The Dives

For the easiest and best access to the infamous wrecks and reefs of The Manacles, Porthkerris is the place to come to dive these sites.  Our Dive skippers are second to none.

We dive from Falmouth Bay down to the Lizard. More distant and deeper dives are available on request.   

Some of the dozens of sites we dive regularly are: -

Raglan Reef
The most popular of the reef dives on the Manacles. A pinnacle dive from 6-42 metres.

With abundance of life and colour. Most spectacular are the dead men's fingers and the jewel anemones, but there are plenty of other varieties of fish and flora.

Mohegan
The Mohegan is the best-known and most dived wreck on the Manacles.

Her loss was a major tragedy. Built in 1897 and launched as the "Cleopatra" 6,500 tons in weight. It takes at least 4 dives just to cover the wreck.

In July 1898. She could carry sixty first class passengers, a crew of ninety-seven and cattlemen to attend the animals penned on deck.

She sailed from Tilbury on 13th October 1898 as the Mohegan.

Off Plymouth the Coastguard sighted her 10 miles offshore, but from there her course and the cause of her loss remains a mystery as every deck officer went down with her so the truth died with the ship.

She was seen brilliantly lit coming into Falmouth Bay and the local coxswain of the Coverack Lifeboat who spotted her knew instinctively that she was going to hit the Manacles as no vessel of that size should be so close inshore so called his crew and their boat was ready to launch before the Mohegan struck. This saved many lives.

She lost he rudder on Vase Reef. Her engines were stopped but, presumably incapable of being steered, she crashed into the seaward face of the Voices.

The loss of 106 lives. A mass burial of some of the victims took place in St Keverne church. The site is marked by a simple cross.

The wreck is an unforgettable dive, with the bow in some 15 metres and the remainder in 29 metres.Lots of fan corals, dead men's fingers, jewel anemones and a vast array of fish life.

Volnay
Many shipwrecks have brought benefit to the locals around the Manacles, but the Volnay, 6,500 tons, outshone them all. Homeward from Canada with luxury goods and ammunition she detonated a contact mine on 14th December 1917 off the Manacles, and was bought into Porthallow bay and anchored a quarter of a mile off Porthkerris beach, where she sank in 21 metres. A non-tidal, nice and easy wreck to dive.

Carmarthan
Steamship of 3,000 tons launched in 1916 under the name ARLINGTON, this armed steamer was in convoy from Genoa to Tees in ballast, having called at Falmouth she was torpedoed by a German submarine, UC-50, off the lizard on July 26th 1917. Despite her extensive flooding she managed to reach the shallows off Kennack sands before she sank in 20 metres.

N.G. Peterson
Danish steamship1,282 tons, built in 1898. She was carrying iron ore from Bilbo to Newport, when she collided with the Norwegian SS Siri 13th March 1918 in Falmouth Bay. Her remains, which were flattened lie in 19 metres and provides the home for 5 - 16 resident Congers.

There are, of course, many other superb dives on and around the Manacles, where there have been over 200 wrecks in the past 150 years. You are advised to take professional and local advice, always obtainable from Porthkerris Dive Centre, before diving any of them.