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The Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall is Englands most southerly
point. There's excellent diving on the Lizard Peninsula's
wrecks and reefs. The marine life is abundant and divers
can have the chance to see seals, basking sharks and dolphins.
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.
Basking Sharks are attracted close to the shores
of the south and west coasts of the UK due to the seasonal plankton
bloom. Usually outings to see basking sharks
are done on snorkel because the bubbles from the scuba equipment
scares the sharks away. Also it's important to be as quiet as
possble in the water and getting too close to them will make them
dive and probably not come back.
The exact time when they come is variable but
it's mostly in April or May - June. Depending on the time of the
year encounters with other exciting creatures like porpoises,
bottlenose and common dolphins are also possible.
Drawna Rocks (Porthkerris Reef) is a very popular
shore dive. It's made up of a couple of angular rocks emerging
from the seabed to above the water level. Marine life is abundant
here like crabs, wrasse and mullet. Sea urchins and starfish
can also be seen.
There are colourful jewel anemones and kelp which
is also nice to see as it sways about in the current. This site
is protected from the easterly winds and is quite calm in the
summer when the winds prevailing are sometimes pretty strong and
blowing from the south west.
The depths on this site range between 3 - 15
metres (10 - 50 feet) making it suitable for both novices and
the more advanced diver and the visibility is generally between
5 - 15 metres (15 - 50 feet)
The Carmarthan is the wreck of an armed steamer
which sank off the Lizard after being torpedoed by a German submarine
on July 26th 1917. Although she was flooding she was able to make
it to the shallow waters near Kennack and then
sunk in 20 metres (65 feet) of water. Although the boilers are
flattened she still is an interesting dive as she has abundant
marine life come summer and she has lots of nooks and crannies
to explore. Watch out for the tides.
The Citrine sank in 1956 while transporting a
cargo of limestone. The wrecks is now upside down at a depth of
about 18-25 metres (59-82 feet) and adjacent to rocky reef. Some
of the marine life around the wreck include sparse sea
fans, dead mans fingers and cuckoo wrasse. It's recommended
to dive on slack water.
The Raglan Reef, a pinnacle dive that goes from
about 7-40 metres (23-131 feet) is a very popular dive on the
Manacles.
The Manacles is an extended area of granite reef
going from Porthoustock, north to Lowland point, south. There's
a large variety of fish as well very colourful jewel anemones
and spectacular dead mens fingers.
The Mohegan is probably the best known and most
popular wreck on the Manacles. She was originally launched as
the "Cleopatra" and later changed to the Mohegan. She left Tilbury
as the Mohegan on October 13th 1898 and sunk after hitting the
Manacles and then the seaward side of the Voices. Some passengers
were saved but as many as 106 lives were lost and a mass burial
of some of her victims took place in St Keverne church.
This tragic site is marked with a simple cross.
The Mohegan is an excellent dive. The bow is at a depth
of about 20 metres (65 feet) and the rest at about 30 metres (98
feet) with the broiler being the deepest part. Lots of
jewel anemones are on this site as well as coral fans, dead mans
fingers and a variety of fish. The launching point is
Porthoustock.
The Volnay is the wreckage of a steamship that
sunk 14th December 1917 while transporting a cargo of ammunition
and luxury merchandise. She was on her way home from Canada when
she hit a contact mine off the Manacles. If you swim southwards
you will reach the bow which sticks out of the bottom, resting
against a reef. Lead balls and wooden packing case material can
be seen on littered on this site, a proof of the ships cargo.
Marine life present here included the cuckoo wrasse and
sea urchins. It's a non-tidal and easy wreck to dive.
There are many other intersting wreck dives around the
Manacles. Some are discovered and some are yet to be
discovered. The area has claimed more than 200 wrecks
over the last century and a half.
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