Newquay's Finest

Newquay. Cornwall. UK, United Kingdom, info@newquaysfinest.co.uk

Diving in Newquay

http://www.newquaysfinest.co.uk

18:53 09-Sep-2010

Photos and text courtesy of Mark Milburn
www.atlanticscuba.co.uk

Looking out to sea you watch the surfers freezing while waiting for the next decent wave, you never know, there may be other people out there in the water, you just can't see them.

Scuba diving is a huge sport, actual figures for the number of active divers in the UK can only be estimated at somewhere over 80,000. North Cornwall, in my opinion, is a world class dive location but due to the ferocity of the Atlantic, it is probably one of the least dived areas in the UK.

Dive centres have come and gone, but the diving still goes on, mainly by the Newquay's British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) branch. Newquay's one remaining dive boat 'Atlantic Diver', run by Chris Lowe, has the ocean to himself. Apart from a few marauders like me.

Why do we do it? It is the question we get asked and sometimes we ask ourselves, every diver has their reasons. Whether they are looking for hidden treasure, maybe into underwater photography, or just like to look at the life beneath the waves or it's just an excuse to get away from the missus.

So what does Newquay offer underwater?

The most popular shore dive in Newquay is the old lifeboat slip on the eastern side of Towan head. There are four possible entry points on Towan head, most people go for the old lifeboat slip itself. Seal Cove is a tiny cove just before the slip, aptly named as Seals regularly come and 'play' with divers there, sometimes nibbling at their fins, sometimes a little more playfull. The other 2 entry points are Little Fistral and the other is just behind the toilets. Whilst the diving in this area is relatively shallow the wealth of life is still vast. All the most common fish life are around as long as the seals are not. Ballan, Corkwing and Cuckoo Wrasse are the most common fish, small Pollack can be seen occasionally too. Looking in the nooks and crannies you can find Lobsters, Squat Lobsters, Edible Crabs and even the odd Conger Eel. On the shallower dive sites Kelp is the biggest distraction, you have to rummage through it to find some of the smaller life like Anemones and Nudibranchs (small and very colourful sea slugs).

There are other places you could do a shore dive, but what makes a good shore dive? Close proximity to a place to park your car, scuba diving equipment is heavy, and somewhere where you do not have to swim several hundred metres to get more than a few metres depth.

From a boat there a hundreds of choices of reefs or wrecks at all sorts of depths. Milky Rough is a local name for a shallow reef off of the end of Porth Island, it's just far enough away from the shore to be out of reach for fishermen, and too shallow for most commercial fishing vessels. I am always amazed by the amount of life there is around. Surrounded by sand the rocks stick out just a couple of metres, it is one of the few places where Trigger Fish have made their home. Trigger Fish are usually associated with warmer waters, but there are increasing numbers of them in the UK. As soon as you get near them they dash into the nearest crack in the rocks, too fast for the camera. Milky Rough is a great second dive of the day at between 6 and 12m, as is Goose Rock off Pentire headland in depths between 9 and 15m. Goose Rock has quite a lot of crustacean life around it, several species of Crabs and Lobsters can be found there. Pol Texas is another reef a little further out from Milky Rough, and a little deeper again, ranging from 18 to 25m, by now the Kelp is disappearing leaving room for some hard and soft corals, such as the Pink Sea Fan, Ross Coral and Cup Corals. Nudibranchs can also be found, but you do have to look very closely.

Several years ago some members of Newquay BSAC were diving a reef 1 mile north west off Towan head when they came across a pair of large anchors and some chain. They followed the chain and came across a wreck now known to be the Syracusa. The Syracusa sunk in rough seas after its cargo of coal shifted. The Newquay lifeboat was launched after distress flares were seen and tried to make way in the rough seas, these were the days before lifeboats had engines. Despite trying for several hours to row out to the stricken vessel to no avail, the lifeboat returned.

Today the Syracusa lies upright at a depth of 30m (low tide) , its cargo of coal has gradually been removed by divers, apparently it burns very hot, but it spits a lot. After over 100 years on the bottom the bows are now giving way, the rest of the wreck is laid out like a boat 'kit' waiting to be built. Its boiler, prop shaft and cast iron prop all lie in place. Life is abundant, larger Pollack, Bib and the odd Ling are seen around the wreck. Lobsters and Conger Eels hide in between the pieces of metal. Tompot Blenny's can occasionally be found and can sometimes be quite playful. Pink Sea Fans and Jewel Anemones are scattered over the wreck.

A little further out again there are the wrecks of the Lake Edon and an unknown wreck known locally as the 'Shell Wreck', and a pinnacle called Medusa Rock, a beautifully covered reef system that also has a small wreck on it. These are for the more experienced diver. For the 'Technical Diver' there are many wrecks in depths in the 60 & 70m range.

These are just a few of the things that lie under the water close to the shore at Newquay. Get in contact with Newquay BSAC or find yourself a PADI dive centre and come and join us, underwater.