South Devon

South Devon has some lovely diving. Devon is situated in the south west peninsula of Britain and is where the Channel water meets the rich clean water of the Atlantic ocean. This gives us a range of different dive experiences.

Here's a picture of Bigbury Bay taken from Hope Cove. Beautiful isn't it? These waters contain a wealth of marine life. In summer basking sharks are common, we have a few dolphins and even a couple of seals. Wrasse are common, whereas rarer visitors such as sunfish are not unknown. Further out to sea, blue sharks are fished - and mako and porbeagle also flourish. The underwater scenery contains many reefs that are covered with lots of soft corals, sponges and tunicates. Big crabs are common, and lobsters have made a comeback from past years. Crawfish, unfortunately, are a rarity. And scallops are now protected from June through to September - no diver can take them in this period.

But these waters are also dangerous. There are many wrecks in this area. Some like the Maine, Persier and Louis Sheid are famous diving sites. There are many others. Some wrecks have fell foul of the strong south westerly gales that batter these coasts from time to time. One location - Prawle Point, a shiptrap - is an example. There are 4 or 5 wrecks all piled on top of each other. Just look what the seas did in 1993 to the Demetrios. Today, there is little left of the ship above water. There are also many wrecks that are the victims of U boats. Outside the Dartmouth estuary there are a number of steamers that were dispatched in 1917 by enthusiastic submarine commanders.

Salcombe is well known to boat people. It is a sheltered port that nestles in a drowned sea inlet. For divers it is a pathway to some superb dive sites. Not far from here is the wreck of the Herzogin Cecilie. She was a 'grain clipper' ship that nearly held the world record for shipping grain from Australia to Britain in the 1930's. She is now badly broken up, but still makes for a good shallow dive when the weather won't allow anything else.

Start Point marks the end of the Channel water and the beginning of the Atlantic. It is an exposed peninsula running almost a mile into the sea with a lighthouse at the end. There is often rough water around the Point - that's why there's a lighthouse - and diving the Point can be very exciting when you get into the drift. There are quite a few wrecks around here and this photo shows the type of conditions that can be experienced. It's not usually as bad as this.

The sea temperature in South Devon is fairly mild - for Britain.