24th February 2008 – Kirkenes

During February of this year members of the Lowestoft Sub Aqua Club joined up with seven other divers from different parts of the country and from different training organisations to dive the frozen waters of arctic Norway. The group was based at Kirenes in Northern Norway well inside the Arctic Circle. Kirkenes is situated at the northern most tip of Norway in the Barents Sea, it is only a few kilometres from the Russian border and only 145 Km from Murmansk.

The purpose of the trip was to be trained in ice diving techniques and once the ice diving qualification was gained to then dive some of the sites in the fjords. The course was run by IANTD (International association of Nitrox and Technical divers). Once qualified we were to become part of a very small group to hold this qualification worldwide.