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Pembrokeshire
offers very good diving for all levels of expertise. Located in
West Wales Pembrokeshire is an area that's beautiful in and out
of the water with beautiful stretches of coastline and spectacular
cliffs. There are more than 500 wrecks whose
depths range from a few metres to greater depths. The marine life
is abundant and includes dolphins, seals and triggerfish
as well as seahorses and sunfish.
Always dive according to your level of training.
Never enter the water without checking with the local dive center
for safety, additional information, level required for each dive
site and without being accompanied by a professional. All the
information provided is purely informative for our readers and
shouldn't be used as is to plan your immersion.
Water surface temperature range: Around 7°C (45°F)
in March to 17°C (63°F) in August and September
Visibility often averaging 5 - 15 metres (15 - 50 feet)
Warmest time: August and September Possible to
dive all year
Best time to dive: March through to October,
A drysuit recommended for the whole year, but a semidry may be
used from June to October.
Pembrokeshire has a rich marine life and a large
diversity of crustaceans. Dogfish are very common
in this area. The shape of the Pembrokeshire coastline has the
advantage in that even in rough weather there's always a sheltered
cove to dive in during bad weather.
Skomer Island has numerous dive sites around
it. The dive sites are very diverse and they harbour abundant
marine life. You will encounter dolphins, grey seals and
sun fish as well as other marine life. Underwater you
can see yellow trumpets, sea grass, the very rare gold
and scarlet star coral and devonshire cup corals.
On Skomer you can dive on pinnacles, colourful
reefs, large rock boulders and a couple of swim throughs. The
north of the island is the most dived but the west coast can be
dived weather permitting. However, beware, this coast is pretty
tidal.
There are also a few wrecks here like:
The Molesey which sunk in 1929, November 26th.
Although she lies in about 20 metres (65 fet) of water the currents
here are very strong. Caution should be taken and throughout the
dive you should stick to the wreck.
Northern Pembrokeshire has lots of gullies and
underwater caves.
Some of the dives in the north are:
The Needle Rocks have a depth of about 15 metres
(49 feet). The bottom has lots of gullies to see and is carpeted
in huge boulders. It's a silty area, which could affect visibility
and some wreckage can be seen dispersed around
the far end of the rocks.
Bell Rock comes up to 6 metres (20 feet) and
has a depth of about 50 metres (164 feet). A depth sounder is
essential to locate this place and you should beware
of the currents which could pull you down as it flows over the
rock.
The Langton grange, a vessel that sunk in 1909
on hitting Bell Rock lies on its length. The visibility
is generally good but this site is recommended for experienced
divers only especially when the current is flowing north.
Shrimp Alley is a reef dive on the east of Solva.
It's full of shrimps, lobsters and squat lobsters and is about
20 metres (65 feet) deep. Octopus and lobsters
are also plentiful here. The site is sheltered from the north
winds and under the cliffs currents are slack.
Shark Reef Solva lies to the south west of Green
Scar. The reef has a number of gulleys and drop offs going to
20 metres (65 feet). The rocks are alive with marine life and
the visibility is good. Dogfish can be
seen, lots of sea cucumber and occasional sharks.
Green Scar is a nice dive composed of big rocks
on the sea bed. The colours on this site are vibrant and the depth
is around 16 metres (52 feet). The launch is out of Solva and
care should be taken as it's exposed to the south south westerlies.
There's a wreck on the south face of the island but it's well
broken. You may see the old broiler sticking out of the sand and
an anchor.
South Bishops is a batch of islands west of Ramsey
Island. There are a number of wrecks here and
the visibility is good. Special care must be
taken though because the tides can be pretty strong, dives should
be done at slack water and around neap tide.
North Bishops is a batch of islands in the north,
off Ramsey island. The visibility is good and
there are many little caves and gullies to explore
under the cliffs.
South:
Borough Head is a nice dive with boulders and small
caves. There are some swim throughs and plenty of marine
life including crabs and lobsters. Maximum depth
is around 10 metres (33 feet) and is ideal for novices.
Hen and Chicks is a great site and ideal for
the novice diver, the depth going to only 10 metres (33 feet).
Its composed of pinnacles and reef and you can dive between the
rocks. This is a very popular dive site and has lots of marine
life. Trigger fish can be encountered in the summer months, starting
from July on.
you will also find lots of candy stripe flat worm, sea
hares, pipefish, nudibranches and seals.
Stack Rocks as the name suggests is composed
of rocks. This site is very much like Hen and chicks and also
very popular. There's plenty of marine life including
trigger fish in the warm months. Also seen here are dogfish, cuckoo
wrasse, pollack and butterfish. Velvet crabs, edible crabs, different
kinds of lobsters and hermit crabs are also present. Coulourful
plumose anemones, jewel anemones, peacock worms and dahlia anemones
are abundant. Seals are often spotted here.
St Brides Bay is nice shore dive with lots of
holes and gullies. The depths go from 10 metres ( 33 feet) to
20 metres (65 feet). Amidst the kelp is a lot of fish life.
Nudibranch City as the name suggests has loads
of nudibranch.
It's a great site for underwater photography.
It's a wall that drops from 10-17 metres (33-56 feet) and has
plenty of gullies.
Skokholm Island-Seal Bay has plenty of seals
and is sheltered from the westerlies. Its a shallow site not exceeding
10 metres (33 feet). There are so many wrecks
here to choose from, about 500. There are both
deep and shallow.
The Lucy is a popular wreck. The vessel sunk
in 1967 while transporting a cargo of calcium carbide which is
used to makeacetylene gas. She makes a great deep dive and has
plenty of marine life. Lots of plumose anemones can be
seen.
The Drina is located south of Skokholm. She is
an enormous wreck that's pretty intact and upside
down. You will need a depth sounder to locate this one. She went
down in 1917 after being torpedoed by the Germans.
The Leysian is accessed from Abercastle and although
well broken up it's in only 15 metres (49 feet) of water and can
be a good dive for first time wreck divers.
Other regularly dived wrecks are Santa Cruz, Dead Eye
wreck, Tennet and Faraday. As there are so many
wrecks here, some still undiscovered it's impossible
to name all of them. The local dive operators will let you know
what wrecks correpond to your needs and the best time to dive
them.
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