All of these features can be seen and dived at the small headland that separates Teignmouth from Dawlish. Maximum depth is only 6 or 7 metres, so it makes an ideal second dive.The underlying geology of East Devon is mostly soft rocks. Once a fissure in the rock has been opened up a bit by a storm, the crack focuses the energy of subsequent storms and can develop into a cave, assuming the undercut cliff does not fall down first. Sometimes a cave will cut through a headland to become a tunnel, opening out to become an arch, and when the arch eventually collapses a stack will be left.
All of these features can be seen and dived at the small headland that separates Teignmouth from Dawlish. Maximum depth is only 6 or 7 metres, so it makes an ideal second dive.
Even small caves and tunnels can be fun just for the sake of it, but that is not all. Sheltered from crashing waves but fed by surging water and out of the sunlight, seawater caves can harbour some interesting marine life.
On the Admiralty chart the location is noted as “The Parson and Clerk”, after a stack formation that, when viewed from the right direction, looks a bit like a parson delivering a sermon. Approaching by boat, the most notable feature is a large arch. On a calm day an inflatable or RIB can drive right in amongst the rocks and drop anchor while the divers have fun. From a hard boat it may be necessary to swim in from further offshore.
Dropping down the rock face to the sandy seabed, the rocks are slightly undercut with small shrimps and anemones beneath the overhangs. Moving inshore, away from the arch, the rock face is on your right. Within 10 metres the overhang gets larger and opens out into a cave. A vertical crack in the rock has been scoured out to provide quite a large entrance.
In average visibility it never quite goes dark. Just as you think you are leaving the daylight behind you a glimmer of light appears in the distance ahead. The cave is actually a tunnel going right through the headland.
Life in the cave is small. A tightly packed turf of hydroids and bryozoans clings to the wall, interspersed with small patches of sponges and strawberry tunicates. The largest sessile life forms are occasional dahlia anemones.
Cracks in the rock are home to small crabs, squat lobsters and shrimps. Look carefully at the rocks and you may spot a well-camouflaged scorpionfish. I can remember a dive here when I was actively searching for scorpionfish to photograph and it took me ages to find one, then all of a sudden I was spotting them all over the place. Like busses and many other things, scorpionfish are never there when you want them then all of a sudden three arrive at the same time.