One of the things I found when prepping for a trip to Scapa is that there’s plenty of information on the wrecks: their storied histories, salvage and unique features, but far less detail on the actual diving. So, I thought it would be useful to share some of the nitty-gritty, granular detail on dive profiles, kit configuration and some more general tips I picked up along the way.
If you want a detailed view of diving Scapa Flow onboard Huskyan, read my recent post.
Hopefully, this guide to diving Scapa Flow will help newer divers understand what experience they may need to develop and, for those more experienced, assist with some dive planning.
What You Need to Know
Scapa Flow is one of the premier wreck diving destinations in the world. Located around 10 miles off the north coast of Scotland, the large natural harbour formed by the Orkney Islands was a crucial base for the Royal Navy during both World Wars.
Fighting was not the direct cause of the majority of the wrecks inside Scapa. When the First World War came to an end, the German High Seas Fleet, consisting of some 70 warships, was interned in Scapa Flow. While waiting for the outcome of peace negotiations, the German Navy opted to scuttle the fleet rather than wait and let it be shared among the victorious powers.
The majority of this fleet was salvaged during the intervening years, but a number, primarily dreadnoughts and light cruisers, were left. These are the wrecks that make Scapa Flow such a special place to dive.
Tec or Rec?
This is the big question. If you were to look at the deepest point of many of the wrecks, particularly the dreadnoughts, you might worry that Scapa Flow is only worth it for serious technical divers. However, that is definitely not the case.
Don’t forget, these are BIG wrecks and sit proud of the seabed, so there are opportunities to shallow up. That’s not to say you would get the most out of visiting Scapa by trying to keep within no-decompression limits (NDLs) – in truth, it would be pretty hard!
The wrecks sit at depths that could be dived within NDLs on a lean nitrox mix, but this would be incredibly restrictive on bottom time, particularly when you look at the size of the wrecks to explore. Diving to these depths aligns far better with the BSAC’s training standards, which are far more permissive of decompression diving compared to PADI or SSI.
I tend to stay well clear of discussing training on this blog, but as a bare minimum, you need to be a competent cold-water diver (drysuit, DSMB etc.), qualified and comfortable diving to 40m, and nitrox certified.
We had a full menagerie of kit configurations in our group, from rebreathers to single cylinders, but the majority were using twinsets and doing accelerated deco. Unless, you’re on a rebreather this is probably the most flexible and comprehensive setup to get the most out of your dives.
Example Markgraf Dive Profile
The easiest way to understand the dives is to have a look at a dive profile. Below is a dive on the SMS Markgraf, the deepest of the dreadnoughts in Scapa:
Full details on my personal kit configuration are in the following section, but this dive was completed on a single 15L cylinder using NX28. This profile is similar to dives on the other dreadnoughts – a relatively short period at the maximum depth (40m) and then the majority of the dive in the 30-35m range.
My Set Up
My aim was to keep my gear configuration as familiar as possible. The vast majority of the diving I do now is firmly in the recreational range. I’m just as likely to be at 3m under Swanage Pier as on a deep wreck, so this meant sticking with my usual single 15L cylinder and wing with a long-hose set-up.
My only addition was an aluminium 80cf stage. As I planned to do limited deco dives, aiming for no more than 15 minutes, having a significant redundant air source was key. This configuration gave me plenty of bottom time, largely limited by my self-imposed rule on the amount of deco time I wanted to do rather than the quantity of gas.
My buddy was diving on twin-12s, so our configurations aligned nicely in terms of overall gas carried. He also wasn’t qualified for accelerated deco, so my stage always matched, more or less, my back gas and was intended as a bailout rather than a method to extend the dives.
Working out your best configuration will be based on your qualification, the kit you own and your personal preference. However, for me, this set-up was ideal. The final advantage I found with this lightweight configuration was that my gas bill was by far the cheapest on the boat!
Conditions
The conditions above and below the water will be very familiar to regular UK divers. One of the benefits of diving in Scapa is its geography – remember, it’s a natural harbour. The surrounding islands provide significant shelter and prevent the sea state from building inside Scapa Flow, where the wrecks are located.
This allows boats to go out in winds that would stop you diving nearly anywhere else. We were out diving, and relatively comfortable, when it was gusting Force 7 (28–33 kts), so don’t worry too much if the forecast isn’t looking great.
Dive Operators and Facilities
There are two dive boats that carry strong recommendations: Valhalla and Huskyan. I’ve recently dived Scapa on Huskyan and can thoroughly recommend it. It’s an excellent outfit and a great boat. I’ve heard good things about Valhalla, but don’t have first-hand experience to stand behind that recommendation.
On both boats, cylinder filling is done with onboard compressors, which keeps the admin simple. There’s also a decent dive store, Scapa Scuba, primarily for spares and repairs, in Stromness Harbour.
Useful Links
Scapa Flow Wrecks – a useful site that offers visualisations of the wrecks (slightly out of date now) and the background history of each.
Northlink Ferries – if travelling by ferry it’s worth having a thorough read of their dive equipment policy.
