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Plymouth
in Devon, South West England offers good diving opportunities
with it's numerous reefs and interesting wrecks.
Divers of all levels of expertise can enjoy diving in Plymouth
due to the variety in depths and diffuclties of the dive sites
and the marine life is varied and abundant.
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.
The Eddystone Reef is a large reef rising from
more than 50 metres (164 feet). It's a truly magnificent reef
with enormous boulders of granite and walls that drop right down
filled with marine life. The numerous rock gullies are lined with
kelp giving way to anemone jewels, plumrose anemones and
dead mans fingers as you go beyond 20 metres (65 feet)
of depth. Divers may dive at any depth from from
8-60 metres (26-164 feet) depending on the point chosen to drop.
Visibility is generally a good 10-12 metres (33-39 feet)
but can exceed 20 metres (65 feet). At around 18 metres (59 feet)
yellow sponges, rose corals and sea fans can be seen. Other marine
life present includes star fish, urchins and loads of cucumbers.
This site is one of the rare places inhabited by smooth
hound sharks.
From the Eddystone lighthouse you can go to any
direction but beware, the depths are deceptive
and care must be taken as you can easily go deeper than you intended.
It's a great dive site but recommended for divers with good experience.
Hand Deeps is composed of a series of pinnacles
and is probably the best reef in the area. It's teeming with marine
life like jewel anemones, crayfish, wrasse and dogfish.
There are strong currents here, you may use the boulders as shelter
but the visibility is generally good. A site
not to miss.
Hilsea Point is a nice granite reef. it's composed
of a pinnacle rising to 8 metres (26 feet) with deep rocky gullies
going down to 25 metres (82 feet). The scenery is impessive and
the marine life abundant. Lobsters, dogfish and wrasse
as well as crayfish, sea urchins and lots of sea cucumbers can
be seen. Spanish dancers have been reportedly seen in
July and August. In general the visibility is good and can go
to 20 metres (65 feet).
The East Rutts is composed of several pinnacles
rising from the seabed, 33 metres (108 feet) to about 8 metres
(26 feet) of the surface. Plenty of marine life can be found here.
After 20 metres (65 feet) of depth the kelp thins and you can
see plumrose and jewel anemones, crabs, pollack and dead men's
fingers.
Mewstone Ridges is located a little south of
Plymouth breakwater. It's a rock formation that ressembles a mountain.
There are rocky gullies going to 25 - 30 metres (65-82 feet) maximum.
Many ships have been wrecked here but they are very broken
up. You can still see small bits of pottery and broken artefacts.
Depths are between 15 - 25 metres (50 - 80 feet) and the
visibility is generally between 8 - 12 metres (26 - 40
feet). Marine life is abundant and you can see dogfish,
wrasse and pollack.
James Egan Layne is the wreck of an American
liberty ship that was torpedoed by U1195 in 1945. She's upright
on a sandy bottom. She has no superstructure, the stern is broken
off and is around 50 metres (164 feet) off the port. This is a
very popular wreck and theres a lot of fish life
around the bow as well as soft corals and anemones. You may also
see pollack, congers and pipefish as well as horse mackerel, crabs
and lobsters.
HMS Scylla is a Frigate which was sunk on 27th
March 2004 as an artificial reef by the National Marine Aquarium.
She's located in Whitsand Bay which is about 5 miles (8km) from
Plymouth. This wreck is a paradise for wreck
lovers and is so varied offering something for divers of all levels
of experience.
However care should be taken and the wreck shouldn't
be penetrated as this makes it a very advanced dive. The
visibility is variable and can go from an extreme of
2 metres (6 feet) to an excellent 20 metres (65 feet) and more.
It's upright with the bow pointing seaward south west. The maximum
depth on this wreck is 26 meters (85 feet) with it's deck at about
18 metres (59 feet). There's a good variety of marine life like
pout, wrasse, pollack and congers. Trigger fish can also
be seen, red mullet and cuttlefish. The kind of fish
on site depends on the time of the year.
HMS Elk was originally a fishing boat rented
by the Royal Navy in 1939. She hit a mine in 1940 and sunk. She's
at maximum 35 metres (115 feet) on a reef edge and in fairly good
condition, damaged but upright. There's lots of marine life around
the wreck, you're bound to see big shoals of bib. Beware,
there's a lot of shipping traffic so care must be taken before
immersion.
The Persier was torpedoed by U-1017 in 1945.
Although the wreck is broken parts sit to 10 metres (33 feet)!!!
from the seabed. There's plenty of life here including sea fans
and pollack. The three boilers, the prop shaft tunnel and anchor
can still be seen.
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