We wrapped up our month of Scandinavian travel with a long weekend of wreck diving with Jesper Østergaard, owner of the Stevns Dykker Skole in Rødvig. Our Scandinavian coordinator, Lars Stenholt Kirkegaard joined Steve, Eline, myself and another diver as students in an IANTD wreck diving course. The conditions in the Baltic can be similar to those in the Great Lakes, cold, deep and fresh, and the centuries of maritime trade and warfare in the region mean that there are tens of thousands of wrecks in excellent condition, many still waiting to be discovered. Although Jesper and our other instructors have been exploring and diving these wrecks their entire lives, we didn’t set out to do anything groundbreaking or unprecedented. Our goals for the weekend were to examine the special considerations one must make when diving in overhead environments, and to practice some of these new skills on two well-known yet excellent local wrecks, the Vapper and the Minos.
We were blessed with amazing weather, and everyone had a blast zipping around on RIBs and trying out the new scooters that Jesper and his friends had just bought. Having so many experienced and enthusiastic instructors along meant we were always learning, and the lectures were almost as much fun as the diving. I'm really grateful to Jesper for inviting us into his home and showing us a little piece of the incredible wreck diving that the Baltic has to offer! It was the perfect way to end our time in Denmark.
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