There are many great things about diving in the UK: the marine life, the wrecks, and the freedom to explore that you don’t always get when diving abroad. One thing that is sometimes missing is professionalism.
There are some excellent boats, dive centres and instructors, but the DIY nature of UK diving often lends itself to informal standards of service. Small things like cash only payments and poor websites add up to things feeling slightly amateurish. I’ve even heard stories of divers having to do overnight anchor watches on a UK liveaboard – which is absolutely baffling and illegal.
There are definitely some excellent operations, but to me these often feel like outliers. One that I think is a perfect example is the Plymouth-based In Deep.
In Deep Dive Centre
In Deep is a RAID-affiliated dive centre that offers dive charters, blue shark expeditions, and a full range of diver training.
The centre operates four modern hard boats, all fitted with diver lifts, dry wheelhouses, and good-sized dive decks. For this weekend we were aboard Searcher — the newest boat in the fleet. The dive deck was spacious, with plenty of room on and under the benches.
The only downside to Searcher is the lack of overhead rails with grab handles, which made manoeuvring around the dive deck in rough conditions a bit tricky. I understand that installing rails is planned for the boat’s next maintenance period.
The centre’s filling station is an absolute beast — supposedly one of the biggest in Europe (we’ll have to take their word for it). The bank system offers three gases: air, nitrox 32%, and trimix 12/65. Because it’s a banked system, it provides quick and accurate fills — and you don’t need an O₂-cleaned cylinder for nitrox. This allowed several of our group to get quick fills on the morning before diving
The excellent facilities are matched by genuinely knowledgeable and helpful staff. Overall, it’s a very slick operation.
Diving Highlights
There’s a great variety of dive sites accessible from Plymouth, including an abundance of wrecks. Our dive itinerary for the weekend was: the Maine, Fairyland, the Persier, and Hilsea Point.
Maine
The 3,000-ton merchant ship Maine was travelling from London to Philadelphia when she met her end in 1917. She was carrying a mixed cargo, including chalk and horsehair, when she was spotted and sunk by the German U-boat UC-17.
She now lies at around 35 m, about an hour and a half east of Plymouth. Our journey out was challenging, with a stiff southerly wind, it was pretty uncomfortable and left a few green faces among the divers.
As we approached the site, our skipper Sam gave us a 10-minute warning and then helpfully turned the boat into the wind to make kitting up as easy as possible. It’s a small thing, but when the conditions are poor it really helps. At that point, everyone was eager to get off the boat and into the water.
Descending onto the Maine with good visibility, it’s clear that she is in remarkably good condition for a wreck that’s been on the seabed for over 100 years. The stern section rises at least five metres off the bottom and is an impressive sight.
Moving forward, the ship’s structure becomes less distinct but provides better habitat for marine life. I found some usual suspects — a large conger eel and a tompot blenny — hidden among the jagged scrap metal.
Fairyland
This scenic dive made a great contrast to the Maine. The curving rocky reef rises a couple of metres high and is flanked by sandy bottom. You can slowly follow the formation, keeping one eye on the rocky wall for lurking marine life (we found a bright white octopus) and the other on the sandy flats for rays or dogfish.
Persier
The shot was pinpoint accurate, dropping us directly onto the boilers to start the dive. The Persier is much more broken up than the Maine, with less of the structure rising from the seabed.
The Persier was sunk in February 1945 — also by a German U-boat. The 5,000-ton vessel had been carrying food and supplies to newly liberated Belgium. She now rests at around 27 m.
It’s a large wreck to explore, with boilers, steering gear, and the rudder all clearly identifiable. During our dive, the wreckage was crawling with crayfish and surrounded by large shoals of bib. Its remaining structure is less imposing than the Maine, but it seemed to attract even more marine life.
Hilsea Point
The dive is dominated by an impressive swim-through. Starting as a submerged canyon a couple of metres wide, it gradually narrows to the width of a single diver and runs for about 20 metres. Once out of the swim-through, you can continue exploring the rest of the craggy reef.
Accommodation
In Deep’s weekend dive package normally includes hostel-style accommodation at the Mountbatten Centre, next door to the dive centre. However, as it’s currently closed for renovation, we were provided rooms at the Leonardo Hotel in central Plymouth.
The hotel is around a 15-minute drive from the dive centre and had plenty of parking available at nearby car parks, making it easy to get to and from the dive centre.
Final Thoughts
Plymouth is an underrated dive destination. It doesn’t always feature on “best of the UK” lists, but I think it should. It offers an excellent selection of wrecks along with some of the best marine life in the country.
Another benefit of diving in Plymouth is having an outstanding operator like In Deep. Excellent facilities, reliable boats, and knowledgeable skippers combine to make it one of the best destinations for hardboat diving in the UK.
Useful Info
- Parking is around 100m from the jetty and is free using the QR code provided at the dive centre
- Toilets are available in the car park
- Loading bays are available close to the jetty but they fill up fast
- Using nitrox is strongly recommended for both the Persier and Maine
Prices
- Weekend dive package (including accommodation): from £280
- Air Fill: Free
- Nitrox 32%: £7.50
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