By Tom Ingram
16th May 2023
I always love diving out of Porthkerris Dive Centre. It is a diving facility located on the south coast of Cornwall, UK. It is one of the most popular dive centres in the region, offering a wide range of diving courses and services to divers of all levels. The centre has a sheltered cove that is perfect for beginner training and shallow-water dives. For more experienced divers, the site offers access to a variety of wrecks, reefs, and marine life that thrive in the area. Porthkerris Dive Centre also provides rental equipment, including tanks, weights, and diving suits, in addition to air and nitrox fills. There is also a small onsite shop selling diving accessories and rental items. Here’s my dive log for our early season long weekender.
Four club divers headed down to Cornwall for an early season long weekend trip to Porthkerris, in search of pre plankton seas with good viz and lots of life beginning to burst into action, and maybe a glimpse of the resident octopus. This was the plan anyway, and for once the plan couldn’t have worked any better! The endless easterlies which have been plaguing Porthkerris in recent weeks relented and to our good fortune the weather gods gave us flat seas, 6-12metre visibility and a vast array of underwater wildlife. Water temperature over the weekend was a chilly 10-11 degrees.
I started the weekend with a cracking shore dive with Chris smith around ‘the dragons back’ (Drawna Rocks) viz 6-8 metres. Wrasse, nudibranchs, crayfish, cuttlefish, jewel anemones and of course the resident octopus in her cave! 0-18metres deep, 10 degrees .
Evening meal was fish and chips over at the Life Boat Station restaurant, takeaway and bar at Coverack. Superb!
Fridays boat dives:
Helford River 6 metres viz, 9 metres deep. Thornback rays, pipefish, plaice, whelks, hermit crabs, scallops, schooling sand eels and the list gos on. Always great for critters.
Vase/south end 10-12 metres viz, 5-45 metres deep. Stunning pinnacle with gullies and drop offs covered in jewel anemones, schooling pollock and critters. Just great to explore this one! Magical.
Evening BBQ and drinks at Porthkerris beach.
Saturday boat dives:
Regland reef 10-12 metres viz, 15-45metres deep. Another classic pinnacle that is visually stunning underwater. Again schools of pollack riding the currents around the top of the pinnacle, friendly cuckoo wrasse following your every move, tompot blennies hiding in the cracks and lots of different Nudibranks crawling across the jewel anemones. Fantastic dive!
Evening meal at the New Inn at Manaccan, which was a new location for us. Really friendly atmosphere and an excellent meal.
Sunday boat dives:
Wreck of the Mohegan 10-12 meters viz, 10-27metres deep. When visibility is that good it is such a good experience to dive any wreck in the uk. The Mohegan is great as it’s got plenty of wreckage to explore, I found some of its tile cargo out on the sand which was cool to see. It also lies near some stunning reefs which seem to be full of crayfish. We started and finished the dive at the boilers which were full of squid eggs and a shy conger peering out of its home in an old tube.
Vase/north 10-12 metres viz, 5-45 metres deep. Back to the outer reef and on the north end of vase. One vivid memory of this was the drop off with a pot line disappearing into the abyss down a wall covered in jewel anemones of every colour imaginable. Superb dive.
Evening meal at the Three Tuns at St Kervern.
Monday boat dives:
Carn-du 10-12 metres viz, 17-27 metres deep. Absolutely love this site for photography. Full of gullies covered in life with areas of gravel which often have larger creatures on. Full of friendly cuckoo wrasse, mermaid purses, cat sharks, pink sea fans, crayfish, lobster, nudibranchs, John Dory, pollock, the list gos on!
Darren’s crack- second dive on this for the weekend and and a great way to finish the trip!
Club divers were:
- Tom Ingram
- Chris smith
- Sue Eyers
- Glen Barnes
