Isle of Wight Tourist Guide - Articles
Scuba Diving on the Isle of Wight
As well as plenty of land-based activities, the Isle of Wight holds a multitude of underwater secrets and treasures to be found! Island Divers is proud to be the top PADI 5 Star Dive Centre on the Island offering awesome shore and boat diving in the spectacular underwater world! From your first breaths onwards, you can experience the beautiful and diverse marine life, stunning wrecks and tranquil atmosphere that scuba diving on the Isle of Wight offers. Large shoals of pouting, cod and sea bass swim alongside pipefish, gobies and bream. Huge conger eels are very common to see on the wrecks around and the strawberry anemones look delightful lining the rocky bottom next to edible crabs and lobsters galore. From April to June keep your eyes open for cuttlefish as it is breeding season and they can be spotted at many inshore locations!
Located centrally in Cowes, Island Divers is a PADI 5 Star Dive Centre offering the full range of PADI courses from beginner through to technical diving, or to becoming a PADI Professional. We have a fully stocked shop with many leading brands, are able to provide air and nitrox fills, equipment servicing and rental equipment. Our aim is to always provide quality training, quality services and quality equipment all of which add up to safe and highly enjoyable scuba diving on the Isle of Wight, whatever your level or interests.
Shore diving includes sites such as Freshwater Bay, Totland Pier and Bembridge Ledge, which are great for beginners to explore and practice in. For the more experienced divers the Island offers a fantastic range of wrecks, old and new, all around the coastline, which Island Divers are only too happy to introduce and explore with you! The Margaret Smith, at 18m, is a good wreck to dive out of Yarmouth. She is a 300ft modern gravel dredger who rolled hard in high seas and then proceeded to sink making a great dive site. If you are a serious tec diver then look no further than the U-1195 at 30m off of Bembridge, sunk on the 6th April 1945. This is a war grave and should be dived accordingly, 17 of the 34 crew were killed including Kapitanleutnant Ernst Cordes.
Another point of interest is the underwater archaeological sites located around the Island. Island Divers is the exclusive tour guide of these sites, working alongside the Hampshire & Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology to preserve and protect so all divers can enjoy our fascinating heritage. The HMS Pomone lies in 12m by the Needles Passage. She went down on the 14th October 1811, after striking a rock at night and consequently the Admiralty ordered that no naval ships were allowed to travel at night through the passage. The Pomone now has an archaeological trail laid out on her, which Island Divers can exclusively guide you round. "Jump in with Island Divers and have some fun diving around the beautiful Isle of Wight!!"
Article courtesy of Polly Philipson
Scuba Diving on the Isle of Wight
Located centrally in Cowes, Island Divers is a PADI 5 Star Dive Centre offering the full range of PADI courses from beginner through to technical diving, or to becoming a PADI Professional. We have a fully stocked shop with many leading brands, are able to provide air and nitrox fills, equipment servicing and rental equipment. Our aim is to always provide quality training, quality services and quality equipment all of which add up to safe and highly enjoyable scuba diving on the Isle of Wight, whatever your level or interests.
Shore diving includes sites such as Freshwater Bay, Totland Pier and Bembridge Ledge, which are great for beginners to explore and practice in. For the more experienced divers the Island offers a fantastic range of wrecks, old and new, all around the coastline, which Island Divers are only too happy to introduce and explore with you! The Margaret Smith, at 18m, is a good wreck to dive out of Yarmouth. She is a 300ft modern gravel dredger who rolled hard in high seas and then proceeded to sink making a great dive site. If you are a serious tec diver then look no further than the U-1195 at 30m off of Bembridge, sunk on the 6th April 1945. This is a war grave and should be dived accordingly, 17 of the 34 crew were killed including Kapitanleutnant Ernst Cordes.
Another point of interest is the underwater archaeological sites located around the Island. Island Divers is the exclusive tour guide of these sites, working alongside the Hampshire & Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology to preserve and protect so all divers can enjoy our fascinating heritage. The HMS Pomone lies in 12m by the Needles Passage. She went down on the 14th October 1811, after striking a rock at night and consequently the Admiralty ordered that no naval ships were allowed to travel at night through the passage. The Pomone now has an archaeological trail laid out on her, which Island Divers can exclusively guide you round. "Jump in with Island Divers and have some fun diving around the beautiful Isle of Wight!!"
Article courtesy of Polly Philipson
Scuba Diving on the Isle of Wight