Just after low tide we still have an hour or so to wait for slack water. We had been intending to dive the Vase Rock, only to find out that the club's echo sounder was broken. The tide is still running strongly, washing over submerged rocks and bubbling on the surface. Rather than immediately heading for something easier to find we decide to see what we can get with transits and pot luck.
The tide slackens enough for the first pair descend. Their bubbles circle round the boat on a mirror smooth sea. They don't go far. After 30 minutes ascending bubbles signal divers making a safety stop on the line. We learn that it is a great dive, but definitely not the Vase Rock.
The rest of us are soon in. It didn't take me long to work out just what the first pair had been raving about. A sheer sided pinnacle from 25 metres down to 40 plus metres, top no larger than the caravan we had been staying in and covered with jewel anemones.
That dive was several years ago, but it sums up just what makes the Manacles such a spectacular area to dive. You can dive almost any rock sticking up from the depths in this area and see British scenic diving at its best. That isn't to say that there isn't any wreck diving, there are plenty of wrecks on the Manacles and further afield, but there are also lots of fantastic reefs, walls and pinnacles.
The wreck of the Mohegan lies an easy swim north-east from a pair of viscious rocks called Maen Voes. Ignoring the wreck, the rocks and reef running eastwards make a good scenic dive by themselves, with lots of anemones, crustaceans and fish to see. Last Easter a huge shoal of grey mullet stayed swirling round Maen Voes for several days.
Further offshore lies Raglan reef, a series of submerged pinnacles rising to 7 metres. The rocks here are densely covered with the usual Manacles marine life of anemones, soft corals and hydroids, with the emphasis on large plumose anemones. There are usually a lot of ballan wrasse, with a shoal of pollack hanging in the current alongside the rock.
The southernmost rock in the Manacles is Carn Du. Rocky gullies to the south and east of Cairn Du are not as picturesque as the northern side of the Manacles, but have the advantage of being diveable at any state of the tide as a gentle drift.
For a more exciting and advanced drift, enter the water to the north-west of Raglan reef with the tide going out. The current will carry you past Raglan reef and along rocky inlets between 25 and 35 metres on the outside edge of the Manacles. As the rocks start to fizzle out and water gets deeper, swim cross current to the west to maintain contact with the reef.
The same drift in the opposite direction does not work as well. The current tends to carry you northwestwards into shallow water between Carn Du and Maen Voes. Other interesting drift dives include from Maen Voes towards the Vase Rock and Penwin on an incoming tide, and across the Vase/Penwin reef on either tide.
Back at Maen Voes, a nice shallow dive is in the rock garden between the two rocks and to the south-east. At first it looks a bit kelpy, but underneath the rocks are split by narrow gullies and boulder caves with lots of pretties to see.
Further north is Pencra Head. The shallow reef here goes a good half mile out to sea, but some playing with an echo sounder will reveal a wall from 20 or 25 metres to past 30 metres on the east and south-east sides of the reef. Currents are not as strong as on the main Manacles reefs, but it is still a drift dive on anything but slack water.
If the weather turns bad, the reef at Porthkerris point is a good shore dive offering shelter at low tide. Another bad weather fall back option is to shore dive the submarine wrecks at Falmouth.
Little surprise that an early season trip to the Manacles has become something of a tradition for many diving clubs. Easy dives to introduce a new batch of trainees to the sea, quality diving for all abilities to welcome in the new season, and the added advantage of being sheltered from any bad weather approaching from the west.