Cornish Scuba Diving Sites and places to stay

Welcome to the CornwallRooms.com Scuba Sites page. You will be able to find nearby accommodation as well as information regarding the nearest town and dive centres.

The Eddystone Lighthouse Nearest Town: Plymouth	Reef Dive Centre: Aquanauts Visit Vebsite
A magnificent reef with dramatic underwater topography and an abundance of marine life, often with very good visibility. Seafans, dead men's fingers and all the usual fish life can be found at this site.
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Hilsey Point Nearest Town: Plymouth	reef Dive Centre: Aquanauts Visit Vebsite
A scenic granite reef rising to within 8m of the surface. Steep walled gullies and shelving rock lead down onto sand with the occasional large swim through (care) and plenty of marine life to look at.
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HMS Elk Nearest Town: Plymouth	Wreck Dive Centre: Aquanauts Visit Vebsite
A great little wreck, originally a fishing vessel hired by the Royal Navy in 1939 and sank in 1940 when she hit a mine. She is in good condition for her age and always covered in masses of marine life, notably large shoals of bib. She lies in 30-35m on the edge of a reef which makes here quite difficult to find and in an area where surface traffic is heavy check shipping movements before diving.
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James Egan Layne Nearest Town: Looe	Wreck Dive Centre: Looe Divers Visit Vebsite
An American liberty ship, torpedoed in 1945.
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HMS Scyla Nearest Town: Looe	Wreck Dive Centre: Looe Divers Visit Vebsite
HMS Scylla is England's first artificial reef, she was type 21 frigate and was sank on 27th March 2004 after preparation by the Artificial Reef Consortium. She offers an paralleled opportunity to explore an intact wreck at relatively shallow depth, with plenty of nooks and crannies to explore and it will only get better.
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The Hera Nearest Town: Veryan	Wreck Dive Centre: Cornish Divers.co.uk/ Visit Vebsite
The wreck is fairly flat but being on sand it is quite easy to find, look also for some girders that stick up 3-4m in one place. The Stern lies some distance away from the bow and there are some quite large areas that allow for penetration. However, take great care and remember the wreck is 90 years old and must collapse at some time! The sand is worth exploring as there are often dogfish around and an occasional angler fish
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The Welps Nearest Town: Veryan	Reef Dive Centre: Cornish Divers.co.uk/ Visit Vebsite
A magnificent granite reef running Southwest from Gull rock, on the eastern edge of Veryan Bay.
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Pendennis Point Nearest Town: Falmouth	Reef Dive Centre: Cornish Divers.co.uk/ Visit Vebsite
Plenty of marine life and lots of nooks and crannies to look in, can be a bit kelpy in summer. Access can be difficult with a scramble over rock and a steep climb out.
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Silver Steps Nearest Town: Falmouth	Reef Dive Centre: Cornish Divers.co.uk/ Visit Vebsite
Silver steps is the most popular shore diving location in the Falmouth area, probably due to its easy access and variety. Divable in anything from a moderate Westerly through northerly to a north easterly.
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Castle Beach Nearest Town: Falmouth	Reef Dive Centre: Cornish Divers.co.uk/ Visit Vebsite
Snorkelling is best just before or after low water. Diving it is best at mid to high tide where there is more water. If you follow one of the shallow gullies/breaks in the rock you will end up on a sandy bottom punctuated with islands of rock.
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Gyllyngvase Beach Nearest Town: Falmouth	Reef Dive Centre: Cornish Divers.co.uk/ Visit Vebsite
There is good shallow diving or snorkelling to the right of the beach. Following the reef out will bring you to what remains of the "Ponus", an oil tanker that ran aground in 1916. All that is left now are some bottom plates which provide shelter for the local fish population.
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Swanpool Beach Nearest Town: Falmouth	Reef Dive Centre: Cornish Divers.co.uk/ Visit Vebsite
The beach is sandy so follow the reefs round to the right (or left.) A nice spot for a night dive.
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Old Walls Nearest Town: Falmouth	Reef Dive Centre: Cornish Divers.co.uk/ Visit Vebsite
flat rock and course sand with a good deal of marine life, including all the usual wrasse species; ballen, cuckoo, goldsinny and rock cook, with pollack, and dogfish
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Epsilon Nearest Town: Falmouth	Wreck Dive Centre: Cornish Divers.co.uk/ Visit Vebsite
Epsilon was taken out of Falmouth on 31 January and left by the pilot just off Black Rock. Captain Klaas Lieuwen ordered full steam for Amsterdam, where he aimed to deliver 4760 tons of maize from Buenos Aires. He had been moving for only a few minutes when a mine blew holes in Nos 1 and 2 holds and she started to fill. He and his crew took to the boats.
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Caroni River Nearest Town: Mawnan Smith	Wreck Dive Centre: Porthkerris Divers Visit Vebsite
The Caroni River was a large oil tanker that sank in January 1940 after striking a magnetic mine. Due to her position, she was a hazard to navigation and was flattened by explosives. Today she lies completely broken and in three sections, on a sandy bottom and in about 25m of water. One of the main features of this dive is the vast quantity of marine life to be found. She is renowned for Conger, is home to all the local wrasse species and is often covered with large shoals of bib.
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N.G. Peterson Nearest Town: Mawnan Smith	Wreck Dive Centre: Porthkerris Divers Visit Vebsite
A Danish steam ship that sank in 1918 after a collision with another vessel. She was flattened by explosives due to being a navigational hazard. Today she is completely broken, with her cargo of iron ore forming a large mound in her centre. The rusting iron ore can make it quite a dirty wreck but there are plenty of nooks and crannies to poke your torch into. She is home to conger, dogfish and the usual wrasse species and I've also seen some very large shoals bib on her
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The Rock Island Bridge Nearest Town: Mawnan Smith	Wreck Dive Centre: Porthkerris Divers Visit Vebsite
The Rock Island Bridge was an American registered steamship holed in a collision off the Lizard and towed into the mouth of the Helford for repair. This proving to be impossible she was salvaged and then flattened by explosives. Today she lies in app. 12m of water, on sand and a real haven for marine life. A pleasant shallow dive, but watch out for boat traffic
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SS Mohegan Nearest Town: St Keverne	Wreck Dive Centre: Porthkerris Divers Visit Vebsite
Mohegan sailed from Tilbury Docks at 2:30pm on 13 October 1898, under the command of the 42 year old Captain Robert Griffiths. She carried 57 passengers, 97 crew, seven cattlemen, and 1,286 tons of spirits, beer, and antimony. She arrived off Dover at 7:30 that evening, dropping her pilot. A report on the progress so far from the Assistant Engineer was probably landed at this time. A few minor leaks and electrical failures were reported but otherwise no major problems had been encountered. Mohegan then reached her maximum speed as she sailed down the English Channel bound for New York. She kept close to the coast as she passed Cornwall, but took the wrong bearing. This was noticed by some of the officers and crew. They had noticed that the Eddystone Lighthouse was too far away and the coast too close. She neared the entrance of Falmouth Harbour and turned towards the entrance of the Helford River and on down The Lizard coast without slowing from 13 knots. This was noticed by the Coverack coastguard, which attempted to signal to her with warning rockets. The Mohegan either was unaware or took no notice, and maintained her course. James Hill, coxwain of the Porthoustock lifeboat saw the ship, lights ablaze, heading at full speed towards the Manacle Rocks. The crew were finally alerted now to the danger, and the engines were stopped at 6:50 PM, but too late. The Mohegan ran onto the Manacles, embedding the rudder into the rock and tearing the hull open. The ship had struck Vase Rock, and now drifted onto the Maen Varses reef. Dinner was being served at the time, and many of the passengers were initially unaware of the severity of the accident. The engine room was almost immediately flooded to three feet. The steam gauges broke and the crew rushed to the deck. The ship was plunged into darkness soon after. With the loss of power the passengers made their way onto the deck, where attempts were made to launch the lifeboats. Captain Griffith had ordered the fitting of a high second rail inboard of the lifeboats to prevent their being rushed in the event of an emergency, but this now hampered the launching of the boats. Further problems were encountered when the ship listed to port then heavily to starboard. Only two lifeboats were launched, of which one was virtually swamped and the other capsized. The ship rolled and sank 12 minutes after hitting the rocks, with the loss of 106 lives. Captain Griffith, Assistant Engineer William Kinley and all of the officers went down with the ship. Only her funnel and four masts remained above water. The Porthoustock lifeboat Charlotte was launched in 30 minutes and rescued most of the survivors from the wreck and the water.
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Spyridion Vagliano Nearest Town: St Keverne	Wreck Dive Centre: Porthkerris Divers Visit Vebsite
A Greek steamship wrecked in 1890 (reference). She lies just north of the Mean Voes in about 18m of water. Her boilers remain pretty well intact as does the lower part of her hull. she makes an interesting little dive with plenty of marine life. The dive can be extended by swimming from her bows (eastern end) across the reef and on to the wreck of the Mohegan.
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The Carmarthen Nearest Town: St Keverne	Wreck Dive Centre: Porthkerris Divers Visit Vebsite
The Carmarthen was an armed steamer of 4262 tonnes which was torpedoed off the Lizard. She managed to make it just north of Kennack sands before she sank in 20m. Today all but the boilers are flattened, but she makes an interesting dive with plenty of nooks and crannies to explore and an abundance of marine life in the summer months. The Carmarthen was an armed steamer of 4262 tonnes which was torpedoed off the Lizard. She managed to make it just north of Kennack sands before she sank in 20m. Today all but the boilers are flattened, but she makes an interesting dive with plenty of nooks and crannies to explore and an abundance of marine life in the summer months. Nearest Town: St Keverne
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The Citrine Nearest Town: St Keverne	Wreck Dive Centre: Porthkerris Divers Visit Vebsite
Today she lies upside down, bows to the NNE stern to the SSW, in about 18-25m adjacent to rocky reef. The location is tidal and should be dived on slack water. Nearest Town: St Keverne
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Alice Marie Nearest Town: Penzance	Wreck Dive Centre: Penzance Divers Visit Vebsite
The remains of a steel Barque sank in 1908 after hitting the Runnel stone. Today she lies well broken on a light sandy bottom in about 25m of water and is home to a wide variety of marine life. Well worth a look for the marine life alone.
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SS Primrose Nearest Town: Mousehole	Wreck Dive Centre: Penzance Divers Visit Vebsite
The reef has been adopted by Penzance BSAC and made into a nature trail with a guide rope circling the reef. The trail is buoyed and the line takes you down onto the bow of the SS Primrose, which unfortunately collapsed last winter but is still home to sizable shoals of bib.
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The Prop Wreck Nearest Town: Sennen Cove	Wreck Dive Centre: Penzance Divers Visit Vebsite
The prop. wreck is as yet unidentified and lies just over a mile north of Pendeen in about 30m low water and is a fantastic dive
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The Enrico Parodi Nearest Town: St Ives	Wreck Dive Centre: Penzance Divers Visit Vebsite
The Enrico Parodi was a 3800 ton steamship that sank in 1916. Now she lies on a sandy bottom in about 28m (low water slack) lying West to East. he is well broken but the outline of the ship is easily seen, the two boilers stand proud with quite a bit of wreckage around them leaving a few tight swim throughs (care!) and shelter for small shoals of Bib.
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SS Kintuck Nearest Town: St Ives	Wreck Dive Centre: Penzance Divers Visit Vebsite
The Kintuck was a steamship which sank in 1917 after either having being torpedoed or hitting a mine, its unclear which.
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St. Chamond Nearest Town: St Ives	Dive Centre: Penzance Divers Visit Vebsite
The St Chamond is another U-boat victim of the First World War, torpedoed and sunk just 1.5 miles off St Ives on 30 April 1918.
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The Princess Royal Nearest Town: St Agnes	Dive Centre: Wavecrest Scuba Visit Vebsite
The Princess Royal was a 2000 tonne Scottish Cargo vessel, torpedoed by U-101 in 1918.
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Syracusa Nearest Town: Newquay	Wreck Dive Centre: Wavecrest Scuba Visit Vebsite
The Syracusa was a 1243 ton auxiliary schooner, which sank just off Newquay with a cargo of coal, during a storm in1897. The bows are pretty well intact and were surrounded by a small shoal of pollack lined up into the current when we dived it. Aft of the bows the ship has collapsed, the sides are standing about 1 - 2m off the sea bed. The two boilers remain standing and the prop shaft is still on its mounts, leading back to the iron prop. with the rudder laying flat on the sand.
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