Trip report: Gulen Dykkesenter, near Bergen, Norway

Tino de Rijk

Rita & I spent 3 weeks in Norway, from which we did one week Turtlin'.
As an aside: if you're looking for an almost empty, breathtakingly beautiful
country: go to Norway outside the tourist season. Downside: not a lot of hotels & restaurants still operating, so you need to hire a house (which are usually very nice), and cook your own meals, but the upside: all the exceptional nature (fjords, mountains) to yourself. Warning: what the Norwegians call an "easy uphill walk" is certainly NOT that to Dutch standards.. J
Anyway: back to diving. On advice of David Kyte (an Inspiration diver) we spent a week at the Gulen Divingcenter ("Gulen dykkesenter"), two hours by car north of Bergen (Bergen = easily reachable by ferry from a.o. north of Denmark).
Orjan Sanders and his wife Monica run a wonderfully situated and very well equipped diving centre, for 5 years, expending it a bit every year.
They carry lots of oxygen and helium and a booster pump, a well equipped little diveshop and are totally rebreather-friendly (they recently organized a meeting for the "competition": a Megalodon owners meeting).
Language isn't a problem: they speak v. good English.
They have two very large (7.5 meter and 10.5 meter) and fast & comfortable RIB's, as well as a covered hard boat (which we didn't use) that can bring you to one of the very many sheltered diving spots hidden between the zillion idyllic little islands.
Orjan likes fast trips, supported by 2 x 225 HP behind the huge RIB, so reaching a far-away divespot is easy (Orjan will supply headgear & gloves, as going at 35 MPH in October is a chilling but exciting experience!). The boats have a good big ladder for easy access in & out with full gear. Lots of wrecks, but also very nice wall dives. Lots of fish and crayfish.

Most divespots are fully protected against the wind, as they typically are between one of the many little islands. A good "driver" that knows the waters is a real "must" here! Depths are available in all ranges (incl. 100+, or even 700+..); we did a.o. 4 wrecks in the 20-50 meter range.
The wrecks are in a very good status, typically from the 2nd WW (usually German or Norwegian ships sunk by the Allied Forces in '44-'45).
Orjan can supply sidemounts on requests, so that saves having to bring them.
The water is exceptionally clear: 20-40 meters view, which to us poor Dutch windmill-people is a sheer luxury. Water is a bit cold though in October: around 12 degrees Celsius. According to Orjan it can get up to around 20 degrees though in August. Currents/tides are usually neglectable if timed well. If you want to make shoredives: the center has a very nice "housereef" right in front, a.o. very nice for lazy and checkout dives - or training dives (goes easily down to around 40 meters within 100 meters from shore).
Orjen & Monica offer excellent housing in two big modern & spacy guest houses, that are either self-catering (big modern shared kitchen) or can be fully catered on request (cook comes in each day). New, clean rooms, lots of shared space, only 10 meters from the waterfront (& bar...).
We had the luck of diving and sharing the house with two nice Swedish divers, Peter Tuvesson & Bjorn, who could easily take a go at BBC's "Masterchef", as there cooking was 3* level! "...want more scallops, Sir...?".
And last but not least Orjan & Monica run a nice waterfront bar called the "200 Bar", including a hot tub outside which can host at least 6 drunken divers.....
All in all highly recommended for a "different" diving holiday.
For details & prices see: http://www.gulendykkesenter.no/ , or contact the owner Orjan Sandnes at orjan@gulendykkesenter.no .

Ciao,
Tino & Rita.

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decoweenie

Tino,

You just reminded of how wonderful the diving in Norway really is, especially this time of year when the viz is exceptional - except there is no fish to found anywhere...

But BIG scallops are everywhere, and the very-old wooden wrecks still well preserved in the coldwater.

I would go back living in Norway again just for the diving and walking up "easy" hills (60-deg slant "hills" mind you )

Great to hear that you had a good trip...

MrClive

hello tino & rita, thanks for sharing all about yer trip. it looks like a cool place to go diving and hopefully someday ill get there.

__________________
clive

CharlieT

Great trip report, Tino.

It is really helpful to have a recommendation like this.

Charlie

michael

Great trip report,
michael bering

Tino de Rijk

"No fish" is due to your very spoilt Red Sea standards, Phi....
To Dutch standards (that I know you know as well from your "Belgian episode") there is quite a lot of fish, and lobsters, crab, anemones etc.
But again: to Dutch standards (windmill-calibrated)...

As to the hills: I literally lost two soles from my (fake..) mountainshoes on one trip, to the Prekestulen... I can tell you: 3 hours descending on just what is left from your innersoles is almost no fun anymore.....

Ciao,

Tino.

decoweenie

Just FYI, I don't dive in the Red Sea on week-ends (yet ). It is on the other side of the peninsula...

I dive in the Gulf of Oman (next to Arabian Sea). The fish/reef is not like Red Sea, but not like Norway either.

But tell me it wasn't worth it ? Fantastic sight...

I still have picture of me sitting on the edge dangling my feet over a few thousand meters of an overhanging rock slab with nothing attached. My b*lls shrunk to the size of peanut...