pool session where they will recieve expert tuituion from our training  and diving officers.  During the winter the new committee is busy working on the next years diving and social calendars.  Once the weather warms up we can be found every Sunday heading for the West and the water, one of our most regular places to visit being Kilkee where we have a mooring for our rib.  Throughout the year we regularly host social activites detailed in our Events Calendar and Social Plan.

Describe an average diving day!

In the summer we dive in the sea - in the winter we dive in lakes and quarries and after a good weather spell, occasionally in the sea. Sea diving is usually on the west coast where the water is clearer and visibility of 100' is sometimes possible.

Kilkee is a fantastic spot with a compressor in the town deep water nearby. We try and head off early on Sunday morning to launch the boats and dive before lunch. Going out to sea we would be looking for offshore reefs or cliffs. The best ones face to the South West where sunlight is strongest. We always dive in pairs, one to help the other, and usually arrange to dive in two groups, one staying in the boat while the other dives. Each pair check each others equipment. Hand signals are exchanged and we are off.

The perfect day plunges us into about 30' of water with 6' high seaweed swaying back and forth in the swell and the light reflecting the magnificent colours. A short way off we will see the cliff edge and the deep blue of the abyss. A final equipment check, another hand signal and we are away. We make for the seaweed on the other very edge of the cliff peering over to admire the abundance of growth and colour, brilliant and vivid. We see pollock like old gentlemen enjoying the sun, and mackerel darting back and forth like starlings in Autumn. Another hand signal and we push off and start to descend the cliff, like weightless spacemen we drop to 40' then 50' on the way we would probably see a few crayfish. A crustacean similar to a lobster but red in colour and very much bigger sitting on a ledge, he will stand up and try to look aggressive, at this stage he looks like a 3' long red spider. Dotted around him will be sea urchins - a round shell animal - that is often seen processed in souveneir shops. Live they are pale pink and blue striped with millions of short tentacles and are quite beautiful.

At 50' the vegetation will stop, the rock face will be naked and red green in colour with occasional yellow sponges and white dead mens fingers. There is not too much food down here so the fish life is not so plentiful. We drop on down untill we reach the sea bed at 100'. Down here it is very glomy and much colder. Around us there are sea snails, similar to the garden snail without his shell and about 15'' long and 3'' round. If we peer under the broken boulders we will probably see a black lobster. He comes out at night and hides during the day, he has vicious claws and is not too freindly.

We are using air very quickly at this depth, so another hand signal and we start up, we stop at the vegetation line and move across the cliff face exploring as we go. In too short a time our equipment will tell us that we are running out of air. Again, another hand signal and we head for the surface slowly, enjoying every last second. Being mindful that we are probably the first humans ever to explore and see this piece of another earth. We arrive at the surface where the boat is waiting. We move to a second area off the cliff. It is then the turn of the second party. When they are finished we tear back to Kilkee and the energetic ones arrange a refill of their cylinders for the afternoon. The sensible ones lie in the sun.

Courtesy of Mike Kerrison written in 1981 but still as relevant today. Updated by Ciaran Enright.

A copy of our club's constitution can be found here.