Viz Reports (Farne Islands and Northumberland)
Following on from it's successful introduction in 2016 I have decided to try and keep live the Viz Report! Historical Information has been left on the page to allow potential visitors to get some idea of the kind of viz and water temperature which could be expected at a particular time of year.
All visibilities are measured with a 'secchi plate', I have found that through water visibility tends to be 10% -> 20% better than the measured vertical visibility.
Current Data (2019)
| Date | Viz (m) | Temp (°C) | Location | Forecast | Dive outlook |
| 24-Feb | 2m | 8°C | Beadnell | Looking 'settled' for the week which just may be long enough… | Possible to be out at the Islands at the weekend and who knows there may be about 3m from the shore! |
| 02-Mar | 4m | 6°C | Beadnell | Ok in the short term but due to blow over | Get out tomorrow or Monday or play the waiting game. Islands should be okay |
| 03-Mar | 6m | 6°C | Beadnell | Storm Freya will blow things out by 5/3 | Probably only today and tomorrow for shore diving although the islands may be ok |
| 10-Mar | nil | 6°C | Beadnell | Up and down | The Islands may be diveable but it is back to business as usual from the shore |
| 02-Apr | 3m | 8°C | Beadnell | Iffy for shore diving but ok for the Islands | The shore viz will probably be unchanged, so fine if you know the site and are diving for 'something', islands will be ok |
| 06-Apr | 3m | 8°C | Longstone End | Crap again | If the projected swell arrives forget it for a couple of weeks |
Historical Data (2018)
| Date | Viz (m) | Temp (°C) | Location | Forecast | Dive outlook |
| 04-Nov | 2m | 11°C | Harcars | Pretty bad but easing up on Sunday, not that the vis will be anything but horrible | Poor, the spray was bashing up to the top of the Pinnacles and a couple of boats were out and with this weatehr it cant be long… |
| 21-Oct | 5m | 11.5°C | Blue Caps | Not nice | It was 'ok' but there was a bit of mashed up weed in the water, due to be horrid mid-week |
| 14-Oct | nil | ? | Beadnell | Grotty | The islands were a bit mashed up with only the 'needy or greedy' taking out unsuspecting divers! |
| You can officially forget about shore diving now! | |||||
| 06-Oct | 1.5m | 13°C | Beadnell | ok' but a bit suspect for Friday | I suspect that shore diving for 2018 is done and dusted |
| 16-Sep | 8m | 13.6°C | Harcars | Suspect with a bit of a blow on Tuesday | The islands will be ok at the weekend, not sure about the shore |
| 11-Sep | 2m | 14°C | Beadnell | Flattening off and quite good | Should improve for next weekend and be quite good |
| 10-Sep | 6m | 14°C | Beadnell | Flattening off after Sunday | Not bad today but threatening to be wiped out by tomorrow late morning from the shore |
| 04-Sep | - | 14°C | Harcars | A bit up and down | yuk, the boats which run from Seahouses are knocked on the head |
| 01-Sep | 8m | 14°C | Harcars | Seems to be blowing up during the week | A bit of a blow earlier this week but rapidly picking up |
| 24-Aug | 8m+ | 14°C | Beadnell | Suspect on 26th but ok after then | The islands should continue great, inshore may be crappy for Bank Holiday Monday |
| 19-Aug | 10m+ | 14°C | Beadnell | Set again | go go go!! |
| 15-Aug | 4m | 14°C | Beadnell | Looks set fair for a while yet | A bit of a blow earlier this week but rapiodly picking up |
| 08-Aug | 15m+ | 14°C | Holy Island | Looks set fair for a while yet | Brilliant! |
| 07-Aug | 10m | 14°C | Seahouses | Looks set fair for a while yet | Its absolutely great, get out there! |
| Hiatus due to spinal surgery….ouch and sorry! | |||||
| 23rd July | 12m | ? | Harcars | Looking good ….finally! | Its been a late start but looking great |
| 17th June | 8m | 10°C | Beadnell | A bit up and down with the forecast for Friday particularly bad | The islands will only get better and the shore looks emminently diveable at the moment |
| 20th May | 6m | 9°C | Beadnell | A bit up and down but the inshore vis is holding up | The islands will only get better and the shore looks emminently diveable at the moment |
| 13th May | 6m | 8.2°C | Harcars | Looking quite good after the blow | The islands will only get better and the shore looks emminently diveable for the weekend |
| 7th May | 8m | 8.2°C | Harcars | Looking quite good and flattening off | The islands will only get better and the shore looks eminently diveable this weekend |
| 1st May | 2m | - | Beadnell | Looking quite good and flattening off | The islands are probably 'unchanged' however the shore dives have been wiped out by the wish-washy, should be ok at the weekend |
| 25th April | 4m | 8.2°C | Beadnell | Flattening off, and about bloody time! | Not bad viz and its warmed up a tad, should be improving thru the week, and then going to hell Monday |
| 21st April | 4m | 7.8°C | Beadnell | Flattening off, and about bloody time! | Not bad viz and its warmed up a tad, should be improving thru the week, might stay 'milky' a while |
| 15th April | 1-2m | 7°C | Harcars | Flattening off, and about bloody time! | It was dark and 'orrid at the islands at the weekend but with flat conditions I have everything crossed for this weekend |
| 8th April | 0.5-1m | 7°C | Beadnell | Blowing up again, the islands were horrible so don't hurry! | No chance of diving as it's still all over the place |
| 2nd April | nil | ? | Beadnell | Blowing up again, might be ok at the islands but doubt it | No chance of shore diving as it's still all over the place |
| 25th Mar | 1m | ? | Beadnell | Blowing up again, might be ok at the islands but forget shore dives | You might get about 4m at the Islands forget shore diving over Easter |
| 18th Mar | nil | ? | Beadnell | Easing off on Thursday but building up again within a week | Might be ok Monday/Tuesday but still iffy for Easter weekend |
| 11th Mar | nil | ? | Beadnell | Steady horrible weather for the next ~10 days | The viz in Seahouses harbour was around 1m and the sea looks full of sand so given a spell of flat weather the viz should rapidly increase |
| 1st Mar | nil | ? | Beadnell | Steady horrible weather for the next ~10 days | None, nil, zip…… |
| 20th Feb | 5m | 7°C | Harcars | Blowing up after the weekend | The forcast looks good for some diving Friday and Saturday but gets bad after that, might be possible to have ashore splash on those days? |
| 28th Jan | 3m | 7°C | Beadnell | Blowing up for midweek | The forecast looks good apart from a blip on Thursday, if the forecast holds true the vis might make 4m on Sunday for shore diving, around the islands will continue fine. |
| 21st Jan | 4m | 7°C | Beadnell | Blowing up for the weekend | Really nice forecast all of the way to Friday when it blows up, probably making shore diving impractical but if you have atrip out planned that would be a goer |
| 18th Jan | 2m | 6°C | Beadnell | Settling now | It looks a bit settled and there is the potential if the forecast is 'right' to be in on the weekend of 20th. |
| 7th Jan | 0m | 6°C | Beadnell | Settling now | Protein foam everywhere and spray to the top of the Peel tower on inner Farne, forget it! |
| 1st Jan | 2m | 8°C | Beadnell | Settling | For those bold enough you might be able to get to the islands tomorrow |
Historical Data (2017)
| Date | Viz (m) | Temp (°C) | Location | Forecast | Dive outlook |
| All boats out and its 'brown' all the way out to the islands! | |||||
| You can officially forget about shore diving now! | |||||
| 11th Nov | nil | - | Beadnell | Sea conditions improving towards the weekend | This last big blow could well have ended the season up here, you might get out Saturday but the vis will be lacking! |
| 5th Nov | 6m | 12°C | Harcars | Gradually improving but going to hell for the weekend | You might be lucky during the back end of the week but it's due to go to hell from Saturday |
| 4th Nov | 3m | 12°C | Beadnell | Worsening for tomorrow | A lucky shore dip, due to worsen on Sunday before improving |
| 29th Oct | nil | - | Beadnell | Gradually improving | This weekend may be possible at the Isalnds, although I guess the vis will be poor |
| 28th Oct | 6m | 12°C | Beadnell | Looking bad from tomorrow | A lucky shore dip, due to go to hell tomorrow |
| 15th Oct | 12m | 12.6°C | Harcars | Looking bad from Tuesday, thanks Ophelia | The blow might slow things down a tad but we have dives planned until mid-november |
| 14th Oct | 6m | 12.9°C | Beadnell | Looking bad from Tuesday, thanks Ophelia | The regular shore diving season is just about over, keep your eyes open and you might get the odd sly dip |
| 30th Sept | 10m | 13.2°C | Harcars | Looking bad mid-week | The blow shouldn't impact too much on the viz around the Islands, but as the water cools we will get another algae bloom |
| 29th Sept | 3m | 13.2°C | Beadnell | Looking bad mid-week | This forecast blow will probbaly puit paid to shore diving unless you get lucky, but nothing to plan |
| 13th Sept | 10m | 13.6°C | Harcars | Imminenetly shitty! | After this blow things are forecast to pick up for 22nd onwards, shore diving may be about done though! |
| 9th Sept | 15m+ | 13.6°C | Beadnell | Forecast looking 'iffy' midweek | Good for after the weekend and forecast beyond on the islands, shore diving will be badly impacted |
| 7th Sept | 8m | 13.1°C | Hopper | Forecast looking 'iffy' midweek | Good for the weekend and forecast beyond on the islands, shore diving will be badly impacted |
| 28th Aug | 10m | 14.4°C | Beadnell | Looking good for the forseeable | Good for the weekend and forecast beyond |
| 26th Aug | 15m+ | 14°C | Longstone | Looking good for the forseeable | Good for the weekend and forecast beyond |
| 13th Aug | 10m | 14.5°C | Beadnell | Looking good for the forseeable | Good for the weekend and beyond, iffy mid-week |
| 8th Aug | 12m | 14°C | Beadnell | Mid week blow due (apparently) | Good for the weekend and beyond, iffy mid-week |
| 6th Aug | 10m | 14°C | Beadnell | Mid week blow due | Good for the weekend, iffy mid-week |
| 4th Aug | 12m | 14°C | Beadnell | The mid-week blow didn't happen | Good for the forecast future |
| 31st July | 10m | 15°C | Beadnell | Mid week blow 'downgraded a touch' | Good for the forecast future |
| 29th July | 9m | 14°C | Hopper | A blowy mid week but nothing too bad | Good for the forecast future |
| 23rd July | 8m | 13°C | Harcars | A bit iffy Tuesday | Should be ok by the weekend of 29/30th |
| 22nd July | nil | 14°C | Beadnell | Getting better | A horrible spell of weather but due to get better |
| A bit of a hiatus due to health issues! | |||||
| 21st May | 8m | 10°C | Beadnell | Getting better | After some 'iffy' weather on Sunday it looks like it is set fair for the next week or so |
| 14th May | 3m | 10°C | Beadnell | Getting better | Should be great for the weekend, that said supposed to go downhill from 22nd May |
| 6th May | 4m | 10°C | Beadnell | Iffy but getting better | It's going to be horrible for the next week but improving at the weekend |
| 28th Apr | 4m | 9°C | Beadnell | Ok for now but iffy | It's going to be horrible for the next week or so inshore… |
| 19th Apr | 10m | 9°C | SS Somali | Ok for this week but dodgy from 24th onwards | Still great inshore, and the ancient diver sez 'Spectacular' on Somali |
| 16th Apr | 7m | 9°C | Beadnell | Ok for this week but dodgy from 24th onwards | Still great inshore, no news from the islands |
| 9th Apr | 3m | 8°C | Harcars | Iffy for the Easter weekend | Bloody awful and dark with an algae bloom causing the issue (green) It usually only lasts days. |
| 8th Apr | 5m | 8°C | Beadnell | Changeable | A bit of milkyness |
| 4th Apr | 5m | 8°C | Beadnell | Changeable | A bit of milkyness and some serious groundswell starting to turn things over. |
| 2nd Apr | 8m | 8°C | Beadnell | Changeable | Lovely viz, problem is that it's due to go to hell mid-week so stick to sites sheltered from a northerly swell |
| 28th Mar | 7m | 8°C | Beadnell | Changeable | It's a bit iffy with serious surge but should be ok for the weekend. |
| 26th Mar | 7m | 8°C | Beadnell | Settled | The bad weather didn't materialise, so the viz is good, it should be ok at the weekend despite the forecast midweek blip |
| 17th Mar | 6m | 8°C | Beadnell | Settled | Blowing over as I write but possibly a window on Tuesday or the week after next |
| 14th Mar | 4m | 8°C | Beadnell | Settling | Should be ok at the back end of the week then iffy |
Historical Data (2016)
| Date | Viz (m) | Temp (°C) | Location | Forecast | Dive outlook |
| With the spray on 23rd reaching the top of Pinnacles………. | |||||
| 22nd Oct | 3m | 13°C | Harcars | Horrid but possibly flattening off at the weekend | Poor |
| 16th Oct | nil | 13.5°C | Seahouses | Not very good, I suppose you'd say 'Seasonal' | Forget it, 6m swell from South East smashing everything up |
| You can officially forget about shore diving now! | |||||
| 9th Oct | 5m | 13.5°C | Harcars | Not very good, I suppose you'd say 'Seasonal' | Poor |
| 25th Sept | 8m | 14°C | Wamses | Looking ok and a reasonable forecast | The vis should improve a bit over the week and you might have 10m again at the weekend |
| 24th Sept | 5m | 14°C | Knacker Hole | Yuk, not settled enough | Forget shore diving in the immediate future or even rest of the year, boat diving remains great |
| 18th Sept | 6m | 14°C | Knifestone | Looking ok and a good forecast | It's been a bit dirty with the big spring tides mixing things up, it will rapidly improve and looks good for the weekend |
| 12th Sept | 10m | 14°C | Beadnell Point | Looking ok and a relatively settled forecast | Boat diving fine if you can get to the islands and shore diving at Beadnell and Howick is great |
| 31st August | 8m | 14°C | Beadnell Point | Looking ok and a relatively settled forecast | Boat diving fine if you can get to the islands and shore diving at Beadnell and Howick is ok now |
| 20th August | 12m | 13°C | Wamses | Looking ok and a relatively settled forecast | Boat diving fine if you can get to the islands and shore diving at Beadnell is ok now, Howick should be 'better' mid week |
| 14th August | 12m | 14°C | Pinnacles | Looking ok and relatively settled | Boat diving fine if you can get to the islands and shore diving at Beadnell is good now, Howick should be 'better' mid week |
| 7th August | 9m | 13.5°C | Hopper | Due to be bad on 9th then easing | Boat diving fine if you can get to the islands although the shore diving is wiped out |
| 31st July | 8m | 14.5°C | Howick | Some poor weather due on 2nd August | Not sure how the bad weather on 2nd will impact shore dips, it gets better quickly though. Boat diving unaffected |
| 26th July | 8m | 14.5°C | Howick | Some poor weather due on 2nd August | Looking good for shore diving this weekend but will be iffy from 2nd |
| 17th July | 9.5m | 13.5°C | Harcars | A big surge on, should improve for the weekend | Looking good fordiving until late on this week |
| 13th July | 6m | 13.5°C | Beadnell | A big surge on, should improve for the weekend | Looking good for boat diving for the forecastable future, the shore's a bit iffy but still diveable |
| 11th July | 8m + | 13°C | Beadnell | Iffy on Wednesday then improving | Looking good for boat diving for the forecastable future, the shore might be iffy mid-week |
| 7th July | 10.5m | 13°C | Blue Caps | Staying good for a week plus! | Looking good for diving for the forecastable future |
| 2nd July | 12.5m | 13°C | Hopper | Staying good for a week plus! | A bit exact, measured by two divers with a spool on the bottom! |
| 1st July | 10m | 13°C | Beadnell | Staying good for a week plus! | Looking good, shore and boat diving A1 at the moment |
| 27th June | 9.5m | 12°C | Hopper | Staying good for a week plus! | Looking good, shore and boat diving A1 at the moment |
| 19th June | 5m | 11°C | Harcars | Getting much better very quickly | Looking good, the water is not to dirty and the air should drop out quickly meaning shore diving by Wednesday is a distinct possibility |
| 16th June | 6m | 11°C | SS Coryton | Iffy at the weekend then improving | The blip is looking a bit worse, it shouldn’t impact on diving on the islands though! |
| 16th June | 10m | 11°C | Longstone | Iffy at the weekend then improving | The blip is looking a bit worse, it shouldn’t impact on diving on the islands though! |
| 11th June | 8m | 11°C | Harcars | Iffy at the weekend then improving | The blip is looking a bit worse, it shouldn’t impact on diving on the islands though! |
| 8th June | 6m | 11°C | Beadnell | Getting better! | Good, the 'blip' on Saturday will be a minor inconvienience at worst. |
| 5th June | 6m | 10°C | Gun Rock / Longstone | Getting better! | Picking up gradually although there is a blip at the back end of next week, looking better! |
| 2nd June | Nil | 10°C | Beadnell | Looking horrible | Don't bother from the shore until the middle to end of next week, it's technically whats known as buggered! |
| 29th May | 3m | 10°C | Beadnell | Looking horrible | Quite good vis with the forecast not really matching reality, if things diverge it will be 'orrid |
| 21st May | 10m | 10°C | Longstone | Looking good up to mid-week | Excellent vis on the islands which will stay for a while, a SW might make some shore sites a bit wishy washy |
| 18th May | 4m | 10°C | Beadnell | Looking good for the next couple of weeks | Shore diving vis will improve with every tide for the next couple of weeks, islands will be good too! |
| 9th May | 2m | 9.5°C | Beadnell | A bit iffy for shore diving for the next 10 days | It will be ok out on the islands but shore diving will be wiped out for a while, there is a slot next Wednesday but… |
| 4th May | 8-10m | 9°C | Beadnell | Should be ok to Sunday 8th | The snot has disappeared and the vis is really, really good! |
| 2nd May | 6m | 9°C | Beadnell | Not bad at all should improve and be ok at the weekend before degrading | A bit of 'snot' in the water from plankton bloom and more life arriving or waking up |
| 28th April | 2.4m | 8.5°C | Seahouses | All over the place! Improving Sunday onwards | Is there a shitty spell late Friday, early Saturday? If so then the shore diving will remain all to hell. If not get in Sunday onwards |
| 23rd April | 2m | 8.5°C | Seahouses | Should pick up again towards the end of next week | Shore diving wiped out but the Islands will be ok |
| 22nd April | 8m | 8.5°C | Beadnell | It's really 'surgie' so its going to get 'bad' | Good shore diving but it will be brown! |
| 17th April | 5m | 8°C | Blue Caps | Sunday 24th its due to be bad | Due to start improving before a really bad day on Sunday, but this may change |
| 16th April | 1.6m | 8°C | Seahouses | With some big swell hold fire | Due to start improving but by how much? |
| 13th April | 1.4m | 8°C | Seahouses | With some big swell hold fire | I wouldn't plan to get wet this weekend, the big swell is making it very wishy washy |
| 10th April | 2m | 8°C | Beadnell | Best of the week Wednesday 13th | The weekend doesn't look great so check up before you travel! |
| 6th April | 6m | 8°C | Beadnell | Worsening on Monday 11th | The weekend should be ok, apparently you could see every grain of sand at 6m when moored in the Kettle |
| 3rd April | 3m | 8°C | Beadnell | Worsening on 9th | Should get better during the week with Friday being the best of the weekend |
| 29th Mar | 1.4m | 7.5°C | Seahouses | Settling | Looking at Magic Seaweed, should be 'better' by 2/3rd April |
| 29th Mar | 1.4m | 7.5°C | Seahouses | Settling | Looking at Magic Seaweed, should be 'better' by 2/3rd April |
| 26th Mar | 6m-1m | 7.5°C | Beadnell | Settling | The viz went to nothing during a shore dive, it might settle durin the week. |
| 24th Mar | 8m | 7.5°C | Beadnell | Bad on 26th | If you don't get in now it will be wiped out! |
| 19th Mar | 3m | 7.5°C | Beadnell | Settled | A northerly on friday buggered the job, should be ok from shore until 25th. |
| 17th Mar | 5m | 8°C | Seahouses | Settled | Time to get out there boys and girls |
| 12th Mar | 2.2m | 8°C | Seahouses | Settled | Possible shore diving towards the end of the week. I will be out at the islands on 19th |
| 8th Mar | Nil | 8°C | Beadnell | Settling | Farnes on 12/13th possible, forget shore diving! |
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