Smögen Dyk&Upplevelse dive base is located on the picturesque coast of Sweden in the small village of Smögen. The base is nestled between cliffs right on the coast, and just beyond its doorstep is a fantastic variety of marine life, with meadows full of eels and forests of kelp.
Smögen also turned out to be an ideal place to test our heating canisters because the water temperature of 9°C may not seem as cold as the one in the Baltic Sea, but it should be remembered that with longer dives, the body cools down much faster. Therefore, it is worth considering the option of a canister with a double outlet to power the flashlight and, if necessary, the heating system. As for what we find underwater, it is a typical type of water on the northern coast of Sweden – the cold waters of the North Sea, penetrating the charming archipelago of rock formations through the Skagerat Strait. The dive center Smögen is situated on the very edge, and the distance to the water is only a few meters.
What exactly do we find underwater?
Classically – for everyone, something interesting! In the beginning, we suggest the so-called home-reef, where we can test our equipment before going deeper. The maximum depth is 4-5 meters, and there are many underwater shelves where we can meet, depending on the season, giant jellyfish, Tasha fish, and numerous crabs and lobsters. Numerous passages lead to deeper areas from the home reef between the rocks. If you follow the isthmus on the east side of the home reef to deeper areas, you will encounter a tremendous concentration of broken and sometimes whole plates, jars, bottles, and other glass and ceramic objects. There are places where the entire bottom is covered with porcelain. These are remnants of a rather infamous time when simply a broken plate or a broken jar was thrown off a cliff into the water by the locals.
The underwater walls descend to a depth of twenty-something meters, where darkness reigns during cloudy days, making this place an ideal location to test our equipment 😉 . Exploring the area in the light of our dive lights, we managed to spot a giant lobster hiding under a stone, and from the information we received later, we learned that there are many more of them there.
It is worth mentioning that there is a track to practice trim and scuba skills. In turn, if you come across horse heads during the dive, be sure that it is not nitrogen narcosis. Firstly, they are artificial. Secondly, they are pretty shallow, as they are only a few meters, and thirdly, it is another attraction that has been deliberately set up underwater.
After a full day, we still had a lot of strength, so we decided to test our equipment during a night dive. Admittedly, it was not too long, but the diverse surroundings showed their next face, this time in the intense light of our dive flashlight.
The base itself is well equipped. There is a decent compressor room and drying room for equipment. A great convenience is the possibility to rent comfortable rooms at the base, from which we have only a few dozen meters to the water. If by any miracle you will have enough of diving or you feel like trying something else, there is a kayak and SUP board rental.
We invite you to see the gallery from our trip to Smögen in Sweden.