Manx for the memories

A current swept topography of anemones and hydriods typifies the Isle of Man's scenic dives. All photos: Simon Rogerson A diver surveys the twisted remains of the steel steam Citrine Dogfish are common around the island Plumose anemones proliferate in this little gully Spider crabs are a rare novelty on the island The bow of the Don Bosco Ballan wrasse A gully at one of the island's best drift dives, the Burroo Map

The Isle of Man is often seen as an unknown quantity by UK divers. It is home to six dive clubs, and attracts a decent enough number of fiercely loyal regulars, but for the greater diving population, it remains something of a mystery. The reason why is obvious enough – you need to take a flight or a ferry to get there, and people just aren’t sure if the diving is good enough to merit the effort and expense.

So does the diving measure up, and just how costly are the various options? These were the questions I was hoping to answer during a quick break in August, when I arrived for a few days of diving on the island with Steve Cowley of Discover Diving.

The Isle of Man is not, strictly speaking, part of the United Kingdom; it is a Crown dependency that is completely independent from the UK and the EU. Manx people are friendly enough, but they don’t like outsiders telling them what to do. For the most part, they do what they like, which often involves speeding around the 51km-long island on motorbikes – the famous TT race is held in late May and early June. But if anyone has more fun than the bikers, it’s the divers, who have access to more than 1,500 shipwrecks, plus innumerable scenic sites, all in pretty good visibility.

My first dive took place on the Thracian, a four-masted barque that sank in a squall in 1892 and now sits at 32m. I was lucky enough to be diving in the company of Manx wreck historian Adrian Corkill, who told me that the wreckage had never been conclusively identified, but there is virtually no doubt as to its identity, as no other steel barque had gone down in this area.

Following the shot-line, I descended through layers of dark green water, arriving at the collapsed central section of the wreck, which lies upside down. The bow and stern sections were strong enough to remain relatively intact after 114 years on the sea bed, and are covered with big plumose anemones. It has been underwater for a long time and its disintegration is quite advanced, and while I saw some pollack and crabs, it wasn’t exactly replete with life. Still, a decent enough start.

Between dives, I was able to snorkel with the basking sharks. Surface conditions were far from ideal, but the sharks’ dorsal fins were clearly visible at the surface – enough to give The Sun a whole year’s worth of great white scare stories. While 2008 was a poor year for basker sightings off Cornwall, around the Isle of Man it was business as usual, and I managed to swim with six or seven individuals, albeit in murky water.

The diving around the southern part of the island is reminiscent of Oban and the Inner Hebrides: the water has that same jade quality, and there are loads of lion’s mane jellyfish. The visibility is also comparable, but while you tend to get a uniform 8–10m around Oban these days, some of the offshore wrecks around the isle often reach 15m.

The advantage of diving around an island is the availability a Plan B in case of inclement weather. So when it blows up, there’s usually a cliff you can hunker under. And, sometimes, there’s a convenient wreck at the bottom of the cliff. This was certainly the case when a stiff westerly prompted us to dive the Citrine, a steel steamer that lies broken up in Johnson’s Bay, close to Port Erin.

The Citrine sank in March 1931 while trying to reach the Calf of Man in low visibility and rough seas. It sank very quickly, and only two of the crew of 13 survived by swimming ashore. Today, the wreckage lies broken up on a sandy bottom at a depth of 15m, making it an easy second dive during most stages of the tide.

The most prominent feature of the wreck is the boiler, which is only now beginning to break up. It provides a foothold for a few Alcyonium soft corals, though other features such as the propeller shaft and stern tube are devoid of encrusting life. The island doesn’t have a great surfeit of fish, but I noticed quite a few wrasse flitting around.

The signature dive is the wreck of the SS Liverpool, which has already been covered in great detail in the June 2006 issue of DIVE. I was hoping to dive this wreck – noted for its imposing stern section, schools of pouting and good visibility – but it lies in an exposed offshore area. After a spirited effort to reach it, we had to pull back to the western side of the island and opt for one of the island’s little-known wrecks, the Don Bosco.

This small steel fishing vessel turned out to be a gem of a wreck, and a pleasing contrast to many of the older wrecks. Just 14m in length and five across its beam, the Don Bosco is small, but perfectly adorned with anemones, soft corals and other invertebrates. The ship foundered in a storm in November 1990, and another fishing vessel that went to help rescue its crew, Our Lassie, also sank after the two vessels clashed in the confusion of the transfer. The propeller has since been salvaged, but there are plenty of other features still evident across the structure.

I should add that the wreck is privately owned, so don’t plan on filling your crockery cupboard.

For me, it was a gift – an intact wreck lying upright in clear green water, just waiting to be brought to life by divers’ torches. The wheelhouse is now starting to collapse, and it remains to be seen how long the Bosco can withstand the erosive pressures of the sea, but for now it’s a deeply satisfying dive.

So much for the wrecks – I could go back to the Isle of Man every year for the rest of my life and dive a different one every time. But I also wanted to see what the scenic diving was like, so we headed to one of the most famous sites, the Sugarloaf Caves. Loaded with atmosphere, this capacious cave system is situated close to Port St Mary, and is one of the perennial favourites. As with the geo caves of Shetland, you can surface inside most of the passageways, but it’s still very dark, with just the waning light of the entrance to see by. I enjoyed watching the divers’ torch beams cutting through the darkness, picking out squat lobsters and crabs on the smooth walls.

I surfaced eager for another scenic treat, so Steve took me to one of the isle’s most celebrated sites, the Burroo (pronounced ‘bur-ah’). Often touted as the most beautiful scenic dive in British waters, it is a rock promontory that extends from the southernmost tip of the Calf of Man, clearly identified by a large hole that runs right through the rock – the ‘eye’.

We began by dropping in on an outer pinnacle that becomes visible at the surface during low-water slack. Swathes of kelp gave way to a series of spectacular gullies and huge rocks, all covered in anemones. And then the scene unfolded, and I realised that there were acres and acres of reef, all coated in the anemones of every hue. I was able to appreciate this vista all the more because the site is swept by tidal water, so I had the benefit of 15m visibility.

At a depth of 20m, we arrived at the most spectacular of the gullies, where the walls were bright scarlet with Sargatia elegans anemones. At the base of the gully lay a few scattered timbers, believed to be the remnants of a shipwreck called the Young Holiday, which sank in the 1840s. Even the planks were plastered with anemones, and I could see squat lobsters peering out from underneath.

So, a world-class scenic dive – basking sharks on tap, good visibility, caves, wrecks in all depth ranges, and plenty of scope for technical diving. I have only seen a few brief highlights of the island’s marine scene, but it’s clear to me that this is a premier league diving destination, up there with the best the UK has to offer. The expense of getting there is an undeniable factor, but once you’re there you are pretty much guaranteed to get in the water, and you can enjoy the best elements of UK-style diving relatively close to port. So is it worth the journey? Definitely, but take my advice and make it a week instead of a weekend.

• Thanks to Steve Cowley, Matt Renton and all the guys at Discover Diving

GETTING THERE

BY FERRY
The Isle of Man Steam Packet (www.steam-packet.com) has sailings from Heysham or Liverpool to Douglas. You can expect about £200 for a car and four people, with a £5 each-way fuel surcharge (at the time of writing). A foot passenger booking the same dates should expect to pay around £40. About 80 per cent of visiting divers use the ferry option.

BY AIR
Some of the best value flights I could find were on the budget airline Flybe (www.flybe.com). It is possible to squeeze the fares down to £100 per person (based on a return flight from Gatwick) or less, but the benchmark is more like £150. You need to book hold luggage in advance – count on adding a further £20 to your bill for a big bag of scuba kit and clothes.

BY PRIVATE BOAT
Discover Diving (01624 822442, www.discoverdiving.im) offers free pick-ups and returns on the Endeavour, for any group on a seven-day charter (charters are £500 per day and the boat takes 12).

NEED TO KNOW

ACCOMMODATION
Balmoral Hotel in Port Erin (01624 833126) is known for welcoming divers. For a different experience, try Aaron House in Port St Mary (01624 835702), a Victorian-themed guesthouse renowned for its epic breakfasts.

BOAT CHARTER/DIVING SERVICES/AIR FILLS
Discover Diving runs the Endeavour, a 12m Lochin with a spacious heated cabin and a transom lift. Next year, the company will be offering accommodation in a new purpose-built block in Port St Mary, which means that divers will even be able to visit during the TT week in early June without paying inflated prices.

CLUBS
Six BSAC clubs are currently listed for the Isle of Man. To access their details, see bsac.com.

ESSENTIAL READING
Shipwrecks of the Isle of Man by Adrian Corkill, published by Tempus, priced £19.99. ISBN 0752426982