United Kingdom

The United Kingdom comprises the island of Great Britain which includes England, Scotland and Wales and the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, Northern Ireland, plus many small islands within the British Isles.

The UK has a rich and varied history which impacts its culture today, offering a huge amount to any visitor that belies its relatively small size.  Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland, but otherwise the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the Irish Sea, the Celtic Sea and the English Channel.  With over 11,000 miles of coastline – and many inland sites – there is a lot of great diving to be found.

Scapa Flow, Orkney

For wreck diving this has to be the premier dive location in the UK, where the remains of the German High Seas Fleet lie after being deliberately scuttled by the German Navy in 1919.  Along with the blockships like the Tabarka, that lie in shallower water, there are also several WWII vessels to explore.  There is a shipwreck for every experience level in the Flow, and one trip may not be enough!

St Abbs and Eyemouth, Scotland

This protected area of coastline has a wonderful array of marine life.  The rocks here are festooned with soft corals, anemones, sea urchins and starfish.  A huge diversity of fish including wolf fish and conger eels keep divers coming back trip after trip.

Anglesey, Wales

Anglesey, across the Menai Strait, has a great number of shore dives at shallow depths, easily accessible and with fantastic marine life.  A whole holiday can be spent doing relaxed gully and reef dives accessible from the local beaches.  With several hundred wrecks along the coast, including the SS Missouri and a B-17 Bomber, there are boat diving options too and diving for all experience levels.

Pembrokeshire, Wales

Home to the Skomer Marine Reserve, this spectacular reef is teeming with life, from dolphins to nudibranchs, seals to seahorses.  Walls drop off to deep water, caves lure explorers and hundreds of wrecks mean there is something for everyone.

Lundy, Devon

Lundy Island, in the mouth of the Bristol Channel about 12 miles off the coast of North Devon, is a Marine Conservation Zone with fabulously rich marine life, impressive visibility and numerous wrecks to explore.  The local seal population can be very playful and the biodiversity some of the best in the UK waters.  Tidal currents can be strong, so this is best dived by experienced divers.

Farne Islands

Famous for its brilliant seal encounters, the Farne Islands have a large and playful population of grey seals.  Diveable year round when the weather is calm, there are sites for all levels.  Rock faces covered with crevices and gullies to explore shelter a host of marine life, such as lobsters, crab, nudibranchs and anemones.  There are also several good wreck dives in the area.  The islands are also home to the beloved puffin, which can be seen in the nesting season.

Porthkerris, Cornwall

Porthkerris lies on the Lizard peninsula of Cornwall.  It is a famously treacherous area of submerged rocks like the Manacles which has resulted in hundreds of shipwrecks, now a haven for sea life.  Dive sites in the area are suited to a range of experience levels, from an easy yet beautiful shore dive at Porthkerris beach to boat diving offshore pinnacles like Vase rock, now covered in swathes of jewel anemones.  Basking sharks are also seen in the area in late spring to early summer feeding on plankton blooms.

Dorset

Dorset has several excellent wreck dives, from submarines, to warships, and sailboats to tanks.  The M2 submarine off Portland is a stunning wreck with a tragic story.  If wrecks are not your thing, or you’d like a shallow dive to finish off the day, Swanage Pier is an easy and excellent shallow shore dive.  The Victorian era pilings are covered in life and the structure provides a nursery for pollock, bib and ballan wrasse.  The shallow depth means the light is superb for underwater photography and there are usually plenty of willing subjects like the ever popular tompot blenny and cuttlefish.

Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland

Rathlin to the north of Ballycastle has some fantastic diving.  The strong tidal currents in this area mean the marine life is numerous, varied, vibrant and healthy.  The northwest cliffs drop to depths of 200m just offshore making an impressive wall dive.  Tides hitting the cliffs can create powerful up and down currents, so experience and staying close to the rock is important, but well worth the effort.  On the east coast the wreck of the S.S Lochgary, a converted government transport ship, which was involved in the WWII Dunkirk evacuation, before sinking in her current location in 1942.

The weather is best and the water warmest in the summer months, however algal blooms mean the visibility can be severely reduced.  Late autumn and winter often have better visibility if you can handle the cooler temperatures and get a weather window.