UK Diving Places to dive

Cornwall often seems remote from the remainder of the UK and has a history full of myth, legend, smuggling and illicit shipwrecking. It is, of course, one of the UKs most popular tourist areas, offering both a slower pace of life with a mild climate and miles of unspoilt coastline and secluded beaches. The rugged granite of the Cornish peninsula juts out into the Atlantic and provides a marked contrast between the calm sleepy inlets, coves and fishing villages of the south coast and the dramatic towering cliffs and the might of the open ocean on the north coast.
The granite topography of the peninsula extends far out to sea, forming reefs, pinnacles and shoals teaming with life. You can dive a deep wreck in the morning, a spectacular sheer drop-off in the afternoon and explore shoreline gullies and tunnels in the evening or after dark. All this makes the area popular with both diving clubs seeking the variety this coastline provides and with the family diver, who wishes to mix his sport with lazy days on the beaches and the occasional foray under the waves.

The Gulf Stream divides around the peninsula on its path north, and the warmer, clearer waters it carries propagate a diversity of indigenous and visiting marine life not generally found elsewhere on our coastline. The headlands and offshore reefs are bombarded by nutrients borne by the strong tides on both coasts feeding a multitude of species of anemones, soft and stony corals and invertebrate life. These organisms appear to paint the rocks with carpets of colour and can give an almost tropical feel to many dives as you swim among gorgonian fan corals, Ross coral, cup corals and walls of brilliantly hued plumose and jewel anemones. Fish life is profuse, with shoals of bass and mackerel, reef-dwelling wrasse, flatfish, blennies, scorpionfish, tope, sharks and a variety of foreign visitors from warmer southern waters. The roasting summer of 1995 brought with it triggerfish, sun fish, leather back turtles and, for several days in Mounts Bay, more than 30 basking sharks. The variety is almost endless and will keep a photographer or marine life enthusiast busy for months.

The South Western Approaches has been one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes for hundreds of years and Cornwall has been the first landfall and the site of tragedy for many mariners. Armada ships, East Indiamen, liners, merchant and convoy shipping from both world wars have met their fate along this coastline. The two most infamous reefs, the Manacles and the Runnel Stone, located on the south coast, are responsible for more than 200 recorded losses between them. The wrecks of the SS Mohegan and City of Westminster are well known among British divers, but there are dozens of others, either on these two reefs, or which have sunk nearby, having been mortally wounded by them. There are literally hundreds of recorded losses with many still awaiting discovery either by chance or through dedicated research. This year will see no less than three expeditions seeking the infamous Merchant Royal, the richest wreck in UK waters, lost in the deep somewhere between Lands End and the Scilly Isles. The area is a wreck divers paradise and there are many classic dives which can easily be located with the help of many publications or guidance from the local diving centres and clubs.

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Cornwall often seems remote from the remainder of the UK and has a history full of myth, legend, smuggling and illicit shipwrecking. It is, of course, one of the UKs most popular tourist areas, offering both a slower pace of life with a mild climate and miles of unspoilt coastline and secluded beaches. The rugged granite of the Cornish peninsula juts out into the Atlantic and provides a marked contrast between the calm sleepy inlets, coves and fishing villages of the south coast and the dramatic towering cliffs and the might of the open ocean on the north coast. The granite topography of the peninsula extends far out to sea, forming reefs, pinnacles and shoals teaming with life. You can dive a deep wreck in the morning, a spectacular sheer drop-off in the afternoon and explore shoreline gullies and tunnels in the evening or after dark. All this makes the area popular with both diving clubs seeking the variety this coastline provides and with the family diver, who wishes to mix his sport with lazy days on the beaches and the occasional foray under the waves. The Gulf Stream divides around the peninsula on its path north, and the warmer, clearer waters it carries propagate a diversity of indigenous and visiting marine life not generally found elsewhere on our coastline. The headlands and offshore reefs are bombarded by nutrients borne by the strong tides on both coasts feeding a multitude of species of anemones, soft and stony corals and invertebrate life. These organisms appear to paint the rocks with carpets of colour and can give an almost tropical feel to many dives as you swim among gorgonian fan corals, Ross coral, cup corals and walls of brilliantly hued plumose and jewel anemones. Fish life is profuse, with shoals of bass and mackerel, reef-dwelling wrasse, flatfish, blennies, scorpionfish, tope, sharks and a variety of foreign visitors from warmer southern waters. The roasting summer of 1995 brought with it triggerfish, sun fish, leather back turtles and, for several days in Mounts Bay, more than 30 basking sharks. The variety is almost endless and will keep a photographer or marine life enthusiast busy for months. The South Western Approaches has been one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes for hundreds of years and Cornwall has been the first landfall and the site of tragedy for many mariners. Armada ships, East Indiamen, liners, merchant and convoy shipping from both world wars have met their fate along this coastline. The two most infamous reefs, the Manacles and the Runnel Stone, located on the south coast, are responsible for more than 200 recorded losses between them. The wrecks of the SS Mohegan and City of Westminster are well known among British divers, but there are dozens of others, either on these two reefs, or which have sunk nearby, having been mortally wounded by them. There are literally hundreds of recorded losses with many still awaiting discovery either by chance or through dedicated research. This year will see no less than three expeditions seeking the infamous Merchant Royal, the richest wreck in UK waters, lost in the deep somewhere between Lands End and the Scilly Isles. The area is a wreck divers paradise and there are many classic dives which can easily be located with the help of many publications or guidance from the local diving centres and clubs.
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