A pre season warmup in the warm spring sunshine. Crystal clear diving (so Gary claimed) beneath the Snowdonian mountains. What could be better? Well, maybe warmup wasnt quite the word for it. Over the weekend the wind howled at us, the waves crashed against the shore, the hail and snow blizzarded and then it thundered and lightninged too. Never mind, we got two dives in, in Dorothea and Vivian - two of Wales best inland diving sites, and the views of the snowcapped Snowdon ridges were awe inspiring. And we can recommend Totters Independent Hostel for any future trips - a really atmospheric hostel with the kitchen in a former crypt, fairy lights decorating the dining room and board games provided in the living room. And a very friendly proprietor.

Saturday morning started with bright sunshine but a freezing blustery wind. The waves were crashing up to the top of the pier at our planned shore dive site (Trefor Pier) and things were no better further down the coast. Very wild and lovely, but definately not in a diveable state. So we headed off to Llanberis for dinner at Pete's Eats and then round the corner to Vivian.

Vivian is an altitude dive, and its main attraction is its unique and spectacular location - its a former slate quarry cut into the mountain, the water is usually very clear and you have to pass through a tunnel in the mountainside to get to it. The quarry itself still has some of the old works buildings to poke around - you can visit the old blast shed on your dive (its the building with an action man figure outside the doorway). On warm summer days there may also be rock climbers on the quarry walls above you. This was not a warm summer day however, there were no climbers, the sky darkened and hail poured from it amid crashes of thunder and lightning as we kitted up.

Sunday was for Dorothea. But first, for the sake of completeness we also visited another quarry, Fron. Fron is supposedly diveable, but we couldnt see how anybody could get up and down the quarry walls in dive gear without a rope - perhaps diving Fron is a sort of triathlon, where you abseil in, dive the quarry, then rock climb out. Where's Hodgy's chopper when you need it? On to Dorothea, where once more it blizzarded hail at us. Dorothea is famous among techies for its depth - its over 100 metres deep in places - but there are plenty of shallower parts and because of the depth and rock type (its another former slate quarry) the visibility is usually excellent. On this day the viz was disappointing in the shallow bits, but those who went deeper said it was crystal clear at 40 metres, and raved about seeing a complete drowned birch tree as upright as if it was still growing. Once again, a spectacular location, but not the best entry in the world - a steep trudge up and down that definately requires enthusiasm and commitment when loaded with dive gear. Still, the energy used up did justify the sticky puddings after our post-dive sunday roast in the pub!